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crixus

America's Rugby Championship

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Any rugby fans out there? Afterall, it's where American football came from. I've been watching the America's Rugby Championship on ESPN (USA vs Canada) and it's really good. The USA leads 25-15 at the half. Check out the second half, rugby is a fast growing sport here in America. Many universities have added the sport in the past few years and I hope to see it in the MW. B) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_rugby

United States national rugby union team vs Rugby Canada

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There's a big international Sevens tournament in Las Vegas next month at Sam Boyd Stadium. :rock:

https://www.usarugby.org/2017/02/schedules-released-for-hsbc-usa-sevens-in-las-vegas/

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25 minutes ago, crixus said:

There's a big international Seven's tournament in Las Vegas next month at Sam Boyd Stadium. :rock:

https://www.usarugby.org/2017/02/schedules-released-for-hsbc-usa-sevens-in-las-vegas/

I've been to the Sevens and that format is much more suited to the American attention span... and the short halves and fast pace help cover the fact that we don't really recognize much strategy going on.  It's a good time - great diverse crowd.

I've tried watching "thirteens" in the past but felt like it would be much more entertaining watching in a pub filled with fans that cared about the result.

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36 minutes ago, BleedRebelRed said:

I've been to the Sevens and that format is much more suited to the American attention span... and the short halves and fast pace help cover the fact that we don't really recognize much strategy going on.  It's a good time - great diverse crowd.

I've tried watching "thirteens" in the past but felt like it would be much more entertaining watching in a pub filled with fans that cared about the result.

You're right about the attention span and strategy aspects of the different forms of the game. Fortunately I like both Sevens and Thirteens.  

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The United States won the match vs Canada in Burnaby, British Columbia, 51-34

American_flag_background_small.png

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4 hours ago, crixus said:

There's a big international Sevens tournament in Las Vegas next month at Sam Boyd Stadium. :rock:

https://www.usarugby.org/2017/02/schedules-released-for-hsbc-usa-sevens-in-las-vegas/

I went to Hong Kong Sevens last year and it was the best sporting event I ever attended. I wish Americans would get behind sevens and turn Las Vegas Sevens into an unadulterated shitshow like HK7's. As a whole, the HSBC series has the potential to be the coolest global tournament in sports. Quick games, cool locations, and getting shitfaced is encouraged.

Plus it would be nice to give some of the fringe NFL talent a lucrative option outside of football. Everyone always talks about our best athletes playing soccer, but really their skills would translate better to rugby (especially sevens).  

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Rugby is one of those sports that I don't really understand, but I enjoy watching regardless. The Sevens tour is fun in particular, I try to watch it when it comes to Vegas every year, and I thought it was cool that they brought it to Rio this past summer. I wish it was on more though

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Yes, I am a rugby fan!  The US should run the table until they have to play Argentina.  Argentina XV (15s) has always has a very strong squad and ended up in the quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup back in 2015.  The Pumas will be a big test for the US, but I like what I see out of the new coach who seems to have them playing a strong, rolling ruck and maul game and the backs are not making as many boneheaded mistakes as in teams past; and they are actually executing some great tactical kicking.  This is the second year of the ARC, which is designed to be like the Six Nations Tournament played every year (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Italy), and other similar tournaments played annually.  The problem with US rugby, is that while we have good players that are playing overseas, the US Eagles rarely played much international competition except for invitational tournaments, World Cup qualifiers, and World Cups.  With the ARC being played every year, the national team gets a steady dose of play allowing coaches to evaluate backup players and work on team building.  It will be interesting to see if the team is much improved come World Cup time in 2019. 

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I'm glad to see that rugby is growing here in America. Most of the universities in the MWC probably have club teams (SJSU has had one for a long time). Someday we'll all have teams in the MWC. I just hope I live long enough to see it. :)

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On 2/20/2017 at 6:31 PM, Fort Fun said:

I went to Hong Kong Sevens last year and it was the best sporting event I ever attended. I wish Americans would get behind sevens and turn Las Vegas Sevens into an unadulterated shitshow like HK7's. As a whole, the HSBC series has the potential to be the coolest global tournament in sports. Quick games, cool locations, and getting shitfaced is encouraged.

Plus it would be nice to give some of the fringe NFL talent a lucrative option outside of football. Everyone always talks about our best athletes playing soccer, but really their skills would translate better to rugby (especially sevens).  

I agree with you on HK Sevens being the best sporting event.   And the party keeps going in LKF and Wan Chai after the games.  Were you the South Stands by chance?

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On 2/20/2017 at 3:40 PM, crixus said:

I'm glad to see that rugby is growing here in America. Most of the universities in the MWC probably have club teams (SJSU has had one for a long time). Someday we'll all have teams in the MWC. I just hope I live long enough to see it. :)

You're part of the Pacific Western Rugby Conference along with Nevada.

