rugby v soccer

thebaz

as a lover of both football and rugby, i am enjoying the world cup in Germany, but one thing that Rugby has over soccer is the honesty and physicality. A slight touch on the face , and these professional athletes are rolling around the ground as if hit by Mike Tyson, even take Rooneys sending off yesterday , or the supposed fight between Germany and Argentina, these incidents would barely be noted in a rugby match, yet get headlines in soceer. I liked Roy Keane , i just wonder is he a dying breed, as soceer players become more cynical, and the game itself become a non contact support. I myself played both rugby and soccer at club and school level, and found both very physical in there own ways, with none of the diving present in the professional version, and certainly soccer at club level in Ireland was a physical game.

sheepshagger

Another big difference between the 2 . .. . . both sets of rugby supporters can have a pint in the same bar before and after the game. .. with Soccer they can't. . .they have to have seperate pubs etc etc

Noticed this the day after the Heienken Cup Final in Cardiff. . the night before everybody was drinking in the same pubs, the next day certain fans were allowed in some pubs and the other teams supporters had to drink in others.

Sad Really.

KdjaCL

Difference in the pain part, in rugby when running with the ball you KNOW whats coming and are usually built for inevitable Thud.

In Football your running full pace and not holding the ball so not fully balanced and any little tip will send you to the ground. Whereas in Rugby you would be tensed up for the Thud, cant do that in Football or you lose control of the ball.
Having played both i like rugby for the ehh physical part but can safely say i have been hurt more playing football than by a crunching stopping rugby tackle.


Every pats game i go to opposition fans are in McDowells drinking after the game with Pats fans


kdjac

Endurance Man

Rugby is a mans sport, i dont think these soccer players would last 10minutes on the a rugby field, would all be crying .

KdjaCL

Endurance Man wrote:

Rugby is a mans sport, i dont think these soccer players would last 10minutes on the a rugby field, would all be crying .

I would take that bet and nail your pansy ass

Seriously i like rugby as your allowed umm use a bit more ummm violence than is necessary.

But why do the players wear headbands or ear bands more so?? Is there a reason for that like do they run faster or is there some mans thing that goes on ?


kdjac

PowerHouseDan

10 Min?? Thats being Nice.. i give them the first Tackle....

Endurance Man

KdjaC wrote:

I would take that bet and nail your pansy ass

Seriously i like rugby as your allowed umm use a bit more ummm violence than is necessary.

But why do the players wear headbands or ear bands more so?? Is there a reason for that like do they run faster or is there some mans thing that goes on ?


kdjac

They wear those caps to protect their heads in the scrum
.

PowerHouseDan

Soccer players wouldnt wear scrum caps cos it will mess their hair... Gavin Henson of Soccer

KdjaCL

Endurance Man wrote:

They wear those caps to protect their heads in the scrum
.

Oh so its not so rugby players dont bite them? hardly a mans tackle, biting must be for the harder sports like rugby and boxing

kdjac

Endurance Man

PowerHouseDan wrote:

Soccer players wouldnt wear scrum caps cos it will mess their hair... Gavin Henson of Soccer

Hahhahaha , they are basically a bunch of skilled butty boys.

RuggieBear

KdjaC wrote:

Oh so its not so rugby players dont bite them? hardly a mans tackle, biting must be for the harder sports like rugby and boxing

kdjac

it's to avoid cauliflower ear....rather unpleasant side affect of getting acouple of blows to the ear. Ear carthrage fills up with fluid which then hardens into ugly and often painful shapes.

Always hated the needle needed to drain me ears.:(

RuggieBear

KdjaC wrote:

Every pats game i go to opposition fans are in McDowells drinking after the game with Pats fans


kdjac

I was once in the horse show house after a shamrock rovers bray match....had a couple of pint glasses lobbed my way. Only that a mate of mine was a rovers fan i reckon it would have gotten very nasty.

thebaz

what i don't get in soceer, and as stated i played it at amateur level here, is in the world cup, if anyone touches , literally, a players face, the guy rolls around as if getting a full on dig, Paul O'Connel or the Claw probably would not feal these petty little jibes .

Diamondmaker

Only the captains may speak to the ref in rugby it prevents these absoulutely ludicrous scenes of 22 or 30 players crowind around a ref baying for a decision one way or another. The Ref as a result has more control and I think respect also.
Gamesmanschip exists in both sports but soccer does seem to be worse. Obviously there is no benefit in feigning being tackled in rugby and the sole aim is NOT going down in a tackle or avoiding, in rugby.
Soccer however there is a benefit to it .....so it is <unfortunately> used.

smashey

Can you imagine the uproar if Beckham got scrum-pox?

