I was going to look up some numbers and do some kind of comparison between rugby and football for today because I keep hearing this “pads are for pussies” nonsense coming from ruggers. My college roomate was a collegiate club rugby player, and if I had ever come home with my ears looking as vomitously grotesque as his did every week, I would have stowed my manly pride and used some goddamn common sense, but that’s just me.
But I realized that I am coming in with an inherent bias, having never played Rugby, and a certain NFL-fan-centric defensiveness that would come off as whiny. So I gradually became more interested in the differences in the two games, and the injuries that come from both.
I actually read a few academic studies of rugby injuries from such made-up countries as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, so I feel like I can reliably assist in reconstructive knee surgery if the opportunity ever presents itself. But, mostly, I just feel completely confirmed in my desire not to play rugby.
Here’s what I came up with (note – many readers have told me I have misunderstood the rules, and I don’t doubt that, so read this with a grain of salt):
- Your knees are screwed in either sport. The whole planted, weight-bearing foot vs. impact phenomenon is the same in either form of tackling. That shit only bends one way naturally, and when it goes the other way, you’re going to be out of the running for a while.
- In rugby, there are no substitutions for any reason other than injury, and an injured player cannot come back in to the game. This motivates both coaches and players to dowplay any injury less significant than partial amputation. Kind of brings a new meaning to “just rub some dirt on it and get back in there!”
- Rugby tacklers don’t care if their target picks up a couple more
yardsmetres after he is hit, so they are not nearly as intent in their desire to halt forward progress by any means necessary as a U.S. football player is. Once a ballcarrier is down in rugby, the ball is turned over, regardless of yardage gained. - Ruggers without the ball are positioning themselves to receive a toss, not to block for the runner, which is, in fact, illegal. In American football, every player experiences head-on, full-force contact on every play, unless he is a kicker or Barry Sanders.
- The most dangerous injuries in rugby occur not in the tackling phase of the game, but in the scrum, when massive players lock arms and some try to kick or “hook” the ball to a fast teammate using only their legs. Flexion of the neck and other paralyzing incidents can happen just through the exertion, or at times when the scrum collapses on top of some poor soul.
The most compelling evidence for looking at these two sports as being similar but not the same came from this article, titled Pads and Helmets, in which two gents, one American, talk about the differences they experienced in playing both sports. The key phrase comes near the end of the first account, when a friend declares “Rugby is a contact sport. Gridiron is a collision sport” (per Loser With Socks, this is a paraphrase of a famous college football quote). The American recounts an attempt to tackle a charging opponent football style and the extreme injury he recieved as a result, seemingly indicating that while rugby hits are hard, they are patently different due to the nature of the game and the lack of padding.
I found all of this interesting. While I understand the desire to project manliness (we still have NFLers resisting the Revolution helmet, even though it can reduce concussions and keep them from drooling in their beer by age 40), but at some point self-preservation has to take precendence. Some simple concessions to basic headgear are currently being made at the professional levels of rugby, where top talented players can cause more damage and have more to lose in terms of money and career.
I definitely achieved a better understanding of the appeal of rugby by researching it, and will probably pause when I pass by it on ESPN from time to time. But I will hereafter refuse to engage in this ridiculous debate about which sport is more manly. As the fellas at Kissing Suzy Kolber said, while taunting the English recently:
Whatever. I’m sure Ray Lewis wouldn’t last one second playing for Leicester. You keep on believing that.
I would 100% support the notion of letting Ray try out when he retires from the NFL. Even at 40, I think he could hang.
Other sources, in case you want to be an orthopedic surgeon’s mate, too:
Chiroweb This article does a good job of introducing the methodology of rugby as a precursor to describing the most common injuries suffered by players.
This is so, so interesting. No, really. I find this stuff fascinating. My old roommate played for the Pitt rugby team and I could barely stand to watch his matches, they were so violent-looking.
My roomate was a U. of Kansas player. He had some greusome-looking injuries, but a lot of fun, I gather.
I have to say, I was very interested, too. The fact that guys were getting hurt worse in scrum situations than tackling situations was a revelation.
Perhaps it’s because I’m not familiar with rugby, but exactly how do rugby players tackle differently from football players? Do we still see decleaters, or do rugby players only do just enough to bring the player down?
I have played both rugby and football (both amateur) and I have to say this is a great read. They are very different. They may appear similar from the outside, but inside they are really different. The individual plays in football make for a brand of explosion that doesn’t exist in rugby, the forward pass brings something very different as well. As a defender, the element of the forward pass keeps you from being in total pursuit, which is where you are in rugby. You have to chase the ball, or cut it off on the corner, so you are always moving towards it, even if you are on the backside of the play it is hard for the team with the ball to disguise what they are doing. In football, the forward pass changes the way you make reads and pursue. There are many hits in football that don’t exist in rugby. The “hung out wide receiver gets chopped in half” hit doesn’t exist in rugby, nor does the “I am a qb looking downfield for a route to break and OH MY GOD I JUST GOT BLOWN UP FROM THE BASKSIDE” hit doesn’t exist. Also, in rugby, you don’t get a lot of ballcarriers cutting back against the play between blockers and getting blown up in the hole. You Do get a lot of pile on hits in rugby when you run into a guy and he doesn’t take you down and then his buddy hits you and your buddy hits you and you have the ball and 100 guys are trying to push you one way. That is really horrifying. When you are inside of it you know its happening and can’t do anything. It sucks. Rugby is really awesome to play, and so is football, but they are really different no question. Still, I agree with Extra P. If you were to take some of the athletic freaks in the NFL, the 260 to 280 pounders that run unreal 40s and have uncanny strength (Urlacher, Peppers, Freeney, Shockey etc.) I don’t think they would have a problem tearing the field up. When it boils down to you having to dive the line for a try or turning the edge trying to get in the endzone, the colliding hits become similar, and no one is better at hitting than an NFL linebacker.
Thanks, Bruce. I think that explains exactly what Mike and I wanted to really understand about how the tackling is different.
Great read, especially now that the U.S. is going to get a pro rugby league!
I have played and watch both sports and whilst football is my Darlin’, Rugby fulfils mys need for fast aggressive sport during the off-season. A lot of Rugby fans talk about the pads thing, but the truth is that many, many rugby players love Football. Martin Johnson, Captain of England’s World Cup winning Rugby team, was a football player before he was a rugby player, but being English, Rugby was the more accessible game I guess.
The thing about rugby that makes it so watchable from a football fans point of view, is that it is so fast paced and aggressive and in the really great games (there was one this weekend between New Zealand and South Africa) you can find yourself holding your breath for an entire half rather then just a 4th and inches.
That said, Football is the more entertaining sport IMO. I do think that every football fan should ive rugby a chance though. The rugby world cup in september is a great place to start!
I just like soccer more 😛
I played football in high school, and the highest level of rugby I have played was reserve grade in Brisbane, Australia. There’s only two major differences in the way hits are that I have seen. Rugby players place there head behind the ball carrier when they tackle, will often give on some on their tackle so they can get to there feet faster. In rugby, the play doesn’t stop when the ball carrier is tackled.
