Football vs Rugby

[WBrownTrophy]

My brother just got back from a week business trip to London, and he got into a heated debate with a few people from London on which sport was more dangerous, football or rugby?

My brother argued for football, and the people in London argued for rugby. The London people argued that rugby players have no pads and you have to be "much tougher" to play it, while my brother argued about the size difference from football players to rugby players.

The London people also said "that American football was invented because rugby was too dangerous for Americans"

so what do you guys think? which sport is more dangerous to play professionally?


o yea, they also said that Americans just can't be good at rugby, at which point my brother said, "If Lebron James played Rugby, he would dominate." They said "Who is Lebron James?" lol

[Celtic]

I think rugby is by far the rougher sport, and also doesn't have all the breaks in the game that football has, in a sixty minute game there is less than 10 minutes of actual play.

However, all the nonsense about it being to rough for Americans and blah blah blah, is simply stupid.

[pbak63]

As a English man who has watched rugby live and American football on TV, I would say rugby is much rougher.

Players that play American football are much fitter and better athletes but the refs are much quicker to stop any fighting.

Rugby players poke each other in the eye, and the things that aren't seen by the officials in the scrum and maul and ruck would horrify most people.

I'm interested as to why you're surprised the average English sports fan doesn't know who Lebron James is.

Basketball is not a big sport in the UK.

I would doubt the average American sports fan would know who John Terry is.
(England soccer captain).

[indeedproceed]

I played football from age 10 to age 18, and I've played Rugby since (18-25). I've played at the collegiate and men's club levels, and I've both here in the states and in Canada.

Football is the riskier sport. In rugby, because there are no pads, people tackle and run differently. Its like the difference between boxing and judo. Football is a game of inches, and Rugby is a game of possession. In rugby unless you're at the goalline you never hit like you do in football. You don't care if they fall forward an extra 2 feet, you're more worried about your defense resetting and making sure your guys are rucking properly.

Football is played 4 downs and 10 yards at a time. Football at a pro level is played by people who are freakishly athletic and fearless. Football imbibes its players with a false sense of immortality because they have these hard plastic pads on.

So when football players tackle, its like two cars crashing head on.

After every Rugby game, you're left feeling a little broken, beat up and worn down. The adrenaline wore off sometime in the second half. There is a formation of small round bruises rapidly turning purple on your back. There is a neat square at one end, then a cluster of about 6 on the other end, forming a neat semi circle. You laugh when you realize its a boot mark. You're beat, and you want a beer. When I played football I always thought there should be an extra quarter because I wasn't tired.  

However in my football career, which was pretty good IMHO, I broke both feet twice a piece, I broke 6 or 7 toes, suffered countless stingers and neck strains, and worst of all, completely blew out one knee on a chop block.

In rugby I've broken one ankle on a wet muddy day that was just a freak accident. Nothing else. Men play well into their 40's. I've never been named player of the week or all conference, but I'd had awesome times and I learned what a boat race is.

I would say football is a sport that is much more violent, higher stakes. Rugby is a rougher sport with lower stakes.

The final part: If American Football players played Rugby we'd be world champions. THat is virtually indisputable.

Football is a gentleman's game played by hooligans. Rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

[Prof. Clutch]

I played football from age 10 to age 18, and I've played Rugby since (18-25). I've played at the collegiate and men's club levels, and I've both here in the states and in Canada.

Football is the riskier sport. In rugby, because there are no pads, people tackle and run differently. Its like the difference between boxing and judo. Football is a game of inches, and Rugby is a game of possession. In rugby unless you're at the goalline you never hit like you do in football. You don't care if they fall forward an extra 2 feet, you're more worried about your defense resetting and making sure your guys are rucking properly.

Football is played 4 downs and 10 yards at a time. Football at a pro level is played by people who are freakishly athletic and fearless. Football imbibes its players with a false sense of immortality because they have these hard plastic pads on.

So when football players tackle, its like two cars crashing head on.

After every Rugby game, you're left feeling a little broken, beat up and worn down. The adrenaline wore off sometime in the second half. There is a formation of small round bruises rapidly turning purple on your back. There is a neat square at one end, then a cluster of about 6 on the other end, forming a neat semi circle. You laugh when you realize its a boot mark. You're beat, and you want a beer. When I played football I always thought there should be an extra quarter because I wasn't tired.  

However in my football career, which was pretty good IMHO, I broke both feet twice a piece, I broke 6 or 7 toes, suffered countless stingers and neck strains, and worst of all, completely blew out one knee on a chop block.

In rugby I've broken one ankle on a wet muddy day that was just a freak accident. Nothing else. Men play well into their 40's. I've never been named player of the week or all conference, but I'd had awesome times and I learned what a boat race is.

