What is the toughest major team sport in the world in terms of physical punishment?

Originally posted by 12b6demurrer:
It's American football. Rugby can get rough too but only when there are illegal hits. Everyone is getting some sort of contact on any given play in American football. Plus the sport, at least in the professional level, has the most dangerously honed athletes in the game and the sport gives them weapons (helmets).

Have you ever watched a rugby match?

bum darts

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The athletes in American Football are bigger, faster and stronger than anyone else. If those guys played with no pads people would be killed.

Rugby is bada55, but the athletes don't match. There may be one guy, maybe, on each team that is a freak like VD or PWilly. Huge and really fast and athletic. This is the reason why American Football can only be played in the USA. No other country has athletes that can match.

Originally posted by marshniners24:
I actually like the rules. Dont want to see my players dying or getting brain damage later on in life. Cause you know, there is such thing as life AFTER football. Nobody plays forever. No matter how many times Favre comes back.

This is going to sound really harsh, but I don't really care about them after football. I don't know them. Athletes get put on a pedestal way too damn much.

Originally posted by sacniner:
The athletes in American Football are bigger, faster and stronger than anyone else. If those guys played with no pads people would be killed.

Rugby is bada55, but the athletes don't match. There may be one guy, maybe, on each team that is a freak like VD or PWilly. Huge and really fast and athletic. This is the reason why American Football can only be played in the USA. No other country has athletes that can match.

Yes, better athletes + way more high impact collisions. Rugby doesn't match up.

An NFL Oline or Dline would absolutely destroy Rugby players in a scrum without pads.

Originally posted by sacniner:

The athletes in American Football are bigger, faster and stronger than anyone else. If those guys played with no pads people would be killed.

Rugby is bada55, but the athletes don't match. There may be one guy, maybe, on each team that is a freak like VD or PWilly. Huge and really fast and athletic. This is the reason why American Football can only be played in the USA. No other country has athletes that can match.

Wot? Serious?

Lol!!

Rugby is the same as football but with no pads. Lol. I think rugby players are tougher. Obviously the nfl has physical "freaks" though like vernon but in all seriousness vernon has always been afraid of contact. He wouldn't last in Rugby IMO

Originally posted by Joecool:
NFL cant hold rugbys jock in terms of punishment.

Yeah I heard of a rugby dude playing all the way through a game with a torn nutsack and his testicles were hanging out and he had blood all over himself. Rugby's brutal guys.

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:

Originally posted by 12b6demurrer:
It's American football. Rugby can get rough too but only when there are illegal hits. Everyone is getting some sort of contact on any given play in American football. Plus the sport, at least in the professional level, has the most dangerously honed athletes in the game and the sport gives them weapons (helmets).

Have you ever watched a rugby match?

Yes. Even with scrums, only a few select people are really getting into any sort of shoving match that would be relatively analogous to the every-down trench battle you see between the American o-line and d-line. Each pass is a likely tackle, but the tackles aren't exactly bonecrushing for the most part.

I think you have to be mentally tough to play rugby, but at professional levels, it's really no contest which sport has the better athletes. With the exception of Lamu, I can't really think of too many rugby players who could step onto the football field and be a gamechanger day 1.

Whereas...if I start a rugby team, and need someone to anchor the front row, I'm pretty sure I could make use of Justin Smith over the majority of rugby union players.

Originally posted by 12b6demurrer:

Whereas...if I start a rugby team, and need someone to anchor the front row, I'm pretty sure I could make use of Justin Smith over the majority of rugby union players.

It would be interesting to get a list of Rugby players heights and weights. Those dude are not small and a lot of them do have speed.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by 12b6demurrer:
Whereas...if I start a rugby team, and need someone to anchor the front row, I'm pretty sure I could make use of Justin Smith over the majority of rugby union players.

It would be interesting to get a list of Rugby players heights and weights. Those dude are not small and a lot of them do have speed.

I'd say most rugby players hover somewhere between 5'10-6'1 and low to mid 200s in terms of weight. I mean, Lomu was a genetic freak in terms of rugby. He was 6'6 or something, which is rare even for the NFL, and ran a 4.5 40 at 270 pounds (rough estimate on both measurables). Great 40 time for his size, but keep in mind he was the most DOMINANT player arguably in the history of rugby union. Most rugby players aren't Lomu.

Originally posted by fortyninerglory:
Yes, better athletes + way more high impact collisions. Rugby doesn't match up.

An NFL Oline or Dline would absolutely destroy Rugby players in a scrum without pads.

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Also, going back to the original discussion, obviously this is the most punishing team sport (not major):