Rugby union/Introduction

Rugby union is a very fun game played outdoors. It is full contact, and is seen as very violent by a lot of people.

Equipment

Unlike American football, rugby players wear very small amounts of equipment. They usually have only a jersey, rugby socks, rugby cleats, and a mouthguard. Practises usually use simple drills, that only need equipment like pylons and a ball. The rugby ball looks very different from other kinds of balls. It is fatter than an American football, but it has a lot more grip.

The Field

A rugby field is 100 meters from one end zone to the other, and it is 77 meters across. The end zones are 22 meters long. The posts at either end of the field look like soccer goals on the bottom, with long posts coming up from the horizontal bar.

Moving the Ball

You cannot throw the ball forward in rugby, it always has to go backwards. You can kick the ball at anytime, but you have to be careful of offsides. Offside rules will be explained in the rules section.

Scoring

A try is scored by taking the ball into the end zone, and touching it down on the ground. A try is worth 6 points. After a try, the team kicker will kick the ball for an extra point. The place the kicker kicks the ball from depends on where the try was scored. You can also score a drop goal at any time in the game. All you have to do is drop the ball, and kick it once it bounces off the ground. If the ball goes through the uprights, your team gets three points. Finally, you can score penalty kicks. If the other team gets a penalty (your team gets the ball), you can kick for posts. The referee will set up a tee for you at the place where the penalty happened. If the ball is kicked through the uprights, your team scores three points.