Smashing Baaby (with Austin Powers Voice)

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I'm just a 10 cent rider on a $2,500.00 Bike

I don't think the NFL or CFL guys would last an entire rugby game since it's much faster than North American football. The average NFL play is about ten seconds then there is four minutes of huddle time. In rugby the game is almost constantly moving. How long do you think some of those 300+ lb linemen would be able to keep up the pace?

http://www.neathrfc.co.uk/press-release.shtml

Look like the Rugby folks decided to upgrade to an NFL guy. And a no name at that

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I'm just a 10 cent rider on a $2,500.00 Bike

This has been tried before. NFL players never last in Rugby. They haven't the fitness or the toughness to last.

I tried watching NFL a couple of times then gave up. Boooooooooooooorring

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What's always amazed me is the fact that the NFL doesn't recruit from Rugby.

As I recall, there was a fairly well-circulated rumour after the '95 World Cup that an NFL team (I believe the Cowboys) were trying to get Lomu in for a work out. Turned out to be all for nought, though.

With his speed and size, he'd be devestating on either side of the ball -- particularly as a WR or a linebacker. Can you imagine trying to cover a 6'7", 276 pound guy that runs a 10.98 100? Yikes.

He would make an decent tight end but not a WR- way to slow. Most of the WR's in the NFL run sub 10.5's

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I'm just a 10 cent rider on a $2,500.00 Bike

Not too sure about that. There are some bad assed NFL players that are very gifted athletes. Sort of like getting Lance to do Hawaii, why would you want to take a 5 million dollar a year paycut? Yes I have played rugby and it is a very different game from American football, but a skills player like linebacker, wide receivers, running backs, and some of the corners have the size, speed and skills to make most excellent rugby players. There are probably 20-50 NFL guys that have world class track speed (ran college) and weigh 220-250 now. I would think there are a bunch of pro soccer players that could give rugby a good go as well.

I have not really seen other than on TV the big time ruggers, but have not seen that much size and speed. Maybe some of you experts can post top rugger palmars on Olympic Track teams or International track results of some of the faster guys. Not ment as a challenge or a dis, I am just interested. Thanks G

I played scrum half and winger in University....(for the 3rds)...there's no pain on earth quite like getting hit by a blind side flanker at speed on a sub zero day on a frozen pitch.

I don't think I ever played a game of Rugby when I didn't step off the field bruised bleeding and broken. Its a brutal game on the body and a great game to watch once you get an understanding of the basic rules and strategies.

Professional rugby players are, by and large, much better athletes than professional football players. They play both sides of the ball for a full 80 minutes, there are no time outs, every player has to be able to handle the ball and kick with proficiency. Every player must have the aerobic capacity to run for 80 minutes and even the biggest second row forwards and the broadest props have to have some speed to get to loose ball. In football you can get a job if you're 300lbs and can push a smaller guy around for 5 seconds at a time.

If you're a back you have to have the catching abilities of a wide receiver, the nerve and running skills of a punt returner, the passing skills of a quarterback, and the hitting power of a middle line backer.

And if your're a scrum half you have to be part player part coach in the booth calling in the plays.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

2 totally different sports needing different skills. Its like wondering why Hockey doesnt recruit figure skaters.

I'd say they are pretty similar sports requiring pretty similar skills....just that in Rugby every player on the field has to be able to run, catch, tackle and pass....in football those duties are divided up among the 165 or so players on each team.

For example a top international Rugby centre, after mastering the rules and tactics of football could probably play several positions on s pro football team without embarassing himself. I don't think there's a single player in American football who could do the same in reverse...Cordell Steward maybe or Donovan McNabb.....I dunno. Rugby players just have a broader base of skill requirements and better fitness.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Ireland's Ronan O'Gara was informally approached by Miami Dolphins

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/...12862,916344,00.html

A game of 165 on 15 might not be a fair test. A game of 15 on 15 might produce significantly different results!

