Can you explain rugby to me?

nightrider1470 said:
Is there a certain amount of times they can be tackled before loosing the ball?

Like him above, the whole, why is it a scrum is so confusing.
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No, no limit to the amount of tackles before you've got to give away the ball.
The ball is supposed to be placed in the centre of the scrum giving both teams equal opportunity to get it.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
I'm still confused as to why they give a scrum, then the team just put the ball into the legs of their own side anyway so is pointless.. ??
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It's OK World Rugby has told Referees to clamp down on feeding....................... Yeah right, that dictat was 3 years ago now and still hardly any of the refs have stones large enough to call a feed :rolleyes:


I wouldn't mind but half the scrummage problems can be fixed if they are made truly competitive as keeping the scrum up gives a chance to win the ball back :(, I was a hooker all my playing life and began in the era when not only would squint feeds get called but you'd get called for "Foot up" as well if you got ready to strike to early, scrums nearly always stayed up then. As we got into the middle and latter half of last decade even at "good" amateur level we were all getting coached to "drop" the pack if we lost the engagement and first push and I didn't actually have to hook the ball once for the last 5 or 6 years of my playing life as the ball was passed straight into the second rows feet by the scrum half :mad:

Props aren't there to hold a scrum up, they are there to hold the hooker up so he can lift a leg off the drive and strike, somewhere along the road the primary job of the Prop has got forgotten and now all the onus is on them to hold the scrum up which is entirely wrong, Props need to get back to their primary role of supporting the hooker and by it's nature we will see more scrums stay up as less pressure will be coming through them.

On a side note if you want to see a comical result of scrums using hookers who have completely forgotten how to "hook" than watch the Australia vs Fiji game from the other day, it's the second or third scrum of the game and the ball is rolled in straight down the middle of channel as it should be but neither hooker strikes so the ball just sits there with neither side being able to budge each other for the next 45 seconds or so, Glenda Jackson (the ref) was actually stood with his hands on his hips watching the tussle at one point because he had nothing else to do, Fiji eventually push Australia off their own ball and win it back. Credit has to go to both teams for keeping it up and legal but I genuinely thought that happened because it was a fair competitive shout for both sides to win the set piece.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
I'm still confused as to why they give a scrum, then the team just put the ball into the legs of their own side anyway so is pointless.. ??
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LOL I tell this to people all the time when they ask me why I don't like rugby. I used to watch it when I was younger (South African), but then I realised how silly it is. Scrums are a waste of time, as you said, since the team throwing the ball in gets it back 99% of the time. The other thing is where exactly is the skill? Most of the game is:
1. A guy runs with the ball straight into an opposing player and falls on the floor.
2. a) A teammate of his gets the ball then passes it to another guy who repeats (1).
or b) The opposing team manages to get the ball after he's fallen and they repeat (1).

So it's just men running into each other and falling over most of the time until one of them manages to not fall over and reach the other side.

I watch World Cup Football because at least in football players can show some skill with the ball and tackles/interceptions can happen any time. Also they can kick the ball backwards AND forwards :p
 
FutileBreadMachine said:
LOL I tell this to people all the time when they ask me why I don't like rugby. I used to watch it when I was younger (South African), but then I realised how silly it is. Scrums are a waste of time, as you said, since the team throwing the ball in gets it back 99% of the time. The other thing is where exactly is the skill? Most of the game is:
1. A guy runs with the ball straight into an opposing player and falls on the floor.
2. a) A teammate of his gets the ball then passes it to another guy who repeats (1).
or b) The opposing team manages to get the ball after he's fallen and they repeat (1).

So it's just men running into each other and falling over most of the time until one of them manages to not fall over and reach the other side.

I watch World Cup Football because at least in football players can show some skill with the ball and tackles/interceptions can happen any time. Also they can kick the ball backwards AND forwards :p
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You can kick it either way in Rugby too but if you kick it backwards your team mates will hate you ;)

To each their own. A lot of skill at the top level with some of the more intricate backs moves and even the forwards with the lineout calls. Very top level very little space for players but when it opens up can be a great spectacle. In those games the whole team work together to create the space for someone to get in and is a little less about the individual.

Scrum isn't a waste of time and thankfully has gotten better in the last couple years after they removed 'the hit'. Sure team feeding have advantage but you are seeing hookers actually hooking it back now rather than trying to push over the feed. Check out Japan against SA, the ball was fed in and came out in a split second. The thing a scrum allows is it forces all the forwards together in a bundle which naturally makes space as they can't defend straight away when it comes out. The defence have to watch both sides but the attackers can choose to go one way or the other.

There are also lots of different skillsets that players have to have depending on their position. Whether it be a fullback able to jump and catch a ball they've kicked at full sprint, the scrum half's whip lick pass from a ruck or a fly half ability to kick from hand, drop kick or kick penalties with all the pressure on their shoulders alone. There could be uni doctorates for anyone who can figure out what the front row do.
 
I don't get why when I say I have no interest in and do not like football, people react with "but you're all over rugby!!".

Well that's because they're 2 different sports for a start. The fact I used to play probably has something to do with it!

What I love about Rugby is that although a lot of them are pros, many of them hold down a regular day job too.
 
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