Before this World Cup I wouldn't have had much time for Rugby, never interested me, hated playing it back at school, but after watching a couple of games i found i have a huge respect for the sport as a whole. The ref's are listened to completely by players (although this could be because the standard of refereeing is higher than football), commitment is there from EVERY player EVERY game (even when a team is poor they still all try) and atmospheres at grounds seem better. Yesterday i found it a struggle to sit through the Estonia game it was so boring and realised that aside from a couple of faces there aren't really any players i respect. Maybe football teams should be made to watch Rugby matches to see how proper professionals behave.
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I'd agree it was more exciting than the England-Estonia game but that surely has a lot to do with the fact the two rugby teams were well matched and the victory could have gone either way. Compare it with the England-Germany football semi-finals in 1990 and 1996 and I don't think there'd be much debate about which was more exciting. Plus you can't have a proper World Cup in a game the world doesn't play.
Having said that I MIGHT watch the final - if there's nothing good on the other channels.
But there are certainly things that football could learn from rugby, and baring the commercial angle, i can't think of too much rugby could learn from football.
Just my opinion.
the best players are the ones who channel their strengths, and so there isn't much left for mindless aggression. losing your cool in rugby really opens you up and you'll regret it.
i think rugby is more intelligent than football, but that's why we love the world's most popular game: beautiful simplicity.
I have watched quite a bit of this tournament and I do find it exciting given how tight the quarters and yesterdays semi have been. These games are like 15 headed prize fighters slugging it out; and the sheer grunt is great to watch. I like the referees speaking only to the Captains and the resultant lack of dissent. The fact is that the FIFA could outlaw dissent immediately by making it a red card offence. I also like the "sin bin" which gives one side an immediate advantage but doesn't spoil a game by depriving it of it's best players like in fooball.
All in all I like Rugby but my preference will always be for football.
Players just get on with it and when you consider some of those players could clean out a referee no problem it does amaze sometimes.
Footy is always my 1st love but love watching rugby for the passion and commitment PLUS if you go to Twickenham you are treated like a bloody adult allowed to have a beer in your seat etc.
But the problem with rugby - to me - is that so much goes on that you just can't see or understand, what with referees making decisions that are often very subjective and which dramatically affect the game. For example, in my football speaking mind England had more "chances" in the game v France in terms of missed penalties/conversions and the drop goal that hit the post, although France had a lot of possession.
For all of that I couldn't tell you whether any of the penalties that were given were harsh or fair - and I do have a decent enough grasp of the rules. With football everyone knows when there's a goal and if you score more goals than the oppo you win. In rugby you've got tries of course, but what with all of the penalties for various types of offence it just seems all a bit .... I dunno .... complicated?
I am however ever so slightly more interested in ice hockey than i was 24 months ago
but it will always be football followed closely by cricket for me
i want the children of england to play FOOTBALL....
but have to agree the rugby players' attitude towards the ref puts their footballing counterparts to shame..
the standard of behaviour of the crowds that go to rugby appears to be a lot more reasonable than football crowds but that may in some small part be due to the numbers that attend....
as for the game on saturday night didn't watch it cos our andy reid was orchestrating stuff for ireland against the germans
Wish Campese would change the record, the World cup is always rubbish unless the Crims win it.
And say if John Terry had tried to rip the red card out of a refs hand in rugby, it would have cost him a 6 month ban
The joy of a lot of the games in the RWC at the moment is they are real tight battles with interesting sub plots, unlike last years football world cup, where the knock out stuff was piss
which if we're going to balanced, would be wholly unworkable in football. In rugby, when contentious decisions are made, three quarters of the players will be within 15 yards of the incident, the captain is close on hand, plus its more suited to the stop start nature.
If football players could learn just two things from rugby, it would be to have more respect for the referees decision, and that simulation to gain an advantage is sad to see. Compare Dida to the South African who was punched in the face in the last minute last night, and just shrugged it off.
If you could bring those two factors, it would improve the game.
Rugby is incredibly hard game to watch as Off it says a lot of the decisions are open to intpretation of the laws by the referees. At the breakdown there are 39 different offences that could occur! I've been watching since i was 6 yet still often haven't got a clue why some decisions are given!
Both sports could learn from each other. We've rightly pointed out that what Football could learn from Rugby but Rugby can learn alot from football in the same way - the commercial side, the international growth of the game, the disciplinary system & organisiation of the game at the top level are all light years ahead of their Rugby equivalents
That's a very good point. The referee in rugby is never really very far from the action so is ideally place to see what's going on. Let's face it, if there are a dozen or so bodies laying on the deck and he sees a hand go in that shouldn't then he is right there to call it and the TV cameras would probably never pick it up. It does make watching it frustrating though if you cna't tell or see what's gone on. That said, the general attitude does seem to be that "if the ref has called it then there must've been an offence", which is the way it should be really. None of this chasing after the ref larky, or pundits crucifying him with the benefit of a dozen camera angles and slo-mo replays.
I'd suggest that, since football is the vastly more popular game, any percieved behaviour problems there would mirror society as a whole. Rugby - at least in England, anyhow - has traditionally been a bit more cut-off from those kind of pressures, since much of it's an amateur game and its players don't come from as wide a background as football players do.
the same respect for the referee is there in Rugby League as is in Rugby Union, and it could be argued that Rugby League is a far more working class sport then even Football.
When you get below the 6 nations level though I have little interest in rugby, apart from an occasional game since leaving school. but international games are something else for their intensity and action.
in summary I would say my sporting loves are as follows
1st Charlton
2nd England Rugby
=3rd England cricket
=3rd Kent cricket
=3rd England football
But RL is a regional sport in this country, to all intents and purposes, and doesn't attract the same coverage/ media pressures outside its heartland areas.
In rugby, union and league, there seems to be a pride taken by all in the fact that the referees decision is final. In football, it is seen as a potential advantage to get at and put pressure on the referee. The authorities are at fault for not punishing this adequately, and simulation, and as a result the clubs and managers put little effort into endorsign fair play into their players. The opposite in fact.
The footballers face a tough trip to Russia and a game on a dodgy pitch.
Will they get their heads down and make the best of it like the rugby boys have done or will the papers be full of whinging about poor officials and the pitch not being fair?
I know what my money would be on if I was a gambling man.
Sky Sports interviewed Joe Cole this morning, and they asked him if he was worried about the pitch and how that would affect Englands chances. For a change, I was impressed with his answer, saying that it was 11 v 11 and the ball was still round.
What happened to that rule in football, is it still there?
Was got rid of as it wasn't understood in non rugby playing countries, plus in Football you had to book the player, instead of just marching someone forward ten yards