Rugby - Help Required

[Slipperduke]

Ah, Uxbridge is going to love this.

I've recently signed a four-book deal with the publishers of Football Fables to produce wry, but informative, guides to the four major sports. It's not quite as glamourous as it sounds. At 30,000 words, the books are rough-guides rather than ground-breaking novels and it's definitely not going to finance that big house in the country.

The first, a football book, has been clattered out in the last month and is almost finished. It's the second that worries me. Yep, it's Rugby Union.

Now, I used to play rugby at school but, until recently, no-one hated the sport as much as me. "Any sport that involves a ball shaped like an egg," I always said, "can only ever be inherently random." Oh, Dame Fate, how cruel your sense of irony.

So, in the last two months I've been Sky+ing and watching every rugby match I can get my hands on and devouring books on the subject. I now know my loosehead from my tighthead and the gulf in class between England and Ireland has finally taught me what a second phase is.

The only thing that I can't get from book-learning is the feeling of watching rugby, what it means to be a fan, the difference between international and club rugby, the differences between football fans and rugby fans. The things you love about it, the things you hate about it. The pitfalls, the heroes, the legends, the villains.

So, if you're a rugby fan, would you be so kind as to tell me why? What is it about the sport that grabbed you? How does it compare to football?

Lastly, irony of ironies, my immersive research into egg-chasing has produced a devasting end-result. I've found myself actually quite enjoying the sport.

Damnit.

 

[Uncle Leo]

Sorry mate, never been hugely in to Union, more of a Leaguie. However, I've been to the odd Union game over the years.

I would recommend going to a game at the Twickenham Stoop to see Harlequins and get a feel for a rugby crowd though. The total lack of segregation and the far more relaxed atmosphere will be the first difference you notice between rugby and football. That feeling works the same across both codes I should add.

 

[Napster]

I'd stop drinking red wine, and start drinking bitter. In a proper mug.

 

[Alexis_SUFC]

Before uni I only used to pay attention to England games, but now I love it. Everything about it is quality, the banter between opposing fans is brilliant, much better than in football. The Gloucester players go to the same gym as I do and they are much friendlier and approachable than pro footballers, all willing to have a chat and quite willing to give tips about training etc.

Brilliant sport, much better than league!

 

[canveyshrimper]

I am told that rugby is a game played by men with odd shaped balls. :unsure:

 

[Thorpe Groyney]

How much time do you have to get this done? I've played up to Eastern Counties divisional level at Under 19's (just a couple of levels below England at that time), one of my brothers is an ex-pro and my father played for England way back in the 50's.

The longer time you have to get it finished the longer my observation on the game and its culture will be.

PM me (sharpish though - I'm going on holiday in a couple of days) if you'd like me to put something down in writing.

:)

 

[Matt the Shrimp]

Rugby-watching also depends an awful lot where you come from. In the West Country, for instance, rugby is taken a lot more seriously - so the crowds at any of the Bristol - Bath - Gloucester match-ups will be a lot more tribal and committed than you might find at (say) Wasps v. Saracens, which is an altogether more prawn-sandwich experience.

I'd say that watching rugby is the winter equivalent of watching cricket - plenty of beer (preferably bitter or Guinness) involved, chatty & friendly, and obviously interested in the outcome but in a less tribal or impassioned way than at a football match.

After all, with the fairly regular point-scoring, you don't get the build-up of tension in a rugby game anything like as much as a football game.

As for club v. country... well, country games are higher quality, have a lot more riding on them, and as a result feel a bit more tense / partisan when watching them. But you can still have a beer and be unsegregated, as it simply doesn't have the atmosphere or history of trouble that you get at football - maybe because tension never builds up in quite the same way.

Matt

 

[dashman]

