can we talk rugby too?

[K_K]

so the six nations cup this year, and going to ireland, has gotten me quite into the spirit of the game. i'm now sporting the irish national rugby jersey, and going to the bar to watch six nations matches. i don't know much about the game, and have spent most of today learning the rules and watching highlights of edinburgh accies games as they're what's on the youtube. anyone else into this sport? anyone else able to talk about it? any predictions for the six nations cup? the world cup? am i breaking football room rules?

 

[Zero Satori]

can we talk rugby too?

Honestly, I was thinking that this should be more of a "sports that Americans don't give a damn about" forum. That would add cricket, rugby (union and league), and Formula 1 to this area, at the minimum.

I'm a big Rugby Union fan, so all the players and fans of League can kiss my ass. With the Six Nations coming-up, though, I have to admit I haven't watched the sport in a while. The last news I clicked-on was a ridiculous link about how Argentina (!!) was doing well in the Sevens version of the game. Nevertheless, it's starting to become a more open game out there, with Australia and New Zealand lacking their old...zeal.

As an American, though, I really wish that the Eagles could get something better going for themselves. I suppose this applies to basically all sports related to this forum (especially football), but rugby is a rougher sport and would likely hit that "retards hitting each other" (and I say this having played the sport often) spirit that Americans like to see. But combine the forces of Gridiron Football being a major money powerhouse (even at the high school level) and the outright-false stereotype that rugby is a more dangerous sport than Gridiron (start laughing now), and it just ain't gonna happen.

Sad, because Rugby Union is a great sport.

 

[K_K]

six nations is going on right now man. ireland plays england next saturday at croke park in dublin! ah man imma have to go to the pub and watch. it'll be grand i'd reckon. i've never been into rugby much. but i've been watching loads of matches and such and soaking it all up today. and it's a fantastic sport. i love watching it roll from maul to maul down the field. then aching for that opening and a pass to a player to exploit that hole in the pitch. its just a fun game to watch, and so easy to get into as it's so simplistic and brutish. but so well orchestrated that unless a player does something blatantly wrong it's perfectly safe. great game.

 

[Zero Satori]

i love watching it roll from maul to maul down the field.

I love mauls as much as the next guy, but I think you're talking about rucks.

 

[K_K]

I love mauls as much as the next guy, but I think you're talking about rucks.

i figured with that many people involved anymore it wasn't a ruck. but i guess since it starts with one player getting the ball out of the back of another player, tossing it back, turning and running downfield, and getting tackled by just one opposing player in that case it counts as a ruck. but i'm new to the sport and still learning how to interpret rules.

 

[Zero Satori]

but i'm new to the sport and still learning how to interpret rules.

The funniest stuff is that the referee, I believe, is required to inform players of what state the ball is in at any one time. I've experienced this playing myself; when a player gets taken to ground and shields the ball, then is protected by one or more forwards, the referee yells "IT'S A RUCK!" so that the opposing players don't illegally reach-over the downed man. Kick him a million times, sure, trying to "ruck" the ball over to their own side, but reaching-over is a major no-no penalised by a free kick and, if it happens too many times, a metrage penalty (I forget the number) moving the free kick forward toward the goal.

Effectively, a ruck is like an un-set scrum. Just think of it that way, and you're fine. The ball has to be played with the feet until another player (usually the scrum-half) takes it out with his hands. A maul is different because the player with the ball is still standing, and thus the rules for rucking don't apply; even force is applied between the ball-carrier's own men pushing him forward and defenders squashing him in the middle. ("IT'S A MAUL!")