New to Rugby

[jayk527]

I'm from the US and, after watching the Olympics, I became an instant Rugby fan. Unfortunately, I live where Rugby is not popular. I've been doing a little research on the differences between Union and League Rugby, but there are so many different "leagues" and "unions" I don't know where to begin. For example, what are the top tier organizations? Are they all connected?
If anyone can point me in the right direction to find some of this out, or give me some info, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I've found a small bar close to where I live that is owned by a Brit who relocated here, and his bar specializes in soccer. I'm hoping he also televises Rugby, but I'll have to see. Thanks again!

 

[die_mole]

so league is much more similar to our version of football but isn't what people refer to as "rugby" unless they are working in a mine in northern england

it is much easier to get league in the united states because it is on fox sports 2 and fox soccer plus, but it is only popular in eastern australia and northern england. There is a league league in the US with the northern conference final this saturday in philly.

The rugby that people actually care about on this board, talk about in life, and was in the olympics is rugby union. Of course the olympics was sevens and not fifteens but fifteens is the more popular code. I'll start with the competitions that are coming up this fall.

The french league has the biggest contracts and is available on WatchESPN here in the states. There are a lot of stars and this league and the rugby is a lot of fun to watch. The English premiership is also really good rugby and they have a deal with NBCSN to show games this fall. In addition to those two leagues featuring clubs and prom/relegation is the Pro12 which involves regional franchises from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Italy. The Italian teams suck. These are pretty much all star teams from various regions of each country. Each four of those countries also operate their own top level league which is not as popular.

The top teams in those three leagues compete in the European Champions Cup which is similar to Champions League in soccer.

Southern hemisphere operates kind of like the Pro 12. NZ and Ozy each have five teams, South Africa 6, and Argentina and Japan 1 each in the Super Rugby competition. These teams are essentially all star teams from the various regions in each country with each country also operating their own top level league, Currie Cup and Mitre 10 cup being the best rugby. The domestic leagues of ozy, nz, south africa, and japan all compete at the end of the Super Rugby season and all international players are away at the Rugby Championships.

That's club rugby. International Rugby is dominated by the tier 1 nations that have two competitions. The Rugby Championship starts this weekend and involves ozy, nz, south africa, and argentina. This will be on WatchESPN. These are four semi-finalists from last years world cup.

The 6 nations are february/march and include italy, england, scotland, wales, france, and ireland. This mostly a tournament full of knock-ons cause they choose to play their biggest tournament in the worst weather of the year .

The tier 2 nations, (USA, canada, fiji, russia etc.,) compete in their own versions of these tournaments with close geographic teams.

 

[ratsapprentice]

Welcome!

First off: Rugby Union and Rugby League are two different sports - the term "league" in rugby, therefore; generally isn't used because it's confusing.

Rugby Union is generally referred to just as Rugby.
Rugby League is generally referred to as League.

They are about as similar to one another as sports can be, but they are fundamentally different, and there can be quite an aggressive rivalry between the two "codes".

The Rugby in the Olympics was a variant of Rugby Union called 7's - which is just a condensed version of the game - a bit like an American Football game if you took away all of the linemen.

Since this is primarily a Rugby (Union) forum, I'll explain a little about the sport to you. (we do also have a RL sub-forum on here)

Unlike American sports, the game revolves quite heavily around the International game.
We have a World Cup and several annual and quadrennial International tournaments/events.

The big ones being The 6 Nations and The Rugby Championship.

The big domestic club tournaments or "Leagues" are:

- The Aviva Premiership (England)
- The Pro12 (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy)
- The TOP14 (France)
- Super Rugby (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Argentina)

There are also two European championships which the teams from the Aviva Premiership, PRO12 and TOP14 compete in.

I do know that NBC sports are going to be showing the Premiership this season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiAsHsk9bX0

 

[die_mole]

Welcome!

First off: Rugby Union and Rugby League are two different sports - the term "league" in rugby, therefore; generally isn't used because it's confusing.

Rugby Union is generally referred to just as Rugby.
Rugby League is generally referred to as League.

They are about as similar to one another as sports can be, but they are fundamentally different, and there can be quite an aggressive rivalry between the two "codes".

The Rugby in the Olympics was a variant of Rugby Union called 7's - which is just a condensed version of the game - a bit like an American Football game if you took away all of the linemen.

Since this is primarily a Rugby (Union) forum, I'll explain a little about the sport to you. (we do also have a RL sub-forum on here)

Unlike American sports, the game revolves quite heavily around the International game.
We have a World Cup and several annual and quadrennial International tournaments/events.

The big ones being The 6 Nations and The Rugby Championship.

The big domestic club tournaments or "Leagues" are:

- The Aviva Premiership (England)
- The Pro12 (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Italy)
- The TOP14 (France)
- Super Rugby (South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Argentina)

There are also two European championships which the teams from the Aviva Premiership, PRO12 and TOP14 compete in.

I do know that NBC sports are going to be showing the Premiership this season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiAsHsk9bX0

is it a rivalry if only one set of fans can read

 

[jayk527]

Thanks so much! Great start and I definitely had already scoped out NBC for broadcasts. I didn't know ESPN was getting involved. That's even better news. Any thoughts on The Rugby Channel App? I was thinking about getting a subscription. Same with RugbyOnlineStream (if I can figure out if it is compatible with Appletv.

 

[die_mole]

Thanks so much! Great start and I definitely had already scoped out NBC for broadcasts. I didn't know ESPN was getting involved. That's even better news. Any thoughts on The Rugby Channel App? I was thinking about getting a subscription. Same with RugbyOnlineStream (if I can figure out if it is compatible with Appletv.

forgot to mention that WatchESPN hast the rugby championship and Super Rugby

therugbychannel.tv has Pro12 games and a lot of American club games

AOL broadcasts the American Pro League

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

The rugby championship which starts Saturday @ 11:05 am UK time is a much watch Aus v NZ tend to produce good games even if Aus have been playing poorly.