Bruce Paine’s examples:
“The ‘hung out wide receiver gets chopped in half'”
– The added dynamic of being able to kick the ball allows these kill shots to take place, or im sure you have heard the phrase of a hospital pass. (A hospital pass is where a a player throws the ball to high and leaves his teammate in a vulnerable position often resulting in a trip to the hospitle0
“I am a qb looking downfield for a route to break and OH MY GOD I JUST GOT BLOWN UP FROM THE BASKSIDE”
– Again it does, a lot. When the scrumhalf picks the ball out of a scrum or ruck several times a game he’s being leveled as he is passing the ball.
“Also, in rugby, you don’t get a lot of ball carriers cutting back against the play between blockers and getting blown up in the hole.”
– In rugby it is illegal to shepard (block), so no there’s never going to be a hit next to a blocker. A similar hit happens when teams are running bangers and pick and drives.
Extra P. I don’t understand what your point is? I see you are trying to compare the two, but at first it seems as though you are trying to find the manlier sport. Then you just compare why you wouldn’t play rugby and not necessarily the physicality or manliness of each sport.
I’m in high school and I play both sports and I can say I have more fun playing rugby. Football is very entertaining and at times is my favorite, but in Rugby, I just love the whole concept of constant play and not ending play if the ball carrier is tackled. This provides for a very fast-paced game and physically tiring game. I remember when I got some football players in the off season to try rugby and in the first game the played they played a full game I remember them being dead tired by the end of the first half.
I guess what it boils down to is being exposed to both and what your personal taste in sports are. If you like fast-paced, constant games, play rugby. But if you like strategic(which rugby can be), intense but only in burst gameplay, play football.
I wasn’t setting out to find the manlier sport. In fact, I was trying to debunk this notion that one is manlier than the other – it’s really nonsensical. If amount of pain absorbed is how one measures the worth of a sport, I find that absurd. The point of the article was to examine the differences and find the injury potential of each – basically arguing that at least some padding should be worn by players in either sport, and not tossed aside in the name of machismo.
I think it is funny that people talk so much about the constant motion and endurance as though that is the measure of a sport.
Does that mean that running is the world’s greatest sport, or that marathoning is the most entertaining thing on the tv.
Well, I would have to say that running and, probably, swimming are the most pure of sports. They require no equipment at all, no team or partner, and can even be done with no clothing.
As an American who has watched 8 seasons of rugby league, the NFL is by far and away the most violent team sport in the professional world. They let kids as young as 18 and 17 years old play in the rugby world. There is no way this could happen in the NFL, for obvious reasons. Those 17/18 year old kids are still in high school and still have 4 years of college before they can be considered professionally. That, and there’s no way the NFL could play as many regular season games as they do in rugby – there wouldn’t be enough players to field a team if they did!
Dean Meyer can i just say you are talking out of your behind i have played Rugby all my life and the argument you forwarded has no context on which game is tougher just your own opinion. how often will any of NFL player brake of fracture their rib cage?? and not every nation in world leaves school at 18 either i left school at 16 and played rugby towards professional scale at 18. just because NFL prefer players to be bit older doesn’t mean that they are going to be tougher than a new player starting at 18 since professional age of a Rugby player declines at 30. lastly how many nations play rugby over American Ball???
The guy commenting on Dean Meyer this is for you. The reason why age is important in the NFL is because if a 16,17, or 18 year old BOY tries to face off with MEN then it will result in their severe injury or death. The main reason why you don’t have high schooler’s playing pro football is because they lack the physical attributes. Even the most well developed high schooler cannot hang in the NFL. VERY and I mean VERY rarely can a college player do it before they graduate. There are alot of changes from the ages of 18-22 or 23. It has nothing to do with age in the manner in which you speak it has everything to do with being a man and as talented as you may have been at that age you were still a boy. It is nothing personal and I am not questioning your grit, it is just a biological fact. Even if a 20 year old is 6’8″ and 350 lbs he still isnt a man. Th NFL does not allow high schoolers to skip college and be drafted. That addresses the physical part of it now it is the skill set required. As a college quarterback I have first hand experience with the repition involved with the sport. In basketball and soccer young ones can play with the best and themselves be the best. There are many aspects to football that are different as in the method of contact. Yes rugby player hit and they hit hard but most of the game I see is more of a shoving match then sheer impact (although it obvously happens often). You cannot go from high school to pro because the difference in speed and ability. There is a huge difference in NAIA vs D-I football. I mean HUGE. They are two different sports so I do find this to be a little stupid to be arguing but there are reasons why they wear padding. They would kill each other if they didn’t. They still do even with the padding.
forgive me if this is brief. im typing 1 handed after i broke my collar bone and damaged my AC joint. my best friend sat out a full season after having reconstructive surgery on his foot. all in a very short period of time playing rugby. now im not saying there arnt horiffic injarys in american football. i know for a fact there are. i say that to show i know what im talking about. granted i have never played football before. im very interested in the nfl and often wish i had played the sport. the most dangerous time in rugby is the scrum. the front row of a profesional team faces forces up to 4 tones exurted directly down the spine. oviously technique is more important than any position in american football. my reply to lance is yes, age makes a huge difference. but more so on strength than anywere else. a forward in rugby peeks in his carear about 5-6 years after a back. speed is affected very little after the age of 18, there are brilliant young rugby players such as Stephen Brett, Francois Steyn, Danny Ciprianni. these are great players for there position, each 20 ur under. they will not speed up with age. there natural skill and awearness makes them brilliant. all plays in football are pre-deturmided, rugby is a game of instinct, it is that simple fact that separates the strong kid from the kid with flair. i may have not have changed opinions with this, so please take this on board. i will not judge until i have PLAYED football, please do the same for my sport. (note, Watching is not the same as playing) and off the topic. if you dont make it to collage ball, or you wish to start football in your early 20s. are there clubs you can join as an amature or is it High school, Collage, NFL and thats it???
Paul –
Everything you’ve said fits in pretty well with what I learned while researching this article. It’s not that one is more or less dangerous, it’s that they are dangerous in different ways.
As for playing tackle football, because of the cost of the equipment, most people don’t play it casually. Most people who play recreationally probably play flag or touch football, where speed and body control are much more useful than brute force. That said, I have heard of semi-pro or amateur football for adults in America. I just don’t think they compete very well with pick-up basketball, or softball leagues, where players can have a nice beer while they’re waiting their turn to bat.
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This is a decades old beer drinking debate. And since I’ve been drinking beer tonight, I’ll chime in. Having played both – football through high school and rugby in college and men’s club in the US and New Zealand – I can tell you they are indeed apples and oranges.
Overall football is definitely the more purely violent sport. All that armour gives you the feeling of invincibility required to charge headlong, but also some pretty handy weapons with which to inflict damage.
But in my opinion, rugby is overall the more physically demanding (not to mention beautiful and exciting).
Football is a series of 6 second sprints punctuated with sharp bursts of contact and then followed by either 30 seconds of milling around or a few minutes on the sidelines watching others sprint and pop.
Rugby is 40 minutes of sprinting alternated with mid-paced running with a variety of contact thrown in from big hit to wrestling to being under a pile of 6 guys. Then you rest for 5 minutes (that’s half time) and then you do that again. And blood is quite common in rugby.
