What is Rugby?

Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. 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 each, using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field called a pitch. The field has H-shaped goalposts at both ends. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by male and female players of all ages. In 2014, there were more than 6 million people playing worldwide, of whom 2.36 million were registered players. World Rugby, previously called the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), has been the governing body for rugby union since 1886, and currently has 101 countries as full members and 18 associate members.

What are the rules of rugby?

The most basic law of the game is that no player is allowed to throw the ball forward to a teammate. In rugby, passes have to be thrown sideways or backwards to a teammate while the other ways to move the ball towards the opposition’s goal line to score points is by kicking or running with the ball. To prevent the attacking side from scoring, players are allowed to tackle the opponent in possession of the ball. Players can only tackle by wrapping their arms around their opponents to bring them to the ground and players are not allowed to tackle opponents above the shoulder,or to use their legs to tackle or trip them.

what is the most popular sport in NZ

Rugby remains the most popular sport in New Zealand ahead of football, netball and rugby league according to a UMR Research survey. The poll shows 64 percent of people are interested in rugby, with football in second spot at 45 percent.

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