Is Rugby becoming like American Football

Sunday 23 October 2011

"Is rugby becoming like American football?" This is the question I was asked stood at PennyhillParkon Wednesday afternoon whilst in the privileged position of watching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers train for this weekend's Wembley fixture against the Chicago Bears.

In short, no. It is the easy leap to make that because both sports are highly physical and involve an egg shaped ball that they must be similar. Of course the suggestion of rugby becoming gridiron is made by those who question the positive influence of full time training creating bigger and stronger players, leading to bigger hits and in their opinion less nuance.

But that stance is clearly an attempt at subtle criticism of American Football by those who do not enjoy it. As a professional athlete, I have always found it incredibly interesting to get brief insights into the worlds of others who ply their trade in the same career but a different sport. The conclusion to be drawn about our nearest American cousin is simply that it is a whole different world.

Arriving at the training ground was like walking into a military operation. The Bucs as they are commonly known had completely taken over the hotel, and had filled it with their presence. The hotel's staff were wearing their merchandise and there were flags everywhere, but what was most noticeable was the sheer volume of people involved in the "organisation . Along with the fifty or so players were countless coaches, kit men, media officers, trainers, and good deal more who I could not attach a title to.

The training was planned meticulously, with the tiniest details broken down and each section strictly timed. After their five minutes, or however long that section was scheduled to be, a hooter sounded, and it was straight on to the next job, with on-the-clock water breaks in between. Most staggering though were the massive speakers bellowing out generated crowd noise for each play to try and recreate game pressure. Training was an event, and that was four days before the game.

And this to me is the appeal of American football; the fact that it is as much a show as a game. It will never be rugby, as it is by its very nature a stop start sport with distinct and specialised positions, as opposed to the more continuous and organic one that we play. I also struggle with certain aspects of it, not least the length of the game compared to the amount of action you see, and the fact that much of the decision making is made off field by the men in headsets. However, it is at the same time a show of incredible athletes given every imaginable chance to be the best they can be, and they are more than capable of creating moments of genius and hair-raising sporting theatre. (Don't believe me? Look up Edwin Baptiste's mind-boggling catch)

Oh, and one more thing, they are seriously massive!

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