Im New To The Rugby World...

[GetMoney818]

hey guys, yea im new to the rugby world. ive been watching Football (soccer) for all my life and now im just starting to get into rugby.

I just want to know a few things.

what are the best leagues to watch?
who are the marquee players in the sport?
how can I watch games over the computer?
and what team should I root for?

thanks guy. i just need some guidance, any help is cool.

 

[Bull]

hey guys, yea im new to the rugby world. ive been watching Football (soccer) for all my life and now im just starting to get into rugby.

I just want to know a few things.

what are the best leagues to watch?
who are the marquee players in the sport?
how can I watch games over the computer?
and what team should I root for?

thanks guy. i just need some guidance, any help is cool. [/b]

Hello and welcome to the greatest sport in the world. I imagine you're watching rugby Union and not league? I hope it's Union! B)

Best tournaments: Super 14 by far, Currie cup, NPC, ARC, Heineken cup, French top 14, Guinness Premiereship, Tri-Nations, 6 nations.

Best players: Bryan Habana, Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Fourie du Preez, Matt Gitaue etc.

Not sure how to watch rugby on your pc.

You should root for the Bulls! :cheers:

 

[Brodizzle]

If you want to support a team find out more about your family history....it will always be more meaningful if you have a link to whatever regions team you support, even if the team themself isn't the best team....the last thing you want is to be a glory grabber....

I recommend you getting some tapes of the classic matches of the old days, especially the great Bledisloe cup battles over the last 15 years or so....it will show you what rugby should be...

 

[C A Iversen]

No arguments there! That's not a bad way to do it. Think away from who's necessarily the great teams. You might have Irish, Italian or French family history, so that would be a start. It might be that there's a country you've always wanted to visit. Or it could be that you watch some international rugby by buying some videos or dvd's off ebay, (would be very cheap) and decide from what you see.

Any policy for choosing a team, except who's at the top just for the sake of it. Maybe go international first, then move to clubs.

 

[Hamster]

What country are you backgound before america, maybe support Argentina (americas) or the All Blacks (Best team in the world)

Good wrok for finally watching a decent sport instead of NFL !

Super 14 and Heinieken cup are good doemestically.. Internationally the Tri Nations and Six Nations. 6N starts next week.

 

[GetMoney818]

yea guys im Armenian. I was born in America but my family is mainly Iranian and Armenian. Are there Armenian and Iranian leagues? I know the sport is popular in Armenia but is there Armenia affiliated clubs anywhere else?

another question, when do each league start? like the season dates?

thanks again.

 

[Bull]

Rugby is mainly a winter sport but it's played all year round. In the SH it's starts around Feb-March and end with a couple of international matches against NH teams in Nov-Dec. I think the NH season starts around September or maybe later and ends in June or there about.

 

[Swansea99]

First off, Welcome to the greatest sport on this Planet, Son!

Now,

Best leagues:

Super 14 (Teams from SANZAR, or South Africa, New Zealand & Australia)

Guinness Premiership (Teams from England)

Magners League (Teams from Wales, Ireland & Scotland)

Orange Top 14 (Teams from France)

Heineken Cup - The Champions League of Rugby (I know I shouldn't be comparing the H-Cup with the diveball league,
but at least you'll understand!!!)

6 Nations - Annual European Rugby Tournament consisting of England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland & Italy

Tri-Nations - Annual Tournament consisting of SANZAR nations

Best Players

Well, once you start playing, you'll figure it out for yourself.

Watching Rugby

Online, Mediazone or Setanta are your best bets. As for TV........I hate to say it, Setanta has a good package but the price for the channel will ensure that you'll get a ass-raping that will make Belladonna proud.

Teams to Support

As someone else mentioned before, watch a few games and look at your family history before you start supporting any team. If you live in the States, support the Eagles. But, don't pick a team/country just because they win all the time.



Hope I helped some, have Fun!

 

[Jer1cho]

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...ideoid=20578927

This pretty much sums up your team to support, and who the bets players are. HE HE.

Enjoy it. This is one of the most emotional rugby videos i have ever seen, and even if you hate the Springboks, they are, and always have been one of the most influential and most talented teams ever.

This team that won the Rugby World Cup in 2007, is one of the best South African teams ever. Enjoy it man.

 

[GetMoney818]

jericho thanks for that great video. honestly, if i had to root for a national team it'd be France. But South Africa is an INCREDIBLE team from what I've seen, heard and read about. Their championship win was much deserved.

and i want to thank Swansea99 for his insight, really cleared things up for me. But my main problem is paying for games. I really don't want to do that haha. I want to see if I can get some feeds from streaming live sites or something.

