Rugby Star Goes NFL

Have you all heard about the rugby player of the year that is going to be playing in the NFL this year? He was signed by the 49ers.

My buddy is a HUGE rugby fan and we always have the debate about which sport has the better athletes. Guess we'll find out how this guy fairs:

In my opinion, I don't think one sport has better or tougher athletes than the other. They're all great athletes. If the rugby player fails in the NFL, it won't be because he's a lesser athlete, it'll be because he doesn't have the skill set to play in the NFL. If he does well, that also doesn't mean that all rugby players would be able to make the transition. In other words, I don't think this guy will settle your debate.

We argue all the time if I could pick NFL players to make a team that they could beat a rugby team because they have better skills all around. I have played both sports and in my opinion, it takes a much better athlete to play football due to the fine motor control.

Disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of rugby and have never really watched it other than highlights, so anything I say is based on nothing but my own speculation.

Each sport requires its own set of skills, not just athleticism. Just because they can both throw a ball extremely well, I doubt Ben could be a starting pitcher for the Pirates, or Francisco Liriano could play QB for the Steelers. At lower levels (high school and to some extent college), many athletes are so far ahead of their peers that they can compete in a number of sports. But once you reach the pros and face the best of the best in a particular sport, it takes more than pure athleticism ... it takes exceptional skill required to play that particular sport. Ben is unquestionably a great athlete and might have had the athletic talent to play basketball in college, but there's no way he'd play in the NBA. He could probably look like an elite player in high school and a decent player in college, but can you imagine him going up against LeBron?

I don't know enough about rugby to talk about the specific skills involved, but I'm guessing, like with any sport, it takes skills that stretch beyond pure athleticism. Just as you couldn't pick NBA players that could beat an NFL team in football or pick NFL players that could beat an NBA team in basketball, I'm not so sure you could pick NFL players to beat a rugby team in rugby.

Rugby is a tough sport and takes someone willing to get hurt to play. But from an athleticism standpoint, it's a poor man's football.

The thing with rugby is that it's basically about tackling and catching. Sure they run little patterns around each other but those are necessary to score. If you can toss a pass sideways and behind you, catch one, and tackle... you can play rugby.

You are right about the getting hurt part, Kirk. I had multiple concussions just from playing one season. The nice part is that they have a huge party afterwards where both teams get ripped so that the aches and pains don't take hold until the next day.

I asked a rugby fan from England this question. If you had a top rugby coach pick a rugby team from all the NFL players, and an NFL coach pick a football team from the best rugby teams, and both teams are coached for a year, who wins if they play each other? The guy said the NFL players would win both the rugby game and the football game. I don't know if that's what would happen, but it was an interesting answer from someone who knew rugby.