Basicrugbyrules

Knowthebasicrugbyrulesandenjoyrugby.Beconfident.Knowwhat'shappening.Getintoit.
Easilyfindalldetailsoftherugbyruleswhenyouwantto.Improveyourgame.
YesIdoknow,thankyou!...theyareactuallycalledLawsoftheGameofRugbyUnionbutmost
peoplejustcallthem"rules".
Thiscanbeusedasaneasy,simpleorbasicintroductiontotherules.
Justscrolldownor...
Selectatopicforinformationaboutthebasicrulesofrugby
Whocontrolstherulesofrugby?
Whatarethebasicrules?
1.Grounds
2.Equipment
3.Players
4.Clothing
5.Time
6.Officials
7.Mode
8.Playon!
9.Points
10.Fouls
11.Offside
12.Knockon
13.Startandrestarts
14.Groundball
15.Tackles
16.Rucks
17.Mauls
18.Marking
19.Touch

20.Scrums
21.Penalties
22.Ingoals
23.Bamboozleopponents
Variations,signs,nonEnglish
ShouldIknowalltherules?
Whatnext?

Whocontrolstherulesofrugby?
WorldRugby,formerlyknownas"TheInternationalRugbyBoard",controlsrugbyandhowit's
played.
Theycontrolthe"LawsoftheGameRugbyUnion"
Theserulestellushowtoplay.
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Whatarethebasicrules?
Somerulesaresimpleandnecessaryandeasytoinclude.
Somerulesarenecessarytoknowbutverycomplexandtechnical.Soit'sbesttoincludejustthe
mostimportantpartsofthemwhengettingtogetherbasicrules.
Onthispagegettoknowthebasics.Forsomerulesthebasicsarejustafewwords.
Wherethereisalink,clicktogetwhatyouneedtoknow.Forfulldetailsofrugbyrules,follow
thislinktotheWorldRugbyLaws.
Norulesspecificallymentiontherugbysidestep.
Sidestepsarespecialwaysyoumovetheballtowardstheoppositiongoallinewhenyouare
carryingtheball.
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1Grounds
Rugbygroundshavelineseverywhere!Somesolid,somedashed.Whatdotheyallmeanand
whicharemostimportant?
Gettoknowmoreaboutthebasicsbylearningaboutthefield,alsoknownasthepitch.
Easy,stepbystep,knowtherugbyfield,someassociatedrulesandadditionalinteresting
information.

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2Equipment
It'snotroundsoit'sabitofaweirdshapeforaball!
True,butitdoesmakethegameprettyinteresting.
Gettoknowtheballsoyoucatchitwellorpredictwhereit`sgoingtobounceandwhereitwillgo
afteritbounces.
Youcanmaketheballdowhatyouwantittodo...
...whenyouknowallabouttherugbyball.
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3Players
Oneofthesimplerulesmaximumof15playersinateam,withupto7substitutesallowed.
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4Clothingandfootwearforplaying
Rugbygearisshirt,shorts,underwear,socksandboots!talktocurrentplayersforadviceonkit.
Someminimalpaddingisallowed.
Bootsareprobablythemostimportantitem.Beforebuyingthem,youmayliketoreadthis
Safetyandcomfortaremostimportant.Keepinmind...
IRBreregulationsstatethatstudlengthmustnotexceed21mmandstudsshouldnot'burr'
(createsharpedgeswhenworndown)
forwardsplayclosetogetherandoftentheirfeetarestoodonbyotherforwards,sturdier
bootsoffermoreprotection
forwardsrequiregoodgripforpushing,individualstudsmaybebetterthanmouldedsoles
ifyouhavebootswithindividualscrewinstudsyoucanhavemorethanonesetofstuds
andusestudssuitableforthesurfaceyouareabouttoplayon
forspeedandagilitybacksmaypreferlighterbootswithmouldedsoles
beforeyoubuy,tryonthebootswiththesamethicknessofsockyouwillbewearingduring
agame
buyfromareputabletraderandspecifyyouwant'rugbyboots'
football(soccer)bootsmaybesuitablebuttendtobealighterconstruction(offeringless
protectionforyourfeet)
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5Timehowlongisamatch
Two40minutehalves,maximumof10minuteshalftimebreak.Useanyexistingweather
conditions,theymaychange(justmyopinion!)

