RUGBY RUGBY RUGBY (Rugby UNION) RUGBY RUGBY RUGBY

I am addicted to hard hitting contact sports so when I found the rugby channel I wondered how I missed this boat all these years. Rugby is the most brutal, fast paced, hard hitting, non stop actioned, kick assed game I ever watched. These huge motherfuckers are crazy playing with no helmets or pads. Damn rugby women are tough too. I'm one of those guys with 3 TVs set up for Sunday NFL football. Now I'm scrambling to find rugby games on Justin.tv at 3am. I need action and blood and with rugby I get both.
However, the USA rugby team has been a total letdown. We just got our asses handed to us by Triple Crown winner Ireland. We will never compete internationally until our media supports rugby in the newspapers and on commercial TV. If they played rugby on American TV, we would eat it up. I know this because when I am watching rugby on my computer at the diner, I get a crowd and a million questions. Especially the old timers, they love non stop, fastpaced action.
One big problem is that they can't squeeze a million commercials into a rugby game so there's no incentive for the big networks to cover these games. Plus the live games are at 3am East Coast so that doesn't help either. Ever since I found the rugby channel (Setanta Dishnet406) I have been totally addicted. However if a boring game like soccer can be promoted on TV, there's no reason that an action packed, hard hitting game like rugby should be shunned. USA should not be the doormat of international rugby. The more Americans play & watch rugby, the bigger the talent pool will be.
The British & Irish Lions are currently touring South Africa. They have been kicking ass through the entire continent until the first 2 tests against the Bokks who just smacked the Lions down. Victor Matfield & the Bokks already won the three game series with one more game to go on July 4. Most games can be found on Justin.tv in the early morning.
This years Super14 tournament was great. The Blue Bulls were the team to beat all year. The Heineken Cup and The Churchill Cup were good too until the USA got beat down by England. It looks like the Olympics will be bringing back rugby too, but as 7's (meaning 7 on 7 for two 7 minute halves) they follow rugby union rules rather than rugby league rules which is good. They can squeeze alot of games in with the 7's format but if the olympics can support a 90 soccer format, they could support an 80 minute rugby union format.
So after the NFL season is over, and baseball & golf don't do enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, and if you like tough manly contact sports, check out a rugby union game. Actually rugby is played year round so there's always a game on somewhere on Justin.tv. If you thought the NFL had a rich history, wait until you get to know rugby. They've been playing this game for hundreds of years and the NFL was even created from rugby.
Shit man, even President Bush played rugby, even tough he played dirty.


Any other rugby union fans out there?

I started playing in College, and played until I was 39 and my knees quit working

Great sport - allowed me to see the world - played on tours to England, Ireland, Bahamas, Wales and Bermuda - not too mention up and down the entire eastern seaboard - made life long friends on 4 continents -

Check out Setanta TV - its on most cable networks, as a monthly add on - they have great rugby coverage

Enjoy!

Setanta is a real good channel for rugby. For anyone without Setanta I will post a Justin.tv link once they make the schedule. The last Lions Tour game is linked here in the archives along with New Zealand (All Blacks) vs. Italy and Australia vs. France.

http://www.justin.tv/live24live/archive

Here are some upcoming rugby union fixtures. Probably on the justin.tv/live24live channel.

Saturday, 04 July 2009
Lions Tour
South Africa v British & Irish Lions, Tour,

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Saturday, 18 July 2009
Tri-Nations Series
New Zealand v Australia,

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Saturday, 25 July 2009
Tri-Nations Series
South Africa v New Zealand,

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Saturday, 01 August 2009
Tri-Nations Series
South Africa v New Zealand,

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Saturday, 08 August 2009
Tri-Nations Series
South Africa v Australia,

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Saturday, 22 August 2009
Tri-Nations Series
Australia v New Zealand,

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Saturday, 29 August 2009
Tri-Nations Series
Australia v South Africa,


I never thought I would like ANYTHING more than the NFL but man this shit is addicting! Ferrall would be such a great rugby announcer if the USA got some better media coverage.

Thats fuckin bad ass! What position did U play? What were some of your injuries? Do you still have both ears?

Thats pretty cool...

I played fullback(#15) in college, and Flyhalf (#10) for most of the mens clubs I played for

I had a decent foot, and kicked all of he conversions etc.

Ears are still intact, I stayed outta the scrum

No major injuries - broken nose several times, seperated shoulders, torn hamstrings and busted fingers - I was lucky - Fear is a great motivator not to get hurt :bw:

its a great sport

No other sport allows you to kill a guy for 80 minutes, then head to the bar afterwards for a beer with him - the social aspect was awesome


When the game is over - it stays behind, between the lines, and you move on

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9PYo-kwtP0"]YouTube - Extreme Rugby Hits[/ame]

This starts with the All Blacks doing the Haka - then all Rugby Union hits - good stuff!

I went to a NRL game in Sydney, Austraila. It is a great game to watch in person. The majority of North American sports has commercial breaks. Rugby is pretty much nonstop, so not sure people here could deal with it.

I think it should be an olympic sport as it is popular in a lot of countries, including Fiji.


I saw an Aussie Rules Football game in Melbourne, Australia and enjoyed that a lot as well.

