What is the difference between rugby and American football? I am a beginner(spectator) at both games and they?

Question

look alike to me.

Answer 1

There are two types of rugby,  a rugby union and a rugby league.

Rugby Union:

The play starts with team 1 performing a kick off from the 50 metre (half way) line.  The kick off is a drop kick, where the player must drop the ball onto the ground before kicking it.  The ball must go 10 metres.

Team 2 receives the ball, and usually kicks the ball to get it to go over the side line.  This results in a line out to the team 1.

If the ball goes over the side line on the full, and the player who kicked the ball was inside their teams 22 metre line, the lineout is set where the ball crossed the side line.

If the ball goes over the side line on the full, and the player who kicked the ball was outside their teams 22 metre line, the lineout is set where the player kicked the ball from.

A line out is where players from each team line up against each other, perpendicular to the side line.  There is a gap between the two lines.  There may be any number of people in the lineout, but usually they have 7, 5, or 3 players from each team.

The line of players must be between the 5 metre line and the 15 metre line.  These lines are from the side line, going into the field.

Team 1 in this case will throw the ball in.  Players from each team jump, and are held in the air, to catch the ball.  Sometimes the player in the air will tap the ball to their half back.

The half back (no 9) is the player standing behind the line out.

The group of players called the forwards are the players who participate in the lineout.

The half back will normally pass the ball to the back line.  The back line is the group of players called the backs.  The stand in a line, hence the name back line.

They will usually pass the ball, or kick for the side line, causing another line out.

If the ball is dropped, and goes backwards, or sidewards, it is play on, and any player can pick the ball up.

If the ball is dropped, and goes forward, the referee will award advantage to the other team.  If a player of the other team picks up the ball, they can run, pass or kick it.  If a player of the team that dropped the ball gets the ball, a scrum is awarded to the other team.

A scrum involves the forwards packing together to form a tight bond, and engaging in contact with the opposition forwards.  The method of contact is pre determined to lessen the chance of injury.  The half back of the team awarded the scrum puts (feeds) the ball into the scrum.  The two packs of forwards then attempt to push each other off the ball, so they can gain possession of the ball.

To score points, you can:

- run the ball over the try line and place it on the ground before the next line, which is called the dead ball line.  This is called a try and is worth 5 points.

- kick the ball over the try line and place your hand on it while it is on the ground, or push it to the ground (without dropping it), before the ball goes over the dead ball line.  This is a try.

- after scoring a try through one of the above methods, you can kick the ball between the goal posts and over the bar to score an extra 2 points.  This is called a conversion.  You can drop kick the ball, but people usually place the ball on top of a 'kicking tee', on the ground and kick from this position.

- drop kick the ball between the goal posts and over the bar at any time, anywhere on the park.  This awards you 3 points and is called a field (or drop) goal.

If the ball goes over team 1's try line and a player from team 1 puts pressure on the ball, as if scoring a try, this results in a 22 metre drop out to team 1.  A player from team 1 must drop kick the ball from behind the 22 metre line.  The only requirement for the kick, apart from being a drop kick, is the ball must go over, or land on, the 22 metre line.

The side with the ball keeps the ball until the opposition can get it off them, the ball goes over the side line or dead ball line, a try or a field (drop) goal has been scored.

To ball can be passed to any team player as long as the pass does not go forward.  It may go in a sideward motion, as long as it is not forward.

When kicking the ball down field, the players in front of the ball are 'off side' and must retreat back.  A player who was behind the player who kicked the ball, or the player who kicked can put off side players back 'on side'.

An off side player cannot touch the ball.

Any player can kick the ball, but usually a player from the back line does.

A player cannot block another player, but may push another player with the shoulder when chasing the ball.

I have talked about half way line, 22 metre line, etc., what do I mean?

To explain without a good diagram.

Dead ball line

----------------------

Try line

----------------------

22 metre line

----------------------

10 metre line

----------------------

Half way line

----------------------

The area between the dead ball line and try line is called the in goal area.  You can score a try here.  The ball can be on the try line, but not the dead ball line.

The area between the try line - half way line - and the other try line (not shown) is the playing field.  It is bounded on the sides by a side line.  If the ball, or a player with the ball touches the side line, or touches any area over the side line, the ball is declared out and a line out is called.

The 22 metre line is 22 metres from the try line.

The 10 metre line is 10 metres from the half way line.

Rugby League

Similar to rugby union, but different enough.  The lines of the field differ slightly as well.  Only the differences have been mentioned.

Dead ball line

----------------------

Try line

----------------------

10 metre line

----------------------

20 metre line

----------------------

30 metre line

----------------------

40 metre line

----------------------

Half way line

----------------------

The kick off is different.  The ball is placed on the ground on the half way line, instead of being a drop kick.  The ball still must go at least 10 metres.

When the ball goes over the side line.  A scrum is formed, not a line out.  The scrum is also different, the two sides do not compete for the ball, as in try to push each other off the ball.  Although this happens every now an then.  The ball usually goes to the team that put the ball in.

If the ball goes over the side line on the full, the scrum is always set where the player kicked the ball from.

The methods of scoring are the same, but the points are different.

- a try is worth 4 points.

- a conversion is worth 2 points.

- a field goal is worth 1 point.

A drop kick cannot be performed for a conversion.

If the ball goes into team 1's in goal area and a player from team 1 puts pressure on the ball, as if scoring a try, this results in a kick from the 20 metre line.  The kick may be a:

- 'tap kick' where the player taps the ball with their foot and runs, passes or kicks the ball.

- normal 'punt' kick where the ball is kicked from the 20 metre line.  The team will do this to get the ball over the side line and awarded a scrum.  Normally

the scrum would be awarded to the opposition team, but this is a special case.

