History of Rugby
The origins of rugby are linked to England and the autumn of 1823. The game was named after the town where it originated, Rugby. Playing football, William Webb Ellis, among fifty players, catches the ball with his hands and runs straight to the legend. His historical running is recorded because that day a new game appeared in which the ball is carried with the hands. Until then, the ball could be kicked or kicked, but not carried.
Rugby developed very quickly in the second half of the 19th century. Around 1865, there were about 15 clubs in London. The game was played according to very imprecise rules, and the number of players in the team was not strictly defined. There were usually 20 players on each side. It was not until 1875, at the initiative of the University of Oxford and Cambridge, and then with the support of the Scottish Federation, that the number of players was reduced to 15 per team.
Although rugby is primarily a collective game, in the beginning, the emphasis was on the individual strength of individual players. The cooperation of the players was reflected only in the help in stopping the opponent, in pushing and participating in big crowds. It was not until the end of the 19th century that rugby began to develop in the direction of developing a collective game of passing. In later years, rugby progressed significantly and developed into an international sport played on all continents.
Popularity
We connect the origin of modern Olympism in 1894 and the formation of the International Olympic Committee with Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who presented rugby at the "Second Olympic Games" in Paris in 1900. Rugby was regularly present at other games in London in 1908, Antwerp in 1920, and Paris in 1924, but was canceled due to the length of the games. The initiator of modern Olympism, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, was a prominent rugby referee who judged the first final of the French Championship in 1892. Rugby achieved the greatest popularity in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Italy, Romania, so all these countries achieved the greatest results in competitions.
Until 1987, competitions for the Webb Ellis Cup were held, and since that year the name has been changed to the World Rugby Cup. After World War II, rugby continued to grow rapidly. In Europe, in 1882, there was a competition called the "Four Nations Cup" (England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales), from 1910 the "Five Nations Cup" because it joins France, and from 2000 the "Six Nations Cup" with the accession Italy. In the southern hemisphere, the "Three Nations Cup" competition was founded in 1996, where the strongest national teams from that part of the world, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, participated. Argentina has joined this competition since 2012 and is now the name of the "Four Nations Cup" competition.
The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987 in Australia and New Zealand. Until 1998, rugby was a strictly amateur sport that was mostly played in universities and schools across Europe, where the main goal was to teach young people the importance of the collective spirit, to strive to persevere together because in rugby it was brought to perfection. Rugby is a sport in which the individual skill and talent of individual players do not come to the fore if the rest of the team does not play for each other. Because of these qualities, young people regularly played rugby at Cambridge and Oxford as a compulsory part of their schooling.
Rugby returned to the 2012 Olympics as an experimental sport, and in 2016 returned as a regular Olympic sport. Rugby is the third most popular sport in the world. According to statistics, the most-watched are the Olympic Games, then the World Cup in football, and then the World Cup in rugby. It is played on all continents, it is most represented in Australia, New Zealand, in recent years it has become popular in Argentina, it is dominant in England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and France. When it comes to rugby, a strong tradition exists in the Basque Country, Occitania, and Catalan regions. The game is very popular in South Africa, where it was introduced by Anglophile settlers in the 19th century. British colonists also brought this game with them to Australia and New Zealand, where it is widely represented. Rugby has spread across much of Polynesia with particular popularity in Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga. Rugby is becoming increasingly popular in America and parts of Asia.
Variations of Rugby
Rugby is played on a field measuring: 100m long and 70m wide. The goal in rugby is in the shape of the letter H. The ball is egg-shaped, and usually consists of 4 panels. There are 2 main versions of rugby: rugby 13 and rugby 15 (Rugby League and Rugby Union). In addition to the number of players, they also differ in the rules. The two mentioned types differ from each other as two different sports, with different alliances. There are also versions with fewer players - rugby 7 according to the rules of rugby 15 and rugby 9 according to the rules of rugby 13. These versions are characterized by fewer contacts, faster play, and shorter duration. Lately, beach rugby has become very popular. The most basic rule of all rugby is that the ball must not be thrown forward, except when it is kicked.
The object of the game is to transfer the ball into the opponent's goal area - an try. For that, a certain number of points was obtained, and then the conversion for a smaller number of points was shot. The exact number of points depends on rugby to rugby. If the ball goes forward in rugby, the referee awards a scrum for the opposing team.
Rugby 13 and Rugby 15
The main difference between the two sports is that when a player is knocked down in rugby 13, play the ball is played, and in rugby 15, ruck is formed. When playing the ball, two players of the attacking team stand one behind the other, and two more defensive players also stand opposite them. The defensive team retreats 10 meters. The performance itself is done by the first attacking player (the one who is knocked down) lightly kicking the ball to the player behind him, and the latter can continue to play alone or pass on. In rugby 15, the downed player is obliged to release the ball, and ruck is formed. The goal of both teams is to push the opponent and keep the ball behind their feet. In rugby 13, in one attack, the players of the attacking team can be knocked down a maximum of 6 times, after which they have to pass the ball to the opposing team, while in rugby 15, they can be knocked down an unlimited number of times.
