Where are the pads and helmets?

As America prepares to settle in for the big game on this Superbowl Sunday, a few of us ex-pats have been paying attention to another bone crunching encounter that takes place over the pond in Europe every year around this time.

The Six Nations Championship is an annual competition held between England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy. The game played - Rugby Union.  It's like a mini European Championship as these are the best 6 rugby playing teams in Europe. They play each other over a 5 or 6 week period with winner being the team with the most wins at the end of the 5 games.

It doesn't get much coverage here in the US, so I thought I'd treat you to a little 5 minute highlight package, courtesy of the BBC, so you can see what Superbowl Sunday may look like without the helmets, pads, cheerleaders and half-time theatrics!!  This game was played yesterday between England & Wales. It was the 100th anniversary of the first England - Wales game held at Twickenham - England's home ground in the south eastern suburbs of London. 

By the way, the same 15 guys play offense, defense and are allowed to be substituted off and on if they need to get stitched up for a blood injury...why you need 53 players to play American Football is still difficult to comprehend for this Englishman in...Arizona?

Enjoy the highlights, by the way England are in the white, and enjoy the Superbowl!       

"It's just not British..."

Here's a story that caught my eye - Bloodgate. If you don't follow British sport, and in particular Rugby, you may have missed this one.

Dean Richards, a legend of English rugby, was banned from coaching for 3 years after accepting responsibility for a 'fake' blood injury by his team Harlequins against Leinster in a Heineken Cup tie in April. Long story short, it was a close game and winger Tom Williams faked injury to allow fly-half Nick Evans, a drop goal specialist, to return to the field late in the game. The laws of Rugby allow for a substituted player to return to the game as cover for an injury...

The 'quins physio (now working with England...well not any more I guess) has been banned for 2 years and Williams 4 months. These are pretty substantial bans, plus the club has been fined over £259,000 or more than $400,000 which is a significant amount for a Rugby club.

The greater realisation that this is a wider issue - Cheating is such a dirty word - has now hit the IRB (International Rugby Board) and the RFU (English Rubgy Football Union) who will no doubt be keeping a closer eye in the future. And the old saying that 'cheats never prosper' held true, as Leinster held on to win the game 6-5 and ultimately won the whole competition.

Here's the view of former England player, and now TV pundit, Jeremy Guscott

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/8207752.stm

Distinctly Average!

There aren't too many jobs in life where, if you are successful 30% of the time, you are considered at the pinnacle of your profession!

That's baseball. I've read that hitting a round ball with a round bat, and getting the ball to go in the direction you wish, is one of the hardest things to do in sport...personally I think taking a beating from a heavyweight in the ring is probably tougher...but do you believe getting paid millions of dollars to be good 3 times out of 10 is fair? Try that at work and see what happens... "Don't worry boss, I'm sure I'll get it right next time..."

That's the curiosity of sport in the US. Success is measured in percentages... A basketball player is elite if he makes 50 or 60% of his shots...a baseball player is 'hall of fame' material for hitting .300.

Not so in England; if a place kicker in rugby misses 3 out of 10 he's having a bad day. A footballer misses 3 penalties in a row, he's done, get the next guy! An England cricketer gets 3 'ducks', sack him, he's crap! Why the difference? Do the English demand greater excellence from their stars? I wouldn't have thought so...Are American sports tougher...? I don't think so... so what is it?

Admittedly, I've been in a hitting cage and it is tough to hit a baseball, mind you I found it hard to hit a cricket ball too when I was younger! And if you're 7 foot tall and it's all you do day in day out, should putting a ball in a basket be that tough?

I don't have the answers, it just made me think...comments welcome!