II RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL

Rugby Football

I INTRODUCTION

Rugby Football, general name for a variety of football. It was said to have originated when a boy at Rugby School in Rugby, England, picked up and carried the ball during a game of football in 1823. Previously, the rules had only allowed the ball to be kicked. The modern game of rugby dates from the 1860s, when it was adopted and modified by other English schools and universities. In 1871 the English Rugby Union was formed to standardize the rules. The game is played with an oval ball, blunter in shape than the American football so that it may easily be bounced and drop-kicked—that is, kicked on the rebound.

II RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL

The form of rugby officially designated as Rugby Union Football played in more than 100 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, England, France, Italy, Fiji, and South Africa. The sport's international governing body is the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), located in Dublin, Ireland. In the United States there are more than 1400 rugby clubs and more than 100,000 players, governed by USA Rugby, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rugby was only played as an amateur sport until 1995, when the IRFB passed a resolution allowing national governing bodies and local rugby clubs to pay their players.

A rugby team consists of 15 players, generally divided into 8 forwards and 7 backs. Seven substitutions of players are permitted during a match in addition to injury replacements. Injured players, once having left the game, may not return. A game usually lasts for 80 minutes and is divided into two 40-minute halves with no time-outs.

A rugby field is not more than 100 m (109.36 yd) in length and 69 m (75.46 yd) in width, and is divided transversely by two lines 22 m (24.06 yd) from each goal and a halfway line. Not more than 22 m (24.06 yd) behind each goal line is the dead-ball line, beyond which the ball is out of play. The uprights of the goal are 5.6 m (6.12 yd) apart. They are connected by a horizontal crossbar 3 m (3.28 yd) above the ground.

Play begins with a place kick and is generally continued by a scrummage or scrum, in which the forwards of each team pack together with their arms across one another's shoulders and their heads down. Thus locked together, the forwards wheel and push against the opposing forwards, while attempting to hook the ball backward with their feet to one of the backs, called the scrum half. Having received the ball, the scrum half has several options: running with the ball until downed or until there is another chance to pass the ball, kicking the ball downfield, or immediately passing the ball to teammates. If the scrum half chooses to pass the ball, the teammates attempt to advance the ball forward and across the opponents' goal line. Once over the line the ball must be touched to the ground to score a try, which is worth 5 points. After scoring a try, a team is entitled to attempt a conversion similar to that in American football. In rugby the conversion kick is taken from anywhere on a line perpendicular to the goal line at the point that the ball was touched down. If the kicked ball passes over the crossbar and between the uprights, the team is awarded 2 additional points for the conversion.

No player on the team with possession of the ball is permitted to move downfield ahead of the ball, and any obstruction of a player not carrying the ball is a foul and is penalized. Thus, there can be no running interference or blocking as in American football. When a ball carrier is downed, that player releases the ball, and play continues.

Although the game appears complex, it is governed by only two major rules: (1) players may not pass the ball forward, and (2) players may not touch the ball while it is in play if it was last touched behind them (nearer their own goals) by players on their own teams. A minor infringement results in a scrummage. In the case of a serious infringement, or a foul, the referee, who is the only judge, may award a penalty kick against the offending team. A goal resulting from this kick scores 3 points. A goal scored from a dropkick (when during play a player drops the ball, lets it rebound off the ground, and kicks it over the crossbar and through the uprights) also counts 3 points. A mark occurs when a player standing behind that player's own 22 m (24 yd) line catches a ball on the fly from an opponent's kick and says, “Mark.” The player making the mark may then attempt a free kick.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 865