And to those of you who say the NFL’ers would dominate in rugby – another old drinking debate and not nearly as cut and dry as you’d think. Sure NFL players are amazing athletes – some of the best. But there is absolutely no way in hell that most of them would last 20 minutes of non stop running much less 80. Some Running backs, QBs, receivers, linebackers and safeties could be adapted to the purpose – as long as they’re not too fat or too dainty. Remember – you have to do everything – run with the ball, field kicks, pass, kick, tackle. Every year I was in college, we’d have a couple guys from the football team (major div I school borderline top 20 in football and a top 10 rugby team) come out for a training in the spring. Every year those guys would puke their guts out half way through and never show up again.
And I’d say to look at the other side of the coin as well. Some of the top rugby players would make excellent footballers with a bit of re-training. Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins, Rodney So’iaolo, Joe Rococoko, Sitevini Sivivatu, Chris Masoe, Sione Lauaki, Keven Mealamu, and Dan Carter could all play in the NFL. And they’re all from one team. Look at a beast like Chabal from France and tell me he wouldn’t make a good linebacker.
My 2 cents. Enjoy.
I played football from grade school to high school and rugby for the past five years. Both sports are great and September feels like Christmas now with the NFL, College Football, and the Rugby World Cup (on setanta sports). I do like rugby better, but arguing which is better is truly like saying “I like apples better than oranges and you should like apples better than oranges too.”
I want to comment on tackling since it’s my favorite part of both sports. I was taught in football to either put your facemask into the belly or thighs when tackling from the front or bring your helmet in front of the body when coming from the side. Although most rugby clubs I know of in the U.S. assume they don’t need to teach tackling, I have heard it taught that you should tackle with your head to the side of the body in rugby. When I started playing rugby I couldn’t retrain myself to tackle with my head to the side and always use my head to target what I want to hit. Other than a bruised and swelled face during the season, some of the biggest hits I’ve made by firing face first into a runners midsection have resulted in no injury for me. I like to call them “Goldbergs” at high speed. It only took one time, however, to rethink my tackling form.
In one particular rugby match I found myself running full speed at a ball carrier running full speed at me with about 15 yards(meters) in between. I decided I wanted to really crush him and make a statement early in the game so as we neared at full speed I began to aim my face at his waist…. that’s about all I can remember until I was carried off the field with blood rushing out my nose like a kitchen sink. Apparently the other guy’s knee came between my face and him. My face was broken in 3 places at the cheekbone and around my eye and I had to have reconstructive surgery, with a small plate, to put my cheek bone back in place. Had this been football with the helmet, I think it would’ve been a great tackle.
With a simple rolling tackle or just wrapping him I could have played the rest of the season and kept my face in tact. As someone was mentioned above, preventing the ball carrier from getting that extra inch with a big hit isn’t as important in rugby (unless your near the try zone) as it is in football. A broken face can teach you the importance of playing smart rugby.
I don’t know what sport can boast the “biggest” hits, but I do know that although they might not be necessary all the time in rugby, they occur with great frequency for a couple reasons. Many rugby players don’t care if all they have to do is slowly tackle a guy. They want to blast the crap out of someone even at their own risk. A hard hitting rugby team can drain the morale and energy of an opponent and therefore many teams encourage more than just wrapping tackles. Also, in the U.S. many rugby players were trained to play football and they bring the same intensity in tackling to rugby.
O-H-I-O!!!!! Go Bucks!!!
Celtic Flanker – only in the US do players want to “blast the crap out of someone.” In the rugby playing world common sense and a better understanding of the game take over. There are certainly ways to stamp your physical authority on the game and the other team and there are occasional opportunities for big direct hits, but as you (hopefully) have learned, that approach usually doesn’t pay off.
That carryover mentality from football, which many US ruggers played at some stage in their athletic development, is one of the main hindrances to the US taking a bigger role on the world stage.
First off, I want to thank everyone for making this the liveliest thread on my blog – I can count on one or two responses to this topic every week, and I have learned a lot just by reading.
Second, I wanted to say that I watched the England/USA match the other day and very much enjoyed some of it. The scrums still seem like something that would be very fun to be involved with as a player, but are very visually confusing for a spectator (at least they were for me – I could rarely see where the ball was).
I’m very interested in learning more, so keep the comments coming, and if you want to read about the World Cup from someone who knows his stuff, go to With Malice. He’s my source.
[…] first attempt to talk about the sport was the post titled Rugby vs. Football = Apples vs. Oranges. It was my attempt to quell the debate that one sport was more “manly” than another, […]
I know of few grown men who play football for recreation.
100% of the american rugby players play for fun.
Most football players beyond HS are playing for money -either pro or scholarship. who would want to play nose tackle for fun? you never even get the ball, or score.
An excellent point, Mike. Another reason why rec-league football will never take off. Too specialized, and you need to many players.
Flag football, on the other hand, can be played with 5-6 guys per side.
Yet again, humbled by your nice words Extra P.!
I first got into watching US football on TV as an eight year old kid in the UK, but there were almost no opportunities to play and so like most kids in England that wanted to play a contact sport, I ended up playing rugby.
When I went to university I was delighted to have the opportunity to play Defensive Lineman for a season instead of playing hooker in rugby. However, I must admit that playing football and watching it are two completely different things. I was so bored! I still enjoy watching the NFL, but for all those guys passionate about watching football but haven’t actually played it, trust me, rugby is a much more dynamic and fun game to play. On the question of which sport is tougher… I would agree that they are two very different sports.
NFL players are generally bigger than the average international rugby player, but then they are not expected to have the same degree of endurance fitness, speed or dynamic game play. Since the professionalization of the sport (only 12 years ago), rugby players have been getting increasingly bigger and faster. But there is simply not the same incentive to get as big as linemen – Jerry Collins (NZ player) has actually reduced his biceps because he said they interfered with his tackling ability.
You have to be hard to play both sports, but I think you need to be fitter to play rugby and sorry, but I have to say this; smarter too.
Most blokes that have played both games, will favour playing rugby simply because every player has opportunity to play impulsively rather than prescriptively and most importantly has a chance to score! Rugby is also a much more social sport… anyone part of the rugby community will tell you that drinking beer (compulsory), dancing naked (optional) and generally causing mayhem is as much a part of rugby as playing on the pitch. And furthermore, despite the brutality of the game, there is a decorum and general gentlemanly conduct that plays an important part of rugby culture. There are not many sports where two guys will punch each other in face, but still shake hands at the end of the match and then go for a beer.
PS. Extra P can you explain what you mean by “such made-up countries as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand”?
Yes – it’s just a jolt of absurdist humor.
I have played both. and i currently live in Australia. i love rugby union, and it is due to this love that Im writing this now. The person who wrote this realy really really needs to go and find some facts to back up what his is saying. the rules that he quotes are no real and no one has ever played them. maybe he should get his skirt off and actually have a go and play the game.
I enjoyed reading all (almost all I confess) the messages.
I was always wondering what were the difference between rugby and US foot from guys who play or played both.
I found some interesting testimonies and opinion, but about scrum, even if there is the most dangerous injuries in this situation, it is quite rare because, in France, you can not push scrum untill you reach the first amateur league (Federal 1). So at this level, props (numbers 1 and 3) and hookers (number 2) are supposed to be trained to support this game situation.