Nalz

rugby
a game were you gain something by kicking a ball out of play.

a game were you can pull people to the ground.

a game were several stamps (that could ruin lives let alone careers!) goes unnoticed

a game were very few light weighted people have a chance of playing

a game played with a weird shaped ball that is liable to go anywhere, no matter how skillful the player is
________________________________________________________________
soccer,
a skillful game let down by its officals and the media,were it is a necessity to be fit even at amatuer level to play

a game that some say is a whimps game because of the hard tackling is gone, yet there are rules needed to protect players, were some players take advantage of this. This can be rectified by using video evidence to punish these fakers, who are meerly trying to gain any advantage they can (like those big fúckers do when they stamp all over people during and after a scrum).

a game that throughout the world is far more popular, not because of media, because it is a greater game to play, and most can pick it up. Parents can bring there kids to play it at junior level without the fear rugby would bring.

toomevara

My basic and fundamental problem with soccer/football, whatever the hell you want to call it, is that it is utterly, completely and totally morally bankrupt on almost every level which matters. It is soiled and tainted by the idiotic/obscene amounts of money which float about in the game. It is run by an organisation (FIFA)which has been proven to be corrupt time and time again and the game is run as a personal fiefdom (currently Blatter but Havelanche before him was arguably even more appallingly corrupt) by those at the top for personal enrichment (and the enrichment of their cronies). The corrupt distribution of advertising rights at this years world cup is a case in point.

Lets look then at those who play it at the top level. The appalling antics of these overpaid, spoilt primadonnas utterly disconnected from the real world by the bubble of privelige and self regard they occupy turn my stomach and certainly wouldnt represent any kind of value system worth trumpeting. And as for their on field endeavours, diving, cheating, openly attempting to have opponents sent off..to me utterly vile, but, not only tolerated, but practically expected by many fans of the game

Check out the bung culture in England (anyone who tells you its dead is either a liar an idiot or both) the naked corruption in Italian football, ditto Argentina and many of the bigger footballing nations. I could be here all night, and I'm not suggesting that rugby's house is perfectly in order in all these respects, but when it comes to the final analysis rugby is still a 'clean' game with a strong ethic which has not been sacrificed either on or off the field for cash, well not yet anyway.....

Nalz

toomevara wrote:

My basic and fundamental problem with soccer/football, whatever the hell you want to call it, is that it is utterly, completely and totally morally bankrupt on almost every level which matters. It is soiled and tainted by the idiotic/obscene amounts of money which float about in the game. It is run by an organisation (FIFA)which has been proven to be corrupt time and time again and the game is run as a personal fiefdom (currently Blatter but Havelanche before him was arguably even more appallingly corrupt) by those at the top for personal enrichment (and the enrichment of their cronies)...............

I agree 100%, but if you were to compare them as sports, i think soccer is the winnere there. There are several parts of sport corrupt, for example the sport of kings horse racing... but not all of it. Compare them as an actual sport, if you were to pretend that both sports were amatuer and disregard money and fame.

Alkers

Endurance Man wrote:

Rugby is a mans sport, i dont think these soccer players would last 10minutes on the a rugby field, would all be crying .

I doubt many rugby players would fair too well in a soccer match either.

BlitzKrieg

rugby is a hooligans sport played by gentlemen.

soccer is a gentlemens sport played by hooligans.


dont know where i remember that from.

Chucky the tree

BlitzKrieg wrote:

rugby is a hooligans sport played by gentlemen.

soccer is a gentlemens sport played by hooligans.


dont know where i remember that from.

got it wrong.


rugby is a sport played by hooligans and supported by gentlemen.

Soccer is a sport played by gentlemen and supported by hooligans.

KdjaCL

Soccer is a game for Gentlemen played by Hooligans, and Rugger is a game for Hooligans played by Gentlemen.


Original quote is by Kipling irc.


kdjac

BlitzKrieg

ahh well, ye all know what i mean anyway (goes back to bed)

Pigman II

Forget about Rugby being tougher than Football because of all the diving. If the rules in Rugby were such that you could get an advantage from playacting I'm sure you'd see Paul O'Connell or the Claw (whoever that is?) falling around the place too.

From a spectator pov Rugby just bores the hell out of me. Take the last WRC. IIRC every single game went according to the formbook/seedings. You could have cleaned up on a 48 game accumulator there I reckon.

