How to Understand Union and League Rugby

If you’re interested in rugby but don’t understand the rules, these tips will help increase your knowledge of the different games.

First, this sport’s full name; rugby football. In both Union and League rugby football forms of rugby, the aim of the game is to score by taking the ball over the goal line. This stretches across the entire width of the field. The other way you score goals is by kicking the ball between the uprights and over the crossbar of the tall H-shaped posts at each end of the field.

A rugby ball is ovoid shaped and players can both kick and carry it to score.

A Rugby Union team consists of 15 players.

A game begins when one side kicks the ball deep into the opposing half. The team in that half collects the ball and works it forwards by running with the ball while passing it sideways or backwards.

• It's against the rules to pass the ball forwards with the hands, though it can be kicked towards the goal line. The defending team attempts to regain possession of the ball either by intercepting the ball or by bodily tackling the player holding the ball — who's obliged to release it after falling to the ground.
• A scrum, called for technical infringements, is one of the distinctive features of the game. Eight players from each side lock together in a kind of tense huddle then the ball is thrown into the gap between the two front rows. The "hooker" drags it back with their foot so as to win possession of the ball.
• A try (worth five points) is scored if a team places the ball on the ground beyond the opposing goal line.
• Three points are scored for a "drop goal" or "penalty goal" (kicking a ball over the crossbar and between the goalposts). After each try, two additional points can be scored for a "conversion," which is a kick taken in the same way as a penalty goal.

How is the Rugby League team different from a Rugby Union team? Think everything you have learned about a Rugby Union team with the following differences:

• A Rugby League team consists of 13 players.
• There’s a rule that the team in possession must concede the ball if tackled six times in succession.
• The scoring system differs too. For a try, a player gets four points. For a kicked goal, the score is two.

There are only a few difference between Rugby Union and Rugby League teams and once you understand them, you will thoroughly enjoy this game both on the pitch and TV.