RUGBY!

[-Helix-]

Thought we could use an official rugby thread.

For American rugby fans, Versus has been showing Rugby Sevens highlights on Saturday. I wish they'd show full games, but hey. I'll take what I can get.

I'm hoping that these highlight shows are a sign that Versus might start showing rugby on a regular basis and even have live games occasionally. I should e-mail them and see if they are.

It'd be nice to have rugby on TV. I would love Versus if they did show it more often.

That said, I'm still waiting for news on if and where the World Cup is going to be shown on American TV. I'm going to be pissed if nobody picks it up. Maybe Versus will.

I can't wait for the World Cup. Go Eagles!

[540dash]

ya I dont understand why Americans dont like rugby as much. its a spring sport ( as far as i can tell) and its just as or maybe more brutal than American football. What time do those highlights come on?

[slightly shotgunned]

i think its because most americans don't understand how rugby is played yet. same with lacrosse.

both sports i love to watch, neither sport i understand.

btw, versus? what's that. i don't think i have that channel.

[Alphabet Man]

Rugby in a nutshell-

Two teams lineup facing eachother like in NFL, but you have to pass the ball backwards and then carry the ball as far forward as you can, if you get tackled you have to push the ball out to a teammate who will pass it backwards and we start again. When you cross the Endzone (try line) you touch the ball on the ground for a try. Then you kick for the point after try (2 points).

I don't mind the game, its not my favourite but its a game Australia has traditionally dominated. But not in recent years.

[rainmaker17]

not to overly stereotype but.....the Austin Huns are a bunch of pricks. Short, stocky guys who are VERY exlusive to who they hang out with. From what i've seen, they treat women and non-rugby guys like :censored:e. I hate when I ask innocent questions and get immediatley blown off because I don't know the 'sea shanty' song of the night.

[Breakwood]

France is looking good this year. Defending Six Nations champs, and they are 2-0 so far in this years Six Nations, including a last minute win over Ireland, who were favourites to win the competition. Plus the World Cup is in Frane this year.

[Herk]

I know the All-blacks have pulled all their players out of the Super 14 this season to rest them up and train them for the World Cup.

Has anybody here been following the Super 14. The Sharks are undefeated so far and with the NZ teams being weaker than usual this could be the year that a South African team wins the championship.

[DEAD!]

France is looking good this year. Defending Six Nations champs, and they are 2-0 so far in this years Six Nations, including a last minute win over Ireland, who were favourites to win the competition. Plus the World Cup is in France this year.

I don't much about the players, but France does look strong. Got away with a good win over Ireland especially considering all the emotion over the debut of rugby at Croke Park and Ireland had a recent win over Australia.

As for the Super 14, The Sharks have had their first three games at home, now if they can get some away victories, then they would be well. But, I just hope the Crusaders rebound soon.

[-Helix-]

ya I dont understand why Americans dont like rugby as much. its a spring sport ( as far as i can tell) and its just as or maybe more brutal than American football. What time do those highlights come on?

I think Rugby and American football are too similar for them both to become very popular. So I don't ever expect there to be a good quality national professional league here in the States.

But those who have played/watched rugby do love the game. American football just has more tradition and grassroots history here.

Not to mention Americans probably don't like the idea of only being able to pass backwards.

I love both American football and Rugby. They are very similar. The thing that attracted me to Rugby was the continuous play - whereas American football can get kind of dull when there's a break every 2 seconds after short plays.

But because I follow the NFL and college football here in the States, I only usually follow international rugby. So I don't know much about club rugby.

I believe the highlight show comes on at 4 EST. But I think it's a replay every week, unfortunately. Nothing new. So if you watch it once, don't bother with it again.

i think its because most americans don't understand how rugby is played yet. same with lacrosse.

both sports i love to watch, neither sport i understand.

btw, versus? what's that. i don't think i have that channel.

A lot of areas don't get Versus, so you might not. Some places require you to order it separately from your cable package.

But Versus is the channel that shows the Tour de France, the NHL, NLL, and used to show Arena Football. It used to be called OLN (Outdoor Life Network) until the beginning of this NHL season.

[slightly shotgunned]

i think its because most americans don't understand how rugby is played yet. same with lacrosse.

both sports i love to watch, neither sport i understand.

btw, versus? what's that. i don't think i have that channel.

A lot of areas don't get Versus, so you might not. Some places require you to order it separately from your cable package.

But Versus is the channel that shows the Tour de France, the NHL, NLL, and used to show Arena Football. It used to be called OLN (Outdoor Life Network) until the beginning of this NHL season.

ah. the OLN. that's high tier around here. looks like i'll have to rely on the internet.

