... the Rugby World Cup aka the Webb Ellis Trophy? (It's named after William Webb Ellis, the man who supposedly 'invented' Rugby by picking up the ball and running with it during a football match). England, the holders, are playing the USA in Lens (France) next Saturday in the first Group match of the World Cup. With your Gridiron tradition and all those college players who don't go into the Pro game you've actually got the base there to become a top Rugby-playing nation. If you got your act together I'd bet on you winning the Rugby World Cup before you win the football one. (Just remember you can't throw the ball forwards).
What a backward sport! That is one sport that would make a great spring sport in high school, plenty of football (football) players would go for it. But schools might consider too similar to football (football) to add it. I do know one 16 year old that is not playing football (football) for his high school and is playing rugby instead. The up and coming sport seems to be lacrosse. Hey the US stands a good chance of winning another FIFA World Cup before eht end of the year.
Well the score was 28-10 to England but the largely-amateur US team can claim the moral victory, indeed the 2nd half score was 7-7! Imagine the England basketball team (not sure if we've got one) losing to an all-star NBA team by about ten points and you can gauge what a result it was. Like a lot of other England fans I cheered when the US got a try towards the end (a try's like a touchdown with the difference being you actually have to ground the ball with downward pressure rather than just breaking the plane of the goal line). It was the least they deserved. They were denied one in the first half after a sly trip by the England captain, Phil Vickery, on the US center Paul Emerick. This was missed by the match officials but was picked up by the officials who review each match afterwards and Vickery has now been 'cited' which means he has to go before a disciplinary panel and could miss the crunch game against South Africa. The appalling England rugby performance took the gloss of what was otherwise a good day for us with the association football team beating Israel 3-0 and the cricketers THRASHING India to win the NatWest One-Day series 4-3
We can't add rugby to high school sports because of Title IX. Rugby is a male-dominated sport, and I can't imagine too many schools that could field a women's team, which means another women's sport would have to be added at each school that adds a rugby team. Many schools can't afford the sports teams they currently have, and wouldn't be able to add another 2 sports to their budget. With college it's easier, because most rugby teams are club sports team (not funded by the college, which means they are not subject to Title IX laws), and college athletics programs have more more money for sports like rugby if they want to make them more than a club sport. Where does that money come from? Football and men's basketball. At many schools the football program funds the rest of the athletic department and provides millions of dollars more to academic programs. Remember that next time someone tells you that too much attention is paid to college football and not enough money is spent on academics.
Thanks for the update. Glad the US side made a decent effort. Good for the association football team, the US was losing to Brazil but I never saw Ronaldinho and Kaka work so hard. An own goal, a non-call on a penalty (US man pulled down with a rugby tackle), and a few favorable calls for Brazil was the difference. I guess our Indian friends are not so happy today.
They've been pretty sporting when they've won (and they DID win the Test series which is the 'proper' cricket) so I'm not going to rub it in. It was a good series. I think the last time we played a 7 game series against them (in India) we lost 6-1! Have any papers/TV channels in your part of the world covered the Rugby world cup? PS, davewashere: Women play Rugby too! I think there is a US woman's team (I know there is an England one) so you could have it as a joint sport. Mind you, maybe you don't want to encourage it. I've seen female Rugby players in a bar. My God ...
I have seen mention of the Rugby World Cup on the US sports network ESPN, and a lot more on Fox Soccer Channel as they play Sky Sports news hour. I think rugby could do very well here if it was played in the off season of American football. It has the blessing and the curse of being a close cousin of American football. What do you think of Australian Rules? It used to be on here a lot in the early days of ESPN and it seemed to be a wilder version of Rugby. I find both enjoyable when I get a chance to see them.
Yeah, I quite like it. I don't know why they call it Aussie 'Rules' because there don't appear to be any 'rules'. For me one of the worst things about it though is you can't see how close they are to the goal, watching it on TV is a bit like watching a boxing or tennis match through a keyhole (I often feel the same way about 'our' football which can be very boring on TV as it just concentrates on the ball). When you watch Rugby which code do you prefer? Rugby Union or Rugby League?
Ummmm.....I can never remember which is which minutes after looking up the difference. I just know that it's good to be an All Blacks fan.
That would be Union then (the 15-a-side game). I prefer that too. Rugby League (the 13-a-side game) is ok but it's a bit one-dimensional. Think of an American football team that only EVER plays a running game (to the extent of not even having Wide Receivers) and you've pretty much got Rugby League - with the exception you're allowed six Downs (called 'tackles') rather than four. And, yes, the All Blacks are clear favourites to win the RWC.
