BY Ebenezer Samuel
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Brianna Paulino was on the verge of tears.

Just moments earlier, the 10-year-old had been beaming after leading her team to the Play Rugby exhibition flag tournament title at the Henry Street Settlement's Boys & Girls Republic in Manhattan.

She was strutting around, wearing her championship t-shirt proudly; she'd earned MVP honors after scoring in every game in the four-team round-robin tournament last Tuesday.

"I love rugby," she told anybody who would listen. "It's soooo much fun."

Then somebody told her that she probably wouldn't be able to play rugby in high school, and her smile twisted into a frown.

"Why not?" she said.

Paulino wasn't the only youngster who felt that way. Fifty kids from public schools in Manhattan  crowded into the tiny gymnasium, and most were gushing about rugby.

Paulino's teammate, Alex Lora, proclaimed that he'd "choose rugby over football," and 10-year-old Billy Gonzalez raved that "you always get the ball in rugby; people don't hog it like (in) basketball."

It was just another example of the sport's rapid growth in New York City and across the U.S. Once viewed as a mere footnote in the development of football, rugby has gradually gained traction. Some say it could be on the verge of a cultural explosion.

The sport is at the heart of a new film, "Invictus," which had its theatrical release last weekend, and it will be an Olympic event in 2016.

Play Rugby, a nonprofit organization created in 2003, draws 1,000 elementary and middle school children to its after-school programs each week, according to Play Rugby founder and director Mark Griffin; those numbers have garnered the attention of the PSAL, which is now considering adding rugby to its spring sports offerings.

"Play Rugby USA has established a very successful middle school program," PSAL director Donald Douglas said in a statement. "And therefore we are exploring with them the possibility of creating a high school rugby league for our students next year."

Griffin says he's met with Douglas three times since April. He knows there are hurdles involved in developing a high school league - most students know little about rugby - but he says that the sport's increasing popularity among city youth would seem to indicate that a league could experience plenty of success.

"The time might be right," said Griffin, who quit a successful banking job three years ago to focus on Play Rugby. "This is really an all-inclusive sport. Everyone gets to share in the success, and everyone gets to touch the ball."

For younger players, that's proven to be a lure. One person may dominate the ball in basketball, and in football some players never get their hands on the pigskin. In rugby, everyone must be adept at handling the ball.

"Everyone gets to run, catch, pass and score," Griffin said.

There are no key positions at rugby, Griffin added, especially at the youth level. Both teams line up on a field, their sole objective being to run across the other team's goal line and touch the ball to the ground.

Whenever a player is tackled (or tagged in youth rugby), they must pass the ball to a teammate. Unlike football, forward passes are illegal, so players toss the ball to nearby teammates, who then take off for the goal line once again. There are no timeouts or stoppages of play; both teams play until the game clock expires. Griffin compares the simplicity of rugby to a playground game like keep-away or tag.

"Players are really forced to work together to score," he said. "Everyone must know everything."

Another draw is the game's continuous motion. Players are frequently flying to the ball to tackle, positioning themselves to catch short passes or running away from would-be tacklers.

Youngsters are attracted to that pace, says Ronald Gonzalez, director of the Department of Education's CHAMPS program, which provides after-school fitness programs for NYC middle school students.

"Kids who just love to move love to play rugby," says Gonzalez, who partnered with Griffin to introduce rugby in the CHAMPS program three years ago.

Gonzalez acknowledges that developing rugby into a PSAL sport will be challenging. He said the game will have to compete for players with more maintstream sports. But Griffin says the game will be an ideal fit for anyone searching for "something different."

"The elite, elite athletes may play football," he said, "but there are still plenty of other kids after that that will love rugby."

Brianna Paulino would probably agree.