Rugby or American Football!?

[Nakamura]

If I was ever going to watch either one seriously, it would be rugby for me and international competition. International is more fun than some league. Also, New Zealand and haka makes rugby instantly SEXY.

[teamwct]

Trojans will be holding taster sessions at Irvin Meadows ground in late May, pop down, put on some kit and see how it feels.

[Todd_is_God]

May? Doesnt your season start in April?

[Tamdunk]

I kind of like both American football and rugby, but prefer rugby league over union. Someone mentioned 40 yard bursts and vertical jumps a few posts up. Stamina is far more important in rugby than explosive bursts, not to say that rugby players aren't impressive athletes, they clearly are. American footballers don't really try to tackle, it's generally all about big hits.

The state of origin is a great sporting event (fight) think it was last year's I stuck it on and within 10 mins there was a dislocated arm and a broken leg. Mental.

England vs new Zealand at the last rugby league world cup was a phenomenal match, had everything you could want in a sporting contest. I love the drama in sport, and that's generally not hampered by what the sport is.

[Yank Mike]

I think the stop and start nature of American football is one of the great things about the sport.

 

1.You have 11 people on each side of the ball heading 11 different ways, doing 11 different things, and often what happened 50 yards away from the ball is just as important as what happened around the ball. You need the stoppage in play to watch the replay on tv or on the video board. It's the only way to fully comprehend what is happening in the game.

 

2. If it's a game you don't care that much about, the breaks provide an easy way to multitask while still following the game. DIcking around on the internet, cleaning your house, hanging out at the bar with friends, etc. The constant flow of games like rugby, British football, or hockey means you have to carve out time to focus fully on the game in a way you don't with American football.

 

 

As for the comments about strategy, I think American football does have the most complicated strategy and it's not even really close. The least complicated offensive positions (tailback, outside wide receiver, tackle) usually have a couple of different choices on each play based on the defensive alignment they encounter. The more complicated positions (center, guard, slot wide receiver, tight end) often have many different choices on each play. And that's if the quarterback doesn't change the play at the line of scrimmage after observing the defense. And then different positions much sometime react in an entirely new way if the defense shifts presnap, or breaks out an unexpectedly exotic scheme after the snap. And finally all 11 people have to make their decisions correctly or you end up with a broken play. All of these players have 10-15 seconds between the play call and the snap within which to make these decisions. American football is different from most sports because it involves both your normal sports read and react decisions within the flow of the game, but also forces the type of decision making on each play where you have a bit of time to stop and consider your options. And we haven't even discussed the offensive and defensive coordinators designing their overall schemes. These people can think on a different level from normal folks.

[surely not!]

I think the stop and start nature of American football is one of the great things about the sport.

1.You have 11 people on each side of the ball heading 11 different ways, doing 11 different things, and often what happened 50 yards away from the ball is just as important as what happened around the ball. You need the stoppage in play to watch the replay on tv or on the video board. It's the only way to fully comprehend what is happening in the game.

2. If it's a game you don't care that much about, the breaks provide an easy way to multitask while still following the game. DIcking around on the internet, cleaning your house, hanging out at the bar with friends, etc. The constant flow of games like rugby, British football, or hockey means you have to carve out time to focus fully on the game in a way you don't with American football.

As for the comments about strategy, I think American football does have the most complicated strategy and it's not even really close. The least complicated offensive positions (tailback, outside wide receiver, tackle) usually have a couple of different choices on each play based on the defensive alignment they encounter. The more complicated positions (center, guard, slot wide receiver, tight end) often have many different choices on each play. And that's if the quarterback doesn't change the play at the line of scrimmage after observing the defense. And then different positions much sometime react in an entirely new way if the defense shifts presnap, or breaks out an unexpectedly exotic scheme after the snap. And finally all 11 people have to make their decisions correctly or you end up with a broken play. All of these players have 10-15 seconds between the play call and the snap within which to make these decisions. American football is different from most sports because it involves both your normal sports read and react decisions within the flow of the game, but also forces the type of decision making on each play where you have a bit of time to stop and consider your options. And we haven't even discussed the offensive and defensive coordinators designing their overall schemes. These people can think on a different level from normal folks.

Once spoke with an ex international basketball player who told me that american football was the ultimate team game. Success hinges on all 11 players doing exactly the right thing at the right time, every play. Can't carry any passengers and the team with the best individual players rarely gets success- it's always about the full squad.

Love watching the game- and nfl redzone on sky sports is exactly what I'd like soccer Saturday to be ( although clearly the nature of fitba means it couldn't be done anywhere near as well).

[surely not!]

I kind of like both American football and rugby, but prefer rugby league over union. Someone mentioned 40 yard bursts and vertical jumps a few posts up. Stamina is far more important in rugby than explosive bursts, not to say that rugby players aren't impressive athletes, they clearly are. American footballers don't really try to tackle, it's generally all about big hits.

The state of origin is a great sporting event (fight) think it was last year's I stuck it on and within 10 mins there was a dislocated arm and a broken leg. Mental.

England vs new Zealand at the last rugby league world cup was a phenomenal match, had everything you could want in a sporting contest. I love the drama in sport, and that's generally not hampered by what the sport is.

State of origin is immense. The highest standard in the game. Love the fact that teammates from clubs ( and best mates on occasion) will smash each other and throw punches over defending the geographical area where they first played rugby! Crazy, traditional and unbelievably intense. If you only ever watch three games of rugby league a year, make sure it the origin series.