Rugby union

File:Scrum rugby.jpg

A rugby union scrum.

Template:Portal Rugby union football (often referred to as simply rugby or union) is an outdoor sport played by teams of 15 players with a prolate spheroid-shaped ball. It is one of the two main forms of full-team rugby, the other being rugby league. There is also a quicker seven-a-side sport called rugby sevens, which exists in both rugby union- and rugby league-derived forms.

The game was developed from the rules used to play an early form of football at Rugby School in England, hence the name. The crucial differences from association football (soccer) are that in rugby the ball is a prolate spheroid instead of a sphere and the players are allowed to pick the ball up and run with it. The players may kick the ball, and also are allowed to throw (pass) the ball from player to player, but unlike in American football they may not throw it forward; i.e. the ball must only go backwards or laterally when thrown or passed.

Rugby union has established itself , Canada.

The International Rugby Board (IRB), founded in 1886, governs the sport worldwide and also publishes the game's laws. There are currently 95 full members and eight associate member countries. According to IRB figures, rugby union is being played in over 100 countries spanning six continents by men and women of all ages. The IRB controls the Rugby World Cup, the Women's Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens, IRB Sevens World Series, Under 21 World Cup, Under 19 World Championship, and the Super Cup. It holds votes to decide where all of these events shall be held, except in the case of the Sevens World Series. For that competition, the IRB contracts with several national unions to hold individual events.

Overview

An adult-level rugby union match lasts for 80 minutes (two halves of 40 minutes each) and is controlled by a single referee, two touch judges, and in most professional matches, a television match official (TMO), commonly called the video referee. Each team alternately attacks the opposition goal or defends their own. These goals are marked at each end of the pitch by a pair of tall (typically 10 m or more) posts set 6 m apart, and connected by a cross-bar at 3 m above the ground, the whole forming the approximate shape of a letter H. The attacking team may score by kicking the ball between the posts and above the cross-bar. The ball may only be kicked from the ground: either from a place kick following the award of a penalty or from a drop kick in open play. A successful kick at goal is worth three points. The area behind each set of goal posts is called the "in goal area" and the attacking team may also score by grounding the ball in this area. This is called a "try" and is worth five points. After scoring a try, the attacking team are awarded a free kick at goal, called a conversion, worth two points if successful, from a point directly in line with where the try was scored, and any distance away from the posts along that line.

A try is the main form of scoring, and the primary aim of most teams is to score tries. Drop goals and penalty kicks are usually augmentors, a safer option against a steadfast defence or to punish ill-disciplined opposition. On some (usually rare) occasions, a team may be awarded a penalty try, if their opponents commit a foul which is deemed by the referee to have illegally prevented a try, or if they have persistently stopped play close to the try line through foul play.

Rugby union, rugby league, rugby sevens, American football and Canadian football are all descended from rugby football. Rugby league and rugby sevens are most closely related to union, with rugby sevens and union sharing the same governing body, the IRB. Rugby league and rugby union have diverged considerably over the years. Their main differences are the number of players per side (league has 13, union 15), the scoring system, and the means of securing and retaining ball possession. In union, both teams may contest possession at a tackle or set piece; in league one team retains possession for six tackles. The use of contested scrums and lineouts in rugby union adds dramatically to the tactical variety of the modern game.

Playing field

A rugby union field, known as a pitch, consists of a maximum playing area of 144x70 m on a grassy flat surface. Lines are painted on to the field at regular intervals; dead ball line, goal line (usually called the try line), 22-m line, 10-m line (broken line) and half-way/midfield. This is mirrored on the other side of the field. Lines are also located 5 m away from the goal line and touchline and 15 m from the touchline (broken line). The length between the two goal lines is usually 100 m, although the IRB rules merely stipulate this is a maximum. The width of the playing field, and the distance from goal line to the dead ball line vary from pitch to pitch. Interestingly, there is no rule to say that the pitch needs to be flat or level.^{[Citation Needed]}

The goal consists of a pair of vertical posts placed centrally on each goal line, a distance of 5.6 m separating the posts. A horizontal bar 3 m above the ground connects the two posts; giving each goal the shape of the letter 'H'.

