Seen the rugby topic, seen the football topic, both seem to have came to this debate, so about time we had a topic for this.

I'm on the fence in this debate, see positives and negatives for both sports.

Football generally has bigger crowds and the action of play seems more free-flowing than rugby. Can have simple rules of who scores more wins than as some people say rugby, it isn't about who scores more tries.

That said, rugby is just who scores more points wins, which is simple. I would love to see the sin-binning law in football, stop players cheating, swearing and stuff which aren't exactly red card offences but just a yellow, wow. Deserves punishment.

Goal line technology in football is good, but with football over rugby, with dodgy refereeing decisions, you get more debate in the pub after the games.

Refs deserve some respect and I like rugby for that.

To be honest, I seem to be making more of a point for rugby with respect the ref, sin binnings and stuff, even the stop the clock thing is a good idea.

I find football more entertaining and easier to play tactical stuff than rugby, but rugby has some good ideas.

OK. I'll leave this debate open to people now

football is easier to follow but i grew tired of the antics and attitudes of rthe players at the top level, and the fans can be incredibly obnoxious to, i struggled to enjoy games because of this, rugby union has excellent fans even if there are fewer of them. its also a more open sport in terms of who can be succesful.

While I prefer football, I also like rugby.

When it comes to refereeing, it's clear rugby is miles ahead. Video analysis, communication with captains, sin binning, stop clock - something football doesn't have. The amount of times in football there is a bad refereeing decision, it's so annoying. For instance, being a St Mirren fan, our last three matches against Celtic have involved bad decisions (in Celtic's favour), all which a little bit of video analyzing, would be overturned.

Also, I like how rugby players take big hits. They can get cracked in the ribs and continue on, whereas half the time a football player spends 5 minutes being attended to because someone tapped his shoulder.

At a professional level i base my arguement

Fans (trying not to be biased)

Football: More accounts of assault and aggressive behaviour, derbys just make it worse it seems to be a complete embarrassment if they lose even if they are the underdog.

Hooliganism... thats just taking sport to an extreme level, its not right and hardly ever occurs in other mainstream sports.

Larger crowds, possibly a greater atmosphere as a result.

Rugby: I won't go through everything but the main thing i love about rugby supporters is that we can go back into the clubhouse or pubs afterwards and talk to other supporters like mates rather than someone from an inferior group.

Players (biased)

Football: Complete and utter whimps.
High skill level with the feet, can do a fair few amazing things and i can appreciate how hard it is.

Rugby: Can take a knock like a real man, we dont dive around at the slightest touch! In rugby if you don't play hard you get hurt. In football playing hard just doesn't seem to occur to them! Dirty tactics can come into the equation but nothing more. Rugby has dirty tactics certainly but atleast we sort our own problems out.

With regards to skill level, we use most of our bodies major muscle groups in more occurances than just running. There is a lot of skill needed to play rugby but i think this is once of those occasions where you either have to be into the sport or play it to understand... next post

...to understand that it is at the same level if not greater than that the skills needed in football. I for one think they are on a par.

Going back to solving our own problems... yet another thing i love about rugby is that what happens on the pitch stays on the pitch and we can have a scrap an go back into the pubs and shake hands and have a pint together... whereas with football it is a constant feud which is utterly pointless.

Officials (neutral)

This topic has been touched upon and the best points already shown. Officials deserve respect, I for one wouldn't officiate a rugby or football game. They don't need half the hassle they get which is why i like the rugby side of it, as yoda pointed out:



Also if a team is ill disciplined then at a penalty situation, if the team who it has occured against argue then it's 10m back and nothing they can do about it. In football i think this would help a lot in free kick situations where the players act like tarts and stand less than the distance they are supposed to and are stubborn enough not to move when told.

Also Football is full of pretty boys that spend half their time worrying about their hairstyle and that you would just love to smash and tell them to get a grip! (Christiano Ronaldo) Whereas the only person who gels their hair in rugby would possibly be the scrum half (

Nice post hightops

I agree with the fans thing. I love how in the 6 Nations fans mix in with each other in the stadium, instead of one set of fans at one end, and the other fans at the other end. Do that in football, you're in for some fights.

I don't know what club rugby is like with the fans, but I assume they are nicer than in football. Just yesterday some 7 yr old walked by me after the Hearts 1-1 St Mirren game, with the words "St Mirren are <word>". Best thing about this was he was obviously hurting from our last minute equalizer. It's even worse when you look at sides like Celtic and Rangers, who can't go a game without fighting someone, or singing disgusting songs.

More often than not when you come in contact with another football fan after a game, it's not a great exchange. Only upside yesterday and laughing at the 7 yr old was when two guys with their Edinburgh accents asked me if I was ecstatic at the result, which I happily replied "yup!".

Shame though, that most football fans can't be like decent rugby ones.

Well i do like to make my views visible

Also i agree with everything you've said, some good examples there aswel

Lots of great points on here, all of them true in my opinion.



