EF Site: Football and Rugby

RUGBY

Rugby is a football game played with an oval ball, usually by teams with 13 (in professional matches) or 15 (amateur) members on each side. It is similar to association football (soccer) and U.S. football, but play is continuous and substitution is not allowed. The ball may be kicked, carried, or thrown between players, but it may not be passed forward; lateral passing, tackling, and scrum are featured. The object of rugby is to score goals or tries (touchdowns), either by carrying or kicking the ball behind an opponent's goal line.

According to tradition, rugby originated in England in 1823, when a football player at the Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, ran with the ball instead of kicking it. This new style of football was excluded from the Football Association that was set up in 1863, but it continued to gain popularity through the schools. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, which now regulates the amateur sport in England, was organized to standardize rules, and the game caught on quickly throughout the British Isles and in Commonwealth countries. In 1934 the Fédération Internationale de Rugby Amateur (FIRA) was formed as the governing body for international amateur competition.

Professional rugby was organized in 1895, when 22 clubs from northern England broke away from the Rugby Union and formed a new organization that, from 1922, was called the Rugby Football League. Rugby League is mainly professional, whereas Rugby Union is entirely amateur. The rules of the two games vary slightly, but they are played on similar fields. Rugby League is played mainly in northern England, Australia, New Zealand, and France. World Cup tournaments are held for both Rugby League and Rugby Union.

Seven-a-side rugby, also called rugby sevens, is an abbreviated form of rugby. Teams consist of three forwards and four backs. The game was invented in Scotland in 1883, and it has become very popular in Asia and the Pacific region. World Cup sevens competition began in 1993.