According to their website Nevada is currently 4th in the conference while SJSU is in last place. ?

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9 hours ago, SJSUfreightdog said:

I agree with you on HK Sevens being the best sporting event.   And the party keeps going in LKF and Wan Chai after the games.  Were you the South Stands by chance?

Yep, I showed up around 8AM on Saturday to get a spot. I loved that there was no limit on the number of beers you could buy at a time. None of this "Only one beer per person" bullshit that you see in the US these days. The plastic lids on top of the beers were clutch as well, allowing me to stack beers on top of each other. 

When did you go?

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On 2/19/2017 at 11:46 PM, crixus said:

You're right about the attention span and strategy aspects of the different forms of the game. Fortunately I like both Sevens and Thirteens.  

So... Sevens are basically the arena football of Rugby? And can you explain the difference between 7,s and 13's... otjrthan the number difference! lol.

"Make a mistake once and it becomes a lesson, make the same mistake twice and it becomes a choice."
 

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32 minutes ago, LoboMan59 said:

So... Sevens are basically the arena football of Rugby? And can you explain the difference between 7,s and 13's... otjrthan the number difference! lol.

He got his numbers wrong:  it's 7s and 15s.  15 man rugby is the traditional brand of rugby where you have full scrummages and a full compliment of backs.  8 players in the pack (scrum) with a scrum half (the guy that puts the ball into the scrum and typically pulls it out from the scrum), with a compliment of 6 backs.  the ARC is traditional 15 man rugby as is the Rugby World Cup.  15s rugby play 40 minute halves

7s is a variation of the game that uses 7 players per side on a full field with 7 minute halves.  The 7s game was created back in 1880 but didn't get popular until the 1970s with the Hong Kong 7s tournament.  Because of the shorter game times and tournament format, the 7s game has become very popular especially among emerging rugby nations.  Scrummages and lineouts are more or less reasons to get the ball in play whereas scrummages and lineouts in the 15s game are very tactical and can easily turn the tide of a game. The game is easier to learn and requires less players with rugby fundamentals to do well.  For instance, the USA is currently 8th in the World Sevens rankings but languishes at 18 in the world 15s rankings. 

All of the same play rules apply to both 7s and 15s, but the 7s game rewards the speedy and agile players while the 15s game rewards the power players and the tactically sound players.  Hope that helps!

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3 hours ago, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Rugby is a great alternative here in America for kids not athletic enough to play football or basketball.

I would really disagree with that statement.  Rugby requires tackling skills, tactical skills (no pre-called play and on the fly decision making), kicking skills, catching skills, and throwing skills - all with a running clock.  Having played all three - I would never go back to football and I used more overall athletic skills in rugby than I did in basketball. 

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Just now, Zoomie said:

I would really disagree with that statement.  Rugby requires football skills, tactical skills (no pre-called play and on the fly decision making, and kicking skills - all with a running clock.  Having played all three - I would never go back to football and I used more overall athletic skills in rugby than I did in basketball. 

Not knocking the skill required, just that kids who cant see playing time here in America in real sports could be the star of a Rugby league.  Nobody with measurable athletic talents is going to choose to play Rugby here in the USA.

 

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17 minutes ago, halfmanhalfbronco said:

Not knocking the skill required, just that kids who cant see playing time here in America in real sports could be the star of a Rugby league.  Nobody with measurable athletic talents is going to choose to play Rugby here in the USA.

 

Agree except for the "real sports" statement.  You should see the joking rugby nations give to American football players.  "fat, out of shape, and they have to wear armor to protect themselves.."  If football actually implemented the tackling skills of rugby players, we wouldn't be having all of these talks about CTE and football becoming a controversial sport due to all of the head trauma.  To be honest, most football  players couldn't handle one rugby game - it's like playing a game with the strength required of a football player and the fitness and stamina required of a soccer and basketball player...

Here's a good highlight reel:

 

 

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10 hours ago, LoboMan59 said:

So... Sevens are basically the arena football of Rugby? And can you explain the difference between 7,s and 13's... otjrthan the number difference! lol.

Arena football isn't a good example because the field is smaller and the rules are different. I think full-court 3-on-3 basketball is a better example: same rules, same playing field, but the extra space puts an emphasis on speed and agility. 

The best part of attending a 7's tournament is that the games are only 14 minutes long, so you have a parade of teams hitting the field. If a game is a dud offensively or if it's lopsided, it'll be done before you know it. And you get to see your team play three times in a day against three different opponents. And it's insanely fun to gamble on with friends, you find yourself shouting things like "I GOT A HUNDRED BUCKS ON THE KENYANS!"

I've almost talked myself into driving to Vegas.

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