Another special case is when a player from team 1 kicks the ball from inside team 1's 40 metre line and the ball goes over the side line (not on the full) inside team 2's 20 metre line, then team 1 is awarded the scrum feed.

The side with the ball keeps the ball for a total of 6 tackles, unless ball goes over the side line or dead ball line, or a try or field (drop) goal is scored.  After the 6th tackle, the team must hand the ball over to the other team.  Most teams will kick the ball after the 5th tackle so gain more field advantage on the 'last' tackle.

When kicking the ball down field, the players in front of the ball are 'off side'.  The can run towards the ball, but must stay at least 10 yards behind the ball. The player who kicked the ball can put the off side players back 'on side'.

NFL:

The field is simialr to a rugby league field.  It has markings every 10 yards, not metres.

The in goal area is called the end zone.

The kick off is from the 40 yard line.

Team 2 receives the kick off and gets 4 downs to get at least 10 yards up the field, or into the end zone when the line of scrimmage is inside the oppositions 10 yard line.

For each down, the teams line up against each other at the line of scrimmage.

The ball is thrown back to a player behind the line of scrimmage.  This player may chose to pass the ball, hand the ball off, run, kick the ball, or place the ball for a kicker to kick.

Passing usually occurs in a forward manner, although it is allowed to pass backwards.  You can only pass forwards once, any other pass after a foward pass must be sidewards, or backwards.

As another answerer mentioned, there are three 'teams' for each side.

- an offensive team.  They try to get the ball up the field by either passing or runnning.

- a defensive team.  They try to stop the oppositions offensive team from gaining the required 10 yards to get a '1st down'.

- a special teams.  They come on to punt the ball down field, kick the ball between the goal posts and over the goal bar (field goal), to kick off.  The also have the opposing roles of, stopping a team from punting the ball and return the punt, kicking a field goal, to return a kick off.

The initial 10 yard, '1st down' line stays at the same pace throughout the 4 downs.  If a player gets tackled behind the current line of scrimmage, the team with the ball must gain the additional yards lost through the tackle.  Example, on the '1st down', a player gets tackled 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage.  The next call with be '2nd (down) and 15 (yards)'.

A '1st down' is a term to signify the team gets a new lot of 4 downs to get another 10 yards down field, or in the end zone.

Usually only selected players kick the ball.  For instance, a team would have a punter that only punts the ball, and a kicker that only takes conversions and field goals.

A player may block any player on the field.

Methods of scoring.

- touchdown.  The ball must go over the line of the end zone with out going over the side line first.  it only has to 'break the plane' to be awarded.  This is worth 5 points.

- conversion.  There are two methods:

  - kick the ball between the goal posts and over the goal bar.  This is worth 1 point.

  - run, or pass, the ball into the end zone.  Similar to scoring a touchdown.  This is worth 2 points.

- safety.  When an opposing player is caught inside their end zone.  This is worth 2 points.

When punting the ball, all players are on side and can make tackles or block other players.

Answer 2

The only similarity is the ball shape. Other than that they are completely different sports.

Answer 3

3 important difference are that in rugby you can only pass backwards, you cant tackle someone who does not hold the ball, and play does not stop after the person with the ball is tackled.

and we have scrums, rucks, malls, lineouts......

oh yeah and to score you to have to touch the grass with the ball over the try line. just running over the line with the ball isnt enough

Answer 4

Although i donlt know heaps about Gridiron, they seem to be very different games, although the aim of getting the ball across the oppostions goal line is the same, every rule is different. Such as in rugby the ball MUST be passed backwards before running forwards. You really need to look up the rules of boths games to understand fully.

Answer 5

Both games are two different games and played very different.

In America Football there are 11 players in each team on the field at one time.

The playing field is a lot finnier than a rugby playing field. They have an Offensive team, a Defensive team and a Special team. (Kick return, field gold, kick off and kicking team)

The object is to advances the ball to score a touch down by simply having position of the ball and crossing the opponents’ line, while your opponent tries to stop you by tackling with the use of their defensive team.

To do this the offensive team are given 5 tackle counts to advance the ball over ten yards to gain another 5 tackle count. If they fail to do this it will result to a turn over to the opponent team where the offensive team will be replaced by the deffensive team and opponents team will be replaced by their offensive team.

The offensive team can advance the ball by running, passing it and one forward overhead pass in which it must be behind the skirmish line. (A skirmish line is where a line of players called line men face each other ready for battle.) The offensive line men job is to stop the defensive line men from getting pass with out holding or to make a hole for a running player and protect the running player.

In Rugby Union there are 15 players that play the full game unless sub or for reason of injury are replaced.

The object is to score tries by pressing the ball down over the opponents’ line.

The opposition is to try and stop you by tackling you, but there are no tackle counts and there is no 10 yards to be gain or any skirmish line.

Instead a Ruck or Maul is formed where both teams push over the tackle player with the ball to either gain or to maintain procession of the ball.

They would continue this until tries are scored or points are made.

Well, I hope that is of some help to you. Enjoy watching them both as they are both very enjoyable games.

Answer 6

You can't throw the ball forward in rugby. Rugby players are tough, they don't need armour.

Rugby lasts for around 80 mins, most of which the ball is in play. American football lasts for what seems 4 hours and the ball is in play for only around 20 minutes. The rest of the time the teams and coaches look as if they are having a chat. The game is very stop-start. If they go forward a couple of yards they have a celebration...a bit like the trenches in WWI.

Answer 7

I don't think there is a vertical passing game in rugby for starters.  That's just one of many differences, look them up.

Answer 8

While both of the sports are somewhat similar rugby is a little more like soccer.

Answer 9

The biggest differences are the lack of safety equipment in Rugby, and the difference in balls between the two (and I mean that in more than one way - haha).

http://jokertothethief.blogspot.com/2007...