About Rugby

Created in England in 1823, rugby is a game that is played in over 120 countries throughout the world. The game of rugby, with its long history and rich traditions has much to offer players including pride, teamwork, and friendship. It is a game that develops leadership, team spirit, courage, sportsmanship, and friendship.

The object of the game is that two teams of seven, ten, or fifteen players each, should score as many points as possible, by carrying, passing, kicking and grounding the ball with the team scoring the greater number of points being the winner of the match. It is classified as an 'end zone invasion game'. The aim of each team is to gain possession of the ball, take it into opposition territory and to place it in the in-goal area (end zone). Rugby is a game of continuous flow, there is constant competition for the ball at the breakdown. These are called Rucks and Mauls.

In Senior rugby (and under 19s), 15 people play at a time per side, each of which have specific duties as a player. Players are usually talked about in respect to two categories. Members of the first group are called the forwards, or the pack, and consist of the first eight players. Members of the second group are called the backs, and consist of the remaining players, numbered 9 to fifteen.

Ladies rugby in Austria is played with seven players on each side, a form of the game commonly know as "sevens rugby". As in the full version of the game there the same two categories of players, the forwards and the backs. The forwards paticipate in the parts of the game called the scrum and the line out and therefore tend to be the bigger, stronger players on the field. The backs on the other hand are generally smaller and faster players who are adept at handling the ball.

If a player is tackled to the ground they must release the ball, which usually results in a ruck. If a player is held while standing, a maul will usually be formed. The purpose of the ruck or maul is so that the game can continue without any stoppage in play.

The line-out and scrum are two key distinguishing factors to the game of Rugby Union. A scrum occurs when there is an accidental infringement and a line-out occurs when the ball goes out of bounds. Both of these are methods of restarting the game.

A rugby game consists of two halves, in the full game lasting 40 minutes each. In the sevens version of the game that women play, the halves are only 10 minutes long. This is due to having fewer plaers on the field and allows more games to be played in onbe day. The winner of the rugby match is the team with the highest score at the end of the game.

A try is scored when a player places the ball in the opposition's in-goal area. It is counted as 5 points and can be converted to an additional 2 points with a successful place kick or drop kick. Points may also be awarded from a drop kick in general play and a penalty kick. Both are worth 3 points.

I hear that rugby is a very violent game, is this so?

Being a contact sport Rugby can sometimes be a rough game, but violence is not part of the sport. Referees will heavily penalise any violent behaviour which may result in a violent player being sent from the field for the rest of the game and perhaps even further punishment.