Questions on Rugby/Aussie Footy

Discussion in 'Rugby & Aussie Rules' started by BhoysFC1995, Mar 6, 2004.

  1. babytiger2001

    babytiger2001 New Member

    Dec 29, 2000
    Melbourne
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Simplified: :)

    [YOUTUBE]TA4gmMvye5M[/YOUTUBE]

    Not a bad summary of what we love about this great game.
     
  2. babytiger2001

    babytiger2001 New Member

    Dec 29, 2000
    Melbourne
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Also, that Google search also brings about a possible explanation as to what constitutes a legal collision in the way of a hip and shoulder -- or what we classically refer to as, "the bump":

    [YOUTUBE]fmPj_9q5Xks[/YOUTUBE]

    That video goes for about two minutes.
     
  3. westcoast929406

    westcoast929406 New Member

    Oct 10, 2003
    Perth Western Aust.
    Both videos do a good job on getting the message over to the new fans out there. I read through the over 500 comments on the first video. The usual mix of positive and negative stuff you find these days. Noticed also the game is picking up fans in Europe per the Eurosports TV Network.
     
  4. aloisius

    aloisius Member

    Jul 5, 2003
    Croatia
    this british and irish lions thing seems a bit weird to me.

    how strong is the support for them?

    i can't imagine the irish being thrilled because the british and irish lions win.

    it just seems a bit contrived. these are for separate rugby nations with their own identities.
     
  5. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    I think it gets a good deal of coverage and people who enjoy rugby like it, although I could be way off base since I'm not in the UK. I don't think it is contrived at all, they have been doing these tours since the late 1800s
     
  6. Caesar

    Caesar Moderator
    Staff Member

    Mar 3, 2004
    Oztraya
    It's pretty prestigious for a Home Nations player to be selected for the team - it's pretty much an allstar squad. In addition, as Bluto mentions there is a lot of history behind it. In the 90s when northern hemisphere rugby was much weaker than the southern hemisphere, a Lions tour promised extremely high-quality matches.

    It's also a great chance to see some greats of the game play together in matches that ordinarily wouldn't happen. Rugby has a long history of 'special selections' playing matches against club, provincial or national teams - the Barbarians being the most prominent other example.
     
  7. condor11

    condor11 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 2, 2002
    New Zealand
    would be pretty interesting to see an ANZAC team play the Lions
     
  8. aloisius

    aloisius Member

    Jul 5, 2003
    Croatia
    i know it has a very long tradition.

    i was just wondering if anyone actually supports them or do people just watch it as a show, an all-star game .

    i thought rugby really wouldn't be suited for these all-star games .
     
  9. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    I know the bar I watch soccer/football at shows all the matches and packs them in for the Tests. But I think it is one of the few places in Chicago that shows them, so that probably makes the crowd bigger
     
  10. Craig the Aussie

    Craig the Aussie New Member

    May 21, 2002
    Sydney, Australia
    It's not an "All-Star" game, it is a full international. The Barbarians matches are more of an all-star concept.

    Until recently the "Home Countries" - England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland - very rarely toured overseas in their own right. All tours were done under the British Lions (later British & Irish Lions) banner. Even now the individual countries tend to send below strength teams.

    In NZ & S.Africa especially a Lions tour has always been hugely anticipated. Before the World Cup it was a de-facto world championship.

    Rugby has always been built on a representative structure (as has cricket for that matter).

    Players play for their club, the best get picked to play for their province/state, the best from there get picked to play for their country.
     
  11. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    You couldn't be more wrong, actually. The Lions are exceptionally popular in Ireland.
     
  12. Caesar

    Caesar Moderator
    Staff Member

    Mar 3, 2004
    Oztraya
  13. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    ok, random thought, and total American here, but this stems from my Dad watching rugby for the first time when he was over in Ireland. He got to watch the Munster v Leinster HC semi final. He loved it. He also like how the referee had a microphone on him and you could hear him talking to players, TMO, etc. However, he asked me why the referee didn't have clear hand signals for infractions to make it clearer as to what the infraction was. He said half the time the commentators would just say "penalty to Munster, I think it was ...." but they weren't sure. He thought that clear hand signals for infractions would help newer fans understand what was going on. He did mention that sometimes you could hear the ref say what the infraction was and sometimes he motioned for offsides or not through the gate.
     
