Rugby And Football Essay, Research Paper

Rugby and Football The thick, broad-shouldered athlete breathes heavily and

grunts with each step as he and his teammates push mightily against the

opposition. His arms are locked over his teammates’ shoulders, all of their

heads down. The two teams are pushing against each other like two moose fighting

over territory. He looks down to see the ball, sitting just in front of his

feet. If he could just hook it with his foot and heave it to his teammate behind

him… This is what every player in a scrum is thinking while they fight each

other for possession. Rugby is the true sport of men, because you wear no pads,

and it is even more violent than football; however, football requires that you

wear pads, thus being the true sport of want-to-be men. The rules of these

similar yet vastly different games are extremely complex, so only the basics are

necessary to distinguish the better sport. In football, the primary rule is that

you must advance the ball forward by throwing it or running with it. Once a

player with the ball is downed, the entire team lines up again, and the ball is

snapped to the quarterback. The short pause in-between each down may not seem

significant, but it definitely takes its toll on the excitement. In rugby,

however, the primary rule is that you can only advance the ball by running with,

kicking, or passing it. With passing, though, you can only pass the ball

backwards or directly to your side, never forward. Like football, you score by

running the ball into the endzone or by kicking it through the uprights. Also,

you must touch the ball to the ground for it to count, and it is worth five

points. When kicking, the ball can be kicked from anywhere spontaneously. If it

passes through the uprights, it is worth three points, as in football. The

equipment for the two sports is widely different, with football requiring much

more. In football, players must wear a large set of pads, covering most of their

body, and a masked helmet. The ball is made up of an inflated rubber bladder,

surrounded by stitched leather, and it appears ellipsoidal in shape. Most

players now wear cleated or spiked shoes, but flat-soles are often worn for

artificial turf surfaces. But rugby, being the true sport of men, uses no pads

of helmets. In fact the only equipment that are somewhat similar in both games

can be found from the ankles down. Players wear a jersey, usually long-sleeved,

athletic shorts, and cleated shoes. The ball has an oval shape to it, and is

blunter than a football so that it may easily be bounced and dropkicked. The

origins of football trace back to ancient Greece when they played a form of

football know as harpaston, and the Romans played a similar game, harpastum. In

medieval times, another form of football, calcio, flourished in Italy. Most

modern versions of football however, originated in England, where a form of the

game was known in the 12th century. Rugby is said to have originated when a boy

at Rugby School in Rugby, England picked up and carried the ball during a game

of football in 1823. Previously, the rules had only allowed the ball to be

kicked. As I said before, rugby is the true sport of men. It is the supreme test

of strength, endurance, determination, and agility. Whereas in football, the

players are so cocky and greedy about how much money they will make during this

game, that most of them do not even work their hardest to win, as long as they

make a living.