1.2-m flags are placed next to the field for indication on the halfway line, 22, goal line and dead ball line. The goal line and dead ball line flags are put on the intersection with the touchline and are considered out if hit by a player carrying the ball, or the ball itself.

In rugby union, unlike association football, the lines bordering the field of play are regarded as out of play. For example, a player standing on but not over the touchline is regarded to be "in touch". Similarly the goal line (and the goalposts) are considered part of the in-goal area; so a player may score a try by grounding the ball on the goal line (or against the base of one of the posts), but the dead ball line is considered outside the in-goal area, so a try is not awarded if the ball grounds on it.

Scoring

The aim of rugby union is to score more points than the opposition. Teams score in several ways:

• Touching the ball to the ground over the opponents' goal line using the hand, hands, arm or arms. Also by pressing the ball down (with controlled downward pressure) with any point on the body from the waist to the neck (inclusive), over the opponents' goal line. The opponents' goal line includes the base of the posts, which is considered to be part of the goal line. Doing either of these results in a try, worth 5 points. A penalty try can be awarded if, following any infringement of the laws, in the judgement of the referee a try would have been scored had the infringement not occurred. The try got its name because originally the touching down of the ball only gave you a "try" at scoring by successfully kicking for goal, which were the only points scored if the kick was good.
• After scoring a try, the scoring team attempts a conversion: a player takes a kick at goal in line with where the ball was touched down. Scoring the goal earns 2 points.
• Kicking the ball above the crossbar and between the uprights of a large 'H'-shaped set of posts. This may either occur from a penalty kick or drop kicked. In the latter case, the ball must strike the ground before being kicked (a drop goal). Both types of goal score 3 points.

Goal kicking is a major part of the game, with games being won and lost at these situations. An attacking team with an accurate goal kicker can punish transgressions anywhere in the defending team's half, and sometimes further out. This threat puts more pressure on the defence as they have to avoid giving away penalties.

Scrum

File:Rugby union scrummage close up.jpg

A scrummage, showing the body positions of the forwards, as well as the position of both scrum-halves and the referee

For a more detailed treatment, see Scrum (rugby).

A scrum [1] is a way of restarting the game safely and fairly after an accidental infringement such as a knock-on (where a player drops the ball forwards) or a forward pass occurs. It's also awarded to the passing or kicking team if the ball hits a referee.

A scrum is formed by the eight forwards from each team binding together in three rows. The front row, consisting of the two props (loosehead and tighthead, usually the largest men on the field) and the hooker, 'prop' the scrum up and 'hook' the ball so it can get back to the scrum half or number 8. The two locks in the second row provide the power to drive the scrum forward, and the two flankers (blindside and openside) and number 8 are loosely bound, so they can support the backs when the ball gets out as fast as possible. Occasionally, all eight forwards will be called upon to drive, usually near the goal-line as the attacking team attempts to drive the opponent's scrum over the goal-line and score what is known as a "pushover try."

Line-out

For a more detailed treatment, see Line-out.

File:Lineout-WvF-2004.jpg

A lineout, just after the ball has been thrown in.

When the ball goes into touch (i.e. outside of the area of play) the referee calls a line-out at the point where the ball crossed the touchline. There are two exceptions for this rule. (1) No line-out is awarded closer than 5 m to opponent team goal line, if the ball crosses the touch closer the throw-in occurs on 5 m line (2) If a kick goes directly into touch and the kicker is outside his own 22m line the throw-in occurs where the ball was kicked.