I have been playing rugby union since a schoolboy getting as far as Essex county. I have always said I like my footy but I love the game of rugby. Its the 'whole' thing. Respect of officials, no boo boys (they know better than to risk it!), few grey areas of the game, unforgiving game if you make a mistake, being able to play most positions (forwards/backs) instead of saying I'm a defender/midfield/striker etc. The roles of the positions in rugby are different compared to footy too. I myself played scrum half, inside/outside centre, winger but ended my time playing full back, which I totally enjoyed as the responsibility to be the last line of defence, catching the high ball to gain the 'mark' in the 22, choices to run in open play, box kick, attack the backs line near the opponents goal line, creep up to the blind side with the winger for a blind side attack and watch the oppostion do the same & go and cover it. Help the forwards from running back long distances by putting a long high kick up and chasing it down, winning it in the air (we were tackled in the air back then!) putting my team on side and knowing a freight train of forwards are right behind me now. Walk off the field knowing you gave your all, shake hands (3 cheers) sometimes not even knowing the score, laugh & joke with team players whom you would never mix with in your social circle, laugh at stories when you ask a player what the hell they were doing when I could see it all from my position on the pitch etc. Give & accept apologies when 'fubars' that happened on pitch. It may not seem it, but rugby really is a 'thinking' game, same as you need a footballing 'brain' you need more in rugby or you REALLY are going to get hurt and let down your team. Much less niggles in rugby than footy, more people can play rugby compared to football (IMHO!). Some of the new rule changes are good and some are on trial now which sparks great talking points. You can be good at football, but if you are good at rugby; I feel it shines more. Is football a contact sport with over zealous ref's?! Make it like rugby or distance it and take away the ref's 'interpretations'. On the downside (I do try & be objective!) a rugby game came be over in the 1st half (more so than football) and lose it's entertainment value. I am an England fan, that said, I like watching good rugby (even the French lol!), I support northern hemisphere sides versus sourthern, like to see Aus & SA lose but admire the NZ side. World Cup rugby (2007) had two great moments for me - 1) the Japs try against the Welsh (I think) was by far the best of the tourny for me, weel done them! - 2) The hyped up (SA's winger) Habana getting outpaced by the American winger with an African name I can't remember right now. I was at Twicks when the Barbarians beat the SA world champs and laughed all the way home!!! Maybe the Ba-Ba's (Lions too) tour sum up rugby, bringing people together to play (twilight years for some players) all over the planet, mostly for charity, and watch them gel & play so well - pure entertainment. But no, it's not the FA Cup - thankfully!

 

[Slipperduke]

Thanks for all of this chaps. I've got another couple of months, so time's not a huge factor just yet, but I will be sending PMs soon to get a bit more info.

 

[manor15]

what are the other 2?
rugby
football
cricket?
tennis?

 

[Bluesmanager]

I have a associate who's pretty close to Gloucester RFC if you want a word or two with him.

Should warn you though, he's a little on the... wacky side of the scales.

 

[Ron Manager]

Lots of people with far more 'rugger' credentials than me already, however I can give a viewpoint of marrying into a Rugby family.

As Kiwi's my in-laws are of course all Rugby mad so I've had the differences between football and rugby made clear to me as we discuss the relative merits of each sport. I was also fortunate enough to attend the Bledisloe Cup match (Australia vs New Zealand) last year in Brisbane. That was an interesting experience as someone who'd never been to a match before and who, if I'm honest, only has a basic grasp of the rules.

 

[BalmainShrimper]

Football - a gentleman's game played by hooligans
Rugby - a hooligan's game played by gentlemen

Not sure who said that originally but quite fitting!

I'm reading Empire by Niall Fergusen at the mo and there's some great perspective on how important sport was in building and maintaining the empire. Essentially the English getting flogged by the colonies in every sport played a huge part in keeping everyone on side. Rugby was very important in that it was a licence for the natives to lamp a Pom with no recriminations.

It's a fascinating angle which Fergusen sums up extremely well - worth a read for a bit of research

 

[Uncle Leo]

Last weekend I went to see Harlequins Rugby League play a friendly against Manly Sea Eagles, the Aussie champions. Manly are over here to play European champions Leeds in the World Club Challenge.

An absolutely blinding atmosphere, helped in no small part by the extra couple of thousand Aussies who made the trip to The Stoop. We normally get a shade under 4,000 for a game but there were more than 6,000 there last Sunday.

One of the lads brought his new(ish) Aussie girlfriend along and I couldn't believe how bonkers she was going. She's not even a Manly fan, but was brought up as a Leaguie and of course will always support the Aussies against the English. Manly were 20-0 down at half-time, but came back to win 34-26. Balls.

Good post match entertainment too, with a band playing covers of Oasis, The Clash, The Jam, Madness and others. Then the ugliest, fattest, Kylie impersonator ever came on stage. If only she knew people were watching her more in horrid fascination than admiration.

 

[A Century United]

Then the ugliest, fattest, Kylie impersonator ever came on stage. If only she knew people were watching her more in horrid fascination than admiration.

If your prop forward is doing the half time entertainment, no wonder you lost the second half.

 

[Uncle Leo]

If your prop forward is doing the half time entertainment, no wonder you lost the second half.

I thought her legs a were a bit hairy, but I didn't put two and two together. You're on to something...