Also I don't like the way there only seems to be about 6 countries WorldWide who are actually any good at the sport. Compare the array of flags that make it to the Semi-Finals of all the World Cup for Rugby and then Soccer and it's like a closed shop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_World_Cup#Results

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_World_Cup#Results

RuggieBear

i find rugby much more interesting than football to watch. i suppose it's just what you like. There is always something happening.

As for the closed shop part....look how many different teams have won the soccer world cup and there have been plenty more of those than rugby.

Rugby is all about enduring pain, players would be too embarassed to let their opponents admit that they've hurt them.Tbh, I believe there is too much of a hard man culture in rugby to allow the playacting and feigning injury to become commonplace.

Chucky the tree

but its pretty much impossible to play act in rugby. Its a full contact sport. If a player is tackled in cant claim feign injury and claim the opponent tackled him to hard. Its just not possible so they dont do it.

I remember in this years match against england. Dawson went to get the ball for a quick tap penalty and he push Flannery in the face or close it it and fell on the ground as if he had been decked like tyson. As soon as he realised he wasnt getting anything he was up and on his feet again.

f they could get away with it, i am sure they would try it.

RuggieBear

Chucky the tree wrote:

I remember in this years match against england. Dawson went to get the ball for a quick tap penalty and he push Flannery in the face or close it it and fell on the ground as if he had been decked like tyson. As soon as he realised he wasnt getting anything he was up and on his feet again.

f they could get away with it, i am sure they would try it.

absolutely.....

Flannery's dive was one of the most pathetic things i've ever seen on the rugby field.

football behaviour is becoming more common in other sports....i believe GAA is becoming riddled with it too

toomevara

Pigman II wrote:

From a spectator pov Rugby just bores the hell out of me. Take the last WRC. IIRC every single game went according to the formbook/seedings. You could have cleaned up on a 48 game accumulator there I reckon.

Also I don't like the way there only seems to be about 6 countries WorldWide who are actually any good at the sport. Compare the array of flags that make it to the Semi-Finals of all the World Cup for Rugby and then Soccer and it's like a closed shop.

Rugby a closed shop, yep...to an extent wholeheatedly agree and some of the f**ckwits who allegedly run the game need to get their fingers out of their ass and start promoting it outside of traditional countries, get no argument from me there.....

But football too pretty much a closed shop in terms of the major powers. European top 5 and south American major 2-3. And look at domestic leagues, premiership same 4 maybe 5 clubs competing each year, rest not a hope.....Serie A: Juve, AC Milan, maybe Roma, Lazio at a push...ditto spain (Barca, Real)...Ditto portugal (Benfica, Sporting, Porto).

Chucky the tree

RuggieBear wrote:

absolutely.....

Flannery's dive was one of the most pathetic things i've ever seen on the rugby field.

football behaviour is becoming more common in other sports....i believe GAA is becoming riddled with it too

Definitly, GAA has really gone to the dogs with it at this stage.

spanner

KdjaC wrote:

Soccer is a game for Gentlemen played by Hooligans, and Rugger is a game for Hooligans played by Gentlemen.


Original quote is by Kipling irc.


kdjac

GAA is a game played by Hooligans and watched by Hooligans

Brenndan Beans take on it

thebaz

one thing you have to say , the french ooze quality in both sports. ZZ and Henry and Ribery play there footy like Champagne rugby at its best ala Mr Blanco from way back.

toomevara

thebaz wrote:

one thing you have to say , the french ooze quality in both sports. ZZ and Henry and Ribery play there footy like Champagne rugby at its best ala Mr Blanco from way back.

Excellent point, the bloody B***ards.....there's a thesis in there somewhere

gjim

Soccer generally bores me to death but the world cup is captivating, I have to admit. On the other hand, I could watch rugby all day; even noticing an AIL match on telly will make me take off my coat and change my plans for the day.

However I have to admit, having thought about both games that soccer offers far more frequent opportunity for individual brilliance in terms of amazing foot to eye coordination which looks awsome especially in slow motion on the telly. There are such moments in rugby but the pleasure in the sport for me is in the group/team effort; forwards picking, driving, rucking, offloading as a swarm of bodies or seeing a series of passes between backs running at speed. Set pieces which, by their nature, involve coordination between a large group are more common in rugby which reinforces the importance of teamwork in the sport.