By the way, rugby players may be not so big as US football player and that’s why they can run longer and play as the same level. In the other hand, I assume US football players may be bigger and it is normal because the play during a down is short and the contacts are rude, dynamism and explositivety are required.
But as rugby player, I think the rugby is more sportively “full” because you must to have a good average stamina, strength, speed, agility, intelligence and technique to defend and to attack (with different level in each regarding forwards or backs). As US football players are very specialized it seems different.
Now lets cheer France against England, and watch “El Mago” Hernandez & his smart scrum-half against the terrible pack of South Africa!
French reader: first of all, thanks for commenting from so far away – I really like hearing from you.
I tend to agree with you that rugby is a superior form of athleticism. American football players are basically genetic freaks – we find the .00001% of the population who can weigh 300 pounds and still run faster than anyone else, and make them linemen. The we find the absolute fastest people around and make them recievers. No normal person could play the game the way it is played in the NFL, which is why there are no amateur leagues. College players are simply training for the NFL while maybe, sometimes, attending class.
I think rugby could be popular in the U.S. at a grass-roots level, but pro leagues are now all about money and sponsorship, so it would be a long slog to making it a professional league. Kids all over America play soccer endlessly, but our pro league still struggles, because it doesn’t suit our TV methodology, so it isn’t being delivered to our doorstep.
I don’t know. I learn a little more every time someone replies to this post – it is rapidly becoming the most popular and long-lived post on this site.
Also, I think we have difficulty understanding one another’s strategy points.
I don’t understand rugby’s, so perhaps a commenter can explain, but here’s some from football.
In football, much of the repetitive short-yardage stuff is an attempt to set up a move that will happen much later. A receiver heads downfield five yards and then cuts toward the sideline. He’s only picking up a few yards per catch, what’s the deal????
Then, in the third quarter, after his man has come to expect that route, he breaks toward the sideline, his man anticipates that and gets ahead of him for a possible interception, but this time, receiver takes only a couple of steps toward the sideline and then breaks upfield, often for a big gain.
Same thing in the running game. Stretch plays to the left side that don’t gain much, but set up the misdirection for later in the game, when everyone on D sells out to the left and then the play cuts back to the right for open real estate.
Obviously, it’s not that easy to fool the D every time, but that’s what makes it interesting to a knowledgeable viewer – waiting to see which coach has the upper hand in both scheme and athletes to stymie the other guy.
Americans dont know how to play rugby. Its a mans sport which doesn’t require “pads”. We South Africans are a tough breed and we take our Rugby seriously, thats why we smoked the U.S.A in the world cup in France. America should leave the rugby to the big boys and put their pads and helmets back on…
It’s a drooling, crippled-up man’s sport, yes indeed.
No, its jus that you americans are a bunch of panzies…
My daughter who is 13 has been asking me whether she should take up rugby at school. I have been all for it. In England only girls’ teams which are 15 years old and over play rugby with full contact, tackling and so on. In the next two years though she will build up her fitness and skills and be playing a great team sport. In a couple of years she will then be able to make her mind up whether she wants to take on the added physicality of full-contact rugby.
Two weeks ago, however, I was watching my 15 year old son play for his school team. He plays second-row, i.e. in the middle of the scrum. As a scrum detached he came off the pitch, fell to the ground and complained of loss of feeling in his lips and fingers. An ambulance duly arrived and he was put on a stretcher and had his head, neck, arms and legs strapped down and was whisked off to A & E. Four hours later it was confirmed that there was no spinal damage, just torn ligaments and muscles. He won’t be able to play again for around 10 weeks, but I guess you could say he was lucky. As a typical 15 year old, he just complained that his stay in hospital meant he’d missed the quarter final of the World Cup between England and Australia on television.
Now I played rugby for several years and apart from a few cuts bruises and many a bloody nose, I suffered little in the way of injuries. It’s a brilliant sport, but as you say it’s the scrum where the damage is done. When my son goes onto the field again in January, will I be nervous? Oh yes. If my daughter comes to me in two years time and asks me if she should carry on with rugby, I’m not sure what I’ll say.
As to Football, while in my late 20s I played the odd game. For a reason I couldn’t work out at first my friends, when organising the team, thought it would be a good idea if I was quarterback. I was of course completely hopeless at it and spent the next couple of hours being hammered from all directions. Thanks guys
My son is only five, but I’ve already resolved to let him play whatever sport he wants. I’ll be like you – nervous – but like you imply, one can’t take the sharp edges off of life, you just have to be ready to deal with things when they happen.
Check out this link
and after your finished serch Jona Lomu in you tube.
Rugby didn’t go as far as it could in the us cause one of your big universitys deemed it too dangerous and promoted american football instead.
Football is to boxing what Rugby is to the UFC.
Ha Ha South Africa won the world cup! Unlike America; when the world cup is involved, most countries from around the globe actually participate. America has the world series, which only America takes part in. That does not make sense at all. You yanks got kicked out in the first round and you only have 3 actual americans in your rugby squad, hell not even your coach is American; he’s Australian! I agree with Chabal; Rugby is like UFC so face it, you Americans just can’t play a real man’s game, thats why you guys invented American football. America is useless at rugby!!!
Alot of these comments are for the shock value. Most of them are from 12 year old Europeans that pop out of their mothers womb with “I hate America!” as their first words.
I never liked rugby. I tried to get into it but the mechanics of the game just never settled well with me. Sure rugby was hard hitting, but I don’t want to see turnovers just because one player was downed. I want to see constant collisions. I want to see every man on the line involved. I want to see neck-breaking hits and blurring speed. I want to see the 350 pound center drop a defensive linemen with one hand. I want to see wide receivers do triple backflips when they jump to catch a high-thrown ball and get sandwiched by defenders from either side. I want to see a fullback use the strength of his legs to push through a mountain of defenders and score. For me, rugby just didn’t have that excitement. Now I’m not saying rugby isn’t a sport, or it isn’t a respectable sport, because I believe any sport that is as physically demanding as American football and rugby SHOULD be respected. Thats just my opinion though.
Well if tou read my comment properly Rich Porter; you would see that I’m a proudly South African supporter! I am from South Africa! Not some European! S.A kicked Europes ass in the world cup! Oh, and just to let you know, I have finished school and not some young kid. Besides, I don’t know what game you were watching because Rugby is the shit! You just can’t play! You are probably from “The home of the brave” (Ha what a joke!!!). All the players play a key role in the sport and have to be exceptionally fit to play an 80 minute game! Most american football players are over-weight and obese , they couldn’t run a kilometre without craving a big mac or loosing their breathe. Im tired of hearing American’ “offence” & “defence” play crap. Get the job done and play the game right without little breaks on the side! American football lacks dicipline and most of all; balls!!!
It sounds like you have fuck all knowledge of the game of rugby. Are you judging toughness or injury prone accidents related to its respected sport? Since I thoroughly conclude that your knowledge or rugby is at the most optimistic very, very, very slim to sweet fuck all, you should not judge it as you have. Your facts also seem very calculated, thought out and reasoned. I hope you do not waste any more of your time on the topic and more importantly any other sorry prick (like myself) that has stumbled on what is a good debatable topic.
Previous message to the formal attention of the author or this article in discussion.
