USA wins first Rugby World Cup match in 16 years....anyone care?

[Pert_UK]

Anyone even notice? Or are you all too wrapped up in games which stop every 3 seconds for ad breaks, and where the "men" are too scared to play without wearing enough padding to stuff a couch?

:evilgrin:

Seriously though, good work to your guys, that played a good match.

Japan 26-39 USA

"The USA have won their first World Cup match in 16 years with a hard-fought victory over Japan.

Five tries helped the Eagles end a record of 10 consecutive World Cup defeats, but it was Mike Hercus who was the real hero."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/rugby_world_cup/3214023.stm

[SOteric]

1. I'm still trying to respect all these blokes in the morning...

So, - even though I don't much follow rugby, I'm pleased our guys did well.

:hi:

[7th_Sephiroth]

19. like cheney when the word ethics is mentioned

Rug...bee?

[madrchsod]

2. ahhh,it was only japan

i`d get more excited if it were a win over one of the top teams. but they did win...

[TacticalPeek]

3. Hooda thunk.

My son plays. Its a conditioning thing, I guess.

I hope he survives. :)

[rooboy]

4. Don't forget...

that the USA is the reigning Olympic gold medallist in rugby, so any lesser result is not really worth commenting on. :)

[HuckleB]

9. Well, I must duly note...

that the Red Sox (red), White Sox (white) and Cubs (blue) have not been crowned World Series Champions since the U.S. (or anyone else) has won a Rugby Gold in the Olympics. Is an angry French rugby fan the source of the true curse leading to so much misery for these fine, upstanding American baseball teams?

Unfortunately, French revenge will come again on Friday. It won't be the first time, and it won't be the last time. The curses will go on and on and on. Oh, the humanity.

[rooboy]

11. Friday will be a hard night for the US...

Especially with the way the French are playing - a few are tipping them to win the whole thing.

[HuckleB]

17. Yup.

My Brit pals are shaking nervous about it, too. They can't stand the thought of a French victory.

[YuNgWuN]

18. I am surprised to find French Bashing at Democratic Underground

-

[Booberdawg]

20. You seem to have a lot of complaints about Democratic Underground

[Bridget Burke]

22. It's not French Bashing

It's an anticipation of the bashing the French will probably inflict on our guys. We're not talking politics here--this is about sports!

Glad the US team won against Japan, though.

[Pert_UK]

24. Errrrr........what on earth are you talking about???

"My Brit pals are shaking nervous about it, too. They can't stand the thought of a French victory"

1. He's directly reporting what other people are thinking, not bashing the French himself.

2. Not being able to stand the thought of a French victory is hardly "French bashing" - it's expressing a partiality against a certain nation's sports team. The Brits and the French have always been great sporting adversaries, and neither country likes to see the other's teams win at anything.....unless they're playing the Germans of course...

So I'd calm down if I were you.

P.

[HuckleB]

28. French Bashing?

They're Brits. It's like the Yankees and the Red Sox. They hate the thought of losing in sport to the other. Don't take it to a ridiculous level. Thank you.

[HuckleB]

5. It's the U.S., and a win is a win in this World Cup! Woo Hoo!

Whodathunkit?

[SmileyBoy]

6. Ah, but American football is so much better.

And more padding is needed, cause the contact is a LOT harder.

[HuckleB]

7. That would be your opinion.

It's not mine. As for the hitting harder bit, who cares? That's not why I watch sports.

[Pert_UK]

10. Respectfully disagree re: contact being harder.....

I reckon that rugby and US football have roughly equivalent contacts, the difference being that you can only tackle the guy with the ball in rugby, whereas the entire defensive and offensive teams run head-first into each other at the start of each down. There may be more momentum though, due to the weight of the padding.

Having said that, you can join a maul in Rugby at full tilt and totally screw yourself and your team-mates. Also, you're allowed to use your feet to rake away players on the floor.

Try looking at Australia Rules football and tell me that they don't have harder tackles in that (with no pads) than in American football....it's frightening.

To be honest, I don't see HOW rugby contact can be much softer than American football contact, given that they both involve big athletes running into each other at near maximum leg-speed. Have you SEEN some of the tackles in the World Cup????? Scary stuff.

P.

[rooboy]

12. Strictly speaking...

gridiron has fewer injuries than rugby, but when the injuries occur in gridiron they are more serious.

If I had a helmet on my head and padding on my shoulders, I'd be more reckless in how I tackled someone too, so it's inevitable that someone would get really hurt.

Padding makes a sport more dangerous for this reason, imho.

[s33]

26. uh huh

<<Ah,but American football is so much better.>>

Yeah,as its huge worldwide popularity attests to.

<<And more padding is needed,cause the contact is a LOT harder.>>

Give me a break,take any NFL player and put him in a game of rugby and he'll be fleeing the field in tears within 5 minutes.That's if he has the endurance to play 5 minutes straight without stopping for a breather.

[HuckleB]

29. It is difficult to compare...

How the athletes would fare in the "other" sport. It is interesting to note that the NFL contracted the Barcelona team for poor attendance (less than 7,000 a game) in NFL Europe, however.

[BurtWorm]

8. USA! USA! USA!

what's rugby?

[nemo137]

13. Great!

my friend's brother used to play for the eagles, and i'm down with anything rugby related, so yeah!

[MaineDem]

14. I care!

I was so excited by that win.

I'm not sure they'll have the same luck playing France tomorrow, however.

As I told my Kiwi friend the other day, the win wasn't over the All Blacks but I'll take it just the same. And now that Mauger is back with the ABs I expect them to continue their winning ways as they play Wales and get out of pool play.

[VermontDem2004]

15. I don't care because the match was on pay-per-view

I hate it when sporting events get moved over to pay-per-view.

[GOPisEvil]

16. I can wear my USA Rugby T-shirt with PRIDE now!

:bounce:

Wow...our first win in 16 years. Good job fellas!

[Capn Sunshine]

21. RUGBY?

Is that what my girlfriend is playing when she gets those rug burns?

[commander bunnypants]

23. Ah, The sport of gentleman

I try to watch when I can find it. It is about the only sport I can i watch


DDQM

[Pert_UK]

25. Gentlemen???

I presume you didn't watch the Argentinian front-row then.......two players banned for weeks because they tried to remove the eyes of several Irish players...

F*cking atrocius. I would ban anyone for life who gouges eyes in the scrum.

P.

[T_i_B]

30. How can you tell if a rubgby player is a gentleman?

He lights the ladies farts for her. :evilgrin:

[s33]

27. the way i see it......

The US have played pretty good for a second tier team.They were unlucky against Fiji but it's going to be a bloodbath against France.

I think the world cup will finish up as-:

1.England
2.New Zealand
3.Australia
4.France
5.South Africa

Ireland and Scotland could be dark horses though.The Argentinians were very unlucky too.