• Question: whats better rugby or football from a science point of view???

    Asked by dado93 to Andrew on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I think that isn’t really a scientific question.

      I think you could argue that football is better for you from a medical perspective. The stories in the press about the rise of injuries in rugby since it went professional are interesting to me (though you have to be careful what you read in the papers) and i know there is some thorough scientific investigation into the physical impact of the game being undertaken. Look forward to the results….

      I also remember a story about footballers getting a chronic brain injury from repeatedly heading the ball though that may have changed as the ball has got lighter.

      Any thoughts yourself or ideas about scientific investigations you could contact into either sport?

    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      Hi dado93,

      Mmm, not sure, as I don’t play either. Rugby probably isn’t as healthy – all those rather large men (or women!) charging around and smashing into each other! Not good for the brains I suspect – so I’d probably go with football, as a healthy brain is quite important to science 🙂

      (But what do I know!)

Comments

  • Photo: dado93

    dado93 commented on :

    I think Rugby is a better sport from a science point of view as its really the best example of physics in action. With force and Momentum playing a major part of the basics of rugby (i.e tackling, rucking, mauling and scrums) whilst football is more jist about the ball being aerodynamic.

    • andrewleitch commented on :

      good points dado93. How would you use these examples of physics to enhance a team’s performance? I think the study I mentioned is doing a lot of measurements of the forces applied in the situations you mention to try and make things safer. I think if too much force goes through the wrong neck (Say Thom Evans instead of Euan Murray) things can go badly wrong.

      Thanks for reply.