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Gareth try not to be so pompous will you. SA put on a dazzling performance and to be honest I was cheering them all the way and as a prop(who never played football btw) the SA front row is full of my idols. But some of the things you’re saying are down right insulting and quite frankly detract from the discussion. Do try to be a bit more intelligent in your responses as you’re representing rugby players on a whole and not just yourself.
Extra P- my kinisiology professor said that football holds a 110% injury rate do you have any figures on rugby per chance?
TX – I’m sure anecdotal evidence would suggest a similar rate of injury in rugby. I know that in football, there’s a difference between “hurt” and “injured”. Everyone plays hurt, but team doctors try to draw a line between pain and further damage to the body.
Made-up country ay?
Come over to Australia and see how it’s done.
I agree with Gareth, put your pads and helmet back on.
I may not be a South African but a big fan of their rugby, that’s how it’s done.
This is for all you guys arguing over which sport is better. theres a pretty simple answer, there isn’t a better sport. Its all personal preference as to which you enjoy, but NONE IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER!! And neither one has anything to do with manlyness, I’m a 17 year old girl & i represent club, county and region for rugby, but given the chance I would try American Football as I enjoy watching it, and don’t understand why people make such a fuss over the difference. The importnt bits are the same, get the ball over the line and have a good time with team mates as you do it. Both games are about putting yourself on the line for the good of your team mates and the game.Is anything else really important other than that? It should never be about which is better, who is manlier, you should respect other sports, and the dedication and time that people put into improving themselves so that they can play, and the sport for the supporters, it doesn’t matter which sport you like. I hope no one takes offense at what I have said, and i hope you all understand where I’m coming from.
Well said, Rexy. That’s pretty much what I was trying to say with the piece – some fifty comments ago. But what a wonderful response from fans of both games.
Thank you, it wa very interesting to read people’s opinions on it, bt it all boils down to the same in the end I believe. And I tink your article was truly well meant, and you realy did try to represent both sports well, espite your lack of exerience where rugby is concerned. And the comment about you not understnding the rules is because (I think) you have got rugby league and rugby union confused with each other, as they have different set of rules, and even after watching rugby since I was 8, when i started to play, it did confuse me!! So nothing to be overly concerned about!
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TX Rugger, dont be a fag its got everything to do with the discussion. Its rugby vs. american football. try read the all the comments before you try to sound intelligent.
bottom line; american football is gay. rugby rules! rugby is global whilst “football” is basically only in N.America.
i have played both , out side l/b – d end for gridiron and # 8 – lock for rugby, i have seen dislocation ,brusies and plain old hurt in both games .
as for size fitness etc i am 250lbs – 115kg – 6ft 1 – 186cm and the biggest hits ive had in either game have come from wippets half my size
as an aussie i have a prefence to rugby – but get over it they are both great
my thoughts exactly – there’s room for both!
i play rugby, in a reply to mike white:
“Perhaps it’s because I’m not familiar with rugby, but exactly how do rugby players tackle differently from football players? Do we still see decleaters, or do rugby players only do just enough to bring the player down?”
We’re no longer allowed to tackle around the neck… ‘cos too many people died, this does however, let us dump tackle them, where we pick them up and slam them back down into the floor, winding them from anyhting from a couple of seconds to a few minutes… fun!
Since i play as a winger, im meant to be tackled quite a lot… due to my startling speed and unexpected strength, i dont get tackled, and when i do, i break the tackle and sprint over the line and round back behind the posts, cos im nice and considerate of the person who has to convert the ball
by the way, im 13 and i know more that you… put that in your pipe and smoke it
I am a rugby enthusiast, and you sir are a dumbass. When a rugby player goes down the ball is not always turned over . Also i would like 2 point out that substitutions are made when there isn’t an injury. American Football = gay.
only 1 type of football. why is ‘american football’ called football?
I have also played both sports,but rugby semi-professially. I wouldnt put down american football in any way because no matter what anyone says; the hits are definatley different. if you blindside a player around the legs while he’s in the air in rugby your banned for a looong time. but i do say this to the writer of this article(whos probably sitting at home playing computer games thinking that he is an experienced journalist because his roomate played a bit of rugby) DONT write about something you couldnt talk about for more than 30 secs you idiot, self preservation? why dont you rub some more exzema cream on your face you unbelivable nerd.
regards
you misunderstood the rules badly for rugby. you are allowed subs. also, the ball is not always turned over as soon as you are tackled. there are things called rucks. try playing the game you skinny cunt
ive never played football, except backyard ball. i did play rugby 3 years for longwood university in VA though. never have i played such a perplexing sport where I could take a 230 lb stud out of the game after a crash off a ruck and then turn around and get dumped on my ass by a 150 lb back fielder.
i believe it takes more skill to “hit” in rugby. your not allowed to shoulder check, your not allowed to chop them down, and just because you put someone on the ground doesnt mean your done. youve also got to ruck (if your worth a shit). and that is where rugby will get more raw than football ever will. any injury ive ever given or incurred (broken nose, split head, concussion, etc) happened in a ruck. you should get in one.
sure, NFL players could play in the IRB, and IRB players could play in the NFL. athletes from either are in great shape. i got nothin on that topic.
First of all, I gotta say the rugby lads who have given ‘holier than thou’ answers, this isn’t footy (or soccer depending where you live) so come on, representent the gentlemans game like gents.
Right, I used to play as a tighthead prop (bloke who has about 35-40 stone of force exerted on his neck in a scrum) and have represented school, college, county and even went as far as tryouts for the Wales under 20’s squad. Unfortunately I messed my knee up in a car accident so my playing days are over in the respect of amateur going for pro status.
Having said that I played some American Football at Uni in Chester, as a blocker, but only played a couple of matches, so I can say that I have some experience of both games.
AF I must say, while being a good laugh, very explosive and a really physical game, isn’t for me. The fact it is set pieces everytime, and the fact I did the same job over and over wasn’t that entertaining for me. I played my role in winning (or in most cases losing!) a match, but it never excited my as much as rugby does.
Rugby, albeit not as brutal as AF, is what I call sport. You have a job to do, my main job being using my hefty bulk and power to drive the ball forewards into equally as big bastards (I weigh 19 stone), protecting the ball, and generally scrapping for it. But as well as that, the dynamics and strategy of the game meant I was having to fill in for the second row, and sometimes as a winger. It’s such a dynamic and progressive game, you must specialise in your psition, but be prepared to fill in everyother position. To become a professional imagine how good you need to be.
I’m not trying to take away from AF the level of proffesionalism and athleticism that is posessed at top level, but at grass roots level rugby is by far the more approachable. I think that is why it is a more internationally recognised and played sport.
As for the whole machoism aspect, AF provides the more brutal collisions per game. But don’t take anything away from rugby: go to youtube and search for Try Savers And Rib Breakers.
Both sports shouldn’t compete, but infact complement each other. None is better than the other because at the end of the day it is sport, and one team can be victorious one day (AF) against the weaker side (rugby), and one day vice-versa. A good example is 2003 World Champions and 2007 Finalists being given a good and proper beating by the Welsh, who were written off after the world cup. C’mon boyos!
In closing, I suppose all I can say is this: Anybody going out to play a game where they know it’s going to hurt and they do it willingly to the best of their ability deserves respect. They are the hard guys!
