Rugby

JDSmith

JDSmith

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Anyone watch rugby? It's an outstanding game, it's actually fast becoming my favorite game - even over football. I started watching in November and since then I watch as many games as I can squeeze in - I basically have it on the tv all of the time. The players are as tough as they come, they have a football shaped ball, they score tries by touching the ball down in the endzone (I can only assume that's why we call them touchdowns), and the game essentially doesn't stop for 80 minutes. There are no tv timeouts, they play straight through 40 minute halves, and they only stop the half or the game on a stoppage of play (almost always when one teams kicks the ball out of bounds) so you'll see teams continue to play and score 2 and 3 minutes after the 'end' of the half or even the game. I'm still learning the nuances, but it's really a fantastic game to watch.

Usually during the offseason I'm watching Cowboys highlights and scouring the news for anything happening with the team, but this year I'm totally focused on the Super Rugby season and the British and Irish Lions touring New Zealand.
 
Jammer said:
I played Rugby in a city league years ago (1980-1981) and I had a great time so I do understand the game, but it's like baseball to me. It's a lot of fun to play but not as interesting to me to watch.

I did watch a lot of it during the last Olympics, which was fun.
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I don't watch a lot of Sevens, which they play in the Olympics, but I do watch some. It seems to me that we could create a world class Sevens team just made up of players who were great football players in college but not quite good enough for the NFL.
 
JDSmith said:
I don't watch a lot of Sevens, which they play in the Olympics, but I do watch some. It seems to me that we could create a world class Sevens team just made up of players who were great football players in college but not quite good enough for the NFL.
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That, I have no doubt. The USA has a tremendous pool of talent of football players that could be trained into rugby, but if there is no money in it then that talent won't be translated into rugby success.
 
Jammer said:
That, I have no doubt. The USA has a tremendous pool of talent of football players that could be trained into rugby, but if there is no money in it then that talent won't be translated into rugby success.
Click to expand...

Anyone talented enough should try it out. We could dominate with college players who aren't quite good enough for the NFL. Who wouldn't want to represent their country at the Olympics? It would be great.
 
Jammer said:
That, I have no doubt. The USA has a tremendous pool of talent of football players that could be trained into rugby, but if there is no money in it then that talent won't be translated into rugby success.
Click to expand...

Not a fan of rugby - but it is a very well paid professional sport in a few countries worldwide.
 
JDSmith said:
I don't watch a lot of Sevens, which they play in the Olympics, but I do watch some. It seems to me that we could create a world class Sevens team just made up of players who were great football players in college but not quite good enough for the NFL.
Click to expand...
The USA 7's team is very good, it's actually won a couple of major tournaments beating all the Worlds best 7's teams.
Star flyer Perry Baker is a former WR who had camp time with a couple of NFL teams including the Eagles.
 
There are 2 types of Rugby - Union and League.
If You're new to Rugby, try Rugby League, it has all the running and passing and tackling elements, but has none of the technical stuff, like rucks and mauls or lineouts and scrums, much easier for newbies to understand and appreciate.
 
JDSmith said:
Anyone watch rugby? It's an outstanding game, it's actually fast becoming my favorite game - even over football. I started watching in November and since then I watch as many games as I can squeeze in - I basically have it on the tv all of the time. The players are as tough as they come, they have a football shaped ball, they score tries by touching the ball down in the endzone (I can only assume that's why we call them touchdowns), and the game essentially doesn't stop for 80 minutes. There are no tv timeouts, they play straight through 40 minute halves, and they only stop the half or the game on a stoppage of play (almost always when one teams kicks the ball out of bounds) so you'll see teams continue to play and score 2 and 3 minutes after the 'end' of the half or even the game. I'm still learning the nuances, but it's really a fantastic game to watch.

Usually during the offseason I'm watching Cowboys highlights and scouring the news for anything happening with the team, but this year I'm totally focused on the Super Rugby season and the British and Irish Lions touring New Zealand.
Click to expand...

I love watching that sport! It's amazing. Though, I also enjoy watching Aussie Rules whenever they show it here in the States.
 
Londonboy said:
There are 2 types of Rugby - Union and League.
If You're new to Rugby, try Rugby League, it has all the running and passing and tackling elements, but has none of the technical stuff, like rucks and mauls or lineouts and scrums, much easier for newbies to understand and appreciate.
Click to expand...

And it has line markers that actually make sense. The line markers in Union are just odd. League is definitely an easier transition from football, but I personally prefer Union. I love to see scrums and lineouts and counter rucking.
 
Londonboy said:
The USA 7's team is very good, it's actually won a couple of major tournaments beating all the Worlds best 7's teams.
Star flyer Perry Baker is a former WR who had camp time with a couple of NFL teams including the Eagles.
Click to expand...

I would expect that there is a ton of untapped potential coming out of college football programs. Particularly in 7s. Learning the 15s game would be tough coming in late, but 7s is so free flowing and there is so much room for a great athlete to just make things happen.
 
JDSmith said:
I remember when ESPN first came out, they used to show Aussie Rules Football all of the time. That was a really fun game to watch.
Click to expand...

It is fun, and a few of my Aussie friends explained some of it to me. Looks fun, but brutal lol. Like rugby on steroids.
 
JDSmith said:
I remember when ESPN first came out, they used to show Aussie Rules Football all of the time. That was a really fun game to watch.
Click to expand...
I think I remember that.I was around 10 and had just started to take a interest in sports. I saw it on ESPN one day and asked my grandpa what it was and he said it was rugby . they show rugby games on NBC and NBC sports network often.
 
Jammer said:
I played Rugby in a city league years ago (1980-1981) and I had a great time so I do understand the game, but it's like baseball to me. It's a lot of fun to play but not as interesting to me to watch.

I did watch a lot of it during the last Olympics, which was fun.
Click to expand...

I played in college and for a club side here in IL ...... was a winger, fullback and a little outside center. Loved it. Chicks truly do dig rugby players.
 
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