Two sports, one battlefield rugby and football, prove toughness in various ways. Many Americans in the fall gather together with family to watch the NFL (National football league). Football is a high contact sport that requires pads, mouth guards and helmets. There are 11 players on each team with the main goal in mind to get into the end zone. During a game, there are two sides, offense and defense. The offense tries to move the ball down the field and into the endzone in a series of plays called a drive. The defense tries to specialize with coordinated strategies with most NFL teams watching plays on the team they go against to make these coordinated strategies.

“From my perspective, as a football coach, the primary difference is that football can be a very complicated sport with set pieces and a wide variety of plays. Rugby follows a much simpler structure as the offense attempts to score. Rugby also has a more continuous flow where not every player is directly involved while football stops and starts more often and involves nearly everyone all the time. Lastly, Rugby tackling is better with the lack of equipment that requires fundamentals that allow the player to be safe and therefore stay in the game,” said head football coach Mitchell Pace

Rugby also is a high-contact but with no pads or helmets rugby only uses mouth guards. Rugby is divided by 15 players on each side. Rugby is a unique sport with the numbers on a player’s back determining their position. With numbers 1-8 being the power of the team with the biggest guys playing those positions. And then numbers 9-15 being the faster guys and guys with better ball control, this position’s main goal is to move the ball across the field as best they can. Rugby is a very fast paced game with little to no stop in the game, with even if someone gets injured the game still continues

“When playing rugby the continuous flow of the game helps you stay focused throughout the entire play while playing football and having breaks in between games makes you lose adrenaline and make you lose focus overall,” said sophomore rugby player Jayden Wrigley.

Rugby and football are very similar with the sheer toughness and mental game. Some people might argue that one is better than the other but both are equally loved by their communities. “I think it’s the raw endurance and strength that defines toughness because everyone can have strategies, but only the people who really put their mind to it and give it their all really define toughness,” said junior Braddock Morris.