OT-I've begun enjoying Premier League Soccer but Rugby? What the hell is that?

[Bill Epstein]

The Women's World Cup got me hooked on watching a sport I formerly found boring and now I look forward to the weekly games on NBC. Foreigners who question American Football for it's starts, stops and delays really have a point!

After watching Arsenal and Everton today, the Rugby World Cup came on and I thought, this should be interesting. Two of the best teams in the world and a sport that sorta bred football.

After 40 totally baffling minutes of pushing, shoving and points scored for WHAT? ...I went looking for The Knitting Channel for some excitement. WTF are those guys doing on their knees and suddenly a "ball" squirts out the back?  Huh?

[Strikkflypilot]

Well, If it was on the knitting channel it might have been a ball of twine.
If they were on their knees, well, I don't judge...

[RayP]

My first impression of gridiron was of a game with four totally baffling minutes of pushing, shoving and points scored for WHAT. It was accompanied by three plus hours of advertisements.

It takes a while to get used to both games. There is also another game called Rugby League that is similar to Rugby Union. I prefer RU overall.

ray

[Gerry E.]

FWIW - I don't get it either.  I put on the television yesterday and up popped the Rugby match.  Having visited New Zealand in 2000, I instantly recognized the "All Blacks" but that was about it.  While in NZ and taking a boat tour of Milford Sound, I struck up a conversation with a guy from the UK.

I asked if he could explain Rugby to me and while it may have made sense at time, it didn't help me yesterday.  Just before "halftime" (is that the proper term?), a big Māori player on NZ was penalized for something, told to sit down for 10 minutes and a player on South Africa was allowed to kick the ball through the uprights to make it 12 - 7 in favor of RSA.

I just checked and was surprised to see that NZ came back and won 20 - 18 to advance to the final.  Since they are the only team I know, I guess I'm rooting for them!   

Gerry           

[grausch]

Here is a simple guide to the rules of rugby - http://www.rugby.com.au/Portals/18/Files/Playing/A_Simple_Guide_to_Rugby.pdf

As a South African I am slightly biased, but that match was probably one of the most physical and epic of all time.  Also, both teams have several players that either are or were considered the best in the world and with several of them retiring after the World Cup, it was the final opportunity to see them play against each other.

Unfortunately for South Africa, the New Zealand team is one of the best New Zealand teams ever, while the SA team of a couple of years ago was probably our best ever. The mere fact that the final score was so close just shows what a tough game it really was. However, if you were looking to see an exciting game with lots of tries, the initial pool matches probably would have been "better" in that sense.