-Ant The Taff
Thanks for the interesting article, Extra P. I am an Englishman form a Rugby playing family but I live in the States and am a fan of Football. Rugby is plenty tough and requires more endurance than Football, but if anyone thinks Football players are wimpy for wearing pads has clearly never seen the sport. The hits are massive, and while you get some big hits in Rugby (especially Rugby League) they are no where near as consistently bone crunching as in Football. The reason for that is tactical, of course. Every inch counts in Football, which is not the case in Rugby, and Rugby can, and often does, keep on going after a tackle.
Anyway, I’d also like to tell those rude Rugby fans from above that they are massive bell-ends.
Thanks, Nick. This article has had more commentary by far than any other I have written. In part, I can attribute that response to the fact that I clearly lost my struggle to understand rugby rules. However, I do think it’s a great sport, and have watched a few televised matches since this early attempt to make friends with it.
Extra P, in all fairness mate you have at least attempted to understand the game, so as nick has said ignore any negative feedback because they obviously haven’t attempted to understand football and don’t respect the fact that although it is different to their tastes it is still a fantastic and fierce game. Keep trying to learn and understand, because you can then appreciate how equally fantastic and fierce rugby is. Great article, will be coming back regularly check the new responses! – Ant The Taff
I played football in high school and currently play rugby in college. They are very different sports. I prefer to play rugby (some of that may be my teamates… in high school i was the only girl and most of the guys weren’t too happy about it) but my favorite thing about rugby is that every player gets a chance at the ball, everyone runs, passes, tackles, and is completely involved. I still love football, and was soooo excited when the giants won the superbowl (yea NY!) Neither sport is better. different people prefer different sports and are good at different sports. I do feel like rugby is easier to pick up later in life, but maybe that’s just me.
and the tackling thing… coming off of football i did football tackle a girl once by accident. i’m never doing that again! my head hurt for weeks. in rugby, you have to put your head behind the player since you dont have a helmet on.
as for most injuries happening in the scrum, i havent really observed that to be true. it’s illegal to collapse the scrum, and i havent seen an injury there on my team. i play flanker, so i’m not right in there, but most injuries we’ve had have been from tackling/being tackled
Ive never played american football but ive watched it plenty (im from england) and i play rugby for my city (im 17 so its not like big time yet lol) and i have to say thsi debate about which tackles are the hardest is easy to solve and that is american football. evrey play theres at least one bone crunching thing happen.
the pain comes from rucks and mauls in rugby, in places were the referees cant see. being stamped on your face is one of the worst feelings and pain ive ever had and required a 4 hour wait in A&E and 14 stitches. In rugby its a given that when your in rucks and mauls you will get punched, kicked and stamped accidental or not it all hurts.
Also as far as i can see in AF there is few rules about the tackle. i know your not aloud to grab the face mask and there may be a few more im not sure about but ive seen people clothes lining opposition tackling with just there shoulder (shoulder charge) and takeing people out in the air all of which are illegal in rugby and usually end in a 10 minuite rest on the sideline (sin bin).
It seems that the common census on the matter is that rugby is more physically demanding. theres no way u can rest in rugby. People have the common misconception that if your not running your recovering well i tell you tackling takes it out of you, driving in rucks and mauls tires your leg muscles not to mention getting tackled yourself takes the air out of you.
You say that there are guys in Af that would make big dents in defences well i wouldnt of thought so. yes they are amazing athletes. powerfull and evreything but they dont just grow in america, those types of people live all around the world. i mean look at the likes of lesley vanikolo, chebal, jonah lomu. I mean jonah lomu could run the hundred in 10.9 seconds and weighed 19 stone. the Urlacher, Peppers, Freeney, Shockey etc. would even die at the hands of jonah. 😀
I was born into a rugby playing family going back three generations and so I am of course biased, but for me rugby is the more entertaining, dynamic, exciting and by far the toughest (in terms of physical and mental stamina) contact sport in the world. Coming from Zimbabwe, I have never had the oportunity or the priviledge of playing American Football, so bear that in mind when you read my comments.
I have tried to watch American Football many times, but just cannot get into it. The fact that play stops every time someone is tackled, and that you have effectively 2 teams playing for each team breaks up the action too much for my liking. I agree there are huge hits (partially I assume because the players feel invincible with all that armour) and that there is a chess like strategy (decided by the coach), and there are exciting and skillful plays where the Quarter Back throws the ball with pinpoint accuracy to a running back (?) who the goes on to score a touchdown, often with a great deal of histrionics and tubthumping. The commercial guys definitely know their stuff, just look at all the money in the game. I find watching this game is very slow and one dimentional though, with specialist players for every position. Offensive forwards, defensive blockers, guys who chuck the ball foreward and guys who run forward to catch it. And even a guy who is just wheeled on to kick the ball and then sent back to the bench after his 30 seconds of competition. Bottom line for me, there is too much talk and not enough action (again I assume I have this impression because there are so many breaks). Definitely an apples and oranges thing though, as there is obviously a huge following in the States.
I have read this article and the responses with much interest and have a few comments to help our American friends understand a few things that will help them from better opinions of the world’s greatest contact sport. This is not a rugby cornucopia but a brief glance at a sophisticated yet brutal sport.
Firstly there are three very different types of rugby. Rugby Union (15 a side), Rugby League (13 a side) and Rugby Sevens (7 a side).
Rugby League is what I think the Author, and some of the commentators is mixing up with Rugby Union. There are big hits in Rugby League, but it is also a very one dimentional game. I don’t like it. You have 13 very physical players running up the field trying to gain territory and reseting the ball every time they are tackled. On the 6th tackle they have to give posession to the other team or kick and score. It is a lot like American Football in this respect. The game was created at a time when Rugby Union players were attemting to keep it amateur, and Northern regions of the UK wanted their players to be paid for competing as many could not afford to play otherwise.
Rugby Union went professional only about 13 years ago and since then has evolved to a position in world sport that American Football will never reach. It is accessible to anyone who can afford boots (most countries in the world) and now has professional structures where players can make a career out of the game. It is played by 15 people each side. These are split into forwards (Numbers 1 to 8), who are used in set piece scrums and lineouts (but also compete in open play mainly in rucks and mauls), and backs, who are used in back play (but also compete with forwards in rucks and mauls) where moves to out manoeuvre the opposition are played out with the objective of scoring a try over the oppostion’s tryline. The tactics employed by the backs in Rugby Union offer some of the most exciting play for the spectator, with miss moves, dummy passes, scissors, chip kicks, and other flambuoyant creations that provide a variety that I just do not see in American Football.
Rugby is played by girls and boys, women and men, and at its best is every bit of the “show” that American Football is. Also in this professional Era, the players in Rugby Union are supreme atheletes, honed by years of practice into being tough, fast, physical and above all thinking sporting machines. It is not enough for a player to be just good at tackling, or just good at kicking, or just good at running fast. All players need to be dynamic enough to play in open field in any position. Forwards need to be mobile enough to pass and run with the ball, and backs need to be physical enough to compete for posession against the opposition forwards. All players need to be fit enough to rampage around the field, making tackles and scoring tries for a good 40 minutes each way. The laws of the game are designed to limit stoppage time to an absolute minimum. Also every player needs to be able to make on-the-fly tactical decisions, at the same time as executing the coaching staff’s strategy. Do they play for territory or do they play fast and loose, do they kick a grubber kick (along the ground) or an Up-and-Under ( high kick chased by the backs), or even a cross field kick to the winger to catch and score in the corner. Players cannot just come onto the field and say ok I am here to push in the scrum and make some territory. It is a truly rounded dynamic game that can be played by all shapes and sizes from amateur level up to professional level (if the player is extremely fit). Even physically small players can have an enormous impact on a game.