Rugby has the same time format as soccer and they have been playing more & more (boring) soccer games on TV so hopefully they can figure the rugby situation out. Maybe they can go to commercial during the injury breaks. Unfortunately in rugby, they play through most injuries. They kinda just go around the injured player.
I don't see how the fans couldn't deal with it, the fans LOVE the non-stop action without the commercial interruptions, but the commercial media can't deal with it. That's the reason we don't have rugby on TV. There is no place to squeeze all their commercials in like there is in the NFL. I think it's outrageous that the NFL takes direction from the networks on when to return to the game. I have seen NFL games held up because they are waiting for the network to finish up their commercials. I actually don't mind the commercials anymore because I watch 3 games simultaneously on Sunday so when a commercial is one one channel I can just turn my attention to another game. That doesn't work as well with rugby because if you're watching 2 games simultaneously, you may miss something unless there is an injury stoppage.

I found a USA Eagles game coming up on the same day as the Lions Tour game. Should be on justin.tv and I'll post a link when it beomes available.
If we can't beat Canada, we stink!

July 4
5 p.m. (ET)
Rugby World Cup Qualifier
USA Eagles vs. Canada
Blackbaud Stadium, Charleston, S.C.


The USA's Super League may have a team near you. If you love rugby, show your support!

Blue Conference
Boston Irish Wolfhounds
Boston Rugby
Charlotte
Dallas Harlequins
New York Athletic Club
Old Blue New York
Potomac Athletic Club
Life University

Red Conference
Belmont Shore
Chicago Griffins
Chicago Lions
Denver Barbarians
Old Mission Beach Athletic Club
Old Puget Sound Beach
San Francisco Golden Gate
Santa Monica

My hometown has a D2 team: The Bayonne Bombers!

I agree that rugby is more exciting than soccer, but Americans like slower paced sports, and the networks like showing tons of commercials.

Whenever I went to New Zealand or Australia so many of the people asked me how I could get into a NFL game that takes over 3 hours to play a 60 minute game. My reply was the same as always. I grew up on it, so hard for me to not like it, but I do understand what they are saying.

Haaahaaa. Wasnt there a rugby player who used to shove his fingers in dudes assholes during scrums?

Fucking hilarious! That's exactly the kind of shit I would be doing to opposing players too. Do you have a name or a team? It may be harder these days with the shorts they wear but it's probable that you could work a hand up a player's leg and squeeze a finger in, provided there was enough sweaty shit froth built up to lubricate the butt lips.
I heard Dennis Rodman used to pinch players and I'm sure he had a wandering finger too. Win at ALL costs. Even a bloody stinkfinger.

I have heard about ears being ripped off and I've seen some nasty head knocks, eye gouges and blood bins. I personally would have no problem yanking out someone's pubes or leg hair. There was even a rumor that Victor Matfield used some steel in his armband like Iron Mike Sharpe.


Too bad they don't wear shorts in the NFL. I remember the Mean Joe Greene rumors about him scratching and biting people in the piles.

It's only illegal if the ref catches you.

Rugby has a way of stopping this type of behavior - Had someone tried any of this shit, and I caught him, the next time he went into a takle, and laid on the ground I would rip his shirt to pieces with my boots - nothing like having an angry guy standing on your ankle or head, in a ruck to change your attitiude towards playing dirty

I always wondered how it was legal to punch & kick an opposing player when he came over the ruck. Can you only give someone the treatment if they are offsides?

Rugby players dont play games..They are serious!

However there is nothing unsexier then rugby chicks

Wayne 'Buck' Shelford was one of the greatest No.8's and hardest men to ever play rugby. A truly great All Black and formidible presence during one of the stellar periods of All Black rugby.

If ever there was one moment when New Zealand’s Shelford embedded his name forever into rugby's rich history, it was during the infamous “Battle of Nantes” in 1986.

Playing only his second Test for the All Blacks against a physically intimidating French side, Shelford found himself at the bottom of a rather aggressive ruck on 20 minutes.

An errant Les Bleus stud found its way to his groin, where it somehow managed to tear his scrotum, leaving one testicle hanging out.

This alone would leave most men screaming in agony and heading for the nearest hospital. But not Shelford.

He calmly instructed the physio to stitch him up.

The French public were gobsmacked as an over-eager pitchside cameraman filmed the stomach-turning surgery, and even more so when Shelford returned to the field and carried on playing...

"I was knocked out cold, lost a few teeth and had a few stitches down below," Shelford later recalled. "It's a game I still can't remember... I don't really want to, either."

I hope there is a video somewhere.

I found a few you may want to ruck up with...

Stanford Women's Rugby Wingers:



Centers:


Flankers:


Penn State's Bangable Ruggers:

Flyhalfs:
"Meatsticks" Zeigler


Meghan Bynes


Wings:
Dickie Dickens


Centers:
Lauren Russo


Flankers:
Jeanne Drouilhet

ehhh, maybe your right. I just know when I went to WVU, the womans rugby players looked closer to men then anything I had ever seen before.

You mean something like the Syrause rugby team??



If I had to bang one with a gun to my head....either the one with the ball or the second from right. Ehhh they both look like dudes, forget it, pull the trigger.

Yeah man very awesome I can kind of relate im 27 years old and I played baseball in jr. college and baseball and basketball through out high school. My buddies and I started a baseketball team and joined a Men's league we did the same with baseball. It's really fun to play a sport regardless what it is when you still have passion and love for the game.

I's scrum these ho's!

You do it to police up the game - keep people in check - kinda like fighting in hockey

Offsides, and laying on the ball are the two big infractions that will get you the boots or a punch the quickest - and it only takes one or two of these incidents to teach you not to do it anymore!

My brother still plays for a D1 team in Philly - and even at that level guys try to get away with shit and have to be "corrected" - its part of the game