Why does rugby dominate over football here?

By adam

rugby football r both rubbish. they both promote alcohol violence. im sick of drunk agro people after stupid games.

By Easy Rider

Because rugby is a mans game and footy is a game of fakes the way they fall over when something brushes past them and barley touches them to milk a penality...that part rearly pisses me off cus im an honest goodsportsman and faking injury to gain a free kick or penality...well it just aint sport in my eyes and i guess this has a large portion to play in why rugger is the sport for a nation of honest genuine people...i know this faking is part of the game and all that but i look and i think thats wrong for him too bulls**t like that it dont make for a fair game...one has to play sorta underhanded and being the honest man i am, this i dont like about soccer...now i know underhanded things do happen in rugger but nothing to the extent of what happnes in soccer.
So my preferd sport to watch is rugger alough i much enjoyed watching the all whites as well and for a few weeks my world was as clear as mud as to where my allegiance lay... it was All black and white with no gray areas!.

By Stephen

Rugby is the sport of New Zealand! Football has it's place as does basketball, softball and netball. But rugby is the sport of New Zealand, football is to Brazil/Argentina etc, cricket is to Aussie and moaning is to England. NZ is over yachting, it's all overseas and mainly in court rooms. We can (mostly) hold ourselves against Aussie at Netball. League we are equal with anyone, but rugby we excell at against any team in the world. The All Whites are on a roll and good on 'em too, but when the world cup is over they all go back to their respective countries/ overseas clubs and carry on, there is no 'identity' with the All Whites. The Wellington Phoenix has built up the success for the All Whites, if the Phoenix had had a ratshit season, would the furore be there?
Rugby is still the game at grassroots and rural grades, football is played in the bigger cities by mainly European players with a few Asians mixed in. Ever seen an Asian player in an NPC, Super 14 or All Black trial team? The All Whites havn't won a match yet, only two draws. If the All Blacks had two draws in row, we would turn away in disgust, but we don't expect to much more from the All Whites. If they beat Paraguay, I'll print this off and eat it!!!! Two draws, greatest ever sporting moment...I think not...top 10 maybe

By andrew

always remember my Dad sayin that when he arrived in NZ in 1926 he'd never seen a rugby ball and had no idea the game existed. I coach junior football and now take great delight when all the fathers and grandfathers who have derided football for years come up to me and ask just how does the offside rule work. this season i have 3 lads who have quit rugby for football in the team. ps i can report the Dads and Gdads by the end of the season know the rules and by that stage have normally found a Premiership team to follow

By Ward Jameson

I think Michael Laws opinion that football wont capatilise on the World Cup success is short sighted. There has always been a media bias towards rugby - highlighted by One News a week ago failing to take a breath & having 'Sav' kick off sports with a comment on the naming of the AB's ahead of the All Whites draw. Like wise ZB's Monday morning 8 am round up leading with rugby. Things are changing tho with more 'sympathetic' journalists reporting on sport. Journalists who can pronounce players & team names outside the rugby world. I think inter sport comparasines are a waste of time - apples with apples. Fact is football dominates world sport - its predomenantly a poor or working class game where as rugby in Europe is a relatively rich mans game.

By .... they should be called the All Blacks!! Haha

Watching the Maori rugby team beat England last night was great! But more importantly the way they played with aggression and pace & flare.... they should be called the All Blacks!! Haha

By Liam O`Connor

Because we have no professional national league. The media gives all the attention to rugby, so a large majority of the talented players go overseas to play. The media then decides to rip apart the Phoenix, who while not top of the table are hardly a crap team. What sport do you think little Timmy is going to look at when he's admiring the All Blacks on his Weetbix box every morning? If the media was to support soccer, and if we had a professional national league, then I am willing to bet that more interest in soccer would naturally follow. However, more than anything, New Zealanders like to win. Look at how we turn on the All Blacks if they are not dominating. Look at how "White became the new black" when the All Whites won. Rugby is not a big game in comparison to soccer, so there is more chance for us to excel and to feel good about ourselves. That is why we focus on the rugby. Fortunately, the exciting All Whites win coupled with the All Blacks playing some of the most boring rugby known to man should go a long way to rectifying both these issues. :)

By James

Football is on the rise in NZ. Infact I think more kids are playing football than rugby. Give it 10 years and kiwi football will become more and more of a contender in the global scene.