Mike the Brit

(To follow up a question from Tunescribe)

There is a Rugby World Cup and it will be happening again next year.

There are two codes of rugby (Rugby Union and Rugby League) and followers of Rugby League object strenuously to people who just refer to "rugby", meaning Rugby Union. Once upon a time, the difference was partly in the rules but mainly in the fact that Rugby Union was (fiercely) amateur, Rugby League professional. Now they are both professional and Rugby Union is more popular than League except in the north of England and Australia. From now on I'm talking about Union. (My personal opinion is that it is a much better game both to play and to watch.)

There are two excellent international competitions. There is the Six Nations Championship, competed for every season by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy (Italy has only recently been added). This is a great competition with huge spectator support (drunken rugby weekends in Dublin, Edinburgh, Paris, Rome ... ) and a fair degree of unpredictability. In the Southern Hemisphere the Tri-Nations brings together the three great powerhouses: Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Outside that, rugby is popular in Argentina (known for fierce scrummaging) Fiji, Samoa and Japan (though they have a serious problem given the lack of big tall guys).

The trouble with the World Cup is that, since there aren't that many nations that play rugby to a serious level and it is very hard for an inferior side to beat a superior one, a lot of the matches are foregone conclusions. Realistically, there are only five nations that have a serious chance of winning the World Cup: the three Southern Hemisphere nations mentioned, France and England (England are the current holders but they have bombed in the last couple of years). Still, I'm looking forward to it a lot.

Is it possible to watch rugby via American television? I would certainly like to be able to once I am in the U.S. (and once the football season has ended).

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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

gomezcat

What he said. England are in serious re-building mode and IMO need to look at their head coach. It was really hard to identify quite what the game plan was this year and that is something that the new assistant coaches, as very welcome as they are, can't change on their own.
New Zealand are probably favourites, but, as Mike said, one of five teams can win it. For those who like defence, watch Samoa. Their tackling is quite scary.
http://video.google.co.uk/videosearc...l+blacks+lions
There is a full length video of the New Zealanders (aka the All Blacks) against the British and Irish Lions. To cut a long story short, the Lions are a team that play together every four years, ostensibly made up of our better players.

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The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


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Clonamery

I've watched many a match on TV (and once live in Dublin - I was quite horrified by the whole bloody scene, and I do mean bloody...I had to drown out the nightmarish event immediately in the first pub we happened upon) on all of my European Vacations. I played on our Club team in college 25 years ago and it is nothing like that experience....

But if I have to fill me spare time having to make difficult TV sports decisions with the option of watching World Cup Rugby or World Cup Softball or Women's Golf or Women's Tennis or the WNBA or even Women's Billiards - well, you can see where this is going......it does however rate in my book over bowling, Nascar and Horse Racing (on TV anyway), oh, and I'm sorry, Cricket (uh, is there Women's Cricket? If so, then that rates above Rugby).

Pats726

Mike...
I would like to learn about Rugby....seems like its a hard fought and tough sport...do know that there is rugby played a bit more around hrere..Boston area..I had heard a few years ago of a women's rugby team that kicked ******* Never saw or knew about it..but seems interesting...as for watching??
I wish I knew..if there was some on locally on some odd cable channel, I'd tune in to learn about it.
And what about hurling?? I know..that's more like Lacrosse?? Or like lacrosse with a bat??? Heard that's mighty dangerous as well.

Tunescribe

Thanks for the info, Mike. I'd have to think that the top rugby world matches would be available here on one of the more obscure cable premium channels. It sort of surprises me, by the way, that the French have enough athletes with the fortitude obviously required to play that game.

primetime

The Boston Wolfhounds play at the Irish Cultural Center in Canton and are one of the premier teams in the country. Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard have club teams that rank in the top 25 of college rugby (or hover around it) annually. You might catch some on Fox Sports New England, but that would probably only be the college sweet 16 in the spring. European rugby can be seen sometimes on Fox Sports World or whatever it's called, that broadcasts everything from soccer to Australian Rules football games. Aside from that, there are several bars in Boston that carry rugby games, and will most definitely carry them during the World Cup.

Unfortunately, the US really doesn't even have a prayer in international competition, though the Eagles did, a few years ago, almost pull one out against the Wallabies from Australia.

Mike the Brit

Oh, they're plenty tough. Surprised that they have enough discipline for a team sport? Maybe. Anyway, that probably belongs in the Politics Forum.

__________________
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

Mike the Brit

I remember the U.S. being a pretty good "third-tier" nation. I can remember some of their guys using an overhead (quarterback-style) passing technique occasionally, which livened things up.

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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

primetime

You'll see the "quarterback style" throws in line-outs on occasion. I believe Australia's current hooker uses it. In live play, however, overhead tosses become hospital throws in most cases.

gomezcat

They certainly seemed to have enough toughness and discipline the last time they played us, didn't they? That was the worst England performance I have seen in a long, long time.

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The blog of our recent trip to The States (September and October 2012):


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