The object of rugby is that by running, passing and kicking, players should attempt to score as many points as possible, the team with the greater number of points at full-time to be the winner.
The Field
A rugby pitch can be a football or soccer field, rectangular in shape. Rough dimensions are 65m wide by 100m long, try line to try line, with try zones up to 22m deep.
We will play on fields that are as little as 50 yards wide and perhaps only 90 yards long. For the youngest age groups, we will make the field smaller, but we generally play on full-size fields.
Number of Players per team: The game consists of two opposing teams:
- 7 per side in youth touch rugby.
- 11 per side in youth tackle rugby, but this number can adjust down to 7 per side, if either side is short on players.
Time:
For youth touch rugby, there are four periods of ten minutes each.
For youth tackle rugby, there are two halves of 25 minutes each.
Scoring comes through four methods:
- Try (5 points). A try is scored by carrying the ball into an opponent’s goal area, and grounding (touching down) the ball. The ball must be touched down to the ground, with the hands, arms or body from neck to waist, in control and with downward pressure. Defenders may place their hands or bodies below the ball or take other physical actions on the ball carrier to prevent it from being touched down.
- Conversion (2 points). After a try, an attempt to convert by kicking the ball over the crossbar can be made. The point of the conversion attempt comes directly out from the try zone from the point at which the try was made. The kick may be a place kick or drop kick. Opponents may charge the kick when the kicker begins his run at the ball.
- Penalty Kick (3 points). When awarded a penalty for serious infraction of the Laws, a team may attempt to kick at goal. If successful, play resumes with a kickoff from center. When kicked, the penalty kick is live, and play resumes.
- Drop Goal (3 points). At any time in open play any player may attempt a drop goal. This is made by propelling the ball from the hands and kicking it as it rises from the ground on his first bounce. The ball is live at all times during and after a drop kick. If successful, play restarts with kickoff from center.
Goal Posts and Kicking
Yes, we can use football goal posts, or soccer goal posts with uprights strapped to them. Goal posts are great to have, but are not required to play a match. Rugby goal posts should be on the try line, but since football goal posts are on what would be the rugby end line, we can make adjustments without having to move the goal posts.
The goal posts are for kicking at goal, for conversion attempts after a try is scored, for penalty kicks, and for drop goals. For the youngest players, this is not a big part of the game, but becomes much more important as players mature. A player who can consistently kick penalty kicks and conversions is a highly valuable asset to the team.
Substitutions
Substitutions usually are made at the half or quarter, but coaches can agree upon mid-period substitutions.
In youth rugby, players who have been substituted may re-enter the match at any time.
A player who has been sent off (red card) may not be substituted back into play at any time, and his team plays without a substitution.
Penalties, Discipline, and the Send-Off
Referees will penalize numerous serious offenses in rugby, many of which occur in youth rugby due to lack of familiarity with the Laws. This is understandable, and coaches and referees will work with players to educate them beforehand, rather than punish them afterwards.
Referees will penalize unsportsmanlike conduct and dangerous play immediately, with no advantage being played, regardless of the situation. Referees will penalize taunting and excessive celebration after a score. Referees will penalize players for criticism of referee decisions. Referees will penalize illegal and dangerous contact. Referees will penalize for fighting.
For repeated or very serious infractions, the referee may give a yellow card. The offending player must leave the game for seven minutes, and during this time his team may not substitute for him; they will play short. This is called the “Sin Bin.”
A second yellow card equals a red card, and the player is sent off (ejected from the match). A red-carded player must leave the playing enclosure, which means depart the entire area in which the match is taking place, and that player may not be substituted; his team plays short for the remainder of the match. This is a very serious situation, as all send-offs require a report to the league, and the league disciplinary committee may impose further restrictions or suspensions on the player, or his coaches.
In Fort Hunt Rugby, a player receiving a yellow or red card will undergo coaching/commissioner review, and may be suspended from play.
Kickoff
Before the match the referee meets with the team captains and the winner of the coin toss has the option of kicking or choosing an end to defend (receiving a kick on that end of the field).
The game opens with a drop-kick kickoff, as does the second half. Teams switch sides of the field at halftime.
After each score, play resumes with a kickoff, with the team which has scored kicking to their opponents.
Movement on the Field
While holding the ball, a player may run in any direction. Supporting teammates may run in any direction, as long as they do not obstruct the defense from reaching the ball carrier.
The ball carrier may pass the ball at any time to any teammate, as long as the pass is lateral or backwards. A forward pass results in a scrum to the opposing team.
