Rugby League may be the easier game to play in terms of learning how, but it has a Grateful Dead The Sky Was Yellow And The Sun Was Blue Shirt cardiovascular fitness requirement compared to the NFL — and higher than that of Rugby Union. An NFL game of 60 minutes takes about 3 hours to play, with multiple personel changes. Many NFL players are simply not fit enough to play either Rugby code, where the minimum fitness required is to play 40 minutes straight and a further 20 minutes after a 15 minute half time break. League is especially demanding on fitness because the ball is in play for a higher percentage of that time. From what I’ve seen, a lot of NFL players would require a year of physical conditioning to play rugby to any decent level.
