Rugby Or American Football?

Question

I am English so just read through before you answer:

In England main sport with a large amount of Contact is Rugby which is equivalent to you American Football.....You cant say that rugby players are just Fat etc BECAUSE RUGBY IS CHANGING...To be an international or rugby 7's player you have to be extremely healthy and pretty built......

Next Rugby is not just for losers who cant do other sports...It may be in america but you Americans have to reliase that a sports status is different for different Countries.

Also i can understand where your comming from saying that American Football may be better but i only think because American Footballers health is better.

Answer 1

It's really an unfair question to ask. Since you asked it in the American Football section, most are going to say American Football. If you asked this in the Rugby section, then most would say Rugby. I will give Rugby an advantage because it has less stoppage time. Sometimes I find myself asking, "didn't we JUST have a commercial break?"

And please ignore the Patriots fan that said it was better because of their quarterback. He is not the be all, end all of the sport. I have a few "two words" about him: "Big Prick", "Major Whore", and mostly I hope he "Gets Stuffed."

Cheers!

Answer 2

There are similarities between the two games, in fact by the late 1870s American rules football was adopting rugby rules, or some of them. After that, the two sports developed in different directions.

Which sport is preferable is a matter of taste. By having plays that start, end and then allow the teams to regroup and take stock, football allows a fan to understand the strategy more readily than a game which is more flowing. like rugby.

In football, there is also much more specialization, which allows players to play shorter amounts of the game than in other sports, but to exert complete effort on each play. That is why there is a place in football in America for huge men who can run with explosive speed over short distances. If they were playing a different brand of the football family, they could not get away with being that large.

The reason rugby is not as popular in the U.S. and is likely not ever to be is that it is just too similar to our football, and will get downplayed simply because it isn't "our game".

Answer 3

Americans like rugby. They respect the sport. It is very popular in universities.

American football gets unfair criticism from abroad despite the fact that it's a brutal game. No can ever accuse American sports fans of enjoying a sport for weaklings.

Americans hate soccer because they don't respect a sport where players fake getting hurt. Plus, nothing ever happens for 90 minutes except for when a corrupt referee awards a red card and penalty shot in the closing minutes.

Rugby is cool and is widely respected in America. But, the players are all the same size and not as big and athletic and fast as American football players.

PS: You posted the same question twice. Please delete the other one.

Answer 4

First of all, I am an NFL fan. I must say though, that rugby is a very interesting sport that I enjoy watching. The fact that the NFL is commercialized in America and rugby is not is important to consider. If rugby was televised, it would be just as popular, if not moreso. Think of boxing, versus UFC. I think of it as being like football used to be, before the invention of the downfield pass. Lots of running, lots of contact, and no pads. It's great!
American Footballers may be healthier, but I think, in a media-driven society, exposure is more important.

Answer 5

ok...i dont really understand the point of your question. but here is somthing for you to understand...don't take the words of a few americans and belive that ALL americans or most americans belive that, that is called stereotyping..remember alot of people going up and down on this site are fanatical(american) football fans that think (amerian) football is the greatest and everything else is crap, but don't let them make you think that is how we all feel.

alot of us don't think rugby players are "fat", rugby is fun to watch. we don't belive american football player's health is better than rugby players. to tell you the truth you go up and down the street here and ask waht people think of the health of rugby and (american) football players, and over 90% of them will not even know what a general rugby player's health will look like, so most people can't tell you (american) football player's health is better, so i don't know where you are getting your information from.

also do some reaserch before you assume that we think rugby is for losers who can't do other sports. alot of us don't think like that it is just that Rugby is just not as popular, so there are not as much of us playing it, thus our athletes want to play football over rugby, not because rugby is a bad sport or something like that, so it is NOT us looking down on rugby, we just don't follow the game as much so athletes chose not to go into that game. secondly do you realize that american football ORIGINATED from rugby? that is why we called it football. back like in 1860ish it was a game in which it had alot of rugby rules, but mainly that you can only advance the ball by kicking it forwards, and we just kept changing the rules, and kept the name football. so if you do not like (american) football, remember that it did come from your sport

so if you wish to assume that americans are people that see rugby as a lesser sport, then you would be a hypocrite, because you yourself are judging americans without understanding the facts like you assume we do. as you can tell by your so called question, you already offended many people

it is not as though we look down on rugby, it is just usually not in our radar screens. it is not as though we look down on the sport, that is why it is not popular, it is just because (american) football is just liked alot more that rugby to us really doesn't take hold of our lives, because as you said sports status is diffrent for difffrent countries

Answer 6

As hard as they say rugby is, I've seen good rugby players that can't play football to save their lives. Football, it's where the contact is ;-)

Answer 7

Who ever said rugby is for out of shape people, they need to go die. I play sports for my high school, my favorite sport is football. But i have played rugby and just did not like it, it's just not as oriented as american football. I play hockey.. hockey's crazy... but rugby's insane and you barely ever know what's going on, in order to play a sport you need to know what's going on, so i didn't like it.

But you indeed do have to be pretty much built, or you're going to die while playing it.

Answer 8

well i've seen & played both rugby and football and it really comes down to you. its like trying to decide whats better between basketball and hockey without bias. so its really your choice. football is faster, but rugby is more back-&-forth and doesnt have a break every 10 seconds. if your gonna live in US you need to like football bc everyone else like it too

Answer 9

If you like Rugby better then the NFL, or even the AFL, then get the hell out of America, cause you're not welcome here.

Answer 10

Look at the TV Ratings.