Is there anyone on our rugby team that we can "borrow" this upcoming Fall that can help our team? Of course, not on a football scholarship.

Bears now play 7's rugby in the fall (an Olympic sport in 2016).

In addition they are 2 very different games. For example in rugby, there is no blocking and ALL tacklers must use their arms and wrap up.

Easiest way to differentiate -- football is a collision sport, rugby is a contact sport.

CAL RUGBY FOREVER!

longseeker;842077178 said:

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Is there anyone on our rugby team that we can "borrow" this upcoming Fall that can help our team? Of course, not on a football scholarship.

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I highly doubt there would be any walk-ons that were recruited solely for rugby outta high school. It's usually the other way around. Plenty of players have gone from football to rugby or played both (Jack Clark being one of them).

When I was in school, the rugby team regularly pulled guys from the football team and probably half the rugby team was comprised of footballers spiced with a few imports from places like Australia or New Zealand. Many of the FB guys were varsity stars (e.g., Matt Hazletine). I don't recall any instances where the reverse was true. Of course, in the '50s football was not on a year round training cycle as is true today and there were few, if any, ruggers who came in with HS experience in the sport. For many, the first exposure to the game was at Cal. With the degree of specialization that exists in both sports today, it seems unlikely that any cross fertilization is practical.

edhbear;842077220 said:

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Bears now play 7's rugby in the fall (an Olympic sport in 2016).

In addition they are 2 very different games. For example in rugby, there is no blocking and ALL tacklers must use their arms and wrap up.

Easiest way to differentiate -- football is a collision sport, rugby is a contact sport.

CAL RUGBY FOREVER!

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The USA Eagles 7's have a player that until recently never played rugby. He is a top 40 100 sprinter in the US with a reported 10.13 wind aided time. He reminds me alot of Jahvid and I was thinking a guy like Bigelow or Lasco would be a great inside/outside center or right wing in XV or a winger in 7's. Former football player Garrett Cross came back after leaving football and played (a prop or hook I can't remember) and JP Hurrell is currently on the team as a prop.

If Dykes lets players run track and do other sports, I would be interested to see Muhammed play rugby with his speed...

Here is Carlin Isles:

:cheer:Monty

when football players made up a significant portion of the Ruby roster. Southern cal used to play rugby with football players and Doc's Cal ruggers would kick their butts every year. With football players on the squad, there was a lot of brute force involved in the matches............

When I played football at UCSB, we had several players who were also on the rugby team, which did fairly well. Even our LBer coach Rod Sears, was on the team with the rest of the boys. When I was at Cal, I roomed with QB Dave Penhall who along with a few others, transitioned very well into rugby, in his case, a club team in Long Beach. I am sure there are lots of others along the way.
While living in NZ for 7 years in the late 80s as a high school teacher, I brought football equipment down (donated by BYU) and started four teams around Auckland. It was great fun and sort of funny to try and get rugby players to block, tackle "gridiron style", and to learn how to pass the ball forward. We ended up having a bowl game and got a certain amount of publicity, including a visit from some NFL scouts. A couple of our guys later got scholarships to Utah State and BYU. The most startling thing for me coming from football was how AGILE the big linemen were coming from rugby..tremendous lateral speed that made me write letters to Cal! Then of course there was just the incredible "roughness" that was obtained by not having to wear equipment. I remember early on when I introduced football, the rugby players didn't even want to wear the helmets and thought they were for "wankers"..One last funny story (I have alot)..We ordered some very basic helmets from the USA but they ended up very expensive because of NZ duty fees..But, for some reason, the helmet order got mixed up and we ended up getting a full shipment of Houston Oilers pro helmets..never to be returned. Over the years since, I still hear about the odd Houston Oiler turning up somewhere...:p..As far as I am concerned, we could definitely use any rugby player willing to give up his love for this great sport. The All-Blacks even made a comedy video (on You Tube I think) comparing rugby to American gridiron.

Ah...the poor Yanks aren't fairing too well...but do ya think any of these blokes could handle American Gridiron???

http://www.irbsevens.com/video/index.html?v=2065285

72CalBear;842078129 said:

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Ah...the poor Yanks aren't fairing too well...but do ya think any of these blokes could handle American Gridiron???

http://www.irbsevens.com/video/index.html?v=2065285

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I'm watching "real" rugby on BBC America right now. The Six Nations* is going on and Wales is just finishing off France. Sorry, Cal88. Tomorrow: Ireland vs. England:

http://www.rbs6nations.com/

*England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy.

Professional rugby is huge in Europe especially in the UK and Russia. I wonder if playing pro rugby overseas is a viable option for American football players who don't make it to the NFL. Has any Cal gridder gone on to play rugby at the professional level overseas?

right now.

tenplay;842078207 said:

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Professional rugby is huge in Europe especially in the UK and Russia. I wonder if playing pro rugby overseas is a viable option for American football players who don't make it to the NFL. Has any Cal gridder gone on to play rugby at the professional level overseas?

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Several Cal rugby players have including Kort Schubert, Mike MacDonald, and Chris Biller.

Jacob Waasdorp (former all Pac-10 d-lineman) played rugby his last year at Cal and played a few years of high level (though not professional) rugby in ireland and australia.

Waasdorp had to cut a lot of weight and improve his fitness in his 1st year of rugby, but once he adjusted his strength and athleticism made him a really good prop (front row player).

The two sports are pretty fundamentally different though in a lot of ways. That said, a guy like Bigelow would be world class if he spent a couple years playing rugby at a position like Wing.

Never watched cal rugby, but did enjoy watching the Six Nations championship this morning.

BeggarEd;842078249 said:

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Several Cal rugby players have including Kort Schubert, Mike MacDonald, and Chris Biller.

Jacob Waasdorp (former all Pac-10 d-lineman) played rugby his last year at Cal and played a few years of high level (though not professional) rugby in ireland and australia.

Waasdorp had to cut a lot of weight and improve his fitness in his 1st year of rugby, but once he adjusted his strength and athleticism made him a really good prop (front row player).

The two sports are pretty fundamentally different though in a lot of ways. That said, a guy like Bigelow would be world class if he spent a couple years playing rugby at a position like Wing.

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Thanks for the names of former gridders who played pro rugby. Never heard of the first three. And Waasdorp is ancient history. Anyone more recent? And would Black players like Bigelow be welcome on European teams? I remember reading recently that non-Euro soccer players in Europe face a lot of racial taunts and discrimination.

tenplay;842078207 said:

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Professional rugby is huge in Europe especially in the UK and Russia. I wonder if playing pro rugby overseas is a viable option for American football players who don't make it to the NFL. Has any Cal gridder gone on to play rugby at the professional level overseas?

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Loren Hawley. One of the greatest American players ever and a Golden Bear footballer also (TE, I think). Played Rugby League (pro version in England for several years thereafter). And, no, I'm not related, just still impressed.

cal85;842077674 said:

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The USA Eagles 7's have a player that until recently never played rugby. He is a top 40 100 sprinter in the US with a reported 10.13 wind aided time. He reminds me alot of Jahvid and I was thinking a guy like Bigelow or Lasco would be a great inside/outside center or right wing in XV or a winger in 7's. Former football player Garrett Cross came back after leaving football and played (a prop or hook I can't remember) and JP Hurrell is currently on the team as a prop.

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He played lock.

Rushinbear;842078561 said:

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Loren Hawley. One of the greatest American players ever and a Golden Bear footballer also (TE, I think). Played Rugby League (pro version in England for several years thereafter). And, no, I'm not related, just still impressed.

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Loren was a DB and went on to play for the Raiders.