New To Rugby and need Advice?

Question

Ok so i have decided to play Rugby on the American College level. I have previously played American football in High School but couldn't because i was a lineman and tore my ACL and MCL, because if the constant blows directly to the knee i had to stop playing. I was wondering if in rugby the hits are as frequent to the knee as in American Football.

Also i have very high end American Football Cleats would i be able to play with those.

Lastly I am 6'4 224 lbs i am reasonably fast but not super fast i can run a 4.9 40. What position would i play, i kind of dont really wanna touch the ball so from what ive gathered i would be a Foward, is this correct?

Answer 1

Both football and rugby have a high incidence of severe knee injuries (relatively). You probably won't need to make as many drastic cuts (it depends on the level of play and your position) but if your knee is seriously screwed up I wouldn't recommend rugby (although you might as well try it, a few practices and see how you feel). Rugby players won't take their shoulder into your knee (a correct tackle will put the shoulder at your hips and they will wrap the legs) so that will be better.

This is the law regarding to boots (cleats): "studs... must not be longer than 21mm, and must not have any burring or sharp edges"

All positions will have to handle the ball (although obviously some would more than others). You probably would be a foward but there are 9 different types of fowards (figure 8 really since I doubt you'll be a scrumhalf). Unfortunately I don't yet know enough to give you a better picture of where you play. Look on usarugby.com for general info about the game and positions.

And remember, no blocking and you'll need to be prepared to at least jog for 80 minutes (and a full 80 not like football where 60=15).

Good luck.  

Answer 2

sorry mate but you sound like too much of a wimp for rugby  why play a ball game if you dont want to touch the ball   forwards see just as much ball as the backs in the modern game    

the hits in rugby are a different style designed to grabble you to the ground or as they are correctly called tackles.  they can be just as hard though and you dont have the luxury of pads

i think you should play soccor instead  

Answer 3

whether or not you play, is up to you.

its rare to get a direct hit to your knee in rugby. it happens, but its rare.

you can wear football cleats, but you will have to remove the toe cleat to use them.

you are going to need to work on your endurance. rugby is a game that is played with a running clock.

with your physique you could be a prop, lock, number 8, or flanker. thats if you like tackling and are aggressive about pinching the ball then flanker/ 8th man is your position of choice. if you are more about doing unheralded grunt work, then you might want to be a lock or prop.

but flankers and number 8s tend to get more ball than locks. locks get the ball more in lineouts and set plays.

Answer 4

all the answers are good, let me add that in rugby hitting at the knees can be considered dangerous. So usually with forwards, they'll hit u at the hips. You will get hit everywhere from below the armpits to the lower thighs. If you get tackled at the knees, chances are that its a grab, not an actual impact.

It depends on the style of the team on if forwards will carry the ball. Some teams depend largely on forwards to constantly bulldoze the opposition line. Others give the ball out to the backs. Theres no such thing as blocking and all that in rugby, as you probably know by now. But you would be putting your size to waste by not taking the ball. With your size u could be a no. 4 or no.5, or a third row. These guys are the say workhorses of the team. In defence u guys smash the opposition, and immediately attempt to steal the ball. In offence u guys will push your teammates through the line, protect the ball when your mate is tackled. Doing this repeatedly will cause the defence of the opposition to kind of group together, thats why they do it. It opens up space for the backs. Flankers (no. 6 and 7) usually are the ones always in the action. They don't necessarily need to always take the ball, but they disrupt opposition plays in defence, and then secure the ball in offence. I think if you don't like to touch the ball, in the average team (not particularly favoring forwards play or backs play) you should be all right. But if the team uses backs for show, then chances are you're gonna have to touch the ball at least a dozen times in a match. You'd be just smashing through/into the opposition defence. Then do that again and again... yeah you should learn the tactics later. But if you don't like the stress of carrying the ball, then forwards is definitely where u should go.

good luck to you

ps about the cleats i don't know though