Rugby is a team game played with an oval ball that may be kicked, carried, or passed from hand to hand.There are two main types of rugby, including rugby league and rugby union. Rugby union is said to be a more complicated game than rugby league due to the presence of more rules; rugby union is compared to chess while rugby league is compared to checkers. Americans tend to understand rugby league more easily as it is similar to American football. When people say “rugby,” it is most often referring to rugby union. Rugby is currently popular in various parts of Europe and South America, making it one of the most popular international sports. This begs the question as to why rugby is not more popular in the U.S.

There are several reasons why rugby could not work in the U.S. Rugby is a team sport, and in both rugby union and rugby
league, the game is played as a team. Yes, America has its share of “team” sports, but from within those teams, superstars tend to arise; such as Peyton Manning of football or LeBron James of basketball. Americans enjoy idolizing certain players, which is perfect for advertisement. However, there is little of this in rugby, as it is played for enjoyment and honor. American sports, while also played for fun and even honor, have the tendency to become solely about money.

Rugby is also notoriously hazardous and is often compared to American football, as they are both dangerous in various ways. The constant movement of the game is one factor as opposed to American football which has frequent stops, giving
players time to rest. Another obvious difference is the lack of padding on rugby players, for they have no defense against the brutal tackles of the opposing team. Injuries are common to the sport of rugby and players often continue playing with such injuries. In contrast, American sports are often characterized by the loss of a player for whole games and seasons at a time due to injury.

“In my opinion, rugby is a pretty dangerous sport but those who [know how to] play tend to not get injured as easy. It’s proven that there are more injuries in sports like football than in rugby. I think that’s because the toughness of the players
and the sport from past generations has been carried over through the years and put a mindset in rugby players heads that getting hurt is not an option. Rugby can definitely be risky, and to play it, you have to be willing to sacrifice your body,” rugby enthusiast senior Max Shapiro said.

American football is dangerous in a different way. American players are taught and trained to run and tackle the opposing team with bone-jarring speed and strength while relying on their padding as both a protection and a weapon against the opponent. Meanwhile, rugby players acknowledge that if they were to fully charge their opponent, then the collision would hospitalize them both, therefore forcing them to think on their feet about how to bring one down and stop the play.

Some say that America is the ‘sleeping giant’ of the rugby world, waiting to be exposed. Others would argue that rugby is already here and growing. Even so, rugby union has not been played in the Olympics for over ninety years, the last one being in the 1924 Summer Olympics. However, rugby sevens (seven players on a team instead of the usual fifteen) is scheduled to make its debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Though the U.S. now has a national team in rugby and several minor leagues
across the country, this does not necessarily confirm rugby’s place among the nation’s sports.

“I think rugby is a fantastic sport because it requires speed, strength, stamina, and aggression, and it doesn’t have any stoppages between play like football does. I think rugby has the ability to become very popular in the U.S. Its growth in popularity is evident, especially in colleges, which usually have rugby clubs or legitimate rugby sevens teams,” senior and president of the Rugby Club, Thomas Beck said.

Rugby has several components such as the danger, technique, and style that prevent it from taking off in the U.S. Although theses factor affect its popularity, talk of rugby in America has been a rising topic within the past few years. The topic has drawn the attention of American citizens and has raised awareness of the sport itself; this alone could be the tipping point of rugby in America’s future