So, You Want to Watch Rugby

Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

         So, You Want to Watch Rugby…

Following is a brief summary for those new to the sport of
     Rugby Football, but wanting to watch with some
 understanding. Not too much emphasis on the rules here;
   more focus on the play of the game, the positions, the
        scoring, and the overall intent of the sport.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

Just a quick note : for those of you familiar with American Football,
in some ways Rugby is the exact opposite. For instance:

   There are no pads. (Okay, occasionally you will see a Lock
    wearing a soft helmet, but that is mostly to keep from getting
    her ears ripped off as she puts her head between the Prop and
    the Hooker (more on positions later). And no extra gear for bad
    weather. These women are tough!

   The play almost never stops – it is intended to be continuous,
    like soccer, its ancestor. Pick up the ball and run!!
   When the runner is tackled, she must release the ball,
    preferably behind her, where it can be retrieved by a
    teammate and carried on or passed.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

 Passes must only be backwards, just off the parallel of the Try
  Line (Goal Line). A forward pass will result in a turnover.

 There is no blocking allowed – the runner is essentially on her
  own and should not have teammates in front of her. They
  should follow in a pattern of support, ready to receive a pass.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

 Substitutions are at a minimum – usually just three allowed for
  the entire game – and once a player comes out, she cannot
  return. Offense and defense are played by the same team;
                     This is Ironwoman Football!

 Crossing the Try Line (Goal Line) with the ball is not enough.
  The scoring player must put pressure on the ball against the
  ground to score a Try (actually touching the ball down, the
  origin of the term Touchdown).

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

First, some history: Rugby was Football (what we Americans call
Soccer) until 1826 when William Webb Ellis, a student at Rugby school
in England “demonstrated a fine disregard for the rules of football as
played in his time,” when he picked up the ball and ran with it.
Presumably, he was tackled shortly afterwards (also not a traditional
part of football/soccer) and the game was founded, named for its
host school. Hence, most teams are called RFC, or Rugby Football Club.

Next, the positions: Rugby teams make it easy for the fans by
marking each player with her starting position number. The players
are generally divided into two groups : Forwards and Backs. The
chart below indicates their starting positions on the pitch (field).

                                   Forwards
#1 Prop #2 Hooker #3 Prop
      #4 Lock #5 Lock
   #6 Flanker     #7 Flanker
        #8 Number Eight

                                   Backs
                        #9 Scrumhalf
                             #10 Flyhalf
                                   #12 Inside Center
                                         #13 Outside Center

#11 Left Wing                                                  #14 Right Wing

                               #15 Fullback
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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

The Forwards: They tend to be larger and stronger, and are the
players who form the Scrum (see Play, below). #1 & #3 are Props, so
called because they prop up #2, the Hooker; these three women form
the front line of the Scrum. Next are #4 & #5, the Locks. They are the
tallest as well as being strong – they are often described as the
engine that drives the Scrum. The locks are also the women lifted by
the Props in a Line Out (again, see Play, below). Behind and outside
the Locks are the Flankers, #6 & #7. Behind and between the Flankers
is #8, called, appropriately enough, the Number Eight. She is often the
link between the Forwards and the Backs, possessing a critical
combination of strength and speed.

The Backs: They tend to be fleet and fast. They are the distance and
speed runners, working hard to get the ball out to the wing who can
turn the corner and sprint past defenders. In Scrum play, the backs
on offense will be spread in a diagonal line back and away from the
scrum to the open side of a field (see the chart above). On defense,
the backs form a straight line away from the scrum, parallel to the
Try Line. #9 is the Scrum Half – often considered the Quarterback
of the team. She will usually put the ball into play by starting the
passing. Next in line is #10, the Fly Half, sometimes playing the same
role as the Scrum Half, always watching the formation of the
defense and determining the play or passing pattern. Behind her are
the Inside Center and Outside Center, #12 & #13, then the Wings, #11 &
#14. Last, but far from least, is #15, the Fullback. She often stays back
in defense, even when her team is on offense, in readiness in case
the opposing team gains possession and kicks the ball deep into the
backfield. The Wings and Fullback need to be good kickers as well.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

How to Score : Like most competitive sports, the object of the game is
to score more points than your opponent, and there are restrictions
on how that can be done. Scoring is in one of three forms:

