Comparison of American Football and Rugby Union - Players

Players

Further information: American football positions and Rugby union positions

An American football team consists of an offensive unit, a defensive unit and a "special teams" unit (involved in kicking and kick returns). Only eleven players can be on the field at any time. Players are allowed to play on more than one of the units, this is the norm for all but the highest levels of play (professional and large schools). The kicking unit, with the exception of a few specialists, will usually be made up of reserve players from the offense and defense.

In rugby union, the same players have to both defend and attack. There are fifteen players in a rugby union team (except in sevens and tens). Many of the positions in each code have similar names, but, in practice, the roles of those positions can be different. A fullback in American football is very different to a fullback in rugby. Some of the positions are fairly similar; a Rugby fly-half carries out a similar role to a quarterback in American football; however, quarterbacks touch the ball on almost every offensive play.

Broadly speaking linemen and linebackers in American football correspond to forwards in rugby, and running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks have roles similar to backs in rugby.

Because of the playing time, number of pauses, number of players and the nature of the game in general, rugby players will typically need higher physical endurance than American football players while more short-term bursts of physical strength, power, and speed will be required in American football (amongst equivalent positions and weights). Collisions between players in American football tend to cause greater injury than in rugby union; in rugby union tackles must at least show an attempt to bind is made but this rule does not apply to American football. Moreover, rugby union hits are not usually at the speed of American football both because of the nature of the game and the lack of protective equipment. Additionally, rugby offsides rules and the lack of a forward pass significantly reduce the chance of a player receiving a "blind-side" hit (i.e. being hit and/or tackled from behind). In American football, players receiving a forward pass are often extremely vulnerable because they must concentrate on catching the ball, often jumping very high or stretching out and thereby exposing their body to punishing hits; in rugby a player is not allowed to be tackled in the air, leaving the receiver of the kick with more time to assess his surroundings, usually in rugby ball carriers can anticipate a hit and can brace themselves accordingly.

In rugby, the contact times between players are usually much longer, as a more wrestling approach is required to bring players down, as momentum cannot always be relied upon particularly when the lines between the teams are consistently close, not allowing for significant momentum to be developed before meeting a defender. In rugby, rucks and mauls may develop following a tackle when multiple players from each team bind together to move the ball in play (on the ground or in-hand respectively). In American football, equivalents to rucks and mauls are virtually non existent, as play stops when the ball is stopped. These difference can be summed up in the idea that in American football the objective is to bring the player to ground or to disrupt a pass to end the play, whereas in rugby the main objective is to stop the player from breaking the line.

American football quarterbacks, linebackers, - and increasingly, their coaches - have the ability to decide what the next play would be in many occasions during the game, thus allowing for both complex tactics displayed within individual plays and overall game-wide strategy in play calling and play selection. In rugby union, the continuous nature of the game implies that there is no time to discuss team strategy, therefore offensive actions may seem to lack a definite direction for some periods of time. Rugby is more movement based than American football in which short bursts are needed.

Rugby players often continue to participate in the game long after they have left school. In America, amateurs who have left school rarely play full tackle football, but often play touch football or flag football.