Is Rugby as Tough As American Football?

[OldSchoolLion]

This has always been a hotly debated topic.  Some Americans don't think rugby is as tough.  Well, it's hard to compare.  Because rugby players do not wear pads, they learn to make contact in a more controlled manner.  Rugby players would not be used to some of the vicious hits of the NFL.  And the speed and athleticism of some NFL players might outshine that of many pro rugby players.  But there is one huge difference in the game..rugby does not stop for breaks. 

The Denver Broncos played a rugby match against a pro rugby team and got obliterated.  The speed and athleticism advantage quickly faded after a few minutes of nonstop running and hard contact.  One player joked he was begging to be pulled from the game after a couple of minutes.  Rugby folks laugh when they see one of our huge lineman run back a long fumble recovery and need oxygen afterward.  Rugby can involve 4-5 miles of running in a game.    

Some folks may not realize that the average, elite level rugby players today go about 6'4", 235 pounds...big men, without big bellies.  It is a like a team of big linebackers.  Like our football players, they have "grown" over time, and injuries/concussions are becoming more of a concern.  A famous team from New Zealand, the All Blacks, does a traditional haka as a challenge before their matches.  It comes from the Maori warriors.   You might chuckle now, but you probably would not be doing so if you were standing in front of these guys.  It is very intense.  Imagine if we had something like that in football!

 

[s1nglewing]

Much better sportsmanship is enforced by rugby officiating.

[DisabledAccount]

11 hours ago, OldSchoolLion said:

This has always been a hotly debated topic.  Some Americans don't think rugby is as tough.  Well, it's hard to compare.  Because rugby players do not wear pads, they learn to make contact in a more controlled manner.  Rugby players would not be used to some of the vicious hits of the NFL.  And the speed and athleticism of some NFL players might outshine that of many pro rugby players.  But there is one huge difference in the game..rugby does not stop for breaks. 

The Denver Broncos played a rugby match against a pro rugby team and got obliterated.  The speed and athleticism advantage quickly faded after a few minutes of nonstop running and hard contact.  One player joked he was begging to be pulled from the game after a couple of minutes.  Rugby folks laugh when they see one of our huge lineman run back a long fumble recovery and need oxygen afterward.  Rugby can involve 4-5 miles of running in a game.    

Some folks may not realize that the average, elite level rugby players today go about 6'4", 235 pounds...big men, without big bellies.  It is a like a team of big linebackers.  Like our football players, they have "grown" over time, and injuries/concussions are becoming more of a concern.  A famous team from New Zealand, the All Blacks, does a traditional haka as a challenge before their matches.  It comes from the Maori warriors.   You might chuckle now, but you probably would not be doing so if you were standing in front of these guys.  It is very intense.  Imagine if we had something like that in football!

 

That's exactly how I feel about it 

 

2 completely different sports that can't be compared 

 

A rugby player can't just walk over to NFL and be the top guy and vise versa 

 

 

While some similarities exist it's still 2 different sports 

 

 

Anyway you ask if it's as tough as American Football, well that's all dependent on what you consider defines tough 

[dawgs]

didnt the best rugby player a couple years ago, make the 49ers?  cant think of his name, now I have to look it up

 

jarrod hayne.  played a little bit, wasnt bad in preseason, quit after a year-said he didnt want to learn a new playbook.  back to rugby, 

 

[DisabledAccount]

1 hour ago, dawgs said:

didnt the best rugby player a couple years ago, make the 49ers?  cant think of his name, now I have to look it up

 

jarrod hayne.  played a little bit, wasnt bad in preseason, quit after a year-said he didnt want to learn a new playbook.  back to rugby, 

 

Made it but wasn't top guy immediately 

 

Sure a rugby player may be good enough to make a roster but it's still a different game and requires a learning curve to proceed 

[s1nglewing]

One of the fastest (but not, by far, the most physical) on the USA 7's team was signed by the Eagles but released after an injury. Transitioned to 7's Rugby and has done very good. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2018/mar/05/perry-baker-usa-sevens-las-vegas-eagles-arc-uruguay

 

[gatorman-uf]

Got to see the Jacksonville Axemen (semi-pro team) play maybe 5-6 years ago. It is a very entertaining sport. I prefer 15s to the Rugby 7s that were played on TV recently or during the 2016 Olympics. Rugby 7s seems to much like pop warner football, give the fastest guy the ball and he can out run everyone.

