SKRAPN3L, Nov 30, 2016
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Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of highlights of the game of Rugby that were played in 2015 by Hilton College, a South African high school.*
This post also includes selected comments from the discussion thread of several YouTube videos published by people from the United States who were trying to understand the game of Rugby.
The content of this post is presented for recreational and educational purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are associated with the video that is showcased in this post. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
-snip-
* I selected this YouTube video to show scenes from South African high school Rugby
games as well as scenes of fans watching those games. This selection doesn't mean to imply
anything about which South African high school team was or is the best high school Rugby team.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2022/11/south-africans-share-information-about.html for the pancocojams post entitled "South Africans Share Information About Their Custom Of Performing War Cries In High School, Part I: videos & general information." The links for the other posts in that series are given in that post. South African war cries and flashes that featured in those videos are performed during high school games of Rugby.
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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREADS
The sources for these comments are given in no particular order.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
DISCUSSION THREAD #1
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcHh86gASVU American reacts
to South African 🇿🇦Schoolboy Rugby
🏉
published by Jasmine TV, June 18, 2021
1. nOx, 2021
"Rugby was invented in England in the late 1800s. So
the countries that play the sport are mostly countries that were colonised by
the English. Countries like Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Kenya, South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Canada & the US to
some degree. Then there are some good teams (countries) that took up the sport
pretty early on in it's infancy for various reasons such as the upper class or
aristocracy taking a liking to the values of rugby. These include France,
Georgia, Argentina, Uruguay, Spain,etc.
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport outside of the US and then Cricket is the 2nd most played sport internationally. Cricket is popular for similar reasons to rugby, with colonization being the main reason it's played throughout the world. Baseball came out of Cricket, they changed and simplified the rules to suit the American audience and make it more family friendly. American football came from rugby as you probably already know.
Oh yeah, those are school kids in this video. Much love from South Africa 🇿🇦"
2. Michael Hough,2021
"Rugby in South Africa is religion. We are fed
mieliepap and braaivleis from birth! Mieliepap is like grits, only from maize
meal. Braaivleis is almost like BBQ, just with bigger pieces of meat! We are
bred to be big, strong and fearless when it comes to Rugby. It is in our DNA!
Here we have 2 choices, you are either a Rugby player or supporter. Both have
equal passion for the sport! Watch a few games, I am sure you will enjoy it.
After the Rona you need to come to South Africa, sit at Ellis Park Stadium and
watch the Springboks (South African National Team) vs All Blacks (New Zealand
National Team). The best Rugby match with the best atmosphere in the world!
Cheers from South Africa.
**
E, 2022
"We, black and white eat PAP pronounced PUP 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣"
**
Reply
Shanaaz Abrahams, 2022
"School them my friend ."
DISCUSSION THREAD #2
From
1. MzanziMan, 2022
"You start playing rugby when you can walk. At school you start in the first grade, full contact. They need to stop that tag nonsense going on in America"
**
2. Jermaine Wagner, 2022
"Start playing rugby from under 6. The youngsters in the video are about 15 - 17."
**
3. Vondre du Toit,2022
"so when you go to high School at the age of 14 the most good
rugby players go to what we call a rugby school. The thing is when you go to a
rugby school you get better coaching and you'll get seen easier by scouts. The
players you just reacted to, they are between 17 and 19 years old. After that,
and if you are good enough you sign a contract to go play for a south african
club and there the springbok scouts will see you play. By that you stand a
chance so play for the springboks, but a lot of them don't make it to the
springboks so they go overseas and play for a club there. Hope you understand
the whole picture now."
4.
"we start at grade 1 age 7"
****
DISCUSSION THREAD #3
From Dev you wildin, Jan 1, 2022
REACTING TO RUGBY CLIPS, TRYING TO LEARN THE GAME OF RUGBY.
REACTING TO RUGBY HIGHLIGHT
VIDEO MADE BY : DIE HARD RUGBY
1. Eury Nomos, 2022
"Hey bro, nice vid.
A lot of the difference in NFL versus Rugby hits is the rule differences, but also the stamina required.
When you might need to make 30 or so tackles a game and keep getting up after, it's hard to make a lot of big hits.
Both games have made big efforts to get a lot safer in the last 10 years though, so it's a bit unfair to compare them right now.
Shout-out to the Seahawks for bringing Rugby inspired defence in to the NFL.
It's pretty hard to summarise the rules, it'll take a while you learn everything.
Here's a start:
https://youtu.be/smnuRhNtT2E
**
2. Rit the Rugger, 2022
"Sorry I'm late.
