Ok, the sports are very different and there are three versions of Rugby The critical differences Rugby; no body armour, no forward passing American football; body armour, forward passing allowed Variations on Rugby include size of team and details of rules

No they are not the same. In the UK there are two rugby games. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_rugby_league_and_rugby_union. (UK) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football (american football). for more details you will have to wait for American football fans and UK rugby fans to give detailed explanations. NB out of interest, there is a growing American football league developing In the UK over the past ten years, that began to take of about 30 years ago. also there is a growing "cheerleader" movement developing in the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_football_teams_in_the_United_Kingdom https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/the-rise-of-uk-cheerleading/ if you want to see american cheerleaders and UK cheerleaders side by side come to london on new years day.