I'll always prefer rugby for the depth it has. The fact you can sit in a pub with a mix of fans and have a laugh is always great, the Scots are a right laugh! Also drank with a group of Welsh lads when we smashed em' by 50-5, brilliant night, ended up staying out with them for the day!
(I have actually been jeered in London by a group of Paris fans when I was wearing my Tigers shirt, very odd - didn't see one Wasps fan that day....)


Rugby all the way!

Firstly all sports are always far better to be playing than to watch in my opinion.

The rugby support makes a lot of mention of how pleasant and friendly the fans are, how macho the players are, how much the players respect the refs. All very commendable but no one actually said the level of entertainment is higher than football. I think thats because the honest answer is that it isnt.

I think this debate really ought to focus purely on the entertainment side as its what most people can relate to and comment on.

You will always get some great, memorable rugby matches but unfortunately football provides them on a far more regular basis. In fact its strange that you sometimes tend to remember the really poor and dull matches more as they are the exception. In rugby the best team will invariably win with few exceptions whereas in football you will always have a chance of winning no matter how good the opposition.

I totally agree that footballers are grossly overpaid but thats not their fault. I dont think its right to say they cant 'take a hit' because I believe in modern football you shouldnt have to. Thankfully gone are the days where the hackers can kick an opponent out of a game. Its shouldnt be called the beautiful game for nothing - its should be because it allows artists to flourish and be rewarded......

Edited at 16:59 Sun 22/02/09 (GMT)

.........

Sorry hightops but man for man a football team is more highly skilled across the board than a rugby team is. That comes from someone that has played at 9 and 10 at rugby as well as non-league at football.

Finally football is a global game. It has worldwide popularity for a reason. Unfortunately rugby will always be a minority sport. A good sport and a good game to play in many, many ways - but a minority sport.

A good debate on either side though


Edited at 17:00 Sun 22/02/09 (GMT)

Not always. For instance, just look at these two pics:

http://i39.tinypic.com/mjn1qe.jpg

http://i42.tinypic.com/8yx4qr.jpg

The first one is the Celtic goalkeeper taking out St Mirren striker Craig Dargo. The second once again involves Dargo, but this time it's the Kilmarnock keeper. Both incidents only involved a yellow card, and both could have broken Craig's leg. To say the days of kicking opponents out a game are not gone. Just look back at the Bosingwa incident a few weeks ago. I don't know what is was like 10 years ago, but it's certainly not gone.

Maybe badly worded master yoda - apologies.

It will never be gone completely because players (in all sports) do daft things or things that break rules.

The rules of the game have definitely changed though to try and protect and promote skill. You will always have refs though that maybe dont interpret things as they ought to.

In a similar vein rugby tries to introduce rules that promote entertainment. Hopefully some will prove successful as I would love to be able to watch exciting games of rugby all the time.

I think it's hard to say one is more entertaining than the other, and really impossible to prove as everyone has personal opinions and preferences. (I can only watch highlights of football matches as I find them rather boring)

Footballers are skillful and have great balance and are absolute top notch in the drama queen stakes. But passion, physicality and fitness is of a much higher standard in rugby.

Rugby is far from a minority sport, that is a crazy thing to say. Football is probably the biggest sport in the world, but it has been professional alot longer than rugby. Remember rugby has only been a pro sport for 12 years. Not long atall, and the strides it has made in viewing and playing figures is immense.

There have been some great points in this thread about the players, supporters and officials and I compeletly agree with all that has been said, so can't really think of anything to add other than my trusty old saying which I'll stand by forever (or atleast until some things change dramatically !) -

"Football is a gentlemans game played by thugs, rugby is a thugs game played by gentleman"

yep - those same gentleman that gouge eyes, bite ears (and other parts), stamp on heads and bodies, make head high and spear tackles, cheat the rules etc. Very gentlemanly, very gallant and very brave

There are as many thugs playing rugby as any other contact sport.

In parks football there are far too many brainless thugs and idiots I would agree but in professional football there are not too many.

And I am sorry but in the sporting world rugby is a minority sport (although obviously there are a handful of countries where it is the main sport) - rugby league has been professional for over a hundred years and that is a minority sport too so not sure what amateur/professionalism has to do with it really.

Of course its a matter of peoples opinions as to what they each prefer but in the end it's pure popularity as a spectacle that decides the winner

Rugby is massive and world wide. It's first choice sports in some of Europe, growing very very very fast in Canada and America and the main sport in the Pacific Islanders, New Zealand and I would probably say bigger than Football in South Africa.
Kenya have rugby sevens as their national sport, Namibia also play it as a national sport and is a massive sport in Japan. Teams such as Georgia, Romania and Lithunia now have it as their major sport, with Russia also having a professional league and bidding to host a world cup, along with being top of the EN cup. Argentina also have it as a lucrative sport, no doubt behind football though. Wales national sport is rugby and I'm sure it is a bigger sport than football in Ireland.

It is arguably bigger than all sports other than Football. Does that mean you're saying every sport is a minority other than football?

