Rugby versus American Football?

Question

In England we play rugby without any armour on,but in Yankee Doodle land you play Football with pads,helmets,the works.Can someone explain why.Does it make you feel like a big man or is it because your all big puddings.After all Footballs not exactley a tough sport compared to Rugby,is it?

Answer 1

The problem, of course, is the two different ideologies of two different countries. American football, is suited to Americans, in so much as it does not require very much intelligence, therefore, it is playable by people with an IQ the same size as their shoe, for example, one of the answerer's, pilippi, you can tell from his venom, that he is slightly inadequate and has to slag off anything which does not belong, or invented, in the good ole US of A. Now if we have a look at the game of Rugby, which stems from a great English public school, it is usually played by professional people, doctors, barristers etc. It is, in fact, a hooligans game played by gentlemen, albeit tough ones, as opposed to soccer which is a gentleman's game played by hooligans, and American football which is played by neither, apart from the odd nancy boy getting through university on a footballing scholarship, on account he is too thick to get by academically

Answer 2

Because of the differences in the way the two sports are played, a lot more momentum can be built up in American football. This means that when the inevitable impact happens, the forces can be several times higher. The pads are what allow the players to take these intense hits and not die.

To make an analogy: Rugby is like a huge wrestling match, Football is like a train wreck.

Answer 3

Well, this question has been answered repeatedly on Yahoo! But I'll give it another shot since you English tend to be a little slower mentally and sometimes it takes longer for you to understand things.

American Football is a collision sport. Lots of high speed, direct contact for short periods of time. The speed and angles you take in American Football v Rugby are different and the padding required minimizes permanent injuries.

There's also a this thing called 'blocking' in football that rugby doesn't have. This generally involves using your shoulders and head to make contact with the opponent to move them out of the way.

FYI, it looks like Johnny's armour is serving him well. Let's see if he holds up against the Springboks.

Answer 4

I think rugby looks more interesting than football, and I'm an american.

Answer 5

basically both american football players and rugby players are as tough as can be... i wouldnt last a minute in the middle of either of them...

if u watch american football u will see that the impacts are more often brutal because of the rules... there are a lot more blindside hits too, whereas rugby impacts are mostly straight on and u see it coming... at any rate, either player could transfer to the other sport and be fine... rugby players are built like brick sh*t-houses now doubt ...

btw since u are comparing the sports, i want to add that if you euros love rugby, u dont know what u are missing out on with american football... you should adopt it, it is a far more interesting variation of rugby, it is simply the best sport in the world... rugby, with half the game spent fighting over the ball in a pile of human flesh, could be bottled and sold as a sleep aid to american NFL fans :)

Answer 6

ive watched rugby, have you watched football???? the hits are 5 times harder in pro football...when i was playing i had a football scholarship i had my ribs broke from a hit, my spleen almost ruptured and to end my football dayi had my kneecap broken, you are talking about guys that on average way 250 lbs and can run in the low 4 40's....the impact is a lot harder...im not saying rugby is for wusses at all, they are very tough, but go to youtube.com and look up big football hits and you will see that they are anything but wusses

Answer 7

yeah, you have us there. rugby is way tougher than american football. at this point I think a lot of it is about is about the spectacle which is why the helmets and pads look the way they do. but consider this, much of the interest lies in the strategy of the coaching and play-calling and who can come up with the slickest and most novel way to move the ball and stop the opposing offense.

Answer 8

Not having pads makes it easier for rugby players to congratulate each other after a big play.

Answer 9

rugby wins hands down

Answer 10

Rugby way much physical.