On tackling, there are several different types of tackle. In an oncoming tackle in open play, a player needs to position himself at the last moment to aim at the somach/waist with their shoulder, wrap both arms around the opponent (prefably after knocking the living daylights out of them) and then sliding down to lock the opponents legs together so they fall down. Even the smallest player can take out a big player with this style. An important note is to make sure your head is on the side of the opponent that is not going to hit the ground, and certainly never use your head (physically) to take out an opponent (unless you are like a Yappie Saffa in the comments above, in which case it will not make much of a difference). Once the opponent is tackled, the tackler must immediately get to their feet to compete for posession and effect a turnover and then run for the opposition tryline. This is all without stopping to consult the coach if his strategy has changed, or proclaiming to the world that you have tackled someone, feel manly about it, and deserve some attention and credit for your actions.
When you are chasing down an opponent with a ball, you can either smother tackle him or ankle tap him. An ankle tap is straight forward; you dive for the player and tap his ankle to put him off balance and hopefully fall over. Or, if you are close enough you can smother tackle them. This is more difficult but more effective. You basically dive for your opponent and wrap your arms around their shoulders/torso to prevent them from passing the ball.
Every tackle has to have intent. i.e. to prevent an opposition player with the ball from gaining territory. This way the spectators attention is always on the ball and the ball carrier and his tackler, without being distracted by loads of other players running around blocking each other in individual battles.
Another major point on the tackle in rugby when compared to American Football, is that rugby players know it is going to hurt if they get nailed. There is no false security in thinking that “it will be ok be ok because I am waring padding”. It is real contact man on man, and it breeds players who can handle that kind of physicality in the real world where there is no padding.
I think the most common injury in Rugby is ACL Knee injury. This is in part due to the brutality of the tackle, and part due to the violent jinking and change of direction that players make when trying to evade a tackle or out manoeuvre the opposition. The modern game has come a very long way in limiting the exposure to injury of players, while at the same time alowing the kind of free flowing play and legitimate bone shaker tackles that we see in top flight rugby. High tackles around the neck, spear tackles (driving the tacklee head first into the ground) and tackling in the air have been outlawed. Also studs (cleats) have evolved so they no longer have sharp edges capable of tearing a player to shreads. So while the inherent danger of playing rugby has not been eliminated, it had been considerably reduced.
And finally Rugby Sevens, and as a back, this is my favourite form of the game. Rugby 7s is usually played in a tournament, with 16 to 24 sides playing 7 minutes each way, with seven people on each side. It is high octane action, with big hits and high speed chases. Every player gets to run with the ball. And this is what really makes rugby the best game in the world. The primal instinct of hunting down or running away from opponents, and the satisfaction of scoring a try or tackling your opponent in such a way as they are unlikely to forget you, or get up without the aid of the physio and medical team.
One last general observation on rugby is that it is the last true form of gentlemanly combat and organised social thuggary. Teams can thump seven shades out of each other for 80 minutes on the field, treating the opposition as they would a mortal enemy and then shake hands at the end as a show of genuine respect for a fellow combatant. It is not in every sport that you can do that, and then go out for a beer with your team mates, and the opposition.
I think American Football players would make excellent rugby players, once the nuances of the game are acquired, and the players are conditioned to doing more than just following the orders out of the coaches playbook. Even the biggest lumps could compete on the rugby field if they followed the fitness regime of a professional rugby outfit. On the other hand I do not think Rugby players would make good American football players, as they would get bored too easily, and find the strictures of the playbook too constraining.
In conclusion I have to agree with the Author about being apples and oranges, the sports are very different. The players however are not necessarily different. After all, everyone posesses those primal instincts with the desire to work together as a team at the same time as displaying individual brilliance in the face of equally determined opposition. The competition and cameraderie are common to both sports. If USA rugby could recruit some NFL players with the ability and skill necessary to compete successfully in rugby, I reckon the USA could be a formidable force in world rugby. The commercial environment is already there, and I reckon it is only a matter of time. Until then you can expect the rest of the world to regard Americans as being primarily concerned with their isolationist sports and only fielding mercentary rugby teams for one reason only; They do not want to be fairly beaten on the world stage by “made-up countries” who follow the world’s purest contact sport.
I think the only real way for most people on this blog to determine which sport is tougher or has the most bone crushing hits is to give each a chane. I’m American so if you had asked me this question a few years ago i would have ignorantly said “football of course” but this is only because i had never played rugby before. Two years ago i joined a rugby team, primarily just to see what it was all about, i was blown away. Football probably has the harder hits because of the use of pads. Sorry fellow rugby players but its true, but this doesn’t make football the tougher sport. If you put half the players from the nfl in a rugby game they wouldn’t be able to keep up. The constant play of rugby is insane. Defensive tackles from football are usually about to die from exhaustion after ten minutes, with breaks. The only real time you’ll see a substitution in rugby is when a player gets injured and has to leave the field, (usually the refs decision, not the players). The absence of pads means a rugby player couldn’t possible play as agressively as a football player, if they did they would have very short careers or be dead. Football’s injuries usually come from some getting body checked. This rarely happens in rugby because a player can only tackle by a wrap-up (this is to ruduce injuries). Most rugby injuries come from what you can’t protect yourself from. Once tackled a rugby player is at the mercy of everyone around him rucking for the possesion of the ball. If the opposite team feels that the player on the bottom of the ruck is not playing the ball fairly then they usually decide to force that player to by using his cleets.
Giving someone the boot is where most rugby injuries occour. Both sports have their fair of excitment and wonder but comparing them is almost impossible. The only thing we can all agree on is that soccer (football for everyone else) is the sport we can all talk down upon. i mean come on they’re just fairies prancing around.
I’ve played both divison 1aa football and division 1 rugby in college and if I had to say that it really is impossible to compare based on pure virtue of the game its self. In football as a linebacker I would chase the ball with a reckless abandon that was needed to compete at that level. There could be know other thought in your mind than playing your responsibility then demolishing the player with the ball and punishing him for every inch of ground he took.
This is only possible in football because of the pads they wear. If players in rugby would try to play with that kind of hatred there would be so many injuries that an 80 min game would be impossible no matter how conditioned the players are.
Rugby requires a different mindset all together. My biggest problem when i first started playing rugby i high school was that I would try to enter in every ruck and cover the whole feild on defense. To play rugby the killer instict must still be there but players also have to be aware that some times an anti-climatic wrap tackle giving up maybe a meter is often to their advantage instead af a big hit into the the attackers support.
> “from such made-up countries as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand”
Hillarious… and I’m from one of them.