As for physicality of Rugby vs Football, Rugby has better in shape players because of the demands of the sport. Football is 10 seconds of fury followed by 30 seconds of standing around, no such thing in Rugby. Do I think an Ezekiel Elliot would do just fine in Rugby? Yes, but beyond some LBs, Ss, and RBs, I am not sure who is playing Rugby successfully. Definitely, not our 300+ pound linemen. 

On a side note, if tackle football is going to be discouraged on the youth level, perhaps a combination of Flag Football and Youth Rubgy could help develop the skills for those boys.

[OldSchoolLion]

1 hour ago, gatorman-uf said:

Got to see the Jacksonville Axemen (semi-pro team) play maybe 5-6 years ago. It is a very entertaining sport. I prefer 15s to the Rugby 7s that were played on TV recently or during the 2016 Olympics. Rugby 7s seems to much like pop warner football, give the fastest guy the ball and he can out run everyone.

As for physicality of Rugby vs Football, Rugby has better in shape players because of the demands of the sport. Football is 10 seconds of fury followed by 30 seconds of standing around, no such thing in Rugby. Do I think an Ezekiel Elliot would do just fine in Rugby? Yes, but beyond some LBs, Ss, and RBs, I am not sure who is playing Rugby successfully. Definitely, not our 300+ pound linemen. 

On a side note, if tackle football is going to be discouraged on the youth level, perhaps a combination of Flag Football and Youth Rubgy could help develop the skills for those boys.

I like your suggestion.  Although there are concerns about concussions in rugby, the hits are a little more controlled and maybe not quite as violent as in football.  Most importantly, you have got to be in reasonably good shape to play rugby.  

A 325 pound hs lineman is morbidly obese.  Ask any medical professional.  Anyone who says it is "all muscle" doesn't understand physiology and how much of that weight is NOT muscle.  It is not healthy for these kids to be carrying that much weight.

Nearly half of all Black males have some form of cardiovascular disease.  It's a genetic thing.  Allowing any kid to be obese is bad, but for a Black kid it can be a sure way to set them up for a heart attack or stroke very early in life.  

 

[tanman]

There are 3 kids that I know have won a state championship in Rugby and Football in Florida. 2 from DP and 1 from St thomas. There are Rugby teams in South Florida, Jax, Tampa, Orlando,Sarasota and Cocoa Beach.  Rugby greatly improves tackling skills and fitness.I know a lot of football kids that their parents will not let themplay because they are afrias that they will get hurt.  Rugby is a low injury sport except for bumps and bruises.

 

[Hwy17]

It was sometime in the 1930's that the modern football was made smaller.  In the old days of leather helmets, American football was played with a rugby ball.  In fact there are some rules that are still around from that era, just not seen as much, such as using a drop-kick to advance the ball or a quick field goal. - Rugby balls are easier to kick and harder to throw; making the ball smaller lead to the development of the modern passing game.  Also if you look at pictures from that time period, football players were smaller and leaner than now.  I'd like to take some modern-day players, put them in leather helmets and pads, an old rugby ball and a 1920's rule book and see what it would be like. 

 

 

[OldSchoolLion]

4 minutes ago, Hwy17 said:

It was sometime in the 1930's that the modern football was made smaller.  In the old days of leather helmets, American football was played with a rugby ball.  In fact there are some rules that are still around from that era, just not seen as much, such as using a drop-kick to advance the ball or a quick field goal. - Rugby balls are easier to kick and harder to throw; making the ball smaller lead to the development of the modern passing game.  Also if you look at pictures from that time period, football players were smaller and leaner than now.  I'd like to take some modern-day players, put them in leather helmets and pads, an old rugby ball and a 1920's rule book and see what it would be like. 

 

 

Many Americans probably look at sumo wrestling as "bizarre."  Well, many foreigners think are linemen are bizarre.  Other than sumo and some of the weightlifting super-heavies, how many obese athletes do we see competing around the world?  

[DarterBlue2]

On 5/26/2018 at 1:03 PM, OldSchoolLion said:

Many Americans probably look at sumo wrestling as "bizarre."  Well, many foreigners think are linemen are bizarre.  Other than sumo and some of the weightlifting super-heavies, how many obese athletes do we see competing around the world?  

No place for them in most sports. In 2006 or 2007, I forget which year, Orlando Edgewater had four offensive linemen above 300 lbs and a fifth in the 290s. I thought this was just bizarre as in the 1980s this would have been huge for an NFL line let alone high school ...