What Is Rugby Football

Rugby is derived from a type of football that was played during the 1800s at rugby school in england.

What is rugby football. Rugby football is a collective name for the family of team sports of rugby union and rugby league as well as the earlier forms of football from which both games association football australian rules football and gridiron football evolved. The first rugby match in american rutgers vs. Cambridge teams were limited to fifteen players per side. Rugby union widely known simply as rugby is a full contact team sport that originated in england in the first half of the 19th century.

American football vs rugby comparison. The rugby football union was formed and held the first international match between england and scotland. It is usually called rugby or rugger. According to the sport s lore in 1823 william webb ellis a pupil at rugby school defied the conventions of the day that the ball may only be.

The most famous rugby union team is national men s team of new zealand which is nicknamed the all blacks. Rugby football is a sport people play in many countries. The sport is popular in many countries particularly those in europe and the south pacific. Rugby football game played with an oval ball by two teams of 15 players in rugby union play or 13 players in rugby league play.

Rugby rapidly spread from its elitist origins in england scotland and ireland to middle and working class men in the north of england and in wales and to the british colonies in south africa australia and new zealand. Both rugby union and rugby league have their origins in the style of football played at rugby school in england. Teams can also score points by kicking the ball between the posts this is known as a field goal. Rugby players play with the minimal of protective equipment most playing only with a gum shield.

It also spread to north america where it was transformed into a new style of football. Legend has it that one day in 1823 a senior boy called william webb ellis elected to run with the ball rather than retiring to kick it as was the normal mode of play in rugby school football matches. The object of american football is to score more points than the opposing team by carrying the ball behind the opponents touch line called a touchdown. One of the two codes of rugby football it is based on running with the ball in hand in its most common form a game is played between two teams of 15 players using an oval shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch.

The first rugby match in scottland edinburgh university vs edinburgh academicals 1869. American football fields are shorter than rugby pitches having a total length of 109 73m compared to rugby s 120m. Rugby rugby the growth of the game. American football is a game of intense physical play with complex strategy to score points by advancing the ball to the.

Rugby football is named after rugby school the public school in england where it was developed.