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Rugby union is a team sport that was developed from the rules used to play football at Rugby School in England. Two teams, each of 15 players have the task of outscoring the opposing team. Players clutch an ovoid ball in their hands or arms, and may pass it backwards or laterally across the pitch, or kick it in any direction. The opposing players attempt to halt the ball-carrier by tackling him or her with their arms and bodies. When tackled, the ball carrier must release the ball, at which time a contest for possession of the ball commences (either a ruck or a maul).
The International Rugby Board (IRB), founded in 1886, governs the sport and also publishes the game's . Until 1995 when Rugby Union became an "open" game, the IRB claimed to rigorously enforce the amateur rule. However, especially during the period leading up the 1995 decision, this was doubted by some, who dubbed the situation "shamateurism".
The aim of rugby is to score more points than the opposition. Teams score points in several ways:
A rugby team consists of 15 players, eight forwards numbered 1 to 8, and seven backs, numbered 9 to 15. Depending upon the competition, there may be up to 7 replacements.
The forwards have the principal role of gaining and retaining possession of the ball. They take part in the set pieces of the scrum and the line-out. Generally, forwards are larger than the backs, which makes them stronger but slower. Forwards also have a role in taking the ball forwards, but generally do so by driving into the opposing forwards.
The backs have the role of moving the game forward by running or kicking the ball. The fly-half controls how to do this. The backs tend to score more tries. The backs tend to be smaller than the forwards and as a result more agile and faster, but less strong.
A referee controls the match, usually assisted by two touch judges.
See guide to rugby union positions and Rugby union numbering schemes for more information.
Various set-pieces occur in play, principally:
At the start of each half, one side kicks off. The ball is placed on the centre spot and one team kicks the ball forwards at least ten metres. There is then a contest for possession.
Similarly, there is also a 22 metre drop-out.
A player may tackle an opposing player who has possession. The tackler overbalances the man in possession. Once the tackled player hits the ground, he must release the ball and allow a ruck to form. Alternatively, the player may be held up in the tackle, in which case a maul may form.
Players will often deliberately go to ground once tackled rather than form a maul. The reason for this lies in the laws of the game governing rucks and mauls. Once a player has gone to ground and a ruck has formed, the opposing team are not allowed to pick the ball up, and have to try to secure posession by pushing the team in posession out of the way. In a maul situation, the team not in posession is allowed to actively compete for the ball by trying to wrestle it from the man in posession (called the ball carrier). In this light, it is easier to retain posession of the ball in a ruck (in which the opposition cannot touch the ball) than a maul.
There are a number of laws governing how to tackle, the most notable of which are that the tackler cannot tackle above the shoulder (the neck and head are out of bounds), and the tackler has to attempt to wrap his arms around the player being tackled to complete the tackle. You are not allowed to trip a player using your feet or legs, but can use your hands (this being referred to as a tap-tackle).
A ruck consists of a contest for possession. Once a tackle has grounded a player, he must place the ball on his side. The first players arriving from either side may pick up the ball, but after two or more have arrived, they must bind to each other and push the opposing players off the ball, using their feet to hook the ball backwards towards their own scrum-half.
Most infringements occur in rucks. Players may seek to slow down the speed of the recycling of the opposition's ball or speed up their own by using their hands illegally, or by lying over the ball. Such infringements result in penalties.
A (rolling) maul exists if a player is held up after a tackle and other forwards bind onto him and push him forwards. Similarly, the opposition may push against this. If the maul is stopped and a team cannot retrieve it, then the referee awards a scrum to the opposition. The tactic of the rolling maul occurs mauls are set up, and the ball is passed backwards through the forwards, who roll off the side to create new mauls.
Referees generally call scrums for knock-ons, where a player drops the ball forwards, or for other accidental mismeanours.
See Scrum (rugby) for a more detailed look at the scrum.
When the ball goes into touch the referee calls a line-out. The forwards of each team line up a metre apart between 5m and 15m from the touchline. If the ball went out from a penalty, the side who gained the penalty throw the ball in, if not the other team do so. Both sides compete for the ball, and some players may lift their team mates.
See Line-out for a more detailed look at the line-out.