[jr79]

Rugby in a nutshell-

Two teams lineup facing eachother like in NFL, but you have to pass the ball backwards and then carry the ball as far forward as you can, if you get tackled you have to push the ball out to a teammate who will pass it backwards and we start again. When you cross the Endzone (try line) you touch the ball on the ground for a try. Then you kick for the point after try (2 points).

I don't mind the game, its not my favourite but its a game Australia has traditionally dominated. But not in recent years.

Wrong game Matt. That's rugby league. Rugby (union) is far too free-flowing for all this standing around lining up stuff, as long as the referee keeps his whistle in his pocket.

Rugby is a sport Australia has never traditionally dominated. We had only one sustained good spell between about 1998 and 2001 when we were near unstoppable and we've basically had our arses handed to us by the All Blacks about 70% of the rest of the time. (Our 1991 World Cup win was considered a minor shock at the time)

[Alphabet Man]

I know, what I meant was its essntially on lines, if your over it your offside. From what I've seen on the Wallabies (me being 16, only the last 10 years, less than that) we have dominated.

What I do like about rugby is that instead of RL when you have to roll it under your foot, in Union they keep ripping eachothers head off until someone gets the ball out.

[BB61]

I love rugby. I'd get my arse kicked if I ever tried to play it, but I'd probably have a ball.

I wonder if EA is releasing a Rugby 07 in the States like they have the last three years?

And speaking of EA and Rugby -- how cool (if not logistically impossible) would it be to have a biennial Ten Nations Competition (6 Nations + Tri-Nations + Argentina)?

[Swiss]

You! I'm a rugby fan. I root for the Pumas and the Bleus.

I'm reading this thread by now but later I'll write some remarks about Int'l Rugby.

Glad to see you guys because there are some good opinions.

[Alphabet Man]

The Ten nations could work.

The Super 14's will expand again one day, to Super 16's, Melbourne is a defiante to get a team and one other team thats been floated around is a Pacific Islander team or an Argentinean team.

[harperdc]

rugby is a sort of small love of mine. it's so much harder to follow in the US (especially because Fox Sports World became Fox Soccer Channel and dropped the rugby stuff after fading it out), I hope *somebody* picks up the World Cup coverage (hopefully Versus, that'd be a great avenue for them to take) because rugby union is SO much fun. Great fun to watch, pretty fun to play - I stopped and quit playing before I got really hurt, but I still have my boots and my scrum hat *somewhere* - and it's a shame we play with pads, helmets and throw the ball forward instead of being a dominant team in an international sport...*sigh*.

sorry, I sometimes dream about "what if football died out in the '30s and rugby union took back over and became what the NFL is..." and then weep softly.

GO EAGLES!

[Herk]

The Ten nations could work.

The Super 14's will expand again one day, to Super 16's, Melbourne is a defiante to get a team and one other team thats been floated around is a Pacific Islander team or an Argentinean team.

While expansion to those regions have been talked about, the South African teams have been floating around the idea of competing in European compititions like the Heineken Cup instead of Super 14 because of the long road trips across time zones that are necissary.

[BB61]

If the Super 14 is going to change, it will probably be less South Africa and more Pacific Island / Asian clubs. I wouldn't be surprised if Hong Kong or Japan picked up a team.

[budbowl77]

If you have DirecTV in the USA you can get Setanta Sports which has awesome coverage of Rugby, Soccer, Gaelic Sports. I have it now and its a tad pricey but worth it

[-Helix-]

rugby is a sort of small love of mine. it's so much harder to follow in the US (especially because Fox Sports World became Fox Soccer Channel and dropped the rugby stuff after fading it out), I hope *somebody* picks up the World Cup coverage (hopefully Versus, that'd be a great avenue for them to take) because rugby union is SO much fun. Great fun to watch, pretty fun to play - I stopped and quit playing before I got really hurt, but I still have my boots and my scrum hat *somewhere* - and it's a shame we play with pads, helmets and throw the ball forward instead of being a dominant team in an international sport...*sigh*.

sorry, I sometimes dream about "what if football died out in the '30s and rugby union took back over and became what the NFL is..." and then weep softly.

GO EAGLES!

Yeah, I know what you mean. Sometimes I play NCAA Football with the old classic teams from like the 20's and just run the option the whole time pretending it's rugby. The sports were very similar back in the old days. I'm surprised rugby didn't keep growing along with football.

Atleast college rugby is still pretty popular at some schools like UCLA. But imagine if rugby became the chosen sport over football and the UCLA rugby team played infront of a packed Rose Bowl for their home games. *drools*

Basically that's the reason I got into rugby. I love international sports and I've always liked football. But there is no international football. (Not of high quality anyway.) So I started following international rugby instead.

Unfortunately I think American and Canadian football are too different from rugby to be able to make a hybrid code for international play like they do for Gaelic Football/Aussie Rules and sometimes Aussie Rules/Rugby. Although a hybrid of all the forms of football would be fantastic. One can dream.