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6MatchOfficialsupholdthelaws(rules)
Refereeandtwotouchjudges.Beingamatchofficialisnoteasy,officialsprovideagreatservice
anddeservesupport.
Veryimportant.Alwaysrememberthespiritoftherulesofrugby...
Weallmakemistakes
Whatwethinkwesaw/heardissometimesnotwhatreallyhappened
Justlikeyou,theMatchofficialsaredoingtheirbest
Playtothewhistleitmaybeyouradvantage.
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7Mode
Playersrunningallovertheplace!What'sgoingon?
Thislawlaysoutafewdetailsofwhatyoucandoinamatch.
Inafewlinesitexplainsthatanyplayerwhois'onside'cangettheball,runwithit,kick,passor
scoreatrywithitandbetacklediftheyarecarryingit.
Wehaveawholesectiononwhatyoudoinagame.Whenyouwanttoknowmore,usethemain
menutogotothatsection.
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8Playon!evenwhenrulesarebroken
What'sgoingon!Theyjustbroketherules,buttherefereeignoredit!Knowandunderstandthe
"advantage"rule.
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9Pointsandhowyouearnthem
Whyhavethisteamgotmorepointsthanthatone?Whyaretheytryingsohardtogetoverthat
line?Whyaretheykickingattheposts?
Important
Findouthowyouscoretriesandkickgoals.
Methodofscoring
Try/Penaltytry
Conversion
Penaltygoal
Dropgoal
.

Pointsawarded
5
2
3
3

Theteamwithmostpointsatfulltime(whenthewhistleblowsfortheendofthegame)winsthe
game.
Ifthescoresareequalit`sadraw.
Ifawinnerhastobefound,sayforaCupcompetition,extratimewillbeplayed.Competitions
havetheirownrules.Thereisnoconceptofa"penaltyshootout".
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10Foulswhatyoucannotdo
Foulplayisdoinganythinginthegamewhichisagainsttherulesofrugbyorthespiritofthe
rules.
Thisisoneofthemostimportantrules.Befair,playfair!Thisruleaimstokeepinjuriestoa
minimum.
Ignoringthisruleiscowardly.Itmayresultinseriousinjurytoyourselforotherplayers.
Improveyourgame,knowthisrule
Foulplayincludes
obstructingopponents
punching,trampling,kickingortrippingplayers
tacklingtooearly,toolate,abovetheshoulders
tacklingaplayerwhentheyareintheair
doinganythingwhichisunfairordangerous.
REMEMBERoneofthemostimportantLawsofthegame.
Youmightdrivethishomewithstoriesofsports(wo)manship
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11OffsideandOnsideinGeneralPlay
Thatplayerisrightwheretheballis.Whydon'ttheypickitup?
Itmaybebecausetheyareoffside.Thisisimportant.Iftheypickeduptheballtheywouldgive
awayapenalty.
Here'sabasicruleofthumb.
Aimtostaybehindtheball.
Makesuretheballandtheplayerinyourteamplayingtheballareaheadofyouinrelationtothe
oppositiongoalline.
Ifnot,avoidbecominginvolvedinplay.
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12KnockonorThrowforward
Sometimesyouaccidentallymishandletheballandknockitforwardsoffyourhandsorarms.
Youareallowedtotryandregaincontrol.
Ifyoucatchitagainbeforeittouchesanotherplayerortouchesthegroundyoucanplayon.
Otherwiseitisa"knockon"andplaymaybestopped.
Theywanttogettheballtotheotherend,don'tthey?
Whydotheyalwaysthrowitbackwards!
It'sbecauseapassor"throwforward"isnotpermitted.
Passstraightacrossthefield...Yes,OK
Passbackwardstowardsyourowngoalline...Yes,OK
Passforwardstowardstheoppositiongoalline...NO,notpermitted!
Thehandsandanymovementmustdirecttheballbackwards(orlevel).
Becauseofthespeedoftheplayerpassingtheball,itispossible(andpermitted)thattheball
travelsforwardfromthepointwheretheballisreleased.
Ifyouintentionallyknockonorthrowtheballforwardsyoumaybepenalized.Ifwhatyoudid
preventsaprobabletry,apenaltytrymaybeawarded.
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13Startsandrestarts
Acoinistossedbeforethegame.
Thecaptainoftheteamthat'winsthetoss'chooseseitherto'kickoff'orwhichdirectiontoplay
inthefirsthalf(whichhalftodefend).
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14Groundball
Sometimestheplayerholdingtheball,ortheballalone,endsuponthegroundwithoutatackle
takingplace.Whathappensnext?
Findoutabouttheballonthegroundwhenthereisnotackle.
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15Tackles
Whentheballcarrieristackled(broughttotheground)therearesomethingsyoumustdoand
somethingsyoumustnotdo.
Itdependsonwhetheryouaretheballcarrier,thetacklerorjustanotherplayer.