I see you've received some good explanations already but
I can help. I can help because I'm an American that started playing rugby in
the early 70s and played coached and reffed for decades. My experience
playing American football and basketball helps me explain things to other
Americans.
Don't look at rugby as a mixture of "football and
soccer". It's more a mix of football and basketball. Basketball was
invented by a rugby player living in the mid-west looking for something to do
to stay fit in the winter.
Now, I didn't see anyone mention a very important concept to you. That concept is called "Advantage".
American football is a very static game. Play will stop
after a few seconds. When the ref sees an infraction he can easily wait for the
inevitable stoppage and ask the non-offending captain,
"What do you want? The penalty or the play?"
Since rugby is supposed to flow. The Rugby ref is supposed
to promote flow so when he sees an infraction he will call out "Advantage!
[ non-offending team's color]" and point to that team with an open palm.
He will then watch to see what develops. If the non
offending team gains enough of an advantage (yardage or opportunity) the ref
will make no call and decalitre "Advantage over". Hearing they have
an Advantage the attacking team will often try trickier plays knowing that if
they fail they will get a 'do over'.
If the non-offending team loses the Advantage then the ref
will blow his whistle and take play back to wherever the infraction occurred
and apply the proper sanction. This location might be 30 meters back and all
the way across the field from where the ref was when he blew the whistle.
That's enough for you to take in at one time so I'll let you absorb it for now."
**
Reply
3. Keeran Beg, 2022
"When I was brought to an American football game while
visiting relatives in the states I had almost the reverse of that problem.
A game of rugby lasts perhaps 110 minutes. Two 40 minutes
halves of actual playing time, a 15 minute half time stoppage, and perhaps 5
minutes of injury or stoppage time where the clock is actually stopped. If kick
off is at 3:00 the game is definitely over by 5:00.
For 60 minutes of actual playing time an American football
game can last well over 3 hours with stoppages, about the same as a T20 cricket
match!"
**
4. Douglas Christensen
"Looks like everyone has covered the basics, more or less.
Having a good understanding of American football is a plus when diving into
rugby because American football is descendent from the earlier form of rugby.
With the Atlantic in the way, the two sports diverged dramatically when trying
to solve the various problems in those early years.
So, I'll just go over some interesting things that the two sports have or had in common.
Football used to require you to touch the ball down past the goalline just like rugby. That is why it is called a touchdown, though it was originally two words - touch down.
Rugby and the early form of football was more interested in kicking goals than carrying the ball over the line, just like association football (soccer). The difference being that the students at rugby like kicking the ball over the "crossbar" (at the time, it was usually a rope or chain, not a dedicated goalpost) whereas the students at the schools playing what would eventually become soccer liked to kick under the crossbar. If you look at the goals used for rugby, football, and soccer, you'll notice they are nearly the same size - that's not an accident, since they are all derived from the same sport.
The rugby try and American football touchdown were originally not scoring plays at all. They gave the team the right to "try" for a goal without the other team able to interfere. Until both sports created a scoring system, they used "goals" just like soccer.
In fact, rugby and American football originally didn't have end zones/goal areas. This is why the goal posts are on the try line in Rugby and used to be in American football (still is in Canadian football). In American football, the use of a dedicated end zone came about after the legalization of the forward pass. Before this, you scored a touchdown/try by touching the ball past the goalline... or by just going past the goalline when football modified the rules to no longer press the ball down.
Rugby has a throw-in system in a similar style to soccer: the ball goes out, the other team gets to throw it in. Except in Rugby, it must be in a straight line from the sideline and both teams try to lift their players up to catch it. American football had a similar thing in the 1800s until they scraped it in a series of major overhauls leading into the 1900s.
Rugby union has no system in place to limit how long a team has control of the ball like American football's downs or rugby leagues tackles. Football was initially like this as well, but Walter Camp created the three downs to go five yards to speed up the game. (That was obviously changed to 4 downs to go 10 eventually, though Canadian football kept the 3 downs)
Rugby games are split into halves like soccer, and the clock runs nearly non-stop as well (there are some exceptions in Rugby). Each half of rugby is 40 minutes, but the half doesn't end until the ball is dead. This can lead to some extremely exciting ending where a team behind by a little can lead a comeback by keeping the ball alive and slowly marching down the field. A player being tackled does not cause the ball to go dead, so as long as it is kept alive and in that team's possession, they can win even after the 80 minutes is up.
Like American football, you can pass the ball as many times as you like backward, but never forward in Rugby. Since football guarantees you keep possession unless you commit a turnover, tossing the ball around is frowned upon. In Rugby, possession is never guaranteed and a lack of a forward pass makes movement down field a slow rolling battle. Passing the ball around can get you out of large piles of bodies quickly.
