Tuesday, 25 September 2007
On rugby
What with the rugby union world cup happening and all, I thought I'd weigh in with my thoughts on the great sport of rugby, especially in how I appreciate the game as an American.
So, there are two kinds of rugby, called League and Union, because one is run in England by the Rugby Football League, and the other by the Rugby Football Union. American and Canadian football are also kinds of rugby, since they are clearly variants of the same game and have a lot of similarities, once you look beyond the surface. Soccer/football actually also is related, although going further back, and is run in England by the Football Association and so is sometimes called "Association football" to distinguish it from the other types.
Anyway, between rugby league and union, my prefenence has been for league, both because it is the variety most popular in Yorkshire (the Craven homeland), and because it is much closer to American football: The ball is narrower than the union ball, the field's gridiron markings look the same, and (especially) because of the "set-of-six" tackle rule, which makes the offensive/defensive flow of the game similiar to American football with its use of downs. Also the traditional point of contention that Rugby Union had with League (the paying of atheletes), seems pretty silly to an American used to the idea of pro sports.
Rugby Union has in its favour that a try is worth five points, and the conversion two, while drop kicks and penalty kicks are worth three, leading two a similar scoring structure to American football's, advancing by threes and sevens. The gameplay in union is more wide-open with no downs, but understanding the offsides rules and mauls and rucks takes a little knowledge in order to appreciate the game as something more sophisticated than "kill the guy with the ball".
But the main advantage of Rugby Union is that it is far more popular, both worldwide (as witnessed by the 20-nation world cup, vs. rugby league's 3), and in France. Here there is a well-developped pro rugby union but not so much for league. Add to that that French rugby is mostly based in the south and west while I live in the northeast. So while I may prefer rugby league there isn't any on television for me to follow, so the preference is purely theoretical. Still I hope that the day is not too far off when the explosion of cable channels will mean that I'll be able to watch the Super League, and NFL, from France along with any other country's sporting events I choose. The way content keeps becoming availible I keep hoping it's just around the corner, but for now I'm still waiting.
