The Rugby Outsider

I'm really trying to understand the sport of rugby by finding equivalents to the North American sports that I watch every day. Now that I have watched something near 30 rugby telecasts, I am still clueless on many aspects of the game but I think I have a grasp on some concepts that I can relate to. Here are a few observations: --The more I watch Crusaders' center Sonny Bill Williams, the more I think LA Lakers great Magic Johnson. Like SBW, Magic Johnson was taller and bulkier than many of the players at his position at the time. Magic also was a creative passer. After watching Williams yesterday against the Stormers, I immediately think finger roll--the arm-extended pass lightly touched off to a team-mate begs comparison to basketball. SBW even threw a behind-the-back pass at one point--the signature move of the NBA point guard. --To counter SBW's creative offloads, one would think watching the NFL would help me understand his effectiveness. I kept thinking as the Sto...

Remember the date: 27 March 2011. I hope all who were watching the Sharks-Crusaders SupeRugby match from Twickenham knew what was happening: a match between the Manchester United and FC Barcelona of the Rugby Union world. It was a date that will live in history as the first SupeRugby game played in the Northern Hemisphere, which saw the Crusaders beat the Sharks 44-28 . The Durban-based Sharks and the Christchurch-based Crusaders came to Twickenham in England to play the game postponed from earlier this season because of the earthquake on South Island that affected Christchurch and the surrounding area. My uninformed thoughts and observations of this historic tilt are thus: Yes, it seems that Sonny Bill Williams is the real deal. If you don't know by now, fellow Americans think the next Jonah Lomu. OK, bad analogy for those of you that don't know Rugby. Think the next A-Rod in baseball, the next Peyton Manning in football or the next Kobe Bryant in basketball. What I liked...