Why do americans suck at rugby if they have those massive padded footballer guys who claim 2 be mega big?

Question

shouldnt they be the best? some of you football players could probably lift my car n throw it at me! but your nothing like Australia, South Africa or New Zealand rugby teams...why?

Answer 1

because we don't play it regularly. football is a lot different than Rugby, so theres a big gap of learning between the two. ive never seen a player claim to be mega big. sure some take pride in being the big force on the field, or being a hard hitter.

on sport science on fsn, they showed that a football player hits HARDER than a Rugby player

Answer 2

That's like asking why sprinters aren't wingers. They're two different sports. Some of the footballers are big, but they're just that. They posses  no skill at rugby. They can't run. Footballers are trained to play football which as I said before is a completely different sport. I hate these types of question because they're just childish.

Answer 3

because if they we're good, they would go to the nfl instead of rugby, and rugby is not an important sport in america so they just focus their on the important sports like football, basketball, or baseball

and if you're thinking "how come nfl players dont play rugby?" its cuz they dont want to risk injury and lose their jobs

Answer 4

I had to chime in here....Football players in the NFL are taught and conditioned all their life to play football.  Rugby is somewhat of a foreign concept...most say, "It's like football without pads", when in reality it's nothing like football without pads.

Now you could compare it to Aussie Rules...but still 2 different sports.

As far as the players being Mega big...I believe anyone who knows anything about Rugby can agree, you don't have to be big to be agile or play Rugby with skill.  In fact, some positions, being Mega Big can slow ya down...especially if your not conditioned.  Linebackers for an American Football team are anywhere from 220 to 350 pounds...this is way to big to be running up and down a rugby pitch with an great effectiveness...though I think some would think twice when running their way.  Linebackers are conditioned and their size is used to protect the quarterback or put in a block for a particular play for a running back or route for a receiver.  The bigger the size of your Offensive or Defensive line is crucial to protecting you quarterback or trying to break the front line to get to the quarterback.

In response to an above poster...Most football players could probably make the transition to Rugby better than you think.  It's not about them not being able to stick it out...it's about conditioning of the body and being fit.  As long as you athletic, you can last the full match with no issues...as any great rugger could.  And in football they are fit...just conditioned a bit different in skills and drills that better suit American Football and not Rugby.

The reason the Australians, Sout Africans, New Zealanders, and just about any other Rugby Club in the world have somewhat of a leg up on the Americans are because they start at an early age learning the sport and intergrating it into their lives...like we do American Football...training in particular skills and learning the game in and out.  

Most of the guys in my Rugby Club played football in HS and some in College.  Some excel more than others in Rugby and are awesome...because they are more athletic than others.  Some also started in U12s and at a young age...others picked it up in college.  A lot of programs here are still new in the HS system.  And considering the oldest club in Texas is only 41 years old...the rest of the world have a few more decades on us.  It was mostly a sport played in the northeast US for a long time before it trickled down to the rest of the country.  

Also colleges and even some HS football programs forbid their players to play other sports...that could risk injury outside of their program...In college, as an athlete with the college, you cannot participate in other sports or intermurals...this is usually because they invest in you for one particular sport and are protecting their investment by not allowing for possible injury outside of the sport you were recruited for.

Unfort. we dont incorperate a lot of world sports partly due to culture and partly due to stubbornness in sticking to what we know.  There are a lot of sports that are popular worldwide that have no appeal to Americans...some of it is lack of exposure...especially when baseball, basketball, and american football are enbedded in American culture from a young age, like pee-wee football, little league baseball, and summer youth basketball camps.  But the sport is growing and until we can get ESPN and other sports networks to agree to carry it and provide coverage for it...a lot of Americans will have little knowledge of the great sport of Rugby.

Best of Luck!

Answer 5

The sport doesn't rate over there at all that's why Americans dont play it.There isn't enough people playing the sport over there.The other main reason it isn't taking off over there is because the money isn't their for the sport.Americans also arnt fit enough to play a 80min game like rugby.When you compare the 2 sports most teams in American football have 2 teams for the game:example one guy just comes on to kick,& one does the throws from set pieces.So if they had to play 60-80mins of full contact tackling they wouldnt handle it.

Answer 6

Lol your name says it all :P

Massive *PADDED* players ^^

Lol only joking i suppose its not a national sport whereas to countries such as England (though they have been playing awefull it is)

But yeh i am off to play Rugby now :D

COME ONE ECCLESHALL XD i am going to Wales -_-. 2 hour drive.

Answer 7

different sport, how do you think your rugby players would fare in the nfl. i think if the nfl players wanted to play rugby many of them would be very good at it.

Answer 8

because there not so 'mega big' without 3 kilos of padding AND a helmet

Answer 9

simple. they're not interested in taking off their safety paddings to play eighty long minutes of non-stop full rugby. no timeouts, challenges or quarter intervals to rest in rugby(only half-time).

Answer 10

I agree with previous answers that they are totally different sports. I have always wondered why Americans love their own sports and don't get invovled so much with more international sports though.

Answer 11

They are notorious for inventing their own games like Gridiron and Baseball, which have no international appeal.  They do have a Rugby team, which gets caned in test matches

That way they won't be embarrassed when they play internationals.  Their football team consistently makes the World Cup, but they aren't very good.  They make it easy, so FIFA can market football in the USA.  It may work, but don't hold your breath.