Do you think american football players are tougher than rugby players?

And again this question. I suggest you do a search using the terms "American football", "rugby" and "tougher". You will find the question asked literally hundreds of times, and the sensible answers always boil down to the same things.

Who is tougher in short bursts and who hits (and gets hit) harder. Gridiron players Who have more stamina and must play through more fatigue? Rugby players. Who are better all-round athletes? Rugby players.

Reasons

1. First of all, the sports are are very difficult to compare -- and apples and oranges situation -- with a fundamentally different skills set required. That is why Bill's answer is nonsense and you don't see (many) players with the ability to cross to either code. Richie McCaw is more that "tough" enough to play gridiron, but he doesn't have the lifetime of training in pure gridiron skills that any second-rate college bench warmer is expect to have. For similar reasons, you rarely (if ever) see the outstanding gridiron college player who is just one step to slow or ten pounds to light for the NFL successfully convert to a rugby career in Europe. Again, they don't have the necessary lifetime of training in rugby skills.

2. More specifically the tackling laws are different with different purpose. The purpose of a tackle in gridiron is to stop the runner -- cold. Stop them one inch short of the first down after three plays and the defence has won. In rugby the purpose of the tackle is to give the defence an opportunity to poach the ball, which means that the defender is trying to stay on his feet and cannot just hurl themselves at the ball carrier. You will sometimes see defenders drag a runner forwards in order to gain a rucking advantage. You also can't shoulder charge or lead with your head,and generally don't have an opportunity to blindside the quarterback or receiver -- common occurances in gridiron. There are legal hits in gridiron that would draw a red card and a six week ban in rugby.

3. Play stops at the tackle in gridiron and they have unlimited substitutions. No player is on the field for more than about 40% of the game and it takes three hours to play a 60 minute game. This allows the players to train for very short, intense bursts of activity. They can also afford to mass 380lbs or so, because they get to stop for a breather after every tackle. A rugby match takes less than two hours to play an 80 minute game, and play is (more or less) continuous. Substitutions are limited (at least 8 of your 15 starters must play the entire match) and no player masses more than about 280 lbs, because it is impossible to drag more than that up and down the field for the full 80 minutes.

4. Finally, all rugby players must be good all-round players -- able to run with the ball, make tackles and ruck as required. And at least four or five of your starters must have good kicking skills. Unlike gridiron players who are extremely limted in their skill set and play purely specialized positions, like place kickers, or defensive backs who only come off the bench in obvious passing situations.

Hell no, I play American Football and Rugby player are not only tougher, but also more willful. Not one person i know on my football team would dare go out there with no pads on and get hit hard, like an ed reed hit, like rugby players do. I'm not saying we're not tough because we definitely are but i've played both sports and if my school had a rugby team, i'd choose that over american football.

No!!! Rugby players are athletes and even I like both sports, we have to stop calling Football players athletes because most of them are not (about 80%), are just obese persons with pads, grow hormones addicts beasts or Little guys that just kick a ball one time occasionally to win in OT.

Funny in order to illustrate a tough hit he references an NFL hit by Ed Reed, who isn't even particularly known for being a vicious hitter. Then he insists that, for example, NFL hits aren't very rough. "American' football hits are rougher. Rugby hitting is about as hard hitting as when people play tackle football without gear. Since people typically aren't suicidal they don't smash into people full speed without protective gear. From what I understand blocking isn't even allowed in rugby.

No.

Played on my college football team and played intramural rugby. Rugby is a fun game and you do get banged around a bit but the size of the players and the speed of the game are no where near football.

I think they are. Even without pads there arent alot of intense tackles in rugby, just alot of bumping, grabbing, and pushing into each other.

You don't see alot of full speed collisions in rugby like you do in football.

if rugby players are so tough why don't they put on the pads and make the huge NFL salaries. why play rugby when you could make $5 million over a 3 year NFL contract? plus endorsements and an easy job selling local real estate or cars. why? because they are not tough enough for football.

Eric O Yo -

You don't play shιt. In fact you were never ON a team, you fairy.

Hit like Ed Reed. LOL!

Did somebody mention an Ed Reed hit?

no rugby players hit just as hard, but dont wear pads