05-13-2005, 04:20 PM
The problem with american football is that you can pass the ball forward. Hencer the usefulness of the flying wedge. Indeed, you just form a wedge around the ball carrier and smash your way through.
In rugby football you can only pass the ball backwards, so the ball carrier is always at the front trying to make a wedge all by himself like that courageous "miles" in the picture.
Much funnier, I think, for having tried it..
Also, you can only tackle the ball carrier, although, unfortunately, this rule is slowly changing.
As for the ancestor of those two interesting games it was a game called the Soule, in France, where it was still practiced, albeit in a more civilized form than earlier on, due to the existence of laws dealing with assault and battery..
It goes on like this: Teams are formed by two neighbouring villages, each led by a "Champion".. The average distance is 6/10 miles between two villages, in France.
The ball is halfway between the two villages and is thrown in the air by a "notable" (the mayor, the local priest..) After moments of intense violence, someone eventually gets the ball and attempts to bring it back to his own village with the help of his team.
The rules are simple: firearms, combat planes, artillery and other war implements are forbidden, besides that, it's a free for all...
That includes ambushes pre-set before the game begins... Good military training. I fancy the idea that the Gauls used to play that game with the head of one of their revered enemies.. 8)
But the first reference we have dates back from the 12th Century CE. although some think that it's an offshoot of the harpastum, a similar game practiced by the roman soldiers.
In rugby football you can only pass the ball backwards, so the ball carrier is always at the front trying to make a wedge all by himself like that courageous "miles" in the picture.
Much funnier, I think, for having tried it..
Also, you can only tackle the ball carrier, although, unfortunately, this rule is slowly changing.
As for the ancestor of those two interesting games it was a game called the Soule, in France, where it was still practiced, albeit in a more civilized form than earlier on, due to the existence of laws dealing with assault and battery..
It goes on like this: Teams are formed by two neighbouring villages, each led by a "Champion".. The average distance is 6/10 miles between two villages, in France.
The ball is halfway between the two villages and is thrown in the air by a "notable" (the mayor, the local priest..) After moments of intense violence, someone eventually gets the ball and attempts to bring it back to his own village with the help of his team.
The rules are simple: firearms, combat planes, artillery and other war implements are forbidden, besides that, it's a free for all...
That includes ambushes pre-set before the game begins... Good military training. I fancy the idea that the Gauls used to play that game with the head of one of their revered enemies.. 8)
But the first reference we have dates back from the 12th Century CE. although some think that it's an offshoot of the harpastum, a similar game practiced by the roman soldiers.
Pascal Sabas