  14. krudmonk

    krudmonk Member+

    Mar 7, 2007
    S.J. Sonora
    Club:
    San Jose Earthquakes
    This would help, for sure. The referee directs much more of his rule to the players than the fans, so it's easier to see why there is this oversight. He's obviously there talking to both sides, warning them not to do such-and-such again or else it'll be a binning. Maybe it's just lingering from the amateur era, when things were not so media-driven.
     
  15. condor11

    condor11 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Apr 2, 2002
    New Zealand
    most refs will signal what the infraction is...they do it half assed a lot of the time so its easy to miss, but you can generally tell whats its for by what he says and what he signals

    there are times however when they dont indicate much...unlike the NFL who make it pretty clear whats going on

    its an area that could be improved thats for sure
     
  16. Friedel'sAccent

    Friedel'sAccent Member+

    Jul 7, 2006
    Providence, RI
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, I totally agree with Bluto here, because I'm a new player who will watch matches specifically with an eye toward figuring out penalty calls (along with tactical stuff), and I have a really hard time figuring it out a lot of the time.
    Or maybe I'm just watching for the wrong signals.
     
  17. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    I got the First Lions test this past saturday and there were some good examples of this. The Lions kept getting penalized in the scrum, and the commentators said it was because the Boks' loosehead,"The Beast", was doing stuff to Vickery but they never gave an explination of what was happening and why a penalty was being called.
     
  18. PsychedelicCeltic

    PsychedelicCeltic New Member

    Dec 10, 2003
    San Francisco/London
    That's probably because they hadn't a clue what was going on....it is a notorious truism in rugby that unless you play in the front row you probably haven't got a single clue what is going on up there. That goes for referees as well!

    As condor said they do signal what's going on but it can get a bit slack, especially in this day and age where the referee is mic'ed and you can hear his call most of the time anyway. If you watch local rugby referees are actually much better at this.
     
  19. City Dave

    City Dave Member

    Jan 26, 2007
    Cleveland, OH
    Club:
    Cleveland C. S.
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thought you guys might appreciate this.
    [ame="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayz/49924775/"]Bucky Katt does Haka on Flickr - Photo Sharing![/ame].

    Ok, well, BS keeps automatically turning that into a video link no matter how I try to put it in here.

    So, just click on the title and it will take you to the image.


    Oh, and could someone run down briefly the differences between rugby union and rugby league?
     
  20. Bluto11

    Bluto11 The sky is falling!

    May 16, 2003
    Chicago, IL
    Get Fuzzy is my current favorite comic strip. The guy who writes it is a huge rugby fan
     
  21. TOTC

    TOTC Member

    Feb 20, 2001
    Laurel, MD, USA
    I have one question.

    Every year, there is a challenge match between an all-star team of Australian Rules football players and an all-star team of Gaelic Football players from Ireland.

    Must this game devolve into an all-out brawl that makes box lacrosse look like a bunch of pansy boys?
     
  22. Caesar

    Caesar Moderator
    Staff Member

    Mar 3, 2004
    Oztraya
  23. westcoast929406

    westcoast929406 New Member

    Oct 10, 2003
    Perth Western Aust.
    To clarify the comments -
    The poster is talking about the Annual Series of International Rules Hybrid matches between Australia (AFL) and Ireland (GAA)
    The series is now to be held every 2 years but will not be held this year due to the Global Financial Crisis according to AFL boss Andrew Demitriou.
    The series will continue because it is a very profitable exercise for both groups particularly in Ireland where big crowds turn up.
    Because of past violence the Rules are now skewed to the GAA because the Aussies have Tackling in their game and the GAA dont. That was one of the major cause of problems. The Irish did not like being slung to the ground when tackled which occurs in our game.
    A lot of us in AR would like to see the series disappear forever and for the AFL to concentrate on internationilising our own game. However money talks.
     
  24. Caesar

    Caesar Moderator
    Staff Member

    Mar 3, 2004
    Oztraya
    That's not true.

    That's gilding the lily a bit. The main problem was that Chris Johnson is a classless thug, and Brendan Fevola is a bogan.
     
  25. westcoast929406

    westcoast929406 New Member

    Oct 10, 2003
    Perth Western Aust.
    Their your opinions and I have got mine. However despite all the crap that went on both groups want the money more. So it continues.
    They were not "All Stars" games as in the USA concept either - In recent times the AFL selected smaller faster teams to match the Irish. This concept was introduced by Kevin Sheedy.
     

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