Proiect Rugby Football

Rugby Football, general name for a variety of football. It was said to have originated when a boy at Rugby School in Rugby, England, picked up and carried the ball during a game of football in 1823. Previously, the rules had only allowed the ball to be kicked. The modern game of rugby dates from the 1860s, when it was adopted and modified by other English schools and universities. In 1871 the English Rugby Union was formed to standardize the rules. The game is played with an oval ball, blunter in shape than the American football so that it may easily be bounced and drop-kicked-that is, kicked on the rebound.

Rugby play begins with a kickoff and is often followed by a scrum, in which the forwards lock shoulders and push against the opposing forwards, as both teams try to hook the ball to their halfbacks with their feet. Once the ball is in play, backs run down the field and pass it to each other to attempt a try, or down, in the opponent s goal.

In rugby union football, the objective is to run the ball into the opposing team s goal area or to kick the ball through the uprights of the opposing team s goal.

In a rugby match, play rarely stops completely, and players may only advance the ball by running or kicking. They are not permitted to make forward passes.

The form of rugby officially designated as Rugby Union Football played in more than 100 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, England, France, Italy, Fiji, and South Africa.

The sports international governing body is the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB), located in Dublin, Ireland.

In the United States there are more than 1400 rugby clubs and more than 100, 000 players, governed by USA Rugby, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Rugby was only played as an amateur sport until 1995, when the IRFB passed a resolution allowing national governing bodies and local rugby clubs to pay their players.

A rugby team consists of 15 players, generally divided into 8 forwards and 7 backs. Seven substitutions of players are permitted during a match in addition to injury replacements. Injured players, once having left the game, may not return. A game usually lasts for 80 minutes and is divided into two 40-minute halves with no time-outs. A rugby field is not more than 100 m (109. 36 yd) in length and 69 m (75. 46 yd) in width, and is divided transversely by two lines 22 m (24. 06 yd) from each goal and a halfway line. Not more than 22 m (24. 06 yd) behind each goal line is the dead-ball line, beyond which the ball is out of play. The uprights of the goal are 5. 6 m (6. 12 yd) apart. They are connected by a horizontal crossbar 3 m (3. 28 yd) above the ground.

Play begins with a place kick and is generally continued by a scrummage or scrum, in which the forwards of each team pack together with their arms across one anothers shoulders and their heads down. Thus locked together, the forwards wheel and push against the opposing forwards, while attempting to hook the ball ...