As for Super 14, since my cousins who introduced me to this great sport about a month ago, have been Bulls fans for 3-4 years now. so i think i'm going to become a Bulls fan myself, now I didn't know they had won the league until I read about them. I really like Bryan Habana. He's an extraordinary athlete.

I haven't looked much into the Guinness Premiership or the Magners League. But I will start doing research, watching some classics, and continue getting feedback from you guys about those league.

Much Love.

 

[Jer1cho]

I like the French too. New Zealand are also great because no other team has the kind of presence on field as they have.

As long as you vow never to support Australia, i think you are on the right track.

And if you like Bryan Habana, Check this out, its the most awesome Habana video i have seen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B__tYTKyJV0

Enjoy.

 

[GetMoney818]

Thanks For That Video Jericho, he's AMAZING.

 

[Brodizzle]

As long as you vow never to support Australia, i think you are on the right track.
[/b]

When we send a second string team basically devaluing a international competition we can talk about the 'right track'

'GetMoney' I suggest if you are looking at international teams don't go for a tri nations team, there is so much emotional baggage and frankly, animosity that it really isn't worth it unless you are from those nations...I suggest going for the US, they will only get better and you will have the emotional attachment, and I think you noted on another thread that you are 17 so it would be ideal as when you are older and the US could maybe be alot stronger then it is now you can tell all those aroudn you that you followed the almighty Eagles since day 1

Also considering your background I would say you should support your local US team first and foremost, then watch some Super 14 and European games to choose which team speaks to you the most. A run down on some Super 14 teams if you want some help:

Canterbury Crusaders= Prime counter attackers, been the bench mark for many years and have been the staple of the All Blacks for the same amount of time...
Highlanders (Otago)= A shell of the team they once were with players(backs mostly) going north to greener pastures...always turns out a magnificient scrum.
Wellington and Auckland= Can play some very good rugby yet are usually inconsistent, Auckland are on the upturn however while Wellington, well let's see next season.
Waikato=Very enjoyable team to watch, lots of scoring potential yet at the same time can play some terrible games as well.

Waratahs= Terrible, hated by everyone and cannot spot talent if it swan dived over the try line right in front of them, do NOT go for them.
Reds=Have been through some bad times....for a long time but have a lot of young talent which could make this team prime for some growth in the future, have a lot of potential for becoming a great team.
Brumbies= Been the best team in Australian rugby for some time as they often benefit from the incompetence of the Waratah administration, always plays well, fairly consistently.
Force=Basically a team fighting for survival in a AFL town (like if a team started in the US) has the best crowds in the whole damn competition (so says Tana Umanga) and has acquired a lot of young talent from the other teams while creating a system that will help local talent come through...while the rest of the Australian franchise support has stagnated the Force is going for strenght to strength...one to support if you want to support a mid level team that has the potential to do great things...

As for the South African teams, they are all cheating thugs so who cares

 

[Prestwick]

yea guys im Armenian. I was born in America but my family is mainly Iranian and Armenian. Are there Armenian and Iranian leagues? I know the sport is popular in Armenia but is there Armenia affiliated clubs anywhere else?

another question, when do each league start? like the season dates?

thanks again. [/b]

The Heineken Cup and all of the leagues in the NH (Guinnes Premiership, Purgatory, Top14, Italian Super 12, Japanese TOP LEAGUE, etc) are currently ongoing. The Super 14 starts a little later this year.

If your heritage is Armenian then I'd probably attach yourself to Georgia. They are the Rugby superpower in the Caucasus region. If you're leaning towards Iran and the Middle East, I think the UAE are the center of the Rugby world round that way?

Best leagues are probably Guinness Premiership, Top14 in France and the Super 14.

The biggest events in North America for you to watch are the USA Sevens and the Churchill Cup. Both I think have gigs in the West Coast of the USA.

If you want a team to support, go for the underdog teams. Teams like Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, Viadana in Italy and London Irish in England for example are good bets for the vibrant nature of their small fanbase and the decent standard of rugby all three provide.

Being part of one of the Rugby superpowers like Munster, Leicester, Toulouse or the Crusaders is all well and good but because of their size they don't tend to have the good ol' Rugby club atmosphere of the smaller teams. They are run almost as national sides in their own right rather than as rugby clubs, not that its a bad thing believe me but if you want to sample something more Disney Mighty Ducks than Toronto Maple Leafs then you'll be wanting to go for the smaller teams.

As for viewing Rugby on the web. The Rugby Channel on DirectTV and Setanta Sports both come to mind. Although I hear that outside of their core markets of the UK & Ireland, Setanta rarely provide live coverage for their broadband subscribers.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: As for players to look out for from the NH/SH*? Gosh, there are so many but from the SH (either playing in the Super 14 or abroad in the GP/T14/Purgatory:

Chris Jack, Rob Howlett, Butch James, Schalk Burger, Dan Carter, Bryan Habana to name but a bare minimum.

