To think that rugby players really show footballers up for the wimps that they are?

[HangingBasketCase]

Just saw on the news that a Welsh rugby player was knocked out cold during their game with England last night, despite most likely being concussed he got up and carried on. Earlier in the game another player broke his nose, was strapped up and just carried on. Meanwhile footballers roll around on the pitch in mock agony when they break a sodding finger nail!

I'm a life long football fan, but I'm becoming more and more disillusioned with the game if I'm honest. The vile insults hurled at each other by fans, the over dramatic displays of "agony" because the played want a penalty thrown in their way. It's pathetic.

Why isn't rugby more popular than football?

certainly more honourable than footballers.

Really? and you know this because...........?

Seen your later post Pag. No I didn't say most of the backs. Will you please stop misquoting me, I didn't say 'couldn't make the grade either'

I'm saying that in the last 20 years. That a significant amount of caps earned by England full backs, fly halves and scrum halves were by players who were either signed to schoolboy terms by professional football clubs and released or rejected at trials for YTS contracts

Bracken, healey, Dawson, cipriani off the top of my head, which was my original statement. Jonny is a bit of an anomaly that nicks half those caps, but fact is that most English born skill position players were dual sportsmen as children.

And stop saying 'backs' outside centre is not a bloody skill position!

UsuallyLurking1

Was it that they weren't good enough or just that they preferred/were better at rugby?

Matt Dawson: "Dawson joined Northampton in 1991 after leaving school and was among the last generation of players to have started their careers during the amateur era" Doesn't say anything about being released by a football club, just that he joined a rugby club after leaving school.

Austin Healey: "His Youth Rugby was with Birkenhead Park Fc where he returned with His Big Tackle Programme in 2009 which featured Park's Junior Colts" Again, no mention of a football, just youth rugby.

Danny Cipriani played youth football at a high(ish) level but was always destined for rugby having won a scholarship in that sport: "Spotted as a rugby talent at Donhead, he was offered a scholarship and advised to move to the Junior House of The Oratory School near Reading to continue his development.[2] He later moved to Whitgift School in Croydon after Common Entrance. A keen all-round sportsman, Cipriani played junior football for Queens Park Rangers and was offered youth terms by Reading."

I cant find that many who switched code, but there's a few here

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_players_who_have_converted_from_one_football_code_to_another#Association_football_to_rugby_union

Honourable in terms of how they play the game, less deceit etc (although that's a lot to do with contact / non contact as noted by others)

Not as people, no doubt same % of scumbags as in any other walk of life

Will you please stop misquoting me, I didn't say 'couldn't make the grade either'

This is a quote from your earlier post though

"Most rugby players in the 'skill positions' full backs, fly half and scrum half were schoolboy football players that didn't make the grade"

Just found this about Dawson:

"Despite excelling at rugby even after his family moved from Merseyside to Wycombe, where he attended the prestigious Royal Grammar School Wycombe, there was still plenty for football in his affections, and Dawson even played as a winger for Chelsea school boys before quitting to concentrate on his rugby.

"When I was 13 I drifted away from schoolboy rugby a bit and was playing Sunday football with a local club,” he says.

“Chelsea scouted me and I was playing for their schoolboy side at right-back but eventually rugby won out. My school was a big rugby school and at that time there was no Premier League, and not the same obvious potential to be a multi millionaire by playing footy.

“It just came down to what I wanted to do, and I narrowly preferred the oval shaped ball."

He quit to concentrate on rugby, not because he wasn't good enough at football.

Good link fight, but that's more after they have turned pro which is a bigger and rarer step I think.

I'm talking about u14,u16 level really, beyond that the decision is made. You won't find a record of it as there was no contract to release, lots of young footballers are 'on the books' of clubs up to the age of 16 but never signed. They aren't released, just don't get YTS contracts

Besides isn't it simply logical that rugby players who kick a lot likely played football to a decent level to an age where they had to commit? And given the option between the chance of 250k a week or 250k a year given similar odds

I've heard both daws and Healey state their preference for football and if they could they would have played football. There's a regional thing there as well, from the north west, with families from the northwest.

Bloody phone *given similar odds of making it id go for the per week regardless of which sport I loved more

Austin Healey:

"He excelled at sports and broke the 11 second 100 metre sprint when he clocked a time of 10.9 seconds. Between the ages of eight to 11, he participated in both football and rugby, meaning he could play up to four games in any given weekend, but by the time secondary school beckoned, rugby was the way forward."

You've named four players - three of those retired in what, around 10 years ago.

Was that you evidence?

Are you talking about those three players, from a decade ago, and their large combined number of caps to try and generalise that most backs are rejected footballers. And that's why Jonny 'skews the stats slightly'

Hahahahaha.
Have you ever thought about politics.

Austin Healey didn't play football past the age of 11.
Matt Dawson chose rugby over a football career.
Cipriani is a twat also seems to have chosen rugby over football.

Rather disingenuous to suggest they went into rugby as they were released by football clubs for not being good enough.

good find fight, hard for me to defend it without betraying people's confidences.

Let's just say that private school boys in Matts era who wanted to play football were not supported in that by their families or their schools

And a man who makes a career talking in media as a former pro isn't going to say 'I prefer football' is he?

ES loves both. Went to the Villa last weekend to watch them get hammered by Chelsea, off to the Wasps this weekend to see them play Harlequins. He has a tiny preference for rugby because it just suits him more; at 9 he's the size of a 13 year old and pretty sturdy. But it won't always be his sport; for all I know he could be a budding professional ice dancer (he goes ice skating once a week for balance as he has dyspraxia).

His manager calls him shit on a blanket as once he's on a player they can't shake him off. In my dram-world he's a future flanker. Reality is, if we push it (and it's hard not to, because we're a rugby loving kind of family and DH played for county) it'll turn him away from it. So we spend weekends ferrying him to both and accepting that both are equally great sports for a young boy.

I think somebody is making it up as they go along

You won't find a record of it as there was no contract to release

In other words, no evidence to back up what you're saying.

Fight, Why am defending a point I didn't make!?!

Once again for the hard of head. The players in the skill positions had to make a decision between the two sports. I assert that the decision was made on percentages that they stood a greater chance in rugby rather than a passion for the game and I stand by it.

Yes that's right.... Just like the contradictory evidence you churned out. I can't prove it on here nor do I need to, been fun though x x

Bang on charlotte, that's how it should be, it's a game, these are kids

is a dram world a whiskey filled rugby festival?

That's not how you phrased it though Lurking. You gave the distinct impression that they weren't good enough at one sport so had to make do with another.

Both of boys were scouted by top professional teams and joined their Youth Academies. Both left of their own accord to concentrate on playing with their mates as the backstabbing shitty attitude of the players and parents made the 'sport' a misery rather than a pleasure. But that's another story and nothing to do with them not being good enough. As you say, it's a game and one that kids should enjoy.

Around here, I know quite a few talented young sporty people who play more than one sport e.g rugby, football, hockey, cricket and athletics. Choosing to make a career out of one sport doesn't mean they failed to make the grade in the other sports

Some of us prefer football.

Others prefer ?ugby.

I loathe the smarty arses who look down on football and think they're somehow superior.