# What is the difference between rugby and american footbal?



## chukjones (Jan 29, 2010)

What is the difference between rugby and american footbal?
I thought it was all the same.


----------



## KillerShark1985 (Jan 6, 2010)

There is a huge difference between the two sports, I once had this argument with some guy on JTV, I argued that Rugby players are in much better athletic shape than American football players.

A side from the rules been different significantly enough to justify it very different, the only thing similar is the shape of the ball.

but my argument that Rugby players are in better than AF players is based on the fact that In AF there are a lot of time outs between plays so the players get chance to recover and only need to be conditioned enough to disburse energy in short periods during plays, where as Rugby is more relentless and you need to keep going the full 40mins each half, which IMO requires a much fitter athlete


----------



## jbar74 (May 28, 2009)

If you can, watch the Six Nations this weekend coming. This may also help:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/rules_and_equipment/default.stm


----------



## monaroCountry (Feb 15, 2009)

To further complicate things, there is also two different rugby codes that you should be familiar with.The previous poster has already provided you with a Rugby Union link, this one (below) is a Rugby League game. Both use a similarly chaped ball and similar type fields but Union and League are quite different. There have been many players who have swapped back and forth between the two codes.


----------



## chukjones (Jan 29, 2010)

chukjones said:


> What is the difference between rugby and american footbal?
> I thought it was all the same.


Spain retain No 1 spot at world football rankings


----------



## Nefilim777 (Jun 24, 2009)

I can only speak for Rugby Union, because I'm obsessed, but the differences between the NFL and Rugby Union are huge. A game lasts 80 mins with 15 players, forwards and backs. The ball cannot travel forwards. There is attacking and defending teams but this can change instantly because rugby is played openly, not in the stop/start manner of the NFL. Scoring is based as so; 3 points for a penalty kick which can be taken from anywhere in the field and 5 points for a try. After a try is scored there is the chance for the team to kick a conversion and come away with 7 points. That's the basics, the rules of rugby, which are quite complicated, show more clearly the vast difference between the two sports.


----------

