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Rugby an Explanation!

Nolan Thomas Written by Nolan Thomas, Friday April 10 2009
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The game of Rugby is generally considered to be the precursor to American football. If you looked up Rugby in the dictionary, this is what you would find: a form of football, played between two teams of 15 members each, that differs from soccer in freedom to carry the ball, block with the hands and arms, and tackle, and is characterized chiefly by continuous action and prohibition against the use of substitute players.

 

As with most sports, the objective of rugby is to score more points than the other team within the allocated time of play. If at the end of the allocated time of play the score is even, then a tie is called. There are no overtime or sudden death rules.

 

A try (like a touchdown) is scored when a player places the ball in the other team’s goal area, and is counted as 5 points. As with football, an additional 2 points can be converted after a try with a successful place kick made from a line horizontal to the point at which the ball crossed the goal. A goal in rugby can also be scored from a penalty with a free kick, or with a drop kick from anywhere on the field of play. A goal counts as 3 points.

 

You can see the similarities between football and rugby. But there are differences. In rugby, there are no forward passes. You can pass or lateral the ball backwards, but you can only advance the ball forward by running with the ball or kicking it. Have you ever seen a football game where the clock has run out and the players are tossing the ball backwards to different players trying to get into the end zone without being tackled? That is a lot like rugby to a point.

 

Equipment in rugby is a lot different from football as well. There isn’t any! In Rugby, the players do not wear any padding or protection such as shoulder pads, helmets, or anything else except for a mouth guard. The uniform is nothing more then a long sleeve pull over shirt with a collar and a pair of shorts. Knee-length socks are also worn along with boots that are comparable to soccer cleats. The rugby ball does not have a standard size and comes in many different sizes. It is oval shaped similar to an American football, but it is larger.

 

While rugby was the precursor to American football, soccer was the precursor to rugby.

 

In 1823, while he was playing soccer in England, William Webb Ellis picked up the ball with his hands and ran with it. This action created an interest in what he did, which led to the creation of the game of rugby.

 

Cambridge University instantaneously embraced the game, made up the local rules and began to popularize the sport. Rugby became increasingly popular at area schools and in 1871, the first Rugby Union was established in London and firmer rules of the game were incorporated.

 

In 1895, because of lost wages, rugby club players in England wanted compensation. Because of this, the Rugby League was established and 13-player game with revised rules for professional rugby players were drawn up.

 

The popularity of rugby increased across the world and competition sprung up between countries. In the United States, the game developed mostly on the West Coast. The absence of any set rules, doubt in the game and the complexity of rugby caused a lot of players in the United States to shy away from the game and major changes in the game were established.

 

In 1880 the line of scrimmage replaced the scrum, drawing attention from the free-running characteristic of rugby. The game continued to play with rugby rules until 1905 when an overly rough game between Pennsylvania and Sarthmore created an uproar. President Theodore Roosevelt demanded reform of the game in order to decrease the brutality of the sport with a threat to abolish the game. In 1906, the forward pass was brought to the United States game. Rugby fizzled out and American football was born.

 

Rugby continued to flourish elsewhere, especially in Britain, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Although a very small amount of rugby clubs still existed in the United States, it did not come back onto the scene until the 1960's.

 

College campuses looked to rugby because it was one sport in which a lot of people could play without the strict discipline and professional characteristics seen in college football. The constant action in the game, low cost of equipment and the chance to play it often with the main goal just to have fun attracted a lot of players.

 

The number of rugby clubs grew from about 80 to over 1,000 between 1964 and 1980. In 1975, The United States of America Rugby Football Union (USARFU) was established. Creating the USARFU added a lot of recognition to the sport of rugby in the United States.

 

Rugby continues to flourish and is now played in over 80 countries worldwide. The rules of rugby continue to develop and the bush-league attitude remains its foremost characteristic.

 

Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen; soccer is a gentleman’s game played by beasts; football is a beastly game played by beasts.
- Henry Blaha

 

Rugby is great. The players don’t wear helmets or padding; they just beat the living daylights out of each other and then go for a beer. I love that.
- Joe Theismann

 

Photo Credit: Derrick Tuskan / Icon SMI


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3 comments


0 up down 0
JeremiasJeremias, over 3 years ago said:

I disagree, rugby is not a brutal sport.

0 up down 0
PtownpadrePtownpadre, over 3 years ago said:

I had Setanta Sports for Premier League Soccer. And then I found that they had rugby too. Never watched it. Brutal game. Just insane. It made me really question guys in the NFL saying how we have the most brutal sport in the world. No we don't. And those rugby players make you look at your football players sitting out weeks with "soreness". Just doesn't happen over on the other side of the pond.

0 up down 0
JamesJames, over 3 years ago said:

Very informative article. Unfortunately rugby (and soccer) will not be popular in United States, ever. It's something to do with the country's idiosyncrasy.