AP Photos By CATHERINE LUCEY

Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP) With a breakfast of beer and bacon-and-egg sandwiches, fans huddle around the big-screen TV in the smoky bar, even though it's not yet 8 a.m. on a Saturday.

Live rugby starts early at The Dark Horse.

The little bar at 2nd and Lombard has made a name for itself as the place where expatriates - be they Irish, British or French - go to watch international rugby games via satellite. Due to the time difference, the games air at atypical bar hours, but the regulars who pack into the second-floor room don't seem to mind.

"The atmosphere is better here than in a pub in England, "because of the mix of nationalities, the taunting, the cheers," said Paul Spring, 36, who's originally from Cambridge.

On this particular Saturday, Ireland and France are playing. Unfortunately for the largely Celtic crowd, Ireland is being pounded. As the Irish fans shout at the screen, three French fans in the corner are careful not to cheer too loudly. By halftime, Ireland trails 28-5.

"The hope would be that Ireland would get a few points and save face," said 45-year-old David Downey.

A native of Northern Ireland who has lived in Philadelphia since 1981, Downey plays on a local team and coaches women's rugby at Temple.

When he wants to watch rugby, he said, "this has always been the place I've come to."

For the men here, watching these matches gives them a link with their childhoods and their homes. Most grew up playing rugby at school and following these international competitions.

But in the United States, where few people understand or watch the sport, rugby fans look for an outlet.

American football, they say, is not the same.

"It's fast. There's no commercials. It doesn't take you three hours to watch an 80-minute game," Downey said of rugby. "You haven't got the continuous change of players. In football you've got this constant change."

Rugby and football share some similarities. In rugby, the 15-player teams try to throw, kick and carry the ball to the end of the field. If they touch it to the ground, they also get an opportunity to kick it over the goal posts to score.

But the differences are what make rugby so much better than American football, according to the fans at The Dark Horse.

Rugby players don't wear pads, for one. Also, the ball cannot be passed forward and players without the ball cannot be tackled.

"It's a more fluid game. It keeps moving. I've played football before, but rugby is so much more fun," said Ned Bachus, a 53-year-old American who has fallen in with the expatriates at the bar.

Watching the games together is part of the fun.

"About five weeks ago, it was heaving in here. We had a 'see if you can sing the loudest' contest," Spring said. "I seem to remember doing a Scottish dance."

And Bachus said "the insults that go back and forth between the groups are pretty hilarious. It's a great way to start the weekend."

There are bars like The Dark Horse in other cities, patrons said. Any city with enough immigrants - such as Boston, Chicago or New York - will have a similar haven.

"You tend to find places like these very easily - the expat network," said Steve Hawsworth, 47, originally from Britain and now living in Yardley, Pa.

On this Saturday, most of the expats went home quietly. Ireland suffered a shattering 44-5 loss.

"We are really sad for the Irish people," said Cedric Dominguez, 32, one of the three French supporters. "But we are really happy."

Matt Kennedy, a co-owner of The Dark Horse, said the popularity of the games has grown since they started showing them more than a decade ago.

"Nine years ago you didn't show the games at 7 a.m., you'd tape them and show it at 10 a.m., but now people want to see them live," he said. "When Ireland and England played we had 100-plus. It was like a Saturday night in here."

Maybe that's because some additional fans have been recruited along the way.

"I've brought a lot of American friends here," Spring said. "They've really gotten into it."

The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.