The following diagram locates the various positions in the 15-man team. All members of the starting 15 wear jerseys numbered from 1 to 15 and keyed to their positions (though alternatives exist); these numbers appear on the diagram below. The first eight players, known as forwards or the pack, play in the scrum. The remaining seven players play as the backs.
| Loosehead Prop (1) | Hooker (2) | Tighthead Prop (3) | |||
| Second Row (4) | Second Row (5) | ||||
| Blindside Flanker (6) | Number 8 | Openside Flanker (7) | |||
| Scrum Half (9) | |||||
| Fly Half (10) | |||||
| Inside Centre (12) | |||||
| Left Wing (11) | Outside Centre (13) | ||||
| Right Wing (14) | |||||
| Fullback (15) |
Alternate names for positions include:
| Front row | Collective term for the props and hooker |
| Tight forwards | Collective term for the combined front row and second row |
| Loose forwards or Back row | Collective term for the flankers and Number 8 |
| Back three | Collective term for the fullback and wings |
The major Rugby Union playing nations are those which play in the northern hemisphere Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales; and thoses which play in the southern hemisphere Tri Nations Series: Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The minor nations include those nations which have qualified for the Rugby Union World Cup: Argentina, Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Romania, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, United States, Uruguay. For further details see the List of international rugby union teams. Rugby Union is the national sport of Wales, New Zealand and Pacific countries such as Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa.
As of October 2003 the International Rugby Board had 94 members. The rugby-playing world often sees a distinction between the Northern hemisphere and the Southern hemisphere teams (traditionally, play takes place in the hemispheric winter), and the Southern hemisphere has often dominated international tournaments. After decades of domination by New Zealand, South Africa, and most recently Australia, England in 2003 achieved the pinnacle of success as the best team in world rugby with a dominant 2002 and 2003 culminating in a nailbiting extra-time win against Australia in the final of the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup. New Zealand and France also reached the semifinals.
The major international teams (represented on the IRB) are:
See also:
The first steps towards the modern day Six Nations tournament took place in 1871 when England lost by one goal to Scotland at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. In the 1880s, both Wales and Ireland joined and the Home International Championships emerged. France joined the tournament in the 1900s and in 1910 the term Five Nations first appeared. However, the Home Nations (England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) excluded France in 1931 amid a run of poor results, allegations of professionalism and concerns over on-field violence. France then rejoined in 1939-1940, though the Second World War halted proceedings for a further eight years. France has played in all the tournaments since WWII the first one of which was played in 1947.
In 2000, Italy also joined the tournament, leading to the modern-day Six Nations competition that takes place annually.
France won the Grand Slam and Six Nations championship in 2004, while Ireland won the Triple Crown.
The Tri Nations Series is an annual international Rugby Union series held between Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The series is played on a home and away basis with the three nations playing each other twice.
Since the inception in 1996 of the Tri Nations series, the games played in it between Australia and New Zealand also determine the winner of the Bledisloe Cup each year.
The legendary story about the origin of Rugby football, whereby a young man named William Webb Ellis "picked up the ball and ran" while playing football at Rugby School is almost certainly a complete fiction. Pundits have dismissed the story as unlikely since an official investigation by the Old Rugbeian Society in 1895. However, the trophy for the Rugby Union World Cup bears the name of "Webb Ellis" in his honour, and a plaque at the school 'commemorates' the 'achievement'.
Playing football has a long tradition in England and football games had probably taken place at Rugby School for two hundred years before three boys published the first set of written rules in 1845. Until the formation of the Football Association (FA) in October 1863 each football team would agree on a set of rules with opponents before a match. Teams which competed against each other regularly would tend to agree to play a similar style of football.
Rugby football has a claim to the world's first "football club", formed at Guy's Hospital Football Club, London in 1843, by Rugby School old boys. A number of other clubs formed to play games based on the Rugby School rules. Blackheath Rugby Club, founded in 1858 ranks as the world's oldest surviving rugby club.
Blackheath Rugby Club was a founder members of the Football Association. But when it became clear that the FA would not agree to rules which allowed running with the ball in hand (a fundamental part of the rugby game), Blackheath withdrew from the FA just over a month after the initial meeting. Other rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA.
For the next few years rugby clubs continued to agree rules before the start of each game as they had always done, but on January 26, 1871, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) formed, leading to the standardisation of the rules for all clubs in England that played a variety of the Rugby School laws. Soon most countries with a sizable rugby community had formed their own national unions. In 1886, the International Rugby Board (IRB) become the world governing and law-making body for rugby. The RFU recognised it as such in 1890.
The 1890s saw a clash of cultures within the game, between working men's rugby clubs of northern England and the southern clubs of gentleman, a dispute revolving around the nature of professionalism within the game. On August 29, 1895 21 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 open 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 organizations which were members of the IRB became known as Rugby Union. The code played by those teams which played "open" rugby and allowed professionals 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.
In North America, rugby developed into American football and into Canadian football.
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