Rugby World Cup

[Nick1984]

Rugby world cup is going to start soon in France. Anybody on these forums follow rugby (and yes I mean union not that league gaff that barbarians play)?

For those of you in the US used to NFL its kind of similar to NFL except the guys don't wear armour and helmets

I'm hoping Australia does well but the All Blacks (New Zealand) will probabbly kill us. As it's in France, they have a real great chance of winning.

Can't wait till it starts! For those of you who have never seen an All Black Haka before a match i've posted a link. Our sheep shagging brothers across the Tasman do look pretty cool when they do this!

+ YouTube Video

[cooter]

Is it similar to Aussie Rules Football or something?

[notouch]

Rugby is the origin of that girly shoulder pad game that Americans call football (but everyone else calls American football). It's the number one game in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and South Africa and is either number 1 or 2 in Australia, New Zealand and England. Italy are also getting better as are a number of other countries.

[brownsfan019]

	Quote:	notouch
	Rugby is the origin of that girly shoulder pad game that Americans call football (but everyone else calls American football). It's the number one game in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and South Africa and is either number 1 or 2 in Australia, New Zealand and England. Italy are also getting better as are a number of other countries.

So what you are saying is notouch is that a bunch of little countries with drunks enjoy rugby?

Meanwhile the entire US supports football, our much better version of course.

:lol:

[cooter]

	Quote:	brownsfan019
	Meanwhile the entire US supports football, our much better version of course. :lol:

Gridiron football, as played in the US (and Canada) is for widely perceived in other parts of the free world as a game for wimps and pansies.

Real men don't need helmets and pads to play rough and hard.

After all, there's a reason NFL Europe went under.

[brownsfan019]

Do Rugby players make fat cash like NFL players do or is it more for the love of the sport?

[Nick1984]

Rugby is a tougher physical game than NFL football cause of the lack of physical protection via pads and helmets but the game isn't played in the same way either. Rugby flows along however NFL stops and starts all the time with incomplete plays etc holding things up. I see NFL more like a game of Chess between the coaches who try to outsmart eachother with various plays.

I guess the money that NFL players make is due to the relative popularity of the sport within its domestic sphere as compared to other sports. You can't compare the money NFL players make with those who play real football (or soccer if you prefer). David Beckham got paid $36 million just to sign with LA Galaxy. Hes making about $1.5 miliion a week to stay with them as well.

Cooter: Rugby is really different from our AFL (Australian Rules Football). Aussie rules is popular here in Victoria (my state), South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

AFL is is also a running game played with a smaller oval ball. Some complicated rules which I wont go into now lol. Best thing about the game is seeing a spectacular mark being taken (catching the ball while in flight to get a free uncontested kick), or some of the big hits taken (no protection worn either) I've uploaded a cpl of youtube videos of some of the AFL's best marks and hits hope you like

+ YouTube Video

+ YouTube Video

[notouch]

+ YouTube Video

[brownsfan019]

I was just wondering in terms of the NFL and Soccer, how do rugby players compare in their salaries? I mean, is this all they do b/c they can afford it like the NFL and Soccer or is it a labor of love, which requires working as well to pay the bills? Can one live off a rugby player's income alone?

I'm just curious, that's all.

[Nick1984]

Yea you can here in Australia as well as in NZ. League players as well as Union players can make farily lucritive deals. The better known players will get yearly salaries of 500k or more plus sponsorship deals etc. It doesn't compare with an AFL player, a football/soccer player in a major league, or an NFL player but they still make enough professionally to make a decent living.

In Australia, most of our team also have degrees in various fields so they can continue a career after they can't keep on playing.

Edit: What did you think of the AFL clips?