Intro to Rugby
During the global pandemic shutdown there were basically two live sports in the whole world: Formula 1 and New Zealand Rugby in the form of Super Rugby Aotearoa. I adopted both sports. Since then keeping up with F1 has gotten easier in the US, but Rugby mostly dissappeared from our sports media. So this year I picked up a subscription to Florugby and am back at it; however, it’s a little lonely since none of my friends are rugby fans. To help with that, I decided to collect some links for the uninitiated to help serve as a jumping in point for rugby and just in time for the 2023 Rugby World Cup! So here goes:
- Video: Rugby Explained for American Football Fans
- Video: Rugby 101: Rugby positions explained
- Rugby Dictionary
- Video: Nigel Owens’ Guide to Rugby Referee Signals
- This one’s a little more advanced, but once you’ve watched a couple matches it’s really helpful
- If you’re curious about Nigel Owens, this video is a treat.
- Squidge Rugby’s Youtube channel for good background and analysis of match tactics and strategy
- In the runup to the RWC 2023 Squidge is producing a video for each participating team which is a great way to get ready for the tournament.
Old Matches:
- 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup Final: Black Ferns vs Red Roses
- 2000 All Blacks vs Wallabies
- There are just generally tons of old matches on Youtube
Other ways to watch:
- World Rugby just launched RugbyPass TV which is currently free and includes archive matches, rugby shows, and apparently some live matches too!
- As mentioned above, in the US Florugby carries tons of matches at many levels from all over the world
Things I like about rubgy:
- I mostly watch rugby union, but the little bit of rugby league I’ve watched was fun too!
- During that 2020 NZ Rugby season I adopted the Chiefs as my home team.
- In international rugby I pull for NZ and Wales
- The women’s game is at least as much fun as the men’s game.
- The mic’d-up referee- it helps with insight during penalties and other deliberations.
- Since most of what I watch is international in the Pacific or Europe, I enjoy weekend mornings with coffee and a contest.