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Men rugby @ bard . edu Women wrugby @
bard . edu MEN WOMEN
Bard College
Annandale on Hudson, NY
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Brief Description of the Game More information about the
game can be found on the internet and in literature available at your local
library and at online trading shops such as Amazon.com. introduction history of the game basic rules of play international rugby rugby in the
United States terminology Introduction
Invented after association
football, commonly known as soccer, but prior to the American version of
football, the game of rugby is played by two teams made up of fifteen players
each, on a field 100 meters long by approximately 70 meters wide. The object
of the game is to score points by either touching the ball down in the
opponentÕs goal area or by kicking the ball through the opponentÕs goalposts.
Rugby originated in England, and while it predominates in nations of the
British Commonwealth, the game shares popularity worldwide in countries as
diverse as France, Russia, Kenya, Japan, and Argentina. History of the Game
Rugby is said in legend to
have been born in the year 1823 when, during a game of soccer, young William
Webb Ellis picked the ball up and ran with it in hand. Whether the story is
true or not, it is acknowledged that the sport progressed from a long history
of rural games involving the transport of an object into a goal area whilst
evading opponentsÕ physical, and sometimes violent, attempts against it. The
modern game is in fact much less barbaric than its primitive forms. The International Rugby Board enforces an extensive set of laws promoting fair
and safe play. Basic Rules of Play
The game is played in two
forty-minute halves. The time clock does not stop, though play may be paused
temporarily. The game begins with a kickoff taken from midfield. Once the
ball is in the air, both teams have an equal opportunity to recover the ball.
The team that recovers the ball will then attempt to run the ball forward
into its opponentÕs goal, or Òtry zoneÓ. A team that does so is
awarded a ÒtryÓ, worth five points, and a kick at the goalposts, worth
an additional two points if converted successfully. A player carrying the ball
may wish to pass the ball to a teammate who is positioned behind him. All
passes must be thrown on a lateral plane or backward. A pass thrown forward
is an offense resulting in a change of possession. He may also wish to kick
the ball. The ball may be kicked backward or forward and recovered by either team.
lineout
scrum
ruck Should the ball go out of
bounds, play is restarted by means of a ÒlineoutÓ. Somewhat similar to
a jump ball in basketball, a lineout consists of an equal number of players
from each team lined up opposite one another approximately two meters apart,
jumping to retrieve the ball thrown in from the sideline. A player from the
team that did not touch the
ball last throws the ball in, giving his team a better opportunity for
securing possession. Play is restarted within the field of play, for instance
after an offense such as a forward pass, by means of a ÒscrumÓ. A
highly disciplined and thoroughly awkward operation, the scrum requires
superior technique from the largest of the players. The largest players from
either team bind together and crash into one another to form a stable
platform, much in the way the Capitol dome supports itself by equal antipodal
forces. A player from the non-offending team puts the ball in at the feet of
the players. Specifically, the ball is directed at the foot of a special player
at the center of the scrum who will tap the ball backwards to where it may be
picked up by a teammate. As with the lineout, either team may win possession
of the ball in a scrum. However, a player from the non-offending team throws
the ball into the scrum in order to give his team a better opportunity at
winning possession. When a player carrying the
ball is tackled to the ground, he must release the ball. In such an instance,
anyone including an opposing player may recover the ball for his own team. It
is the intent of the ball carrierÕs team, however, to prevent opposing
players from gaining possession of the ball by forcefully pushing opposing
players away from the ball, or ÒruckingÓ. A player will be penalized
for not releasing the ball when he is tackled. Though a team in
possession of the ball may be a victim of a penalty, the referee can choose
to allow play to continue so long as this team maintains possession of the
ball. This is called Òplaying advantageÓ, and allows the game to
continue without pause. This contrasts most American sports, such as
football, which feature constant delays. Should this team lose possession of
the ball, the referee stops play and awards the team the penalty at the spot
of the infringement. The offending team must move backwards ten meters from
the ball and the victimized team may restart play by a variety of options,
including kicking the ball, running the ball, or electing a scrum. A 7-man version of rugby,
known simply as 7Õs, is played during the summer months in most countries,
including the United States. 7Õs follows the same rules as the 15-man game
with the exception of the match duration, which is two seven-and-a-half
minute halves. International Rugby
Held every four years, the
Rugby World
Cup features the best of
international rugby. Nations compete against one another in a tournament
setting to determine the best in the world. Historically, France, England,
South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand have fielded the strongest sides.
Elite professional competitions exist both in the northern hemisphere (the Heineken Cup pits the best of the European professional teams against one another
in a tournament setting) and the southern hemisphere (the Super 14 competition is a league of fourteen teams from South Africa,
Australia, and New Zealand). International 7Õs events
occur throughout the year as part of an annual circuit of tournaments, held
in locations around the globe, that determine the top international team. The
island nation of Fiji is particularly strong in 7Õs. Rugby in the United States
While overshadowed in the
United States by a plethora of highly publicized and commercial
sports, the game of rugby in fact has a long history in America dating back
to the year 1874. It began as a university sport, with the first game played
by a team from Harvard University against a team from Canada. Rugby was included
in four Olympic Games between 1900 and 1924 and the United States took the
sportÕs gold medal honors in two of them, yet it has never received the
commercial backing that other sports have in America, most notably NFL
football, and remains a sport of unpaid competitors. Today, 50,000 Americans
play rugby, according to the USA
Rugby Union. The game is
prevalent at the university level and, to a lesser degree, in high schools.
Adult competitions and club teams exist in all fifty states, competing at
four levels from Division 3 (the lowest) to the Rugby Super
League (the highest).
The US national team, the Eagles, maintains an active international schedule,
competing yearly against traditional rugby powers and participating in the Rugby World
Cup and the Churchill
Cup. Rugby teams in America
often feature both American and foreign-born competitors. Thus one will hear
a variety of foreign accents and languages spoken within any rugby club.
Foreign-born players and coaches continually contribute to the betterment of
the quality of play in the United States. A culture of fun and
light-heartedness surrounds the sport. Hence one sees at tournaments teams
like The Clowns, who traditionally dress as their mascot at post-match
events. Separating rugby from traditional American sports like football and
baseball are the requisite after-match parties attended by both teams. Here,
players who were adversaries on the field socialize in a friendly manner off
it just hours after the final whistle. Internet search engines
are the best means of locating rugby clubs, as most clubs maintain updated
websites. Enter ÒrugbyÓ; Òrugby clubÓ; or Òrugby unionÓ; and the name of a
region, state, or city into any search engine to browse results. Terminology
Pitch Ð the Anglicized
word for a rugby or cricket field Try zone Ð the same as the
end zone in American football, this is the area at the end of the field that
a team defends from the opposition Try Ð the most lucrative method
of scoring points, touching the ball down in the opponentÕs try zone, for
which a team is awarded five points and a kick at the goalposts worth an
additional two points if converted successfully Rucking Ð the method of
securing possession of the ball by pushing opposing players away from the
ball after a tackle Lineout Ð used to restart
play after the ball crosses out of bounds on either sideline Scrum Ð used to restart
play after a turnover or stoppage of play |
