Talk:Comparison of American football and rugby union

message: "The most significant difference in play is the allowance of blocking for the ball carrier, which is to say preventing a defender from tackling the player with the ball; this added aspect creates a more complicated and strategic flow of play with top flight teams including hundreds of different plays in each and every match." 
This opening paragraph is partial. It also isn't necessarily the most important difference. If any of this needs to be preserved it should be in the Gameplay subsection. Jonknight73 (talk) 12:48, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It is very POV. Rugby union has all kinds of elements that aren't very significant in American football that add to the tactical depth e.g. dummy runners, offloads, missed pass etc.GordyB (talk) 17:30, 11 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It's plainly stupid. The most significant difference must surely be the forward passing of the ball in American Football which would be illegal in Rugby Union. Blocking and tackling are principally the same. If you watch enough rugby you'll know what I mean.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.131.239.196 (talk) 14:29, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I do and I don't.GordyB (talk) 21:47, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Most Significant Differences

message: I believe two important comparisons are missing...
I'm American and I'm relatively unfamiliar with Rugby but from what I've seen and what I've read this article appears to miss two important comparisons. The first noticable comparison is this article fails to note is the differences in the sports uniforms. Rugby players look more like American soccer players. No big pads, helmets, face masks, nothing. The second comparison I thought was missing was the differences in penalties in the two sports. Penalties can play a big part in the final score of an American football game. I would presume pentalties in Rugby would also play a part but to what extent and the differences themselves I don't know. I think it would be a fine improvement to touch on the differences on these points between these two sports. And unfortunately, I'm not qualified add such a contribution to this article.
to compare a rugby player with an american soccer player is just a bit silly. they may not wear pads but i doubt there is too many 6foot 6 300lbs soccer players. some rugby players "only" weigh around the 200lbs mark but they are called backs and there jobs is to be quick. the saying goes, "today the backs tackle like forwards, and today the forwards tackle like dumper trucks". Pratj 15:53, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The page is there to be edited. If you want to add / change something then do so.GordyB 16:37, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks Gentlemen. I misspoke my thoughts. I was refering to the players uniforms, not their physique, when I compared Rugby players to soccer players. This is perhaps a good example of the reason I chose to make my comments here rather than attempt an edit there. I enjoyed reading the histories and the comparisons of both sports. I just thought I'd suggest the improvement and see if there a kindred interest out there who was better suited to make the contribution. Thanks again. And sorry if I didn't sign my post earlier. Dennis 19:23, 12 mOctober 2006 (UTC)
well, until about 3 years ago, players would wear cotton long sleeve shirts and shorts. the cotton was very strong (so it didn't rip when people grabbed it)and thats how shirts have always (within reason) been. basically they were so strong that you could probably hang a man off of them and they won't rip.
but then around 2003 in the world cup skintight lycra based shirts came in. apparently they were stronger than cotton but i saw many ripped in the world cup. but the skin tight shirts make you harder to grab, which is a benefit (kinda like the vaseline on your legs trick which works at school) Pratj 20:13, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Missing comparisons

message: right, we need to clear this up. i don't wan't to start a revert war. the strength and power between equivalent sizes and positions of men in rugby and US football are similar. they are all professional athletes. if anything, rugby requires more power as wrestling is a more key component of the game, US football is often about blocking and hitting players to the ground. Pratj 18:55, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Rugby requiring more power than American football???  No, no, no (pls. note, many more no's could be inserted here).  And exactly with what engineering devices would that comparison be determined accurately anyhow?  As stated, American football does indeed involve blocking and 'hitting players to the ground' (lol), however, the action between the defensive and offensive lines can be directly compared to a sustained mixed martial arts contest between hulking, yet surprisingly athletic, giants.  What you would term 'wrestling' here is very much in the forefront of American football.  Regards, 71.112.242.179 (talk) 07:15, 18 November 2019 (UTC)

text: Linesmen are much larger than rugby union forwards but they'd never be able to run around for 80 minutes, I think there isn't so much difference in the sizes of backs, a winger and a wide receiver / corner back might be about the same.GordyB 19:44, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  i agree, u would expect that 350lbs of linesmen would be stronger than 200lbs of fly half. that's a given. but whether he would be stronger than a prop of 300lbs i don't know. probably but from what i have seen of linemen their job is just to block the way protecting those behind them, rather than physically lift or push them. anyhow, all i'm saying is i'm pretty sure that 200lbs of american footballer and 200lbs of rugby player will both be pretty much as strong as each other. the guy editing it before was saying it like american footballer lift trucks for fun Pratj 21:51, 23 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Strength and Power

message: In the section "The field" it states:
["The length from try line to try line is always 100 metres: the only varying distances on a rugby field are the width of the playing field, and the distance from try line to the dead ball line."] when the rules as stated in the IRB Rule Book only specify maximum lengths.  I have played on 4 local fields, all of which are currently used by local college level teams in official games, none of which have the same dimensions.  One is significantly smaller in length and width than any of the others, closer to 85m from try to try. I did not measure it but walking it noticed the difference.  Yes the width of the field and the depth of the try area were also different for all, but the try to try and the height of the crossbar, level and slants of the fields were all different as well.  If the wording was changed to say ["The length from try line to try line is expected to be 100 metres..."] it would have greater staying power because as most of us know the words "Always" and "Never" rarely hold up in an argument. -- Billy Nair 06:17, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Maybe rather then expected to be have the IRB states (or International Rugby Board) because the rules are the rules, and if they aren't followed they aren't followed. - Shudda talk 04:12, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Field dimension discrepancy. 

message: Is a comparison to Rugby League also valid? American Football has more in common with RL than RU.--ukexpat 15:39, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: See Comparison of American football and rugby league.GordyB 19:10, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  OK thanks for that - could have sworn I searched for it!! --ukexpat 00:18, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comparison to Rugby League? 

message: The Game play section says that play in Union continues until the ball goes out of bounds, a try is score or there is a foul. Surely there are a couple of exceptions to this, in particular if a "Mark" is called. This would certainly not  be covered by the above. Others I'm a bit more ambiguous about. Would holding the ball up over the try line be an infringement or out of bonds? Epeeist smudge (talk) 15:21, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Marks Etc 

message: Just pointing that, for the first time, I see an article in Portuguese better than the English version, only because it's in a neat comparison table. I don't know much about the games, but it's worth a look on the format by people that know. Take a look: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compara%C3%A7%C3%A3o_entre_futebol_americano_e_rugby  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Atriel (talk • contribs) 18:42, 23 February 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Comparison table