Rugby vs. Football = Man vs. Boy?

History of the sports

Football (AKA soccer) has been around for a very long time. According to our most "reliable" source, Wikipedia, the first evidence of an activity resembling football was documented between the 3rd and 1st century BC, in China!

'Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.[2][3] The influence and power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread'.

The first evidence of an activity resembling rugby came quite a few years later, in 1883. It's invention was credited to William Webb Ellis while he was a student at Rugby School, a private boarding school situated in the north of England. It was during a game of football that William decided he would break the rules by picking up the ball and running with it. The rest was history!

Man vs. Boy?

What is funny about these games is that nowadays an Englishman is either an avid follower of football or rugby. It is not very common to meet an Englishman who's a fan of both sports. Rugby fans argue that rugby vs. football is like man vs. boy.

In the north of England there are certainly more rugby supporters than in the south. It's probably also true to say that a lot of rugby's fanbase went through the English private school system. Private boarding schools in England tend to prefer rugby as their main sport and consider football to be a game for the working classes (though they'd never admit this, obviously!).

Do they play both sports in your country? If so, which game do you prefer and why?