- Published: January 4, 2022
- Updated: January 4, 2022
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Downloads: 35
During the 19th century, rugby was considered as one of the different versions of football played by the English public schools of the UK. The signature mark of the game of rugby, which is, running forward with the ball, was innovated only in the latter half of the 19th century. As the record goes, the first written rules for playing rugby were produced by the Rugby School in 1845.
Describing the rules of the game of rugby, the most important thing in the game is to handle the ball. Biscombe and Drewett (2010) have made it very clear at the beginning of their book: “ All rugby players need good ball-handling skills to cope with the various demands of the attacking game: running with the ball, passing and catching at actual game speed, also called pace.” Keeping the possession of the rugby ball is of utmost significance if the rugby player wants to take full advantage of any attacking position.
In order to further understand the various laws of rugby, it is important to know the structure of the rugby field. The rugby pitch is a 100 meters long and 69 to 70 meters wide grass field. The sidelines are called touchlines. It includes two in-goal areas each of which is 10 to 22 meters deep. The front area is a try line while its back is a dead ball line. Goalposts are located on the try line. Other important lines on the rugby pitch are:
The game of rugby starts with the tossing of a coin that determines the team which will kick off first. Each of the two teams consists of 15 players – 8 forwards and 7 backs. The kicker from the team that wins the toss gets the ball on the ground and starts the match on the referee’s whistle by kicking the ball high and short to the opposing forwards. If a receiving team’s forward catches the ball successfully, then he will try to advance the ball running into the opposition.