I would argue with you but I have no idea what "rucking" is and I don't know how you mean "mauling"....in football we don't (usually) bite people like dogs or anything but it does get pretty bad sometimes.

Yes football has the better athletes (barring most linemen but look at yall's fullbacks, about the same) and the bigger hits and therefore is harder to play because of such things. Rugby is to football what Cricket is to baseball...more boring and less skilled