There is no blocking in Rugby. You may not interfere with an opponent going for the ball carrier.
There is a concept similar to football's line of scrimmage. When a player is tackled, he must release the ball. Players must be onside before playing for the ball. A player caught on the wrong side is not a foul unless he tries to go for the ball (for either team). You must get yourself into an onside position before engaging in normal play.
To move the ball forward large distances, kicking is utilized. Unlike a football punt, any player onside at the kick can field in ball. This can lead to players kicking the ball and a teammate (or the person kicking) catching the ball down field almost like a forward pass. It doesn't have to be caught, though. You can find many a highlight video of a player getting the ball from a kick after a very fortunate bounce.
The last thing I'm mention is drop goals. This is the rugby
equivalent to field goals (worth 3 points in Rugby union as well, only 1 point
in Rugby League). These kicks are performed during play, they are not set plays
like American football. To perform a drop goal, you just drop the ball on the
ground and kick it AS it is starting to bounce off the ground. This is still
legal in American football, and there are a few instances where it has happened
and makes the news, but the shape of the ball makes it very difficult. Penalty
kicks and conversion kicks (like football's extra point) can be done from a
kicking tee."
**
Reply
5. John Linde, 2020
"Thank you SO much for this history lesson! I was an NFL fan
for many years, until the strike/lockout of 2011, when they (both players AND
team owners) displayed that money was more important to them than their fans.
Several of my European friends suggested I take a look at Rugby, and I've been
trying to learn the rules ever since. I've got a decent grasp of the game, and
have a few favorite players. While there IS a Rugby league in the US, it's not
very popular. I think that's because most Americans don't have the attention
span to watch the game. Personally, I love it! I learned nearly as much from
the 2 minutes it took to read your post, as I did in the first 3 years of
watching the game and just trying to understand it as I went.
I was completely lost on the "ADVANTAGE" called by
an official, as no one had ever explained that one. It makes complete sense the
way you put it. Also, learning WHY the NFL calls it a "Touchdown" was
very interesting, and why Rugby still calls it a "Try".
So, again, thank you very much! I admit that I don't have
the access to Rugby games that I would like, but I'll often purchase special
streaming packages to watch the Six Nations, and some other leagues when I have
the chance."
**
6. Rhoetus Ochten, 2020
"When I first joined a rugby club, as a former American
football player, they told me the main differences were:
Only pass backwards.
Only block after the tackle, not before.
Wrap your arms on a tackle. -this one is why you see a lot
more "big hits" coming from the ball carrier than tacklers in rugby,
because the ball carrier is under no such restrictions.
People like to play up the start/stop of American football to the "flow" of rugby, but rugby isn't exactly nonstop movement for 80 minutes. With 15 players a side, most are just standing around or walking at any given time.
AmericN football is a bunch of specialists doing highly
distinct things, whereas rugby players are usually much more jack of all
trades. Take kicking, for instance: a rugby player can miss three kicks in a
match, and it was just a bad match... an American kicker misses three kicks in
a game and he's probably looking for a new job.
At the end of the day, they're just two different games with a bit of overlap; comparing them means missing out on what makes both of them very special."
7.
"I’m a little late, but I hope I can help you out
A brief and very basic explanation of Rugby Union(Or just simply Rugby), using American Football as a reference
- Like in Am. Football, you score by moving the ball to the
end of the field(pitch) and/or by kicking the ball through the Uprights(goal
posts). The "touchdown" is called "Try', and its worth 5 points
and allows you a conversion kick(equivalent to the "extra point") for
2 points. You can also go for a penalty kick( similar to a field goal) or for
the drop goal, both for 3 points.
- No forward passes are allowed, but forward kicks are. Passes must be made laterally or backwards
- You can only tackle the player with the ball. You cannot tackle above the shoulder and tackler has to attempt to wrap their arms. It is illegal to push, shoulder-charge, or to trip a player using feet or legs(i.e. no blocks, only proper tackles)
- When the player is tackled, the play is not over. Rather, the ball handler has to release the ball, and it's considered in dispute. Normally other players will try to protect the ball (Ruck)in order to continue advancing.
- Each team has 15 players. There are different positions, but all 15 players will both attack and defend. Most of them will play the whole match(2 halves of 40 minutes), no time offs, only the halftime . There are subs, to a maximum of eight, both for tactical/technical and physical/injuries reasons.
There are a lot of other topics and nuances(fouls, scrums,
mauls, lineouts, positions, tactics, etc) but those are the bases of the game,
and i believe that's enough to have a idea of how to play the game"
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