re: Kid playing the wrong sport in the wrong country

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Rugby is merely football without pads

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Wrong. Rugby requires the spatial awareness of basketball and is something football players have a hard time adjusting to. Movement off the ball. The conditioning is also very different, as you mentioned, as a rugby game flows like a soccer game in that there are no stops other than to restart the game following a penalty or ball out of bounds. The only thing rugby is similar to football in is you tackle the ball carrier and kick extra points through posts.

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I am pretty damn confident that there are enough skill position players who were collegiate All-Americans but not NFL-quality players who could dominate this sport.

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This is true if provided the rigorous 5 year training program to put those athletes through. It is very naive to think you can group athletes together with no experience and take on the world's elite at that sport.