Rugby&Rugby League Vs American football & Basketball (Page 2)

sprocket girl: to clarify from the start i am a football (soccer) fan...
however i watch all sports..

in fairness i believe american football is mostly a sport of specific skills in specific positions. a game of strategy that most people over look, seeing it as a game of force and power which i dont believe it is.

basketball, is quite physical.. not compared to rugby or american football however. more a game of footwork and precision. much like baseball, a game of muscle memory.

rugby is the more brute physical of the three. this is by not only design but also, intensity. the build up can be fast and hard hitting, while a scrum can be brute force.

i really dont see the sports as comparable, besides american football having positions named similar, though playing differently.. while basketball actually has little in common with either.

i prefer rugby of the three...

last i will add, hockey though off topic is in my opinion the fastest and most intense sport i have ever spectated. the play is intense to the point that the players only participate in short substitution rotations.

interesting topic.. i love the views of people committed to the sport they support, have passion for and follow

The13th: I actually don't like the use of word violent in sports like rugby league. While they physically test each other out, no one ever think of any individual players as violent. Player sometime get a perfect hit resulting in concussion but I bet they later have a drink and said some punk like "u hit like my missus". In fact there is almost a rule that the bigger u are the more gentle in manner u r.
Hard yakka is probably a better way to describe some of these men.

Big Bopper: The scrum in rugby union is quite remarkable. Each side has ~850 kg of mankind, the referee lines them up so they are in contact at the same height, then commands they push against the other side. His role in the scrum is to ensure both sides push at identical angles both vertically and horizontally, such that the relative strength is accurately determined by only a few cm and, usually the team that puts the ball in keeps the ball beneath them. You are penalized if you try to drag the other side down and the defending team can cause a turnover by pushing the posessing team back such that they are over the ball.

I find the variety of skills in union quite entertaining. The passing, the line-outs morphing into a pass, run or maul, kicking at any time by any player, the drop goal...I just love watching it. And I agree there is no violence.

Big Bopper: Watching Super Rugby (Union) playoffs, and it's great to see the total committment by these young men.

The13th: Sorry what's super rugby. Rupert Murdoch is not creating another of his commercial rugby competition is he.

Big Bopper: Super Rugby is a Union Rules rugby competition in which three divisions compete; Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The13th: Our paid TV channel here sometime show a mixture of footy but no one really watch it. I only try to catch the 3 state of origin matches from Australia each year. Funny thing is, in 2012 when I travel to NSW for work, I am amazed to find that one of my colleague is actually the referee of Origin matches! Just a quite soft spoken fellow!

Big Bopper: Successful referees in rugby are an important part of the game. Their ability to communicate with the players is crucial both during the play and between plays. They are responsible for keeping the play going, yet stopping time for injury or rule interpretation. As rugby rules evolve to make the game safer, changes in the way the game is managed must be passed on to the player.

A good referee will allow both sides to compete to the highest level of their ability. A State of Origin referee is facing the highest level of potential contention, as this is a three game grudge match.

Big Bopper: The Super Rugby final was played August 2 before a crowd over 61 000. This exciting game ended in the last minute when Bernard Foley kicked a 45 metre penalty between the uprights, setting the final score at 33-32.

The New South Wales Waratahs got off to a 14 point head start. A point-a-minute half hour saw Waratahs take a 17-7 lead over their Crusader rivals from across the Tasman Sea. The first half ended with a NSW 20-14 lead.

A few minutes into the second half a nice try was scored by 125 kg Fijian (playing in Christchurch) winger Nemani Nadolo and converted by Colin Slade, tieng the score at 20-20. Slade came off the bench to replace Dan Carter after he suffered an ankle injury.

Player of the match was Adam Ashley-Cooper of NSW for his two try performance. Super Rugby has only been over for a week and I already miss it.

The13th: Perhaps for pure entertainment purpose we should have a league against union exhibition match so that all time greats from both side can have a go at each other.

Big Bopper: Good idea! To be meaningful, it must be a best of five (or more) series with the first four games of alternating rules and the fifth being decided...by the team with the fewest penalties?

Some of the top guys are attractive to franchises of both disciplines, the most valuable assets being speed, fitness, strength and willingness. I have watched very little league rugby but I did miss the union-style scrum, lineout and ruck in what games I have seen.

Big Bopper: The last few weeks have featured The Rugby Championsip with union teams from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Test rugby at its best.

The13th: Is union football on the decline? GB and France not coming? But its a lonely game. Downunder, so far away from civilization, they play it like its their last link to know civilization.

Big Bopper: I don't know the stats. I watch what makes me happy. I like the range of plays in union football. I really don't know.

Big Bopper: I've been watching The Rugby Championship...Australia, new Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. About as good as I've seen.

The name of this competition is just that...a name. Six Nations Cup would be a similar European competition. It IS amazing, the mileage these guys in the southern hemisphere travel. That alone should give the European teams a significant advantage come RWC in 2015...they are able to use their resources and energy on training and practice instead of flying around in the few years preceding this tournament.

Although ranked lower than South Africa and New Zealand, England looks the best to me. I watched their B team play some Super Rugby teams and they looked magnificent. The England A team has moved to 3 on the rankings ahead of Australia. The last Rugby Championship game between NZ and AUS was excellent and I gotta say that a game between any of the top 4 is something worth getting up early for. RWC 2015 being in North America means a lack of sleep for me.

Big Bopper: I watched my first rugby league test, New Zealand vs England, the other day. Fast pace and good hands. I enjoy the kicking aspect of union football...I think it adds greatly to the entertainment. It is easy to see why league is popular. There is not the same degree of physicality as union. Oh, yeah, there are some big hits but it is more speed oriented.

Then I watched a union test between England and New Zealand. Wow!

The13th: I am biased I belong to the Ricky Stuart Alan Langer era and I think today's league player never suppased that. All the very best things are done in 80s and 90s

Big Bopper: Then you have State of Origin...now THAT'S what physicality is all about! I don't think union football is declining. Possibly it isn't growing in popularity as fast as league football. The chance of injury is so much greater in union that it is more of a rich man's sport. If a guy must work the next day, his willingness is bound to decline on the field. There are healthy union leagues in UK and France, so the pro game is alive and well.

I'm just a spectator, so the more physical...the better!

The13th: Talk about state of origin of those era did bring tears to my eye. I remember one of the game 2, it was kind of so so for the first 10 minutes, then wally lewis and big Mark Gayer crashed and the pure emotion on their face, the sweat and steam as the chest off each other are unbelieveable. And the commentator gone wild and said "The State of Origin IS ON" as if the last 10 minutes are just players warming up :-)

But I left Australia for some years, occasionally catch the game on TV, but can no longer related to the current crops of players.

I guess I lost that loving feeling.