Rugby vs Football

[Keefy]

Just watched the Lion's "game" and it reminded me strongly of Stoke vs WetSpam with the only real difference being that the ref was respected by all on the pitch.

[Burt]

Where rugby is better than footy:
1. Can have a pint in your seat.
2. Ref respect.
3. Sin bins.
4. TV judge.
5. The money side of things is far more sensible.

[jarv]

I found watching it live is better than on tv. Better perspective of the pace and power of the game.

[Artful Dodger]

It always amuses me how you can smack ten bells out of each other in rugby and the ref 'has a word' but you swear at the ref and it's a 4 months ban whereas in football you can give the ref a whole barrage of abuse and nothing happens but if you raise your hand anywhere near someone's face you get sent off (not normally helped by the other player rolling around like he's been flattened by a rugby player!).

Surely there is a half way house.

[General]

To play competitively very little beats rugby, it's a much more full on game and you can't rest on your laurels... Plus nothing beats making a crunching tackle or scoring a try... International rugby though is the only standard I like watching.

[cmg]

To play competitively very little beats rugby, it's a much more full on game and you can't rest on your laurels... Plus nothing beats making a crunching tackle or scoring a try... International rugby though is the only standard I like watching.

Very true. I loved playing football, but rugby, for me, was the ultimate participation sport. I played it in the era of 'ten-man rugby' (scrum-half played as a ninth forward, outside-half kicked everything in front of the pack, centres just tackled and wingers were there to fetch the ball when it went into touch). Great fun to play, but, for the spectator, less interesting than a George Osborne speech. All amateur in those days (mostly!), so no need to entertain the punters.

These days, unless it is something like this morning's match, I much prefer to watch football.

[Riverside]

The Welsh wins rugby matches ....

[michaelread]

It always amuses me how you can smack ten bells out of each other in rugby and the ref 'has a word' but you swear at the ref and it's a 4 months ban whereas in football you can give the ref a whole barrage of abuse and nothing happens but if you raise your hand anywhere near someone's face you get sent off (not normally helped by the other player rolling around like he's been flattened by a rugby player!).

Surely there is a half way house.

its called Rugby League (in australia, not in the crap UK league) - not a half way house, but they batter each other, disrespect the refs, disrespect the public, disrespect each other - and the country eats it up. Its faster than rugby too, much much faster and more entertaining.

[Travers Barney]

Rugby is a game played by Gentlemen played like Scoundrels whilst Football is game played by Scoundrels who play like Gentlemen.

Sure I got it wrong but you get the drift.

coyw

[Sir Alec of good Stock]

Rugby every time for me.

[rhyspabsolom]

Rugby's better than football in pretty much every way.

Frankly, when Stoke are likened to a rugby team it's not only hackneyed and nonsensical but also disrespectful to the superior sport.

[Gozorich]

Rugby Union is only played by posh Public Schools because they can get more pupils involved and you can hide the rubbish. Told to me once by the sports master of a well known public school in Surrey

[General]

Rugby Union is only played by posh Public Schools because they can get more pupils involved and you can hide the rubbish. Told to me once by the sports master of a well known public school in Surrey

That's a bunch of crap.., I went to private schools and we played state schools, academies and comprehensives.. The reality is that we didn't play as many because the standard is soo different a lot of the time and only a few state schools can produce good enough teams compared to the teams in private schools due to the level of coaching and general facilities on offer.. This is changing though. This board is becoming increasingly overrun by people just making up statements for the sake of it... God it's annoying... There's nothing wrong with not having an opinion on everything... Even more so when it's a bunch of crap.

[Whiteroom]

No comparison for me. Rugby has almost no flow. Tactically it is far far more basic and the level to which it is played is much lower than football - a sport played in almost every country in the world and an national obsession in most. I also think that rugby is flawed as a game. Rucks and mauls were not designed for the brutes that play the game today - it just doesn't work. It is almost impossible to see what is really happening inside these plays and commentators rarely agree with each other, let alone the ref. Football can be played by anyone and anywhere. I'm baffled by those that believe rugby is a better spectator sport.

[cmg]

Football to watch.

Rugby to play.
And then, for me it is (or was, sadly) only a marginal call. And even then that only applies to an organised game.
And that's the beauty of football and why it is the greatest game in the world.
Whatever Sky or FIFA might try to tell you, football belongs to you. All you need for a game is a ball, any ball will do, and a bit of ground.

A bunch of people fancy a game of football. "Hey, I've got a tennis ball." They've got a game.
Now try this with, say, American Football. "Hey, I've got a tennis ball...and a bloody great van full of pads, helmets and full body armour (armor). Forty minutes later, everybody is ready...and it's time to go home.

[Vinnieffc]

What's wrong with loving both ? I like meat and veggies.. (ie. Rugby players and game being meat, most footballers vegetables ;-)). To be honest, Fulham apart, if there are clashing footie and rugby games on TV, I go with rugby every time.. As a player I played football on Saturdays and rugby Sundays. I preferred rugby, however was useless. I enjoyed football, and was substantially better at it than rugby. So football took precedent.

[GoldCoastWhite]

Comparing apples and oranges for me. Two very different games and while I applaud the respect for the ref and the almost total absence of feigned injury in rugby it just doesn't do it for me. And even having spent the bulk of my life in South Oz the local Aussie Rules doesn't really float my boat either. Doesn't mean it's a crap game, I just love football !

[nose]

I hate rugby. The whole concept is bizarre. Only passing backwards, an odd shaped ball, rules that are convoluted. no flow to the game. rugby is unatural in its very form. Described to me by a fan as a game of choreographed set pieces like chess. When i watch it looks more like legalised thuggery. Only the freaky outsized and strong can properly take part. Rugby needs a few players before it becomes a viable game.However the respect for the ref is impressive, players can stamp on each other, there are regularly dibilitating injuries to the back and neck ( e.g. a friend recently airlifted to hospital) and fans can get drunk,  behave like hooligans and it is called high jinx.

Football IS the beautiful game unfortunately spoiled by toomuch money, the need to win at all costs and far too much play acting with no respect for the ref, oh and hooligans that are hooligans. But when seen at its best football is theatre of the highest quality, drama, ebb and flow and hopefully some exquisite skills (although that isn't essential for a great game). Kaka's goal against norwichh with Moose's flick through was a moment to savour. Football is the most supremely simple and natural game, anyone,. any size any ability can play and enjoy participating. you can play football on your own practising skills, as two or three shooting and stuff or with more.

Football is the worlds game because it is the best game.