And for the NH (again, either playing in their home leagues in Europe or in the S14):

Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Martyn Williams, Shane Williams, the Lamont brothers (why isn't Sean Lamont in the Scotland squad?!?!), Andrew Sheridan, Matt Stevens, Danny Cipriani, Shane Geraghty, James Haskell, David Skrela, Frederic Michalak, Kane Robertson, Marco Bortolami, the Bergamasco brothers. I could go on...

*One thing you'll notice is a) a distinct line of arrogance from the big three SH nations, b ) a sense of defiance from Ireland, Wales and Scotland c) everyone telling the English to be quiet, d) the French ignoring what everyone else says and insisting that their players are the best, end of discussion and e) the Italians just looking confused at all of this North vs South vs England vs France <strike>willy waving</strike> bickering and just getting drunk on good Italian wine and eating lots of sliced salami!

 

[Steve-o]

Sour grapes...
It was the WC year Brodizzle, teams had conditioning and preparation policies and that was ours. Deal with it. It worked. NZ took their players out for half of the S14 as part of their reconditioning policy and AUS did f*** all, and look what happened.

GetMoney don't pay attention to this fool, TRI Nations rugby is the most attractive rugby around. USA don't play often enough, you'll lose interest fast.

 

[Prestwick]

I think what Steven here is trying to point out is that you can condition, nurture, prepare and cotton wool your team as much as you want. But when it comes to a World Cup, the only things that count are experience, luck, the ability for a team to come together to dig themselves out of a hole and inspirational/fearsome leadership.

John Smit and Os Du Randt case in point when South Africa's backs went AWOL against Fiji and almost imploded South Africa's chances of getting to the Final. I'm surprised that James, Montgomery, Habana, Pietersen, du Preez and Steyn didn't come away with a serious beating the Bokke forwards were that ****** off.

Another example would probably be England in 2003 against Samoa, Wales and France. When the chips were down, Martin Johnson layed on da RAAAAAGE big time to galvanise the troops to victory.

 

[SaintsFan_Webby]

...the Lamont brothers (why isn't Sean Lamont in the Scotland squad?!?!)...[/b]

Because of a season-ending knee injury, that's why.

Personally I think Northampton are the team to follow if you want a rollercoaster ride of underachievement.

 

[Prestwick]

Thats a pity, if you want a player to just carry the ball through tackle after tackle for hundreds of meters, Sean Lamont is your man. What a power house. The first Jock for a decade to scare the crap out of New Zealand too.

 

[Brodizzle]

Sour grapes...
It was the WC year Brodizzle, teams had conditioning and preparation policies and that was ours. Deal with it. It worked. NZ took their players out for half of the S14 as part of their reconditioning policy and AUS did f*** all, and look what happened.

GetMoney don't pay attention to this fool, TRI Nations rugby is the most attractive rugby around. USA don't play often enough, you'll lose interest fast.
[/b]

Note the smiling face with the tongue out, that means I am just having a laugh....how is it acceptable to say that going for Jericho to say to a newcomer to not support Australia at all yet I can't respond in kind? I am aware of Australias problems and I was critical over most of the squad selections and realistic about thier chances, or lack thereof since they were made....the NZRU let thier intentions be known well before the Super 14 while the SARU(is that what it's called?) promised thier players for the Tri nations and then backed out at the last moment....think about the people who brought thier tickets expecting a huge battle of the best teams in the world and being treated to a second string side...note that us in Australia complained before the WC, when it was occuring, how is that sour grapes. (I mean, you beat England, that is a plus for Australia)

You can't force him to like what you say mate, I agree Tri nations is the best rugby in the world but he can watch that AND support his local teams....for the growth of the sport around the world he should support his local teams....anyway, isn't rugby about the local clubs, getting aroudn with mates and playing the game, not supporting a team half the world away for some obscure reason?

 

[Steve-o]

I think what Steven here is trying to point out is that you can condition, nurture, prepare and cotton wool your team as much as you want. But when it comes to a World Cup, the only things that count are experience, luck, the ability for a team to come together to dig themselves out of a hole and inspirational/fearsome leadership.

[/b]

I was talking about the Tri Nations actually. And that Brodizzle in fact has the emotional baggage, not the Tri Nation teams. He obviously doesn't take responsibility for his negative thoughts and feelings, and has to place blame elsewhere.

He has made SA the target of his cheap shots to further illistrate this.

I was pointing this out to Getmoney, as he might actually believe the crap spewing from that pityful little fools mouth