Rugby union rules
These are the rules of rugby union sport , a variant of the rugby sport family , and its variant of rugby 7 according to the official regulations of the International Rugby Board (IRB).
Rugby court
According to the official rules of the IRB, the rugby field may have a surface consisting of grass , snow , clay or sand . There are no precise dimensions that a playing field has to meet, but it must not exceed a maximum length of 100 m and a maximum width of 70 m. At both ends of the playing field, the so-called painting fields are connected, the zones in which the ball has to be placed. They have a maximum length of 22 m, according to the regulations they should be at least 10 m long.
Lines on the square
Center line
The center line divides the playing field in half. It is equidistant from the ends of the playing field at every point and is perpendicular to the touchlines. The kicking team takes a position on her at the beginning of the game.
10-meter line
The 10 meter line gets its name because it is 10 meters from the center line. There are two 10-meter lines on the field, in front of and behind the center line. At the kick-off, the defending team is standing by her. The 10-yd-line is usually a short-dashed, non-solid line.
22-meter line
The 22-meter line is so named because it is 22 m from the end of the field. After her, the area between her and the goal lines is often called "the 22". The 22-meter line is a solid line that is orthogonal to the outer line. There are two pieces of the 22-meter line on the field, one in each half of the field.
5-meter line
5 m from the ends of the field there are six irregular stripes parallel to the center line. These form the 5-meter lines. There are two of them on the field.
5 yd touchline
5 m away from the sides of the playing field are the dashed 5 m touchlines parallel to the touchlines. There should be no more tackles behind them . They primarily serve to orient the players.
Touchlines
The touchlines are on the side edges of the playing field. According to the rules, they are no longer part of the playing field, so the ball would already be out of bounds here.
Final line
The back lines of the in-goal lines are called the end lines. Like all outlines, they are solid lines.
Goal of the game
The aim of the game is to score more points than the opposing team. There are basically three options for this:
- You can carry the ball past the opposing defense into the opposing in-goal area and place it there on the ground. Simply throwing the ball does not give you any points. Such (even so-called) attempt ( english try ) counts five points. Then the team that made the attempt has the chance to increase ( conversion ) of two more points. An attempt is made to kick the ball from the floor from any point on an imaginary line to the point where the attempt was made to kick the ball over the crossbar between the two longitudinal bars of the H-shaped posts.
- The somewhat idiosyncratic name "attempt" comes from the early days of rugby. Due to its origin in football, the increase was more important than it is today. Placing the ball behind the goal line earned only one point and justified an attempt to kick, which earned two points.
- Likewise, after a serious violation of the rules, you can “put a penalty kick on the bars”, which earns three points.
- A technically difficult drop kick through the bars is also possible from the open game, which is also worth three points.
Scoring
A distinction is made here between
- Game points: in a game. Their number depends on how they are achieved.
- Table points: for a game. If a competition is not played in KO mode, games won, drawn and lost count differently.
Game points
When the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) was founded in 1871, just like in football, only the goals were counted, i.e. the successful kicks through the poles. Only when there was a tie did the number of attempts make the difference. From 1875 a goal could be balanced by three attempts. The first point system was introduced on this basis in 1887 and has been modified several times by the IRB since 1890. Over the years, rugby union scores have changed as follows:
| year | Try | Con | Pen | DG | GM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1875 | x | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4th | 4th |
| 1893 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 4th |
| 1905 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 3 |
| 1948 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 1971 | 4th | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 1977 | 4th | 2 | 3 | 3 | - |
| 1992 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - |
Try : attempt , Con (version): increase , Pen (alty): penalty kick , DG = dropped goal: jump kick , GM = goal from a mark: free kick. “X” stands for the rating: 3 touchdowns = 1 try, 3 tries = 1 goal .
The last changes in 1977 were the abolition of the possibility of scoring points with a free kick and in 1992 the upgrading of the attempt to 5 points, so that an increased attempt (= 7) can no longer be compensated for by two penalties (= 6).
Table points
If everyone plays against everyone in a tournament or league , the standings are first determined from won, drawn and lost games, before the game points are taken into account in the event of a tie. Three systems have emerged here (the examples do not claim to be complete):
- WM system
( World Championship , Tri Nations , Bundesliga )
| Won | 4th | |
| draw | 2 | |
| Lost | 0 | |
| bonus | 1 | with at least 4 attempts achieved |
| bonus | 1 | in the event of a defeat 7 or less game points behind |
- EM system
( FIRA European Championship and lower divisions in Germany)
| Won | 3 |
| draw | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Not started | 0 |
- Six Nations System
( Six Nations )
| Won | 2 |
| draw | 1 |
| Lost | 0 |
Length of the game
A rugby union game lasts 40 minutes twice (with the clock running, with many top games - e.g. international matches - now with the clock stopped during breaks due to injury). For youth games, shorter playing times are common. The break between the two halves is ten minutes.
Course of the game
Each team of 15 players tries to carry the oval ball (which has the shape of an elongated ellipsoid of revolution) into the opposing in-goal area and place it there. The ball must never be thrown forward. Space can therefore only be gained by running with the ball and kicking the ball. Back passes are usually made at an angle to achieve a free running position.
defense
Meanwhile, the defender tries to stop the attack and capture the ball by tackling ( holding down ) or pushing away the player carrying the ball. Actions above shoulder height are not permitted in rugby union, and it is also prohibited to stop the opponent by means other than holding down or pushing.
Game interruptions
After the interruptions are in the highly dynamic game two set pieces: the crowds (Engl. Scrum ), in which the striker of the teams face each bent and hooked into each other and try to conquer the outside, sideways rolled ball by pressing forward, and the alley ( English line-out ), in which the ball is thrown in from the side. The players of the two teams line up opposite one another and form an alley into which the ball must be thrown. The throw-in must be in a straight line and must be thrown in the middle of the two teams, i.e. in the alley. The throw-in can vary in length and height. Now both teams try to get possession of the ball by lifting one of their teammates into the air to help catch the ball.
Offside
See # Rugby Union offside rule .
7-a-side rugby a variant of rugby union
7-a-side rugby as it is played today is a sub-form of rugby union . Basically everything stays the same, only that the number of players per team is reduced to 7 and the game is shorter. It should be noted that, in contrast to the 15 version, the team that scored the points also takes the kick.
See also
swell
- ↑ Chris Rhys: Rugby. The Records . Enfield, Middlesex (Guinness Superlatives Ltd), 1987. ISBN 0-85112-450-X .