Do other squads have anything like the All Blacks haka? What are the finances of professional Rugby? Watching some clips of the All Blacks I would say most of those guys could make millions playing NFL football and could easily adapt. The hardest part would be getting used to all the padding.
I think the Samoans have something similar to the Haka. With regard to finances Rugby Union has only been professional for 15 years or so so this is the first generation of players who've come through a totally professional set-up. Previously the game was amateur and this was strictly enforced. If you were caught taking money you were kicked out of the sport completely (although it did go on). BTW that's what caused the split between League and Union in the first place when clubs in the north of England wanted to pay their working class players for lost time ('broken time' payments), but the rich southern toffs insisted they couldn't. The northern clubs broke away and formed their own association (the 'Northern Union') which over time evolved into Rugby League. Obviously world-wide the sport isn't as popular and consequently not as rich as association football so yes, they could perhaps be persuaded to play in the NFL. There is always the odd story going around that Player X or Player Y has been approached by an NFL franchise - but it would be a massive gamble for a successful rugby player to switch to a totally alien sport. Even players switching between League and Union are a rarity.
There have been players that come in for limited specific roles from other sports. Associatieon football players have been brought in for kickoffs and field goals. Prior to the 1970s, kickers kicked the ball straight on. Since then "soccer style" has been the norm, originally Europeans were brought in, now boys grow kicking that way. Back in the 80s there was a 350 man called the Refrigerator. He was used as a lineman but occasionally they'd send him in to run with the ball, something a man 100-150 pounds less would normally do. They would do this when they got down near the goal line where the last yard can be difficult. Watching the highlights makes me think Rugby could a great spring summer sport here for those fans wanting something after the Super Bowl and before September. How about Rugby under the NFL brand? It would surely do better than NFL Europe.
Ah yes William Perry of the Chicago Bears, I remember him. Didn't he get a touchdown in the Superbowl doing one of those one yard 'runs'? And don't get me STARTED on NFL Europa / NFL Europe / World League of American football. What a wasted opportunity! I see they've scrapped it now (as of June this year).
I wasn't aware that they were shutting it down, I guess I've been watching too much Fox Soccer Channel. I suppose their strategy was off a bit at the beginning trying to spread around all areas rather than focus on the best opportunity which I believe was Germany. I would think it would be a tough sell any where that boys didn't grow up with it. I did have a boss recently from the Ukraine that played on a national level there or in Russia so it will likely resurface like the top level soccer league here resurfaced and is likely to make it this time (despite spending so much on Mr. Spice Girl).
I just so something about the University of Hawaii's (American) football team being penalized for performing a haka. I believe the ruling was it was taunting or unsportsmanlike conduct. If they only get set back 5 yards on the kick off, I'd have them do it. This story tells us they are switching away from a haka to a non-Maori war chant.
It certainly ended up as all German teams, but initially the real hotbed was the UK. Because of the Rugby tradition we took to it like ducks to water whereas the Germans struggled. There's a good article about it hereThere is still a domestic British league but it's not as strong or as popular as it was. I'm sure if you wanted to you could easily get tickets for BritBowl XXI
Well written article. It's interesting to see how a new sport is gradually accepted and how it really can't start as a top league. It's funny how pads are an issue. I remember as a boy seeing some strange hockey players wearing "crash helmet". Back then not all goal tenders wore face masks. As it turns out play, especially by the goalies is much better since they aren't at least subconsciously thinking about 100 mph frozen piece of hard rubber entering an orbital socket. We are sending two of our hockey teams over their in the next month. Is the Anaheim Ducks (Stanley Cup Champions) vs. the L.A. Kings getting much mention over there?
In a word - no! It's certainly the first I've heard of it. Ice hockey, like basketball, is a minority sport over here. For ice hockey there is a British league, but they stopped televising the games so I couldn't tell you who's in it.
Ugh, of the four major sports in North America it was the one I was drawn to the most. I grew up outside of Detroit and only the baseball and hockey teams had rich history and recent success. At the time, it was also a sport that a kid like me (resigned to the fact that I wasn't going to be well over 6 feet tall or 225 pounds) could imagine that I might go pro. But alas the nearest rink was an hour and a half round trip and the lake nearby never had great ice, just plenty of snow to clear off. It would be a great game to go see.