GREEN

Ahman Green (30), shown here in his playing days with the Green Bay Packers, is now a professional rugby player. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

(MORRY GASH)

Ahman Green once ran for 156 yards in a playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field, the most ever rushing yards in a postseason game at the Linc.

Green, the former Green Bay four-time Pro Bowl running back will be doing a different kind of running at the Linc this summer — he'll be doing it as a professional rugby player.

The inaugural Independence Cup, the first-ever U.S. Elite Professional Rugby match to be played in the USA will be held at Lincoln Financial Field, Aug. 8 and Green will be with the USA's NRFL's Rough Riders as they face the Leicester Tigers. Game time will be 3 p.m.



Tickets went on sale this weekend and can be purchased by either visiting www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1-800-745-3000.

For Green, who retired from the NFL as Green Bay's all-time leading rusher with 8,208 yards as a Packer, the sport of rugby has always had his attention.

"When I was a little kid growing up in Los Angeles, I watched it on TV,'' Green said. "It was similar to football, so I liked it. I remember watching the game, a lot of it was from Australia and New Zealand. I never saw it in person or played it, I just saw it on TV. But I really liked it.''

After retiring from the NFL in 2009 after a 12-year career with Seattle, Green Bay and Houston, Green decided to pursue his second sport.

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"Through the years I stayed interested, and then through football I met some people, who were involved,'' Green said. "One thing led to another and I was back at it. I started training and started playing.''

Green started his own team in Green Bay, the Green Bay Ball Striker Rugby Club, and then got involved with the national team that will be coming to the Linc this summer.

"I'm loving it,'' he said. "I'm 38, so I'm definitely one of the older guys, but I'm doing OK. It's been a lot of fun.

"It's not much different than football in a lot of ways. There are some different movements, more lateral, but it's a lot of the same. The major difference is the endurance. You really have to train for endurance. I feel natural when I'm running with the ball, trying to score a touchdown. But once you get the ball, you're kind of the quarterback, too. You have to make a nice crisp pass and then set yourself to receive another pass. You always have to be thinking ahead.''

Which is what the Eagles are doing, as they prepare to play host to the historical event.

"We are excited to showcase the inaugural Independence Cup at Lincoln Financial Field this summer," Eagles President Don Smolenski said. "This match kicks off the first rugby game for an elite US team, the Rough Riders, against a historic rugby stalwart, the Leicester Tigers."



The Rough Riders, America's first professional rugby team, will take on one of the most successful and well-known rugby clubs in the world. The Tigers of the Aviva Premiership are 10-time English Champions and back-to-back European Champions.



"The Independence Cup will truly be the rugby game heard around the world as America steps onto the pitch for the first time with professional ruggers to take on the creators and long-lived champions of the sport," said Michael A. Clements, Founder & Managing Partner, RugbyLaw, LLC.

Follow Mark Eckel on Twitter at @MarkEckel08. Find NJ.com Sports on Facebook.Contact Mark Eckel at mjeck04@verizon.net.