The ball carrier may kick the ball at any time, in any direction (downfield is best). Supporting players who are on-sides may chase the ball and participate in play.
Defense
In touch rugby, defenders give a two-handed tag between the waist and knees to “tackle” the ball carrier. The ball carrier must stop immediately and play the ball immediately, that is, pass it or post it to the ground.
In tackle rugby, the defender executes a tackle by wrapping the ball carrier with one or both arms, ideally at the waist, but no higher then the line of the shoulders, to bring the ball carrier to the ground. Once on the ground (one or both knees on the ground, sitting, or lying), the ball carrier must immediately play the ball (pass it to a teammate), post it (let go of it), or if not held by the tackler get back to his feet and continue running.
The tackler is obligated to immediately release the tackled player and move away from him; the tackler also may not interfere with the ball carrier’s actions.
The Scrum
This is the iconic symbol of rugby, a mass of players, hunched together, grunting and shoving...
Actually, the scrum is one of the most common features of rugby, a formal formation used to restart play after a minor infraction of the Laws. Usually a scrum results from a pass-forward or a knock-on.
In touch rugby, a scrum consists of a left prop (loose head), a hook, and a right prop (tight head), with a scrumhalf putting the ball in from the side. The two props and hooker bind together with the hooker in the middle to form a line of three players abreast (see photo). They meet up with their opposite numbers and come together to form the scrum.
In tackle rugby, there are five players in the scrum, with the addition of two lock-forwards to form a two-man second row behind the props and hooker in the front row.
In youth rugby the scrums are uncontested, that is, the team putting the ball in (the non-offending team) automatically wins the ball. That means there is no push in the scrum.
Once the ball is thrown into the tunnel between the two teams, it is moved backwards through the scrum by the feet (hands are not allowed), until it emerges at the back of the scrum, where the scrumhalf picks it up and open play resumes.
The Maul
In touch rugby, if a ball carrier is about to be tagged and has no passing options, he can call “Maul!” This has to be loud enough for his teammates and the referee to hear. He turns to present the ball to his team, and at least one teammate binds to the ball carrier, ideally protecting the ball. The defense should bind to the ball carrier as well. A maul is made with this biding taking place, with the ball held up off the ground.
Once the maul has been won, that is, the ball carrier’s team arrives with binding support before the defenders do, they pass the ball out of the back of the maul, and regular play resumes. This can take two or three seconds, or could go on much longer.
In tackle rugby, the maul usually forms when a ball carrier and tackler meet, and the tackler cannot bring the carrier to the ground. So, there is no requirement to release the ball, so a contest for possession of the ball ensues. A maul is defined by this contest for the ball, with the ball off the ground. Both teams bind onto their players, with a simple off-side line forming across the field between them, and they forcefully attempt to win the ball for their team.
See the photo at right for a maul.
One team will gain clean possession of the ball, and it is passed to the back of the maul and out to waiting players, who continue with open play. Failure to produce the ball quickly will result in a stoppage of play, with the resulting scrum awarded to the team which did not bring the ball into the maul.
The Ruck
In touch rugby, a player with no passing options can call, “Ruck!” and place the ball at his feet. As in a maul, players bind to their teammates, and the ball is passed backwards on the ground with the feet—not with the hands—in an informal type of scrum. When it reaches the back of the ruck, it is picked up, passed out, and open play resumes.
See the photo at right for a (tackle) ruck.
In tackle rugby, a ruck ensues when a ball carrier has been tackled and places the ball on the ground (posts the ball). Both teams bind on one another, while on their feet, with the ball on the ground below them—this is the definition of the ruck. An offside line forms across the field. The players vie for possession of the ball with their feet, not touching it with their hands. The ball works to the back of the ruck, and is picked up, passed out, and open play resumes. This can happen very quickly, in a matter of seconds, or a ruck can go on for much longer.
The Lineout
The lineout is a formal formation which takes place after the ball has gone into touch (out of bounds).
The team that did not put the ball into touch has the throw-in.
For touch rugby, the lineout consists of the hooker, two props and the scrumhalf from each team.
In tackle rugby, the lineout consists of four in the line (usually the scrum players), the hooker and the scrumhalf.
The two teams line up in parallel lines opposite the place of touch, and the ball is thrown down the tunnel between the two teams, and they contest for it. In touch rugby, players may not lift; in tackle rugby, players may lift one another to aid in jumping for the ball.
A ruck or maul may result from a lineout, and then open play resumes.