PONGAN LA PAG EN CASTELLANO PUTOS
I realize this is an older arguement, but I just need to point out something. American Football players hit harder, but less often. Rugby Football players put forth more tackles, but with less force behind them. Fox Sports Network’s Sports Science compared the two athletic events and determine that Rugby and American Football player typically exert the same amount of force over the course of a game/match.
rugby is dynamic, the game only stops for a scrum, lineout or penalty
football stops for every tackle!!! wtf its so boring to watch
> “from such made-up countries as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand”
HAHAHA, still laughing and I am from Australia.
Since I am originally South African though, please allow me to apologise for the arsehole South African earlier on. He must have migrated there from a made-up country such as Liberia, Nigeria or Libya.
I love rugby and yes, most injuries occur at scrum engagement and the 2nd most popular time is when/if it collapses.
The major concern in rugby injuries are cervical/spinal injuries and also concussions. Thanks to the author of the article for not being a biased knob and those that have contibuted – it’s been a good read (except for that dumb arse Saffer).
Thanks to you, too, Darren.
One thing you learn when you write for public consumption is that someone is always willing to take your head off, regardless of what you write, so I don’t mind the shouters.
Thanks for reading and responding. This has easily been the most commented post i ever wrote.
ive always wanted to play rugby but ive just been scared id get killed so ive been wondering if you can wear any type of padding?
Rugby union is FUN and so is the worldwide culture!
What’s better, is that it is truly a lifetime sport. You wouldn’t think so, but it’s true. I started playing at age 42. Couldn’t have done that with gridiron football.
Some info for beginners: http://www.rugbyfootball.com/begin.html
Not quite your usual FAQ. Check it out! And, better yet, find a club and start playing! I am talking to you, Extra P!) You will wonder why you didn’t before – honest.
Wes “Brigham” Clark
I would have to diasagree with ‘US Rugby player’s opinion that “Giving someone the boot is where most rugby injuries occour” – While USA Rugby has done much to limit the use of boots in match play, there is only one ref and 30 players – do the math and you’ll figure out that indeed there is some use of the boot, in both contesting for possession in loose play and in the self-policing that goes on during a match. Use of the boot in possession contests used to be well within the laws and that is why it has not been wholly abandoned in the repertoirs of rugby-playing nations (particularly at the international level). However, I would have to say that boots may cause players to be “hurt” not “injured”. If you don’t know the difference, you’ve probably never endeavored to participate in a contact sport of any kind.
Very seldom is there enough force to bare in a boot to cause true injury – it is a nudge, a reminder if you will, that you’re behavior on the pitch (field of play) has been found offensive. If you have willfully disregarded the laws of the game and engaged in dangerous play it may be necessary to reintroduce you to your constant vulnerability during the 80 minute contest. However, more often than not boots come into play to remind a ball carrier that they must release the ball when tackled in order to keep the ball alive – holding of the ball in a ruck is a violation of the rules and one of the most certain ways to meet the bottoms of an aluminum studded boot. It was within the laws for many years to use the boots to “dig the ball out” of a ruck in open play, because it is likewise unlawful to reach your hands in to secure an unfair advantage.
The most damaging of Rugby Union injuries come in the collapse of the scrummage, however the IRB and USA Rugby have done much to reduce the likelihood of these collapses. I would venture to say that the most frequent injuries are likely those of collision in the open field followed closely by the poor soul who finds themselves in a vulnerable spot when one of more players falls on an awkwardly bent or otherwise exposed limb or joint. These are not the most severe, but clearly the most frequent cause of both injuries and “hurts”, and the distinction between the two should be clear in the assessment of overall risk.
Now if you want to add Rugby League to the mix, I will remain on the edge of my seat to hear what next may ensue in the way of opinion and conjecture. I’ve played them all, and I have enjoyed them all. Clearly, I would be drawn and quartered in parts of the world for admitting that I enjoy both Rugby Union and Rugby League, but I am an American and I needn’t make a choice. Rugby Union is played primarily in Spring and Fall in the US (the majority anyway, and certainly in the Eastern states) while Rugby League is played in the Summer. While the 7-a-side game is available in the summer for the right style of rugby player (primarily backs and the more agile loose forwards), the larger, more sturdy fowards can gain much from the League format of play. Let the speculation begin… anyone having any?
I’m from New Zealand, the country with the greatest rugby passion in the world (with the possible exception of Wales and South Africa.)
I played rugby for years, and love it.
A lot of people have already commented on this, but Rugby hits are not as hard as NFL hits because players MUST use their arms to wrap up the ball carrier in rugby.
In rugby, shoulder charging and big flying headbutts would get you banned for the rest of the season. The tackler must use his arms to grab the ball-carrier, or he gets penalised.
If you want to understand the workload of a rugby player, tune in to any All Blacks match, but ONLY watch the number 7, Ritchie McCaw (Captain of the All Blacks, and widely regarded as one of the VERY BEST in the world) all game. His work-rate, fitness, skill-set, intelligence, speed and courage are incredible.
If Batman played rugby, he’d play like Ritchie. 🙂
I’m sure there are Pro Footballers like that too, but I’m just sticking to what I know.
I played football from youth to college and have been playing union since. One element that causes a huge hit difference in the sports that has not been mentioned (at least in my perusing of this blog) is the block that is legal in AF. I played linebacker and on every single play I was head to head with some pretty big fellows. Union players need only to worry about contact from the ball carrier that they are tackling. It makes a huge difference.
Both of these sports require mental and physical toughness. Those that say football can be played by morons are simply ill informed. Play the sport at a competitive level. The offensive and defnesive schemes and responsibilites are intricate and near infinite. A large portion of my time in college was devoted to studying film of our opponents and going over game plans and play calls. Backyard (recreational, casual) football is more insitnctual. Rugby is largely instinct mixed in with phases that resemble downs but are quite different.
To the South African talking about how poor US Rugby is: You are correct. US Rugby struggles in international play. However, rugby is not our most popular sport by any stretch of the imagination. I am sure you guys could suit up with our “girly helmets” and line up across from these “obese neanderthals” and get a thorough beating, so calm the chest beating down. Rugby is growing in the US and hopefully will become more and more recognized as the great game that it is. The more sports the better.
Rugby vs Gridiron
The injuries in Rugby are tenfold in comparison to Gridiron…not only due to no body armor, helmet…but also Rugby is 80 minutes flat out so you get tired, susceptible to big hits..and new substitutions introduced who are fresh and therefore a tired player will get smashed even more.
Gridiron play lasts 5 secs and the players in tights come off EXHASUTED, get to rest, recuperate, even plug in Oxygen mask, players interchanged constantly….there is a total average playing tiime of 12 minutes in an nfl Gridiron game…and lets say its 50-50 possession game that means each team plays for 6 minutes…AND only a few players actually play for the full 6 minutes (example being Quarterback)…so a Gridiron marathon can last up to 4 hrs….6 minutes of that is playing time. This caters for huge obese people of which there are 56% in nfl Gridiron, so people that would have no chance to play sports such as Football or Rugby can then play Gridiron.
Rugby is for athletes
Gridiron is for non athletes
Just one of the endless reasons why Gridiron will never be accepted outside US.
‘Once a ballcarrier is down in rugby, the ball is turned over, regardless of yardage gained.’ biggest load of bullocks ever.
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