THE DIFFERENCES ARE ACTUALLY VERY SMALL, EXCEPT IN RUGBY YOU DON'T GET TO WEAR KEVLAR BODY ARMOUR,YOU DON'T GET TO REST EVERY 10 SECONDS AND CALL YOUR MUM FROM THE SIDELINE,AND FINALLY YOU DON'T PRANCE AROUND LIKE A RUTTING PEACOCK EVERY TIME YOU ACTUALY DO THE VERY THING YOU ARE BEING PAID MILLIONS A YEAR TO DO.OH I FORGOT....YOU DON'T THEN TAKE THOSE MILLIONS AND SPEND THEM ON TASTELESS CLOTHING LINES AND BITS OF OVERSIZED JEWELLRY THAT YOU STICK IN YOUR EAR LIKE SOME LATTER DAY MAHARAJAH

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non illigitamus carborundum

If that is the case then why hasnt some 2nd tier rugby player come and take the big bucks of the NFL... Or and other cross polination. Have you played both sports in an organized league?

There are probably very few rugby players who could fill all the requirements of a specific position player in American football better than the supply of players coming out of the US collegiate system.

I'm not trying to say that any top class rugby player could walk onto a professional football team and hold down a job....just that an international calibre rugby player could probably play at much higher level in football than the same scenario in reverse. I don't think there are but a couple of football players who could play both sides of the ball, pass, catch, and tackle for 80 minutes. They just don't have the tools.

Some rugby players have been heavily recruited...Jonah Lomu springs to mind. When he was at his best the guy just could not be stopped. he ran through people like they weren't there and there were lots of football scouts foaming at the mouth to get him, but I don't think he was interested.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

He'd be the slowest wide receiver in the NFL. And on defense, the likes of Deon Sanders would run circles around that guy.

Most wide receivers in the NFL came from a sprinter background in high school and college. Many were world class sprinters in college.

no. because Lomu's time is a real 100m, on the track...
by the way, his website says 10.8
and there aren't 50 guys of his size that run that fast.

"For example a top international Rugby centre, after mastering the rules and tactics of football could probably play several positions on s pro football team without embarassing himself."

Well, gee, that's a pretty good paying job. You'd think one of them would give it a whirl, huh?

"What's always amazed me is the fact that the NFL doesn't recruit from Rugby."

Reason: It's almost a completely different game. NFL football is all about a 2 - 5 second explosion of action then a several minute break, then repeat whereas Rugbay plays evolve slower and there is no real stoppage of play. Overall Rugby players are much fitter.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I played rugby as a tight forward (fat guy) for 15 yrs from the age of six. This is, I think, the biggest difference in the games - in rugby there is constant competition for the ball. In NFL when it is spilled or someone is tackled they have a scrimmage (roughly, right?) but in rugby when a player is tackled we have a ruck, where you compete for the ball with your feet.

When I played that means that if you fell on the opposition side of the ruck, they would 'ruck' you out of their side. This means 8 guys weighing about 90ks av each would trample on you and propel you out the back of their side of the ruck, in order to get to the ball. Truly brutal. It seems to me that NFL has lots of collisions, like rugby, but this competition is the main difference.

The other thing that I never get with NFL is a 60 minute game can last for 4 hrs. With rugby things are much more compact.

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kiwipat

per ardua ad astra

I doubt wide receiver would be a good fit for Lomu, but if he is that big and that fast he would be an amazing running back or tight end. If he played running back he would be a faster version of Jerome Bettis but 20 pounds heavier.

This is a pretty fun thread, other than Lomu I haven't seen the palmars of too many rugby players being thrown around in the sub 11 100 m track times. I know there are a bunch of them out there in the NFL.

I think too with the 250 American Universities that suit up 80 athletes each in American Football and the 5,000 High School teams trying to get to the college level of play, that the American talent pool has to be as large as the world rugby pool. I just think that if a talented rugby player had any brains he would at least try the NFL, CFL or EuroNFL for the money aspect.

With the exception of maybe a couple guys that hasn't happened. I personally feel that any NFL team roster would do much better in pro rugby after a two year training period than any pro rugby team would do in the NFL. Yes it is a different sport, but endurance is much easier to train than speed is to aquire. G

I have seen lomu scoring the equivalent of a touchdown, literally pulling 4 guys with one at each leg....good 90kg guys...and he was still moving forward and fast...

it's just because he has 'advertised' his speed...many others are also really fast...but Europeans, Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans are not as big fans of stats as Americans are...
all sports in the US are full of stats...not so much elsewhere.