Apparently football is a sin now

[Fidel_Castronaut]

And you don't see real guys playing rugby wearing armour and helmets . . .

I don't know if the rugby players are real men or not, but obviously, they're not very smart.

Most of the people I know who play rugby also happen to be doctors or academics. Indeed, I used to play rugby union a lot until work became too pressing as an undergraduate.

Jamie Roberts (Welsh rugby player) is one of the most recent international players (of which there have been quite a few) to also be a practising doctor.

Contrary to popular belief Rugby is no more dangerous than any other direct contact sport. It's often brutal, but it's also really fun. And respect is given primacy; respect for players, for referees, for fans, and ultimately for safety. I played for around 8 years and never once received an injury I couldn't walk off. Although I wasn't a forward.

In a rugby game you'll often get fans of different teams mingled between each other drinking and having a good laugh. Last time I went to see a game was at Twickenham when England played New Zealand. Behind us were some Kiwi's and they were a great. There's no banter like rugby banter.

You'd never see that in a football game, though.

Difference as I see it between American football and Rugby is that in AF you can get tackled from all angles by multiple people. I'd want safety equipment if two people from different angles were coming at me full pelt. In rugby (union) it's actually more often than not one and one, and its direct. In AF you can jump into tackles meaning the prospect of getting high-ended is quite high. In Union it is illegal to jump into tackles for that very reason.


You tackle the legs because there's no point in trying to stop someone above their waist. You hit the waist and move down. If the guy running at you is 6'8" and built like a brick house, upper body tackles are useless. if you tackle his legs, it doesn't matter. You lean in with you shoulder and move your head to the side. That way you absorb the impact in a part of your body that won't be damaged so easily and protect your head from the full force of the impact. It's a technique drilled into all kids who start playing, which shows at the extremely low level of concussions players receive.

Of course, injuries do happen, sometimes serious. But that's true of every sport.