Scrum is formed and the game starts after interruptions and minor fouls. The scrum players of both teams line up in formation and push like sixteen mini bombers. The team that is awarded the ball in the scrum has the advantage because hooker catches the ball with his foot and pushes it into his scrum towards scrum half. The opposing team tries to prevent this by pushing or rotating the entire formation. The out is when the ball goes out of line and in that case, the players of both teams line up in the corridor opposite each other and try to catch the thrown ball. The locks, with the help of their teammates, jump high behind the thrown ball. If the ball is thrown incorrectly the referee offers the defending team a scrum or a new out in their favor.
Usually, the team in the game wins 70-90% of their discarded outs. But nothing in rugby causes more "heart attacks" than mauls and rucks because of its complexity and importance in the game. When the player with the ball is knocked to the ground, he is obliged to release the ball, and then the "fight" begins. Ruck is formed when players from both teams come in contact with the ball. Players in ruck must not use their hands. Players on the floor do not compete for the ball. To some, ruck looks like a pile of bodies without any order, but it is technically a very demanding component of the game and requires a lot of skill and coordination. Contrary to true competition and fighting, the pier allows the ball to flow quickly for as dynamic a game as possible.
The maul is also technically very demanding. When the player with the ball is kept by the rival players, and he manages to stay on his feet, and the players of both teams "catch" him, a maul is formed. Often, the team that has the ball will use its strength and numbers to push the pier as deep as possible into the opponent's field in the moving pier. If the ball "gets stuck" in the minor and no team is able to play with it, the referee stops the game and calls the scrum. The priority rule allows the referee, in his estimation, to allow the game to continue despite the offense committed by the defending side until he assesses that the attacking team has gained sufficient advantage. In case the attacking team does not gain any advantage, then the referee stops the game and returns it to the place where the offense was committed and imposes a penalty for the attacking team.
Offside: A player in the game is in an offside position when he is in front of a ball in the hands of his teammate.
Red and yellow cards: For a serious foul, the referee issues a red card to the player, and the player who receives it leaves the game. Yellow cards are awarded for minor fouls and the player who receives them leaves the game for 10 minutes.
The rugby match is played for 80 minutes under the leadership of the chief and two-line referees. The players are divided into scrum players and lines of which scrum player is 8 and line 7.
Scrum players are divided into three lines one behind the other: first-line: 1. Loosehead prop 2. Hooker 3. Tighthead prop; second line: 4. Number-4 lock 5. Number-5 lock; third line: 6. Blindside-flanker 7. Open-flanker 8. Number-8. Hooker throws the ball in from the out-line and is in charge of catching the ball when the scrum is awarded. The locks from the second line are tall guys (many are taller than 2m) and they compete in the game from the outline. The wings of the third line are the "trophy collectors" who attack with the ball or on it after the game of scrum. The Number-8 is a powerful and powerful runner and trigger.
Line players are sprinters who attack when scrum players deliver the ball to them. In order are: 9. Scrum half; is the link between the scrum and the line and must have a fast pass, a good overview of the game and the speed of deciding whether to pass the ball to the players of the scrum or the line. 10. Fly-half; is the leader of the game who decides whether to shoot, pass or run with the ball. 12. Inside-Center and 13. Outside-Center; are robust guys with a lot of paces, capable of defending the ball or shooting, changing the direction of the game and they are the ones who "push" the line forward.14. Right-wing and 11. Left-wing; are finisher players who use speed, step, and often strength. 15. Full-back; must be able to knock down, catch and run with the ball from the background.
Points are awarded when the ball is placed behind the opponent's scoreline and is worth 5 points, if the conversion (shooting the ball at the goal through the fork), which is awarded after a successful pass, 2 more points are successfully scored. Penalty conversion, as well as "drop goal" (kicking a bouncing ball) from the game, are worth 3 points. The rugby ball is egg-shaped, different from balls used in other sports. This is because the ball is carried and passed by hand, and because of the easier throwing and passing it has an egg shape.
Rugby 7
Rugby 7 is a more dynamic variant of rugby union (rugby 15) with 7 rugby players in one team. Rugby seven is an Olympic sport. Rugby seven is a sport that originated in Scotland in 1883. The rules of rugby 7 are similar to the rules of rugby 15, but there are some differences. In rugby 7 teams, in addition to 7 rugby players in the starting lineup, there are also 5 reserve players. The break between the two halves lasts 1 minute. The conversion is performed by a dropkick in rugby 7, the player does not have the right as in rugby 15 to use a cone. Rugby seven is played on the field, which has the same dimensions as the one for rugby 15. The game in rugby 7 lasts 14 minutes, two halves of 7 minutes each. The positions in rugby 7 are: Prop, Hooker, Right Prop, Scrum-half, Fly-half, Centre and Wing. The most important competitions in rugby seven are the rugby 7 world championship , the European rugby 7 championship seven and the world rugby 7 series.