I don't think rugby will ever challenge soccer in terms of popularity. You just cannot compete with the simplicity and attraction especially for kids - a couple of jumpers and a round ball and you're off. Rugby requires more organisation and supervision. The physical aspect of the sport is offputting for many kids and parents too. I enjoy the bruising, putting your body on the line, aspect of the sport but many non-rugby fans find it thuggish because they don't understant the etiquette of rugby violence. I've struggled to explain to non-rugby followers why stamping on the back or arse of a player lying on the wrong side is not dangerous and isn't even a cause for indignation.

k974

Rugby would be my game but like most irish people I like all sports and take an interest in soccer. The one thing that annoys me about soccer is there too much of it taken off the field. Fights in tunnels, players complaining In papers also they pick each other up hug the opposition etc I know its sporting but the way I’ve always played is to win and I’ll do whatever it takes to win i wouldn’t kick the ball out of play for injuries etc but soon as that final whistle blown that’s it I’ll shake my oppositions hand and leave it whatever happened on the pitch.

I don’t like the way you here bout scraps in tunnels spitting etc, I think rugby has that advantage of what happens on the pitch stays there. For example last march I got a savage rakeing in a rugby match probably the worst I’ve ever gotten if a parent was watching they would have been turned off their son/daughter wanting to play, but it was like this I was on the wrong side I knew it I was killing the ball and I knew what was coming but I had to they had a big overlap, I also got binned for it. Later in the game there was a mass brawl 20 odd players but come the final whistle that was it, I had a couple pints after the match with the lads I was boxing an hour earlier.

Even in gaa too many things are taken off the pitch lads in fights on nights out bout matches.


Also I think fifa concentrate too much on niggly rules, socks pulled up, technical areas etc. they should concentrate on getting rid of diving from the game instead of mickey mouse rules.

Soccer is a great game but one thing I feel it could take from rugby is the white line mentality that the opposition are the enemy for 90 minutes and you’d do anything to win not picking em up off the ground etc, but remember when you cross that white line after 90 mintues that’s where it stays.

2 things I would suggest is adopt rugbys rule that the captain can talk to the referee, refs sometimes wont talk to anybody and might but an end to 20 players running after him.

Clamp down on diving.

thebaz

just thinking of players who would be good at both codes, Tony Ward was brilliant at both , and i would say Henry and ZZ , would make great backs at rugby .i remember in school a great soccer/GAA player joined us and in his first game of rugby on A team , he was class, a bit like Dublin GAA star Vaughan . I would say most good backs in rugby would make reasonable to good soccer players, and likewise most good soccer players would make good backs at rugby . Seen a few Rugby forwards playing soccer , and lets just say , they had good intimadation value , no subtlty but hard tacklers/defenders !!

bugler

Depending on the type of person you are, you'll be naturally more inclined toward one sport or the other.

For me it's definitely rugby; the physical confrontation and collision appeal to me. The honesty too is a huge factor. Rugby is a game in which players seek to hide the fact they've been hurt by a tackle, not play it up.

I would have been a bigger football fan in my younger days, it is a more accessible game. Rugby can seem confusing to the casual observer (it's relatively straight-forward in reality).

Now:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned refereeing. Football could benefit enormously by adopting some of the methods of officiating of rugby. The advantage law for starters. The vast majority of football referees are so whistle happy it drives me crazy. They're very jumpy, terrified that if they allow play to go on for a second longer that players will erupt, fans might riot, and they'll be hounded off the park.

Football really needs to introduce the concept of advantage; so that the first thing a referee does when he sees a foul or infringement is to not blow his whistle to pointlessly stop play and disrupt the rhythm of the game, but to use his judgement to see if continuity can be developed.

Lehmann's sending off in the Champions League Final is a glaring example of this, but there are plenty of smaller instances in every match. As a rugby fan, this hits me like a slap in the face every time I watch the round ball.

The dictats handed down by FIFA too are embarrassing. If it wasn't an automatic red card for 'raising your hands' to someone then you wouldn't have players rolling on the floor holding their mouths after being pushed in the chest. It's an affront to masculinity. Beckham's sending off against Argentina for a little tap on the leg, Bilic's disgusting play-acting to get Blanc banned from a WC final, these are lamentable reflections on the game of football.

And they can be sorted out, with the right action.

SpillerIan

Replying to "too many things being taken off the pitch in gaa "it may be true in sum cases but dublin schools rugby is by far the worst for this kind of petty rivalry they dont seem to be able to go anywhere where there maybe players from an opposing school without trying to start something, if they're not good enough to do your talking on the pitch then they shouldn't be playing.

KdjaCL

gjim wrote:

I don't think rugby will ever challenge soccer in terms of popularity.

