Comparison of American football and rugby union
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A Comparison of American football and rugby union is possible due to the games similarities and shared origins.
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[edit] Origins
Various forms of football have been played in England for centuries with different villages and schools having their own traditional rules. Rugby-like games were first introduced in the United States by English soldiers and colonists in the mid-1800s. However at that time a standard set of rules did not exist and teams would negotiate the rules before playing a game.
The Football Association was formed in England in October 1863. Differences of opinion about the proposed laws led to the formation of the first governing body for rugby in 1871 the Rugby Football Union. Laws were drawn up for rugby football which was now distinct from Association football (soccer).
In 1872 rugby clubs were established in the San Francisco Bay Area, which were mainly comprised of British expatriates. The first recorded rugby match in the United States occurred on May 14, 1874 between Harvard University and McGill University.
In 1876, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, a competition based on the traditional rules of rugby union. The sport of American football evolved from these intercollegiate games (see History of American football).
Back in England, a schism developed between those who favoured strict amateurism and those who felt that players should be compensated for time taken off work to play rugby. In 1895 this resulted in the formation of a break-away sport, rugby league, the rules of the two codes of rugby: union and league would themselves diverge.
[edit] The field
American football is played on a rectangular field 120 yards (110 metres) long by 53 1/3 yards (49 metres) wide. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are 100 yards apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards beyond each goal line. Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards, two rows of hash marks run parallel to the side lines near the middle of the field. At the back of each end zone, there are two goal posts that are 18.5 feet apart (24 feet in high school). The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet from the ground.
A rugby union field is a maximum of 144 metres long by 70m wide. The length from try line to try line is always 100 metres: the only varying distances on a rugby field are the width of the playing field, and the distance from try line to the dead ball line. Lines are painted at the dead ball line, try line, 22 metre line, 10 metre line (broken line) and half way. Lines are also located 5 metres away from the try line and side line and 15 metres away from the side line. At the goal line are a set of goal posts in the shape of the letter 'H', used for other forms of point scoring: drop goal, penalty goal and conversion.
[edit] Advancing the ball
In American football, the team that in possession of the ball, the offense, has four downs, to advance the ball 10 yards towards the end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets another set of four downs. If the offense fails to gain 10 yards after 4 downs, it loses possession of the ball.
The ball is put into play by a snap. All players line up facing each other at the line of scrimmage. One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback.
Players can then advance the ball in two ways:
- By running with the ball, also known as rushing. One ball-carrier can hand the ball to another; this is known as a handoff.
- By passing the ball forwards to a team-mate.
A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:
- The player with the ball is tackled.
- A forward pass goes out of bounds or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the original line of scrimmage for the next down.
- The ball or the player with the ball goes out of bounds.
- A team scores.
Rugby union is quite different being based on the 'right to contest possession'. A team in possession does not need to surrender possession whilst they are able to keep the ball. Whilst American footballers aren't allowed to try to dispossess the ball carrier between tackles, rugby union players are allowed to win possession during open play.
Players can then advance the ball in two ways:
- By running with the ball, in a similar way to American football. Rugby union is a game of possession and not territory. Players try to pass the ball before being tackled and to ensure possession is retained rather than struggling for an extra metre under the weight of several tacklers.
- By kicking the ball forawrds and attempting to recover it.
Possession may change in different ways in both games:-
- When the ball is kicked to the opposing team, this can be done at any time but it is normal to punt on the last down in American football when out of field goal range.
- Following an unsuccessful kick at goal.
- When an opposing player intercepts a pass.
- When the player in possession drops the ball and it is recovered by an opposition player. This is called a fumble in American football.
- In rugby union the opposition are awarded a scrum if the player in possession drops the ball forwards or makes the ball go forwards with any part of his body other than his feet. This is called a knock-on.
- In rugby union if the ball goes out of play, the opposition are awarded a line-out, this is called ball back. This rule does not apply to penalty kicks.
- In American football possession changes hands following a successful score and the team scoring must now kick off to the opposition. In contrast, in rugby union the team who conceded the score must kick off to the team who scored.
- In American football, an automatic handover takes place when the team in possession runs out of downs.
In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play. In American football, it is normal to punt on the last down but in rugby union with no limited tackle system a kick can take place at any phase of play.
[edit] Passing
In American football, the offense can throw the ball forward once on a play from behind the line of scrimmage. The forward pass is a distinguishing feature of American and Canadian football as it is strictly forbidden in rugby.
The ball can be thrown sideways or backwards without restriction in both games. In American football this is known as a lateral and is much less common than in rugby union.
In both codes, if the ball is caught by an opposition player this results in an interception and possession changes hands.
[edit] Tackles and blocks
- See also tackle (football move)
In both games it is permitted to bring down the player in possession of the ball and prevent them making forward progress. In rugby, unlike in American football, the ball is still in play. Players from either team can take possession of the ball. The tackled player must present the ball (release the ball) so that open play can continue.
Rugby union rules do not allow tackles above the plane of the shoulders. Only the player who has possession of the ball can be tackled. The arms of the attacker must also wrap around the player being tackled. If a maul or ruck is formed, a player may not "ram" into the formation without first binding to the players.
In American football, players are allowed to 'block' players without the ball, this is not permitted in rugby union and would be considered 'obstruction'.
[edit] Scoring
A try is the rugby equivalent of a touchdown. Unlike American football, both codes of rugby require the ball to be grounded, in American football it is sufficient for the ball to enter the end zone (in-goal area) when in the possession of a player. In American football a touchdown scores 6 points; in rugby union a try is worth 5 points.
