Understanding Major Terms in Rugby

Rugby (both rugby union and rugby league)  is not such an easy game to understand with all the foreign terms included but luckily for you, this article will try to break it down for you on how it’s played and some terms to always look out for and understand and these include:

The Team players

There are 15 players in a team with up to 7 substitutes totaling it up to 22 players for rugby union and 23 for rugby league.

The team is divided into forwards and backs. 

Scoring in Rugby game 

Scoring in rugby is done through different types of play;

Drop goal, penalties, penalty try and a try explained in-depth below:

Try

A try is a rugby score where a player grounds the ball either on the goal line or the base parts of the goal post (remember the goal post is H shaped) and it’s the most basic way to score with the highest points of up to 5 points in rugby union and 4 points in rugby league.

Drop Goal 

A drop goal is also referred to a field goal or dropped goal is scored by a player kicking the ball after dropping it and it should bounce first before kicking it into the goal post. A drop goal is worth 3 points in union and only one point in the league.

A Penalty Try

A penalty try is awarded by the referee to the offended team in case a try was to be scored if not for the offending team's misconduct. For rugby league, the penalty try is awarded alongside a conversion attempt 

A Conversion Attempt

A conversion attempt is a drop kick or placekick (kicked from the ground) after a try or penalties try and it earns the team another additional two points.