I would say football is a sport that is much more violent, higher stakes. Rugby is a rougher sport with lower stakes.

The final part: If American Football players played Rugby we'd be world champions. THat is virtually indisputable.

Football is a gentleman's game played by hooligans. Rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

I also played rugby for a number of years.  A lot of people get hurt from raking (players using their feet to punish a player who is on the ground underneath a scrum.)  Just imagine what it feels like when this jabbed into you:

[Arok325]

I've played rugby now for 3 years and I would say that rugby is by far a rougher sport.  It is in no way safer and injuries both big and small happen with much greater frequency. 

I know for a fact that American rugby players are far worse than their contemporaries in other countries especially Europe.  However, this has nothing to do with manliness and more to do with the fact that rugby is 10 times more popular in the rest of the world than here. 

In regards to American football players playing rugby well we don't know for sure though I would say American football players would be rather poor at the sport.  It is much different and it is a much faster game.  It is completely different muscle training because there are no timeouts.  Also there is a lot more passing because everyone is required to know how to pass and many to kick.  Completely different sport.  We stick to American football and they stick to rugby and everybody wins.

I do love rugby though.

[indeedproceed]

I've played rugby now for 3 years and I would say that rugby is by far a rougher sport.  It is in no way safer and injuries both big and small happen with much greater frequency.  I know for a fact that American rugby players are far worse than their contemporaries in other countries especially Europe.  However, this has nothing to do with manliness and more to do with the fact that rugby is 10 times more popular in the rest of the world than here. 

In regards to American football players playing rugby well we don't know for sure though I would say American football players would be rather poor at the sport.  It is much different and it is a much faster game.  It is completely different muscle training because there are no timeouts.  Also there is a lot more passing because everyone is required to know how to pass and many to kick.  Completely different sport.  We stick to American football and they stick to rugby and everybody wins.

I do love rugby though.

Maybe its just ancedotal, but I completely and utterly disagree with that. I have never seen anything that would make me think any different.

Out of curiosity, where do you play?

[Eja117]

I don't know. It might depend on position. I might rather deal with anything Rugby has to offer than deal with being a QB getting slammed by Lawrence Taylor or a wide receiver going over the middle being patroled by Rod Woodson or Rodney Harrison.

[Edgar]

u mean football

[angryguy77]

We can resolve this. We send a group of our fastes/biggest linbackers against the best euro rugby and see who wins. LB by a long shot. Bigger, stronger and conditoned enough to lay a pounding on some tea sippers

[Eja117]

The original debate was which sport was more "dangerous". So I guess we have to find out which sport has the most deaths and near deaths and divide by the number of players to get the answer.  I'd be curious as to what would happen. Or which sport would have the highest number. It might be biking for all I know

[indeedproceed]

The original debate was which sport was more "dangerous". So I guess we have to find out which sport has the most deaths and near deaths and divide by the number of players to get the answer.  I'd be curious as to what would happen. Or which sport would have the highest number. It might be biking for all I know

I can sum it up like this: You play the whole rugby season hurt after the first game, but more injuries occur playing football.

Football is more dangerous, rugby is tougher, IMO.

[jackson_34]

We can resolve this. We send a group of our fastes/biggest linbackers against the best euro rugby and see who wins. LB by a long shot. Bigger, stronger and conditoned enough to lay a pounding on some tea sippers

You don't send them to europe, you send them to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Remember the linebackers may have the ability to put on a big hit, but there is no shoulder-charging allowed in Union, you have to know how to tackle properly. The conditioning is a hell of a lot different between the two sports. Plus the anti-doping policy is alot sticter in Rugby... just saying  

[Sheriff]

 

Football, rugby and Gridiron are all games that require a great deal of toughness to play. However, the toughest and more dangerous game to play is Australian Rules Football.

Players can be tackled from any direction. The players use no form of padding. The game is longer than any of the others and is played at a non stop pace.

[indeedproceed]

We can resolve this. We send a group of our fastes/biggest linbackers against the best euro rugby and see who wins. LB by a long shot. Bigger, stronger and conditoned enough to lay a pounding on some tea sippers

You don't send them to europe, you send them to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. Remember the linebackers may have the ability to put on a big hit, but there is no shoulder-charging allowed in Union, you have to know how to tackle properly. The conditioning is a hell of a lot different between the two sports. Plus the anti-doping policy is alot sticter in Rugby... just saying  

Rugby has big hits just like football, but unlike football in rugby it rarely matters if the ball carrier is tackled one foot this way for one foot that way. What matters is if you retain possession or not.

Who plays rugby league besides austrailians?

I've never played aussie rules but I've watched a lot of it..I can't imagine its tougher than rugby.