Rugby And Football (589 words) Essay Example For Students

Rugby And Football (589 words) Essay Rugby and FootballThe thick, broad-shouldered athlete breathes heavily and grunts with each step as he andhis teammates push mightily against the opposition. His arms are locked over his teammatesshoulders, all of their heads down. The two teams are pushing against each other like twomoose fighting over territory. He looks down to see the ball, sitting just in front of hisfeet. 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 thanfootball; however, football requires that you wear pads, thus being the true sport of want-to-bemen. The rules of these similar yet vastly different games are extremely complex, so only the basicsare necessary to distinguish the better sport. In football, the primary rule is that you mustadvance the ball forward by throwing it or running with it. Once a player with the ball isdowned, the entire team lines up again, and the ball is snapped to the quarterback. The shortpause in-between each down may not seem significant, but it definitely takes its toll on theexcitement. In rugby, however, the primary rule is that you can only advance the ball by runningwith, kicking, or passing it. With passing, though, you can only pass the ball backwards ordirectly to your side, never forward. Like football, you score by running the ball into theendzone or by kicking it through the uprights. Also, you must touch the ball to the groundfor it to count, and it is worth five points. When kicking, the ball can be kicked fromanywhere spontaneously. If it passes through the uprights, it is worth three points, as infootball. 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 maskedhelmet. 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, butflat-soles are often worn for artificial turf surfaces. But rugby, being the true sport of men, uses no pads of helmets. In fact the onlyequipment that are somewhat similar in both games can be found from the ankles down. Playerswear a jersey, usually long-sleeved, athletic shorts, and cleated shoes. The ball has an ovalshape 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 footballknow as harpaston, and the Romans played a similar game, harpastum. In medieval times, anotherform 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 saidto have originated when a boy at Rugby School in Rugby, England picked up and carried the ballduring 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 greedyabout how much money they will make during this game, that most of them do not even work theirhardest to win, as long as they make a living.