In both games, following a try / touchdown, there is the opportunity to score additional points by kicking the ball between the posts and over the bar. In American football this is called an extra point (worth 1 point); in rugby union it is known as a conversion (worth 2 points). (The result is that both the touchdown/extra point combination and the try/conversion combination, when successful, total to 7 points.) One key difference between an extra point and a conversion is that a conversion must be taken from a position in line with where the try was scored. Hence it is important to ground the ball under the posts rather than in the corner which makes for a difficult kick. Also, American football features the option of the going for a 2-point conversion, where the attacking team gets one chance from 2 yards out to get the ball in the endzone again. This would be worth 2 points on top of the 6 already awarded for the touchdown.
In American football teams often opt to go for a field goal (worth 3 points) rather than attempt a touchdown. The rugby equivalent is a drop goal (worth 3 points in union and only one in league). The key difference between a field goal and a drop goal is that a field goal attempt is normally kicked with a team-mate holding the ball, whereas in rugby the ball must hit the ground and be kicked from a half-volley.
A similar concept in rugby is the penalty goal. Following the award of the penalty, the attacking team may opt to kick for goal rather than advance the ball by hand or punting. This scores 3 points. The penalty goal is similar to a field goal in American football in that the ball is kicked from the ground and may be held by a team-mate, but it cannot be charged. There is no direct equivalent to a penalty goal in American football.
American football has one further method of scoring which does not exist in rugby. If a ball carrier is tackled in their own endzone (in-goal area) with the ball then this results in a safety which scores 2 points and results in the team conceding the safety having to kick the ball to the team who recorded it. In rugby union this does not score any points but causes the team in possession to kick the ball back to the opposition from their 22 metre line.
[edit] Players
An American football team consists of an offensive team, a defensive team and a special team (involved in kicking). Only eleven players can be on the field at any time.
In both kinds of rugby the same players have to both defend and attack. There are fifteen players in a rugby union team (except in sevens and tens). Many of the positions have similar names but in practice are very different. A fullback in American football is very different from a fullback in rugby. Some of the positions are fairly similar; a fly-half carries out a similar role to a quarterback in American football.
Broadly speaking linemen and linebackers in American football correspond to forwards in rugby, and running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks have skills similar to backs in rugby.[1]
Due to the playing time, number of pauses, number of players and the nature of the game in general rugby players will typically need much higher physical endurance than American footballers while physical strength and power will be similar (amongst equivalent positions and weights). Collsions between players in rugby union tend to last significantly longer than American football, in which collison are more often "hits" in which the momentum of the player is enough to bring the other player to ground or at least forcing an error or fumble. In rugby union, hits are also a valid way of tackling, providing at least an appearance of attempting to bind is made. however these hits are not usually at the speed of American football, both due to the nature of the game and the lack of protective equipment in rugby. however rugby full backs will often have to perform high speed hits as they are often required when the line has been broken, so he will be the last line of defence. During rugby, the contact times between players are usually much longer, as a more wrestling approach is required to bring players down, as momentum can not always be relied upon particularly when the lines between the teams are consistently close, not allowing for significant momentum to be developed before meeting a defender. This increased contact time can result in mauls, in which players have to attempt to push the other player back. In American football equivalents to mauls are virtually non existent, as play stops when the ball is stopped, in rugby union no such stoppage occurs, and the open ball must be contested by mauls of several players. These difference can be summed up in the idea that in American football the objective is to bring the player to ground, and end the play, whereas in rugby the main objective is to stop the player from breaking the line, therefore mauling and rucking will sometimes occur when bringing a player down is not possible.
Rugby is more movement based than American football in which short bursts are needed. Also, the longer game length and fewer breaks in rugby, and the fact that there is only one team whereas in American football there is in essence two teams mean different demands of the aerobic and cardiovascular endurance of the players.
Unlike American football, rugby players often continue to participate in the game long after they have left school.
[edit] Attire
Rugby union players are allowed to wear modest padding on the head, shoulders and collarbone, but it must be sufficiently light, thin and compressible to meet IRB standards.
The headguard, also called a "scrum cap", is now commonly worn throughout all levels of the game. Protective headgear which is becoming essential due to the quantity of cuts and head injuries that can occur, particularly by the boots of players involved in rucking.
Hard plastic or metal are prohibited in rugby kit. This includes hard plastic shin guards. No form of metal is allowed in any rugby kit, except for IRB-approved soft aluminum studs on boots.
An essential part of the safety equipment needed for rugby is the gumshield. Players also have the option to use fingerless gloves which have been introduced recently to the game allowing players to better grip the ball.
American footballers wear special protective equipment, such as a padded plastic helmet, shoulder pads, hip pads and knee pads. These protective pads were introduced decades ago and have improved ever since to help minimize lasting injury to players.
An American football helmet consists of a hard plastic top with thick padding on the inside, a facemask made of one or more metal bars, and a chinstrap used to secure the helmet.
An unintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted in increasing levels of violence in the game which unprotected would be extremely dangerous. Players may now hurl themselves at one another at high speeds without a significant chance of injury. Unfortunately, any injuries that do result tend to be severe injuries on the structural elements of the body and often season or career-ending and sometimes fatal. In previous years with less padding, tackling more closely resembled tackles in rugby union, with less severe impacts and less severe structural injuries. Better helmets have also allowed players to use their helmets as weapons, although this is restricted when tackling the quarterback
[edit] See also
- Comparison of Canadian and American football
- Comparison of American football and rugby league
- Comparison of rugby league and rugby union
- American football
- Rugby union
- Players who have converted from one football code to another
[edit] Sources
- The Rugby Game
- HS Rugby Ban: Inattention To Safety?
- Coaching Strength or size - which is the significant component for rugby players?
- American football explained
