Originally posted by atpbx
I dont think it is, rugby is surrounded by this myth that actually, its controlled violence and the players all act within a strict code of conduct and behave with honour, like mondern day Knights of the realm...............................
Thats pap, you run at each other, get as many sly punches in on someones ribs when their on the ground, jab your knees in to peoples faces in a scrum, pull his ears, spit, in fact use any foul and underhand means you can to wear down the other players stamina.
There is no subtle tactics, no wise old general sat in his office deciding what to do in the match the day after.
a load of guys stand in a line, and a load of other guys run at you, the side who is physically bigger- wins.
There is so much money, and so much of peoples lives dominated by football, that the players will and SHOULD do everything they can to ensure they win.
Just like................rugby players do, but at least there is no pretence surrounding football, Ruud dives, if he doesnt really have the ball under controll and hes not really got a clear shot, he'll go down under a challenge, same as a lot of other strikers.
Hypia yesterday took the man and not the ball, it was a late challenge, dispite the fact that the villa player looked to you not to have a clear opertunity to score is irrelevant, ive seen goals scored from tighter angles than that so it is an opertunity to score that has been denied villa.
)
I much prefer league as it seems to flow much more than Union that is more run into players, have a big pile-on, run into some more players, have a big pile-on 