Possible alterations to the laws

• Players may use their hands at the breakdown, as long as they enter the breakdown in an onside position.
• At the scrum, all backs except for the two scrum-halves must stay at least 5 metres behind the back foot of the scrum (or, if the defending team in a 5-metre scrum, behind the try line).
• Each team may use as many players in the line-out as it wishes, as long as all fit within the 15-metre line.
• The opposing hooker need not stay within 5 metres of the touchline, but must otherwise conform to laws where he stands.
• Defending teams may collapse a maul.
• If the ball is run or passed behind a team's own 22-metre line, and is then kicked into touch on the full, the ensuing line-out will be conducted at the spot of the kick. (If the same kick goes into touch on the bounce, the line-out will be conducted where the ball went into touch, as in the current laws.)

History

For a more detailed treatment, see History of rugby union.

Rugby is a very complex attack and defence strategy game involving highly developed skill and tactics. The origin of rugby football is often credited to a young man named William Webb Ellis who "took the ball in his arms [i.e. caught the ball] and ran" while playing a form of football at Rugby school in 1823. However historians have questioned the authenticity of this story, beginning with an official investigation by the Old Rugbeian Society in 1895. Football games had probably taken place at Rugby school for 200 years before three boys published the first set of written rules in 1845. However, the game they presented resembled "Hurling to Goal" a variant of the Celtic sport of hurling, described by Richard Carew in his 1602 work, 'Survey of Cornwall'. Cornish hurlers travelled to London to player 'demonstration matches' of the sport several times in the seventeenth century.

Until the formation of the Football Association (FA) in October 1863 opposing football teams agreed on a set of rules before each match. Teams that competed against each other regularly tended to agree to play a similar style of football.

The 1890s saw a clash of cultures within the game, between working men's rugby clubs of northern England and the southern clubs of gentlemen, a dispute revolving around the nature of professionalism within the game. On August 29 1895 22 clubs split from the RFU and met at the George Hotel in Huddersfield to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, commonly called the Northern Union. NRFU rules gradually diverged from those of rugby union, although the name rugby league did not become official until the Northern Rugby League formed in 1901. The name Rugby Football League dates from 1922. A similar schism opened up in Australia and other rugby-playing nations. Initially, rugby league in Australia operated under the same rules as rugby union. But after a tour by a professional New Zealand team in 1907 of Australia and Great Britain, and an Australian Rugby League tour of Great Britain the next year, rugby league teams in the southern hemisphere adopted rugby league rules. For clarity and convenience it became necessary to differentiate the two codes of rugby. The code played by those teams who remained in national organisations which were members of the IRB became known as "rugby union". The code played by those teams which played "open" rugby and allowed professionals as well as amateurs became known as "rugby league".

On August 26 1995 the IRB declared rugby union an "open" game and removed all restrictions on payments or benefits to those connected with the game. It did this because of a committee conclusion that to do so was the only way to end the hypocrisy of Shamateurism and to keep control of rugby union (there were rumours that Rupert Murdoch was planning to finance a Southern Hemisphere professional league). The move from amateurism to professionalism has undoubtedly increased the quality of rugby being played. However, professionalism has meant a huge increase in the gap between the top nations and the second tier. Alongside the success stories there have been some famous rugby clubs which have not coped well with the new era. Increasing popularity in recent years has led to diversification, Women's rugby is increasingly popular in the US and Canada.

The professionalisation of rugby union has created a larger and more international supporter base than before and very large crowds in international competitions. Sponsorship and club attendance is also increasing in rugby union, with many English premiership clubs seeking to expand heir existing ground capacity. Attendances for major international rugby union matches are generally sell-outs. As rugby union has grown, there has been a small transfer of rugby league players converting to rugby union. However, the two codes of rugby are not really in competition because rugby league is much more restricted geographically and has a smaller international presence. To further reduce its the competition between codes, top level Rugby League opted to shift its season to the summer months immediately after the Union game became professional and this remains the situation today.

Major international tournaments

The most important tournament in rugby union is the Rugby World Cup.

Coaching

Template:Unreferenced In the last 20 years, the major unions, as well as the IRB, have understood the need to develop a core of coaches for the junior, youth and community game^{[Citation Needed]}. Coaches in the professional game have tended to come from ex-players^{[Citation Needed]}.