RUGBY TERMS AND GLOSSARY.

Rugby Terms

Pitch: Rugby is played on what looks like a field, is a field, but is called a pitch.

Ruck: A ruck is formed when the ball is on the ground and one or more players from each team are on their feet in physical contact and closing around the ball. The purpose of this is that each player involved in the ruck, with his/her feet, tries to retrieve the ball without infringing any rules.

Maul: A maul is formed when one or more players from each team are on their feet in physical contact and closing around a player that has possession of the ball.

In-Touch: In-touch is when the ball or the player carrying the ball touches the touchline (side line) or beyond it. This is followed by a Line-Out.

The Ruck !!!!

The Maul !!!!!

Line-Out:

To get the ball back into play once it is in-touch, at least two players from each team line-up on each of their sides in a line that is perpendicular to the touchline. The two sides have to be 1 meter apart. The line-out stretches from 5 meters to 15 meters away from the touchline. Any player not within that range cannot be involved in the line-out.

(See image at right.)

Scrum:

Is usually called after a penalty or when the ball stops advancing resulting from a maul or a ruck. The scrum is a precise assembling of specific players that battle for possession of the ball. The ball is placed between the front line of each team and players try to pass the ball towards the back of their formation using their feet. (See illustration at left)

Positions and Players...

Here are the positions indicated by the numbers to the left and above and the qualities one should possess to fit the shoes.

( 1 ) Loose Head Prop (solid with good medical insurance)

( 2 ) Hooker (small, swift, agile and control-freak)

( 3 ) Tight Head Prop (same as #1)

( 4 & 5. ) Second Rows "Locks" (Hercules-like)

( 6.&7. ) Wing Forwards "Flankers" (quick go-getter)

( 8.) Number Eight (skillful and smart)

( 9.) Scrumhalf (experienced [bruised], smart [old])-is both a forward and back.

(10.) Flyhalf (golden hands and stoic, perfect for late night activities)

( 11 & 14.) Wing (runs like the wind)

( 12.) Inside Center (deceptive)

( 13.) Outside Center (deceptively faster)

( 15.) Fullback (great kicker, sees all)

Basic Rules

Offside-Onside: A player can never be in front of the ball, he/she is then offside. Hence, the ball can never be passed forward unless it is kicked.

Tackling: An offensive player who doesn't have the ball cannot be tackled. Only the player who is in possession can be tackled.

Blocking: Offensive players cannot block or obstruct a defender from making a tackle.

Length of a Game: The games are normally 80 minutes long with a 5 minutes half-time. Injury time is also added at the end of each half, although the length of injury time is left to the discretion of the referee.

Passing Game

The passing game is pretty simple. A player CANNOT PASS FORWARD. Lateral passes are tolerated but they are sketchy. Backward passes are the way to go, which explains the diagonal line up of the offensive team.

The backward pass also allows the receiver of the pass some time before the opponents get to him/her since the defenders have to be on their respected side of the ball. Ideally the receiver should time the reception while running at full speed.

How to score

Try: When an attacking player grounds the ball in the opponent's in-goal. A try is worth 5 points.

Conversion Goal: Following a try, the scoring team has the right to placekick or dropkick the ball at goal on a line through the place where the ball was grounded in the in-goal. The kick is worth 2 points if it goes through the two uprights of the goal and over the crossbar.

Penalty Kick: When the attacking team should have scored, but because of foul play by the defending team, didn't. The attacking team gets the chance to placekick or dropkick the ball between the uprights and over the cross bar for 3 points.

Goal: A goal can be scored during play if a player placekicks or dropkicks the ball between the uprights and over the cross bar. A goal is worth 3 points.