It's growing at a rate of nots, pro leagues are being created with serious IRB funding to minority nations (this is shown with the new pro leagues, new 7 teams, new official IRB registerd 15 a side teams and lots of countries who you woudn't dream of bidding to host the next two world cups). The world 7's series and the countries coming through are fantastic, and the likes of England saxons playing Portugal and NZ maori playing the likes of Germany is great to see.

Rugby is not a minority sport. Football fans have a footbal heart and passion, and I won't argue it is a massive sport, with lots and lots of money. I will not be trying to change peoples opinions, just would be nice to see non-rugby fans take a step back and realise how quick rugby is developing world wide. (Comparing it to rugby league is way off)

As for the the first little paragraph of your post, Chris. You prove my point. Rugby is a thugs game, but gentleman play it, you can see that after the games and in some cases in the game when certain players knock others out, but stop play, pull gumshields out etc... There are thugs in rugby, absoulte idiots that ruin it for some others, as with any sport. But you can beat the crap into someone on a rugby field, and have a pint with them afterwrads. In the pro game it's evident as everyone moves on with life or goes and hurts them back. Both players will then respect eachother for that as you see with post match interviews etc... There are some idiots however who will take it wayy to far. You knwo that as you've played it. Youth rugby however I will confess is riddled with thugs lol

So gentleman cheat and deliberately go out to harm an opponent? what happens in the bar afterwards is completely irrelevant. Gentleman would play a game within the rules and I dont see injuring someone as being part of the game. Clearly that only applies to the minority of players in the same way as it does to football, but to try and make anything else out of it though is laughable really. In the football teams I played for we always shared a drink in the bar with the opponents afterwards too.

As a matter of interest why would you want to beat the crap into someone on a rugby field??? Is it because you want to do it in real life but thats the only place you can get away with it??

Officially rugby is the number one sport in new zealand, wales, moldova (along with football), zambia (along with football and cricket) and several south sea islands

south africa is cricket and football

that is all stats and we know stats can be made to show whatever you want them to (on either side of the argument) but seeing as we have started down that road football was number one sport in 94 countries, cricket in 29, baseball in 8 etc. I would consider where one sport is the number one in a vast majority then most others could be classed as minority

Edited at 20:38 Sun 22/02/09 (GMT)

Like I said, I aint going to sell rugby to someone who can't see it for what it is.

Rugby players don't go out to harm someone and injure them, they go out to win, play with passion and be better than their opponent, like any sport. You seem to have a very narrow minded view of the players and the sport. They play by the rules, getting the better of your opponent by putting in a big hit on them is in the rules. Gouge eyes and bite ears is not, and you only see it from the minority. really about the same ammount as you see someone boot someone in football. You are just trying to make rugby out to be a violent negative game, which it is not, you surely know that as a player.. It's physical not violent.

As for me saying what I said, you see it wrong and have taken it out of context. You don't go out to beat someone up, you go out to get the better of them, and in rugby it usually involves flattening them within the rules. Stupid wording from me really.

Stats show that in Wales in 2006 and 2007, Football being the main sport, which is very funny indeed.

I read up on the IRB and go by what they say, of course what they say could be just as ridiculous as that stat I mentions above, but it's my source if you like

It's quite comical that we are both saying stats, that really can't be taken as 100% accurate, Heck, this time next year, Ice-hockey might be the main sport in Wales, the Cardiff davils aint doing to bad.

I think we all have favorites, saying that our favorite is the best because of stats is a bit dull, our favorites are the best because they're OUR favorites. This thread will be divided, but at the end of the day, the best is what you think is the best, don't worry about others, let them have a favorite out of the two. Rugby is great, I live it, breath it and would happily die with it, if it all falls through becase of finances and becomes semi-pro, I will still love it, breath it and die with it, even if I am the only supporter of the game !!

Lmao this is really in depth

I think there is no positives or negatives about either sport...It's mainly down to which you like more

I like football way more then Rugby...But i watch now and again if ireland is playing and i don't see a reason to hate it

If you get me

you're a die hard rugby fan mate (note the spelling there) and theres nothing wrong with that at all - as i said in my first post i have played both - i love playing sports and love watching pretty much all sports.

i go for football in this thread debate and have stated why and i think really that worldwide popularity supports that opinion

i have never stated rugby is a violent negative game but i wish it could produce greater amounts of excitement for a spectator on a more constant basis - if it could then it could grow a lot bigger as a spectacle.

i dont have a narrow idea of rugby players at all - i think you'll find it started the other way round actually with your 'trusty old saying' which you'll stand by forever - but nevermind

I no doubt come across narrow minded with football, even I see it sometimes, just the heart can take over !
I also love sport, really do follow everything, just obviously not at the level I do rugby.

As for football I watch match of the day everynight and follow all the competitions, mun

I can't see how it can get more exciting, other than getting rid of the dam kicking battles teams have ! But obviously I love the game, and with 'neutrals' (couldn't think of anything else lol.) saying stuff like that, I hope the IRB and all take note, as you aint the first to say that. Just can't see how it can stick to its roots and change to excite more people.