Different Names For The Same Sport Essay, Research Paper
Rugby and Football
The thick, broad-shouldered athlete breathes heavily and grunts with each step as he and
his teammates push mightily against the opposition. His arms are locked over his teammates’
shoulders, all of their heads down. The two teams are pushing against each other like two
moose fighting over territory. He looks down to see the ball, sitting just in front of his
feet. If he could just hook it with his foot and heave it to his teammate behind him…
This is what every player in a scrum is thinking while they fight each other for possession.
Rugby is the true sport of men, because you wear no pads, and it is even more violent than
football; however, football requires that you wear pads, thus being the true sport of want-to-be
men.
The rules of these similar yet vastly different games are extremely complex, so only the basics
are necessary to distinguish the better sport. In football, the primary rule is that you must
advance the ball forward by throwing it or running with it. Once a player with the ball is
downed, the entire team lines up again, and the ball is snapped to the quarterback. The short
pause in-between each down may not seem significant, but it definitely takes its toll on the
excitement.
In rugby, however, the primary rule is that you can only advance the ball by running
with, kicking, or passing it. With passing, though, you can only pass the ball backwards or
directly to your side, never forward. Like football, you score by running the ball into the
endzone or by kicking it through the uprights. Also, you must touch the ball to the ground
for it to count, and it is worth five points. When kicking, the ball can be kicked from
anywhere spontaneously. If it passes through the uprights, it is worth three points, as in
football.
The equipment for the two sports is widely different, with football requiring much more.
In football, players must wear a large set of pads, covering most of their body, and a masked
helmet. The ball is made up of an inflated rubber bladder, surrounded by stitched leather,
and it appears ellipsoidal in shape. Most players now wear cleated or spiked shoes, but
flat-soles are often worn for artificial turf surfaces.
But rugby, being the true sport of men, uses no pads of helmets. In fact the only
equipment that are somewhat similar in both games can be found from the ankles down. Players
wear a jersey, usually long-sleeved, athletic shorts, and cleated shoes. The ball has an oval
shape to it, and is blunter than a football so that it may easily be bounced and dropkicked.
The origins of football trace back to ancient Greece when they played a form of football
know as harpaston, and the Romans played a similar game, harpastum. In medieval times, another
form of football, calcio, flourished in Italy. Most modern versions of football however,
originated in England, where a form of the game was known in the 12th century. Rugby is said
to have originated when a boy at Rugby School in Rugby, England picked up and carried the ball
during a game of football in 1823. Previously, the rules had only allowed the ball to be kicked.
As I said before, rugby is the true sport of men. It is the supreme test of strength,
endurance, determination, and agility. Whereas in football, the players are so cocky and greedy
about how much money they will make during this game, that most of them do not even work their
hardest to win, as long as they make a living.