upstater1

Inuries are not as bad as in football, but when they do happen, they are usually very bad because of the awkward positions you can get yourself in when you're constantly pushing against all those bodies.

Consider this: in football, one guy gets the ball, his teammates block, and the other team comes at him full speed. Without blocking in rugby, the key is to move the ball quickly from back to back until you see an opening you can pop. This means defenders can't take a full speed run at a ball carrier because he probably won't even have the ball by the time they get there. So, tackles aren't as hard. We took a team to Scotland one year and we hit those guys very very hard, all of them were smaller than us, most of us had played varsity football. They killed us on the scoreboard. We were just hitting them hard after the ball was out, and while they were lying on the ground, their teammates were scoring tries. It's a different game in that sense. A lot of fluid movement, not much in terms of hard hitting. Here's an injury our scrumhalf suffered: severed nerve in the arm, left arm paralyzed. Ever hear of that one in football? I haven't.

Triumph

It sounds alot like the NHL way back when. The American teams were more physical like Boston, Chicago and Philly and Canadian teams more finesse, better play makers and fast.

I knew a bunch of rugby guys in Atlanta. Crazy bastards. When English or Irish teams would come over to the USA these guys would wake them up around 6:00 in the AM and start feeding them shots. They told those guys everyone downs shots for breakfast in the America. The game is quite popular in Atlanta. Some of the Chiropractic colleges have good teams with players ranked as "Eagles" or something like that.

Mike the Brit

I love the Six Nations, though I didn't see the match. As a matter of interest, what channel carries it in the U.S.?

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My prized possessions: Our family pictures; my dad and me getting doused by Bruschi in Super Bowl XXXIX [Shalize Manza Young Up Close with ... Bill Belichick]


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They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Well, Pats fans should be invincible by now. [Fitzy, 16 November 2009]

Still here to learn

Polar Bear

Just got back from 4 days in Dublin with a bunch (24) of fellow rugby alumni from a local college. While most of us weren't able to score tickets to the England/Ireland match at Croke Park, just watching it in a Temple Bar pub was truly an amazing experience.

primetime

The Eagles is the name of the US national team (New Zealand is All Blacks, Australia is Wallabies, etc.), so any "Eagles" would be guys who play (or have played) on the national team.

NE_Paddy

What pub were you in?

There's some great ones around the city for rugby atmosphere. Sheahan's is always packed. It's a tiny pub, with 2 crappy little TVs, but the atmosphere is worth the sacrifice.

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primetime

Though a little off topic (though probably more on topic than the original post), I'll be in Dublin next year studying. Any idea where I can catch Pats games? Maybe Bruins games too, though that'd be kind of a vain hope I'd guess.

upstater1

Yes, in your apartment on your Slingbox.

Have a family member set one up on their TV. That's what I do. Costs $170, but well worth it! Good picture, I get all the games.

NE_Paddy

Well, Sky Sports show 2 back-to-back live games every sunday from 6pm (GMT). Obviously, it's not always Pats games, but if you go down to Buskers Bar in the Temple Bar area of the city, there's usually a small gathering of US students who watch games there (they also throw one of the better Super Bowl parties in Dublin). Are you studying in Trinity or UCD or somewhere else?

Now I am curious about this box that upstater mentioned. Can I get one here in Dublin?

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gomezcat

Congrats. You absolutely destroyed us. The pack blew the English pack apart and O'Gara was outstanding.

I just hope England don't hit the panic button. We need to stick with players and look at building for 2011.

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