2.2 Rugby Union Basics
Description
This article is from the Rugby Union FAQ, by roelofs@f2s.com (Mees Roelofs) with numerous contributions by others.
2.2 Rugby Union Basics
Rugby Union is a contact sport, played on a field of about 100x70 meters. A
team has 15 players in it, as well as up to seven substitutes. Each player
has his own tasks. Its most distinctive feature is the backward pass, since
the ball may not be passed forward. Sounds bloody simple, doesn't it?
Forget it. Discussions on what exactly constitutes a forward pass are
regular in RSRU. Ian Daley's breakdown of the discussion has been archived
on http://pino.faithweb.com/rsru/forward.html. Means of progressing towards
the other team's in goal-area are passing, running with ball in hand and
kicking the ball forward.
The primary objective in Rugby is to have more points than your opponent at
the end of the match. A try, the grounding of the ball in the opponent's
in-goal area (which is a zone at either end of the field), is worth 5
points and earns the team a conversion attempt, a kick at the posts from a
place in line with the point, where the try was made. A successful attempt
is worth another 2 points. A penalty try can be awarded by the referee,
when a defender illegally prevents a probable try to be made. In that case,
the conversion attempt is taken right in front of the posts.
Other ways of scoring are the drop goal and the penalty goal. The latter is
made when a team kicks a penalty, which is awarded after a deliberate foul,
between the posts and over the cross bar. A drop goal is a dropped kick
from open play that goes between the posts and over the cross bar. Both are
worth three points.
Much of Rugby Union revolves around setpieces, like the scrum and the
line-out. If you want to win a game, you should get these basics right and
win them on your own put-in or throw.
A match is made up of two halves of 40 minutes each. Injury time is added
to both halves. The time is not stopped when the ball goes out of play
(basketball and Aussie Rules style). If the scores are level after eighty
minutes, no extra time is added. The match result will be a draw, except in
some knock-out tournaments.
The IRB has drafted a Charter, which lays down the principles of the game
in a much more abstract way. John Hill's posting of the document has been
archived on http://pino.faithweb.com/rsru/charter.html.
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