 

[die_mole]

The rugby championship which starts Saturday @ 11:05 am UK time is a much watch Aus v NZ tend to produce good games even if Aus have been playing poorly.

that's 6 am eastern time, if this dude is on the west coast no shot he's watching... good thing watchespn has everything on replay

 

[jayk527]

I'm East Coast, but will be driving. Taking family on vacation, but I'll catch it when I get back. Glad to see this forum is alive, and the members very helpful.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

New Zealand play Ireland at Soldier Field in Novemeber. So even if you can't make it to the game it should be on at a reasonable time for you.

Should be a good game depending which Ireland turns up.

 

[die_mole]

I'm East Coast, but will be driving. Taking family on vacation, but I'll catch it when I get back. Glad to see this forum is alive, and the members very helpful.

just wait, the kiwis are about to wake up lol

 

[jayk527]

just wait, the kiwis are about to wake up lol

As long as we are on the subject of waking up, I really wish rugby would wake up in North America lol. It will never be what it is in Europe and down under, but it really could be something. I'm so fed up with football here. Need something else and I'm no soccer fan. At least there's a start with PRO, but I haven't watched any of it yet.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

yeh I mean I like American Football but my god it takes forever for not a lot sometimes. (Being a NO saints fan prob doesn't help in the last couple of season).

It focuses to much on the commercial side of things now, and the players have turned into right divas now.

 

[die_mole]

Idk how old you are but consider joining a club, you don't have to be a playing member but you can support them and do small things like learn to run touch. Because as a ref in stages most touch judges are absolutely horrible.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Glad to see someone bitten by the bug having seen it at the Olympics (even though the US men didn't perform to their full potential). I'd add a couple of points as there have been by developments recently in US rugby that look pretty positive.

The main annual international championship featuring the US is the Americas Rugby Championship, which was first held this year. This could be a big deal for US rugby as it means a regular game against a top "tier 1" rugby nation in the shape of Argentina, which should help your athletes develop (a failure of established rugby nations to engage with tier 2 nations like the US has historically been one of the things that has held back the growth of the sport). Highlights of US vs Argentina earlier this year are worth checking out and the tournament is said to introduce promotion and relegation with a second division next year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Americas_Rugby_Championship

This year was the first year of Pro Rugby in the US, which finished just before the Olympics. It was pretty entertaining and San Francisco, Ohio and Denver all played decent rugby. Loads of highlights from the season on YouTube and plans to expand the league to eight teams next season.

http://www.prorugby.org

Also, since it was the Olympics that caught your interest you might want to know about the annual Sevens World Series. 7s isn't my preference but the tournament is well run, growing and has weekends in Las Vegas and Vancouver.

http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/?lang=en

And finally, the following website is good for news on rugby in your continent.

http://www.americasrugbynews.com

That's more than enough from me! Hope you enjoy the sport!

 

[jayk527]

yeh I mean I like American Football but my god it takes forever for not a lot sometimes. (Being a NO saints fan prob doesn't help in the last couple of season).

It focuses to much on the commercial side of things now, and the players have turned into right divas now.

How right you are! It's the players that disgust me the most. I can't stand listening to their whining and crying. So ready to move on!

- - - Updated - - -

Idk how old you are but consider joining a club, you don't have to be a playing member but you can support them and do small things like learn to run touch. Because as a ref in stages most touch judges are absolutely horrible.

Out of the question for me lol. I'm 36, have a bad shoulder and a bad knee. Multiple surgeries on that knee. And a herniated disc in my back. I work a ton of overtime, and a lot of nights, and am returning to school to finish my degree. This all adds up to zero time. There was a club in the city about ten years ago, but it fizzled out.

- - - Updated - - -

Glad to see someone bitten by the bug having seen it at the Olympics (even though the US men didn't perform to their full potential). I'd add a couple of points as there have been by developments recently in US rugby that look pretty positive.

The main annual international championship featuring the US is the Americas Rugby Championship, which was first held this year. This could be a big deal for US rugby as it means a regular game against a top "tier 1" rugby nation in the shape of Argentina, which should help your athletes develop (a failure of established rugby nations to engage with tier 2 nations like the US has historically been one of the things that has held back the growth of the sport). Highlights of US vs Argentina earlier this year are worth checking out and the tournament is said to introduce promotion and relegation with a second division next year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Americas_Rugby_Championship

This year was the first year of Pro Rugby in the US, which finished just before the Olympics. It was pretty entertaining and San Francisco, Ohio and Denver all played decent rugby. Loads of highlights from the season on YouTube and plans to expand the league to eight teams next season.

http://www.prorugby.org

Also, since it was the Olympics that caught your interest you might want to know about the annual Sevens World Series. 7s isn't my preference but the tournament is well run, growing and has weekends in Las Vegas and Vancouver.

http://www.worldrugby.org/sevens-series/?lang=en

And finally, the following website is good for news on rugby in your continent.

http://www.americasrugbynews.com

That's more than enough from me! Hope you enjoy the sport!

Great stuff here! Thanks very much. I've been scoping out the Vegas 7s already. Makes my love for Vegas even more lol

 

[riffraff]

What city are you in/near? Do you have kids that might want to play?

 

[jayk527]

What city are you in/near? Do you have kids that might want to play?

I live in NY. Between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. My son is doing baseball and my daughter likes her crafts. Learning to play guitar right now.

 

[die_mole]

I was actually just in buffalo for a rugby refereeing advanced course

 

[jayk527]

I was actually just in buffalo for a rugby refereeing advanced course

Do you live close to Buffalo?