Football American
What is difference between rugby and american football and soccer?
i know what soccer and rugby is but do americans call rugby an american football?
Rugby Football and American Football have the same historic root but he games have diverged a lot in the last 140 years. So much so that they are now two utterly different games.
Three differences are critical -- the rugby offside rule, the different way that the breakdown/tackle situations are handled, and the substitution rules.
Blocking (either as pass protection or in opening up running lanes) is absolutely fundamental to every single play in an American football (or girdiron) game. It is illegal in rugby. Offensive players must be behind the ball carrier to participate in play, and if they get between the ball carrier and a defender they are penalized for "obstruction".
In American football they use the "downs-for-distance" system. Once the runner is down the ball is whistled dead and the two teams reset for another play. The offense has four of these "downs" to advance the ball ten yards. If they fail to do so, then they turn the ball over to the opposition. It also means the game is very "start-stop" -- the ball is only "live" for about 12 minutes of a 60 minute match.
In rugby the breakdown in "contested". A player taken off his feet has to release the ball. Any player (on either team) who is still on his feet may then pick up the ball and continue. The rules about how the ball must be released (and how players may compete for it) give the attacking team an advantage in keeping possession, but it is by no means a sure thing. Every tackle gives the defense a reasonable opportunity to turn the ball over and counter-attack.
It also has the effect of making play in rugby more or less continuous and much faster than in gridiron. As a result, rugby players need a lot more stamina, especially as substitutions are permanent. You dress 22 for a rugby match and fifteen start the game. That means that at least eight players are on the pitch for the entire match. Gridiron players may enter, leave and re-enter the game pretty much as they please at any break in the play. They dress 45 for a match, but only 11 are on the field at a given time.
The end result is that aside from running with the ball and tackling, the games have very little in common.
Edit Just so you know, Mr. Armstrong below is sadly incorrect in about every comment he makes -- in both game play and history. And obviously has no knowledge whatsoever of the American game and its' "downs-for-distance" system. The nature of the contact is different than in rugby -- so much so that people got killed when they played without helmets. Sometimes they still do.
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