Thisisimportant!Youneedtoknowaboutthetackle.
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16Rucks
Theballisrightthereontheground,Shouldn`ttheypickitup?
Sometimesyouarenotallowedtopickuptheball
It'susefultoknowabouttheruck
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17Mauls
They`reallgrapplingfortheball.What'sgoingon!
Learnaboutthemaul
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18Marking
Theyjustcaughttheball,andshouted"Mark".Theneverythingstopped.What'shappening?
Findoutaboutthemark
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19Outofplay
Whentheballgoesoutofplayoverthesidelineplaystopsandyourestartwithalineout.
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20Scrums
Followingsomeinfringmentsoftherulesplayisrestartedwithascrum.
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21Penalties
Dependingontheseriousnessoftheoffence,teamsmaybeawardedapenaltyorafreekick
whentheotherteaminfringestherules.
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22Ingoals

Specialareasateachendofthefieldaretheingoalareas.Thisiswhereyouscoretries
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23Bamboozleopponents
Probablythemostimportantruleofall.
Nah...justkidding!
It`snotaruleatall...butitshouldbe.
You`llenjoyrugbyanywaybutyou`llhavemuchmorefunwhenyoulearntoavoidtacklersis
thequestionnowistheanswer.
Findouthowyouavoidtacklerswithsidestepssoyouwillalwaysbethinkingaboutthemandhow
youwillbegoodwhenyoulearnwithEvtecHs.
Maybe,afteralltheserules,it`stimeforabitoffun.
PlayaboutwithdifferentpassesGoon,haveago!
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Variations,signs,nonEnglish
TheWorldRugby.orgwebsitehasdownloadsforalltherules.They'reverydetailed.Theyhaveto
be.
Therulesdownloadsarelarge!Linksforalltherulesaregiven.
Youcanseevariationsoftherulesfor...
...U19rugbyrules...
...7srugbyrules...
...andfindoutaboutrefereesignals
IfyourfirstlanguageisnotEnglishtheWorldRugbyhasitcovered.Youcangototheirsiteand
readtherugbyrulesinotherlanguages
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ShouldIknowalltherules?
It`sgoodtoknowthemainrules,but.
There`snosubstituteforknowingalltherules!
Nowyou`vegottheessentials,letthemsinkin.Thenyoucantakeinmoreofthedetailsof
rugbyrules.

Themoreyouknow,themoreconfidentyou`llbethatyou`replayingcorrectly.It`simportant
youavoidgivingawaypenalties.
Fairplayisthefoundationforrugby.
PrinciplesoftheGameandPrinciplesoftheLawsarewellworthreading.
They`repartofahugedocument.Downloaditwhenyouhaveplentyoftimeandplentyofdisk
space!It'stheofficialIRBLawbook.
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Whatnext?
Hangaroundorcomebacksoon...
Selectanotherrugbytopicfromthelefthandmenusoyoubecomeanexpert.
VisitusonFacebookorstayandlookatourFacebookrugbypage.
Getyourfriendsinvolved.Ifyouenjoythissiteandfinditusefulhelpthemeasilyusethis
informationtoobyusingthe"Sharethispage"faciltyatthebottomofeachpage.
Nowyouknowthebasicshavealookatsomeoftheskillsorhowtoplayorfindoutmoreabout
positions...justusethemenu!
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