rugby?
 

perhaps this is a predominantly american crowd, but does anyone out there like rugby?

i like to watch rugby. i used to play in high school

I like to watch rugby, it powers my nation's economy!

I played for a short while in college and loved it. I still watch it occasionaly when I see it on TV and my wife isn't in the room wanting to watch something else. :)

right, good, so there are at least a few decent people out there... well, Im in college, played in high school, and still going strong. I play flank and 8, and am currently very pissed about losing a bet over the world cup... I bet a friend against england six months ago... now there's a forty foot banner of their captain on Sydney's First Bank. Well, does anyone out there strongly support a particular team? me, I'm an All Black fan

I support the All Blacks, as well as the Wellington Lions in the NPC and the Wellington Hurricanes in the Super 12.

The Lions made the NPC final last season too :D (too bad we lost :( ).

wait, aren't you British? perhaps from your arsenal stats or something, so aren't you happy england won?

Nah, I'm a Russian-born New Zelander who likes the Arsenal football club and the NFL.

Makes sense ?

But, I was cheering for England in the final (I wanted the Aussies to finish with no silverware :p).

I love it, I play the same positions that you do, if you look far back enough in Tilted Sports, you'll find a few rugby threads. (I think it was mainly myself, Spartak, and Bundy posting all of the time tho.) Anyways, glad to see another rugger on board. I support my USA Eagles (like it actually does me any good) and I support the All Blacks as well. The Auckland Blues are my fav in S12. /hoping for the day when rugby catches fire in America.

im with you man, but it looks like we'll be waiting a while... luckily pennsylvania has lots of college rugby so im set for a while

I support the Springboks for my sins. It beats being Catholic.

Marry me.

i mostly support the All-Blacks

its too bad the all-blacks had to choke in the world cup... its also too bad that Jonah Lomu, once one of the most fearsome men to walk the pitch, is now old with bad knees

It is however awesome that Australia were beaten by England... those cocky bastards.

as for the springboks, they have some race issues to deal with... like ignorant white players who don't like sharing hotels with talented black players, but hey... its all a game

Jonah's still got legs, he's just got bad kidneys and he's taking too much of the treatment and that is weakening him. He should have just gotten a transplant from the start and he would have probably only missed a season out of his entire career.

ahh right, bad kidknees I knew I was missing something. But anyway, even with him gone, they have other great wingers, like Umaga, who can inspire terror. You know who doesn't inspire terror no matter how strong he is? the australian scrummie, (forgot his name). Built like a truck but still so small, and his face always looks like he's about to smile when you give him a cookie... anyone else feel this way?

George Gregan is who you're thinking of. While he doesn't look very intimidating, he's got a lot of heart and skill, so what he lacks in appearance he more than makes up for with his playing ability. Gregan's a loud mouth who tries to play referee and tell the actual refs what is "really going on" that's why I don't like him, I respect his ability, but he just shoots off his mouth whenever he feels like it.

love rugby, i played 1 and occasionally 3 for my highschool team, and now play for my local team, toronto scottish.

oh, and i like most teams, except england (pre world cup)

That's right Greegan... He is a good player, just a bit of a cock as well. Now you have to like england, at least post world cup, for any number of reasons:
1. Johnny Wilkinson's drop goal was orgasmic (repeated over and over in slow mo)
2. Their captain (forgetting his name now) looks like a beat miner, and just held a very tearfilled press conference to resign (aww)
3. but most importantly, Taking the victory out of the big three (Aussie, NZ, RSA) and placing it in europe could do big things for rugby worldwide. Hopefully this will help boost popularity worldwide (especially in the US) but maybe not.

One arguement for why it wont matter is that in England football is the layman's game and rugby is the higher class sport (not yet up to cricket level though), and that'll never change because the lower classes grow up watching and playing football and only prep school kids play rugby. Case in point is the two England stars for football and rugby:
David Beckham: didnt make it through high school
Johnny Wilkinson: went to Cambridge

now thats interesting.
i'd love to know where Sydneys 'First Bank' is... i've lived here all my life and i've never heard of it. and a forty foot Martin Johnson banner?? in Sydney?? we may have taken that last minute defeat well (except that sore-losing little turd who calls himself our Prime Minister), but thats pushing it.

do i like rugby? no, i love it.
i support my Eastwood boys in the local comp, the NSW Waratahs in the S12, and the Wallabies of course.

actually, im not sure what the bank is called, but somewhere down under, there was a bank that was so confident on the win that they made a bet: whichever team won had a big old poster of their captain with the cup on like the national bank or something... for a month or something...If im totally off, sorry, but I heard it from guys who'd just come back from australia

i love to catch some rugby games on fox sports world

bloody brutal game it is