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 bears fighting over salmon. 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 pile is thinking while they fight each other for possession.
Rugby is the sport of the primitive man, because you wear no pads, and it is even more violent than football, however, football requires that you wear pads, thus being a true sport of the modern primitive man. The rules of these similar yet vastly different games are extremely complex, so only the basics are necessary to distinguish between the sports. 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, yet this allows the football player to catch their breath.
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 wore for artificial turf surfaces.
The sport of rugby uses no pads or helmets. In fact, the only equipment that is somewhat similar in both games can be found from the ankles down. Players ...