Here's what the International Rugby Board, our global governing body, has to say about Rugby:
A game which started out as a simple pastime has been transformed into a global network around which vast stadia have been built, an intricate administrative structure created and complex strategies devised. Rugby Football, in common with any activity which attracts the interest and enthusiasm of all kinds of people, has many sides and faces.
Apart from the playing of the Game and its ancillary support, Rugby embraces a number of social and emotional concepts such as courage, loyalty, sportsmanship, discipline and teamwork. The objective is to ensure that Rugby manintains its unique character both on and off the field.
At first glance it is difficult to find the guiding principles behind a Game which, to the casual observer, appears to be a mass of contradictions. It is perfectly acceptable, for example, to be seen to be exerting extreme physical pressure on an opponent in an attempt to gain possession of the ball, but not willfully or maliciously to inflict injury.
It is through discipline, control and mutual respect that the spriit of the Game flourishes and, in the context of a game as physically challenging as Rugby, these are the qualities which forge the fellowship and sense of fair play so essential to the Game's ongoing success and survival.
The Object of the Game is that two teams, each of fifteen players, observing fiair play, according to the Laws and in a sporting spirit should, by carrying, passing, kicking and grounding the ball, score as many points as possible.
