I’ve actually been interested to see how rugby is played for a while but I can’t ever find a game, even on random times on ESPN. Is there some way an American can see the two forms of rugby somehow? Not necesarily live games - I’ll watch old ones just to see what it’s like.
There’s an Irish company Setanta that specialises in providing European sports to Irish ex pats in the states. It shows a lot of Rugby Union, but I’m not sure about League since it isn’t that big in Ireland.
Here’s the link
Of course if you just want to have a quick look then youtube has a lot of videos of both codes. Plus this should be out soon.
Do you have access to BBC iPlayer in the states? The ongoing Autumn internationals are up there. I was at the Australia defeat to Scotland last weekend, so I’ll recommend you give that one a miss (the game wasn’t very exciting, apart from the end).
The iPlayer isn’t officially available outside the UK. Of course you could do some shenanigans with proxies (I hear tor is good for that) but otherwise you’re out of luck.
I have heard that there are other places on the internet where these things can be downloaded by even less legal mechanisms …
It gets broadcast on one of the goofy fox channels, like FoxSoccer or FoxWorld or whatever. It’s buried around the obscure sports channels, possibly near ESPN Classic or Verve.
Fox Sports always televises all the Rugby World Cup matches. The next RWC isn’t until 2011, but until then they also cover RWC qualifying. You’ll have to DVR it, for the most part- the broadcasts tend to be very late at night or very early in the morning.
I found mhendo’s analysis of the differing games quite convincing, but I think this thread has avoided falling into a ‘which game is tougher’ slagging match.
For Senor Beef, here’s the 2011 World Cup schedule from wikipedia. The USA has qualified and is in pool C with Ireland, Italy and Australia. One more European team will also be in the same pool, the runner-up of the European Nations Cup (which runs until March 2010). On current standings this looks likely to be one of Portugal, Russia or perhaps Georgia (although I think Georgia will win the ENC).
If you’re looking for a good recent game, last weekend’s France-All Blacks match was a cracker. I would say it’s the most watchable of this year’s Autumn internationals.
Yiou can watch NRL games (rugby league) here, assuming they aren’t region crippled or anything.
http://www.nrl.com/video/matcharchive20052009/tabid/10637/default.aspx (it defaults to 2010, so select another year on the tab bar thingy)
e.g. 2009 Grand Final
http://bigpondvideo.com/nrl/212755
Some other tidbits here
http://www.nrl.com/playwin/hittryoftheyear/tabid/10778/default.aspx
(they wouldn’t work for me though)
Have you been watching the wildcat? And actually, the wildcat is just an update to old-fashioned football. As my father, who is 84, told me, way back in the day there was no quarterback. The “halfback” did the running, passing, and everything. Actually, from what I have seen, football back then was a lot more like rugby. The forward pass was actually an addition to the game. If you watch a college team that uses the triple option, it is a lot like rugby, trying to maintain the pitch angles between the backs while reading the defense. And the drop kick exixts in football also. Doug Flutie, a quarterback, kicked a dropkick field goal in his last game, at age 41 or 42. Here is a link. I know the kick is really short, but it was the first one attempted in the NFL in over 40 years.
Because this thread actually requires knowledge of either sport. I’ve found those who are most vocal in the “which game is tougher” debates are those that play neither game. I’ve got friends in real life who would never dream of playing rugby, but are quick to denounce American Football as a game for girls. In actual fact, most rugby clubs I know would gladly take a Football player, as they know how to hit well.
Also, I find it strange that those wanting to defend rugby always focus on the big hits, which actually plays to American Football’s strengths. Rugby isn’t tough because of the huge number of big hits, though they do happen, it’s tough because of the rampant rucking (for those who think this has died out, I invite you to play teams from the Scottish borders: you come off the pitch looking like you’ve been scourged), the stamping on hands, bending fingers back, occasional eye gouge, common brawls, the fact that punching is widely seen as a valid tactic in the front row, broken necks etc. etc.
What is it with Scotsmen and rucking? I still remember the first game I played down in Dunedin at university getting monstered in every ruck by the boys from Southland and Otago regardless of where the ball actually was. Still, you can’t deny that it’s an effective way of getting quick ball from the breakdown.