   A Try is when a player carries the ball across the Try Line
    (where the goal posts are located) and touches the ball down
    without it being “held up” by the opponent. That is worth five
    points and entitles the scoring team to a conversion kick.
   A conversion kick through the uprights is worth two points,
    and is lined up parallel to the position in the Try Zone where
    the player touched down the ball. This is why she will attempt
    to run to the goal posts after crossing the Try Line before
    touching the ball down, thereby giving her kicker a better
    angle at the uprights.
   A drop kick through the uprights, either during play or as a
    penalty kick, is worth three points.
Now, the Play : As stated previously, play is continuous, generally
only stopping on a penalty or injury. The lone referee keeps time,
which is loosely, but not exactly, followed on the scoreboard. (Even
when the scoreboard reaches 80 minutes, the game is not over until
the referee signals so). On a penalty, the wronged team is sometimes
given the option of how to proceed, and it is usually done very
quickly. There is also the often-used Advantage Rule, in which the
referee will signal a penalty against the offending team, but if the
wronged team has the advantage, they can continue play to try to
capitalize on their opportunity. If they fail to do so in the a time
determined by the referee, she brings the ball back to the spot of the
foul and the wronged team resumes from that point.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

   Aside from running, passing, and scoring, there are five basic
  functions of play in Rugby: The Scrum, The Ruck, The Maul, The
                       Line-out, and Kicking.

The Scrum : the most recognizable feature of Rugby is sixteen
women crouching, binding, and driving in one solid mass.

The Scrum Half of the team with possession gets to put the ball in,
then both teams drive forward, against one another, with the goal of
their Hooker (#2) hooking the ball with her feet and kicking it back
to their Number Eight or Scrumhalf out of the back of the Scrum. If
successful, the ball can be run or passed and play resumes. However,
the referee can blow the whistle for a do-over or change of
possession if she feels that the ball came out the side or was not
placed in properly. The Backs on both sides must be a minimum of
five meters behind the scrum until the ball is passed into play.
Usually, you can identify the team on offense by the angle of their
back line. The defense forms a line parallel to the centerline.
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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

The Ruck : Looking much like a Scrum, the Ruck can happen during
play whenever a player is tackled by an opponent. She must release
the ball, generally placing it behind her and shielding the front with
her body. When two of her teammates bind over her, and are
opposed by members of the other team across the ball, it is
considered a Ruck. At that time, the ball carrier and tackler must roll
away when possible and cannot take part in play until they are on
their feet again (usually the ball carrier covers her head while play
resumes above her – many spiked feet kicking at the ball!). At the
same time, an imaginary line is drawn at the ball and both teams
must get “onside” by moving behind the line. No one can enter the
Ruck from the side or offside – but can engage from the back. As
long as her ruck is holding, the Scrumhalf will poise over the ball
while her backs line up for passing; once she picks the ball up to
pass it or run with it, the play is live and the Ruck is over.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

The Maul : Usually reserved for situations close to the Try Line, the
ball carrier and her teammates form a Maul when she is engaged by
an opponent, but remains on her feet. With her teammates binding
onto her, they can try to drive the pile to the Try Line with sheer
force of leg, as long as all players on both teams remain upright.

The Line-Out : When the ball goes Out of Touch (out-of-bounds) a
Line Out is formed. The Hooker on the team with possession (a
complex set of rules determines who has possession, based on
kicking or running out of touch, on which side of the 22 meter line
play began before being kicked, etcetera – don’t ask) gets to throw
the ball in, and can decide a high or low, long or short throw, though
it must be straight down the middle. Players can be lifted high by
teammates to retrieve the ball. As in a Scrum, the backs must be
onside (ten meters back) until the ball is in play.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

The Kicking Game : Since Rugby began as Soccer, kicking can be a
large part of the game. While the ball cannot be passed forward, it
can be kicked forward at any time, even dribbled past defenders like
a soccer ball. The key is being onside when receiving a kick or
tackling an opponent. Anyone behind the kicker is considered onside
or can be made onside by the kicker passing her. Until then, she
cannot receive a kick nor tackle an opponent who has received a
kick. Frequently, kicking is used to move the ball quickly from your
team’s backfield into the opponents backfield; even though
relinquishing possession, the change in field position may be worth
it. One interesting play in Rugby is called an “Up & Under” in which
a ball carrier spots a hole in the opponent’s backfield and kicks to it.
If she is fast enough, she can run under it and receive her own
kick, possibly taking it in for a try. This is a very exciting play for a
team with a speedy kicker! The other aspect of kicking is for
scoring, as in a drop kick or conversion kick.

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Rugby Football Rules and Play for the Norwich Women’s Rugby Tournament

All in all, Rugby can be a great sport to play and watch. It is rough
and tumble, but not nearly as chaotic as it may appear. Watching
from the end of the field can give you an interesting perspective on
how the offense lines up and how the opponents defend against it.
But moving up and down the sidelines can bring you right into the
heart of the game, and get you closer to a scrum than you may have
thought possible (or wise). However you watch, be sure to cheer on
your Norwich Cadets and give to them all the support that you can!!

                     Go Cadets!!!
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