Ummm Rugby completley and utterly annilihates soccer in this country on any weekend there would be more in Lansdowne/(whereever else rugby is teed off) then at the entire prem and 1st division games in ireland.


kdjac

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Chucky the tree

the ECL premiership matches certainly get moe then AIL top division anyway.

Jilm

KdjaC wrote:

Ummm Rugby completley and utterly annilihates soccer in this country on any weekend there would be more in Lansdowne/(whereever else rugby is teed off) then at the entire prem and 1st division games in ireland.

I saw a survey of attendances at sporting events of different codes in Ireland last year and from memory it broke down to over 50% GAA, ~25% football and 8% rugby. More people go to the geegees than rugby matches in Ireland.

Sangre

Football also has a much larger player basis. The simple fact of the matter is if you're gifted at football you are going to find out because every boy has taken part in a kick about. If you're good you usually take interest and go on to bigger things.
Gods knows how many rugby greats we've missed because they've just never played the game!

P.s I think Rooney would make a great centre. Great speed, balance and power.

Chucky the tree

wouldnt make a bad flanker either. Certainly handy with his boot.

BlitzKrieg

P.s I think Rooney would make a great centre. Great speed, balance and power.

and he's not afraid to put the boot in :D:D



-to quote an old rugby coach of mine...

Chakar

Rugby definitely because its a simple game you get the ball and you try to get a try.Also because its pretty much more of a team effort you don't get a Ronaldo getting a try after another.

Chakar

I also like soccer too actually like both games come to think of it but rugby is way better to watch anyway.

Fence

Personally I'd prefer to watch rugby than soccer, but I like both.

However both have their own problems. In soccer it is the refs and the diving etc. In rugby it is the fact that it has a smaller fan/player base etc.

Neither is better or worse than the other, just different.

pred racer

rugby for me.... I guess part of it is that I played for so long and I was sh1te at soccer (guess my rugby position anyone).I take all the points about the physical confontation, rows staying on the pitch etc etc, but for me its the fact that I can get enjoyment out of any game of rugby! Be it the junior cup first round in 6 inches of muck withb the final score being 3-0 or a 55-45 result for the barbarians vs the world, they all have their own merits and I enjoy them all.
But with soccer, the only games of this world cup that I have watched the whole way through are holland vs portugal (cause they gave each other such a kicking:D ) and italy vs germany (I just couldnt turn it off)
Soccer will always be a bigger game than rugby for the simple reason that you dont have to be shown how to play soccer, 3 kids, 2 coats and a tennis ball (or a coke can) are all that are needed to get a game going, and it will always be within the reach of even the poorest sections of the world community.
And finally on the gaa players being good rugby players, this is so true!!
some of the best rugby players I have played with were people we drafted in for the day cause we were short. They have the running, kicking and catching skills already and are used to taking a knock. If we could get all gaa players to play rugby during the winter we would have the best team in the world.

Big_G

Rugby's greatest asset and it's greatest drawback is it's nature as a team sport. This means that you don't attract as many players to the game because its not conducive to pick up games (that is a cultural entity, because I know americans play pick up games of touch football and the Kiwis are kicking a ball around in the womb). However, unlike soccer, it is not a team sport for individuals. Every person has a truly different job to contribute to the team going over the line. That is the beauty of the game.

This results in true tactical and strategic thinking instead of just aiming in a particular direction and going for it. Soccer displays plenty of tactical thinking but not enough strategic, as it is not in the nature of the game.

Even the Yanks have gotten it wrong by distilling all the tactics out of the game and relying completely on strategy as in gridiron.

(for an explanation of this analogy - http://www.alanemrich.com/PGD/PGD_Strategy.htm)

This balance of tactics and strategy results in exciting gameplay which engages the spectator on several levels. Soccer does not do this. I believe that the only reason that people aren't attracted to rugby as a game is because of cultural and socioeconomic grounds or because of certain perceptions or preconceptions of the game. This is borne out by rugby's rising popularity in the former soviet bloc and the fact that it is the fastest growing sport in the world. RWC is the third most watched sporting event in the world. Even ahead of the Superbowl AFAIK.

Rugby is not too afraid to change, either. Unlike soccer.

Jilm

Big_G wrote:

However, unlike soccer, it is not a team sport for individuals.

Some people have to learn this the hard way.

RuggieBear

Jilm wrote:

Some people have to learn this the hard way.

ARGHHHH.

Posting links of Gavin henson will be a banning offense if i get my way;)