why don't rugby players sustain injuries like footballers.?

Question

In the world cup the game is stopped every ten minutes due to somebody rolling around in agony on the ground,but in Rugby,
players have broken noses and teeth missing but rarely do you see a match stopped.

Answer 1

Football by the very nature of the game concentrates mainly on the feet - with the speed and standard of football increased the tackles and contact to the lower part of the body will be quite hard & frequent. With rugby on the other hand most of the contact will be experienced in the upper body - the training builds up the upper body to take the hits. Probably since there is more 'flesh' (muscle & bulk) on the upper body the degree & frequency of contact that can be sustained would be greater than around the ankles & shins.
The rolling around bit by the footbal players is probably due to the fact that in todays football/soccer games it is that hard to score a goal due to the high level of skill, any advantage gained will be a bonus.
With rugby union now being a fully professional sport, increased speed & fitness combined with the large number of games being played I think injuries will be more common place. What you will notice is that due to the reasons just mentioned before, the retirement age of the rugby players will decrease, remember Paul Rendel 'The Judge' played international rugby for England in the 1980's at the age of 36 - it will be unlikely that players will represent their country at an international level at such an age in future.

Answer 2

They do, but they generally aren't as well publicised, at least in the U.K, because there is less interest in the sport, and fewer games are played. As a result, there is more time for recovery, and fewer people care. I think the stakes involved in modern professional football, especially the World Cup, have contributed to the culture of play-acting you are obviously referring to-this is not an inherent feature of football, and I think you are unfair to insinuate that this is the case. In addition, believe it or not, footballers are more susceptible to injury because they come into full-blooded contact with one another more often than rugby players-rugby players generally get less "daylight" when they receive the ball that football players. As a disclaimer, I might add that I play football and rugby, and have broken my nose, ankle, and lost several teeth playing football, and never been injured playing rugby.

Answer 3

As rugby is more physical you don't get any of the football play acting. The nature of the game means you just have to get on with it and every rugby player has an injury story. Mine was when I very nearly completely tore a ligament in my ankle, I twisted it during a 7s tournament and then continued to play in 3 more games! I needed physio for a month, since then I have heard it is more painful to tear a ligament thatn to break a bone and I didn't even take an ibuprofen!

Ben, what game have you been watching. Rugby is more physically demanding than footbal. The hits are full on, you just train to deal with it, you get trampled on, football has nothing as demanding as the Scrum (I was a forward). How can you say rugby is not contact compared to football? Football is a NON CONTACT sport whereas rugby is a CONTACT sport!

Answer 4

Never could figure that out. Soccer/football players try to gain an advantage over their opponent by faking an injury and getting a free kick, whereas it doesn't work in rugby nearly as well. Soccer/football is a contact sport, but rugby is a collision sport. Maybe there is truth to the old adage "Rugby players need leather balls." :o)

Answer 5

In rugby the players are stronger and tougher than footballers. Also the rugby players play fairly where as the footballers will cheat to win the game!! Thiery Henry cheating french scumbag!! (If you saw the France v Spain game where Thiery bashed into the Spainsh player on purpose and fell to the ground and France got a freekick and scored!)

Answer 6

Rugby players have tempoary substitutions so if someone is injured, they go off the field for treatment instead of rolling on the floor.

Rubgy players don't gain an advantage from rolling on the floor whislt footballers get free kicks and yellow cards.

Rugby players have more muscle and can sustain more pain before it becomes a problem.

Answer 7

...ever notice how a football player would roll about in pain, clutching his ankle, then his head.. and five minutes later be sprinting for the goal?

Football is rife with diving and play acting. In rugby they just get on with it. Yes it hurts, yes there's blood dripping down his head - he just trots over the line to get it wrapped up and he's back on the field.

...and yes Ben, what rugby games have you seen? Rugby not a contact sport? Yeah right..

Answer 8

First of all rugby is played by men in shorts, not in tights. They are fit and keep the game going. In football (american) they stop play every few minutes and their muscles, if any, cools down, hence the injuries. Keep it up rugby players !!!!!

Answer 9

Football players spend 90 mins trying to look hurt (and get someone sent off / or get free kick)

Rugby players spend 80mins trying to look unhurt.

Tougher guys in Rugby, and Phycologically u dont want the
opposition to know your hurt.

Errrr, there are as many games played in rugby as footy!!
Check out the Zurich Prem! doH!
Just not as many INTERNATIONAL teams..
(And What **** earlier said rugby is a non-contact sport??)

Answer 10

Rugby players do sustain injuries of various degrees. However, what they do not do is take a dive just to get the penalty as most footballers would. I am assuming by footballers you mean soccer players?