Rugby is a great game. Like you I dont follow it fanatically.

Surprised the Yanks dont follow it or aren't interested. It is a lot like Murkin Football without forward passes and padding.

But then again, not built around commercials.

Going to support England.

If the Yanks got interested they could field a great team I'm sure. They have a huge pool of big, strong, fast guys to pick from but they all play Murrican Football. Suppose that is where the money is.

But yeah, it would be good to see them compete in a sport that is actually played outside their country on a large scale.

I obviously support the Boks. We looking shit now but we got the experience and we do know how to win pressure games. If they can get the right 15 on the field we can do it again.

Did not watch the England game, just heard Johnny kicked like shit. And saw in papers this morning that they were blaming the ball.

I used to watch a bit of international rugby some 5-10 years ago. I remember back then New Zealand, Australia and South Africa were the 3 major forces, with European nations close behind, mainly France and England.

I remember team NZ had like a ritual before every match started, kinda scary lol, but cool nonetheless and their best player was Lomu right? I also remember Fiji competing and actually being very solid. They were my faves just because you don't see Fiji every day at sports competitions.

How things are these days, I have no idea unfortunately.

Not too much has changed to be honest. NZ, Aus and SA are still the frontrunners. On their day anyone of France, England or Ireland could maybe beat them. (Wales almost beat SA last Sunday, shit had me nervous).

NZ still do that ritual, it's called the Haka. People misunderstand it often. It is not meant to be intimidating or insulting, but rather an invite to a fair and hard battle.

Lomu is long retired now but they actually released a rugby game for PS3 and Xbox last week called Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge. I might get it. Fiji are really good at 7's rugby (played with 7 instead of 15 guys) but they might also cause some surprises in the world cup. I always get worried when we play those island nations because all those boys are big and love to tackle hard (and often dirt) so you could easily lose a good player to injury.

So after watching this video explaining Rugby rules to Americans I definitely see the similarities in American Football. The major differences (if we're strictly talking conduct of the sport):

- Rugby has more continuous play in comparison since Rugby play continues even when a player with the ball is tackled or downed. In American Football, once the player is downed the ball progress is considered dead and the play is over. That's why ball progression is based on 4 attempts (downs) for the offense to either score a Touchdown (Try), Fieldgoal, or earn a fresh set of 4 attempts by gaining 10 yards (First Down).

- Rugby doesn't allow forward passing. That's a pretty self-explanatory difference.

- American Football doesn't allow drop kicking for Fieldgoal points. It has to be kicked from the ground.

- American Football penalties don't include anything resembling Throw-in's or Scrums, or Penalty Goal kicks and all revolve around line-of-scrimmage yardage or possession of the ball.

- The concept of Penalty Advantage has some similarities to American Football penalties (Since an American Football team is given the option to Accept or Decline types of penalties) but I'd need to understand Rugby rules better to really compare.

The biggest differences though (like you said) revolve around American Football exposure, Tradition, and established and well-funded leagues in America. EDIT: Oh and the All-Blacks Haka is pretty infamous and I call bullshit on it not supposed to be used for intimidation. I don't care if the actual words say "Lets have a fair and respectable game gentleman" it's blatantly supposed to psyche people out. I mean...it's a Maori Warcry right? That's what Warcries do. American Football has it as well to a lesser degree during pre-game drills so it's not like I'm knocking it. Just calling it for what it is. It's allowed though because people like it since it hypes the game.

^ LOL! I love that Haka $hit, they even placed a mic on the field for it to get through even better!


Well, I'll definitely be keeping an eye for the results on Wikipedia. Go Fiji!

I might even watch a few games via stream if I catch some time, probably later on in the tourney when the final stages start and maybe I'll watch Fiji vs South Africa.

Here's another example of the Haka not being used to intimidate. Also, apparently these Haka's have become popular enough for American Football teams to rip them off become inspired by them. (Thats a High School Team by the way with some Tongan athletes). EDIT: Willie Anderson sums it up nicely here at :56. Gotta love the Irish.