What exactly is rugby?

Question

i play and know football but i dont really know about rugby. i want to know how to play. i kind of know the scoring system but when you have the ball can you use football moves like stiff arm? is it like one big football play where the whole time you just lateral? i want to know because it looks fun

Answer 1

hey

well this is my first year of rugby and it is the best sport i have played of the lot. you will need to know all the rules which is a bit complicated but it is easy to learn. it not like football at all. it is much harder and the only safety devices u have is a mouth guard, and a scrum cap. that's it. it really is fun. go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_union for more information.

cheers

Answer 2

i've watched rugby. i couldn't tell you the rules but it looked a lot like our football minus the pads.

Answer 3

It's not like football at all!  At least I don't find.  I've been playing rugby for 6 years now and I love it.  The rules can seem a bit complicated at first but once you start playing it gets really easy.  The most important rule in rubgy is always pass backwards and always run forwards.  It's all about gaining ground so you never want to be caught running sideways or backwards even if it means being tackled to the ground.  Basically there are the forwards and the backs.  The backs are in charge of passing to ball out while the forwards follow the backs as a pack getting ready to ruck over the ball.  A ruck is when someone has been tackled and the ball is on the ground.  When the other team tries to pick up the ball you want to push them out of the way and hope that your team mates will come in behind you and help you push.  Anyways those are some of the basics, I know it's not everything but you should try googling it.  It's a really fun sport, I hope you try it!

Answer 4

Rugby is the game they play in heaven, join a local team and you may never go back to whatever you played before.  Once you are a member of the Rugby community you pretty much have a passport to excessive drinking with other rugby nuts anywhere around the world.  Most of the Yank players I have met have been great blokes and absolutely f?*king nuts.  FYI -Rugby is like gridiron's foul tempered and primitive European ancestor.  There are plenty of similiarities between both of these great games (big hits, specialised positions, athleticism, drinking beer through funnels) There are also many differences.  IMO Its biggest difference from gridiron is the 'onside' rule (well that and the fact rugby only takes an hour and a half to play.)   Basically this means you can't move ahead of the player on your team if he has the ball.  Forward momentum is made from running onto the ball at speed and trying to evade or smash the other players.  The players are divided broadly into two groups - forwards and backs.  Forwards are the beefy types who do the grunt work securing the ball for their team through set plays like scrums (8 guys on either side form a one-ton mass and push each other until their eyes pop and necks snap) and line outs (ball is thrown in from sideline and the teams competed by jumping to catch it).  Play as a forward if you like physical brutality, have anger issues or like contests of strength (it works for me) The backs on the other hand are the flashy runners with nice hair who can hit the ball at pace and use runnning angles, kicks and passing skills to bust holes through the other teams defensive line.  Play as a back if you like speed, glory, little girls and skin care products.

FYI - The 4 yearly rugby world cup will be held from September so make some time to watch (its the second biggest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and i'm NOT dissing the superbowl)  Of a similar if not better quality is the annual tri-nations tournament currently being held between the rugby powers of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.  We cheerfully hate each other and do our best to kill each other on field so you are guaranteed a spectacle. South Africa plays Oz this Saturday night and New Zealand (The world's best - i'm a kiwi) next Saturday - so get yourself along to an english pub or sportsbar and watch the world's best play.  BTW - I have played with a number of yanks over the years and they have all loved the change to rugby (and ex-gridiron players seem to make good rugby players) Its also a good way to break down social barriers in the world outside the US.  In this day and age people around the world may often like to S**t on the States and Americans out of envy but being a rugby player is like having a diplomatic passport that says 'this is a good guy (but don't trust him around your sister or liquor cabinet) BTW - Yes you can 'stiff arm' we call it a fend where we palm players off. However you can't hit the other player above the shoulders in the throat or head without being penalised.