What Are the Rules of Rugby?

Rugby is a European version of American football. The ultimate object of moving the ball across the field to the opponent's goal is the same, but play does not stop as frequently as in its American counterpart. This is the leading cause of the game being much more physical.

  1. Teams

    • A rugby team has 15 players, with positions one through eight labeled as the forwards and nine through 15 being the backs.

    Moving the Ball

    • Play starts with one team kicking the ball to the other. The ball can be run with, passed (backward only) or kicked to advance it across the field. If a player is tackled, he must release the ball and allow the others to try to get it.

    Scoring

    • A team gets five points for running the ball into the opponent's goal zone, plus two more if it successfully makes a kick through the goal posts from 10 yards. Three points are given for any kick through the goal posts during play.

    Restarts

    • If the ball goes out of bounds, it is thrown in by someone from the team that didn't knock it out, with the teams forming lines 1 meter apart from one another. If the play dies from a rules violation, (such as offsides), the play restarts with a scrum.

    Scrum

    • Players from each team join together to form a "tunnel," and the team that didn't cause the play stoppage rolls the ball into the middle of the tunnel. The players in the scrum push forward until someone can push the ball with the feet toward that player's teammates.