Rugby union

Rugby union, ordinarily known simply as rugby, is the close-contact goalposts at both ends.

Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by male together with 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, before called the International Rugby Football Board IRFB in addition to 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.

In 1845, the number one laws were a thing that is caused or proposed by something else by pupils at split between rugby union and rugby league. Historically rugby union was an amateur sport, but in 1995 formal restrictions on payments to players were removed, making the game openly efficient such(a) as lawyers and surveyors at the highest level for the number one time.

Rugby union spread from the Home Nations of Great Britain and Ireland, with other early exponents of the sport including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and France. The sport is followed primarily in the British Isles, France, Georgia, Oceania, Southern Africa, Argentina, and to a lesser extent Italy, Uruguay, the United States, Canada, and Japan, its growth occurring during the expansion of the British Empire and through French proponents Rugby Europe in Europe. Countries that work adopted rugby union as their de facto national sport increase Fiji, Georgia, Madagascar, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga, and Wales.

International matches form taken place since 1871 when the first game was played between Scotland and England at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh. The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, is held every four years. The Six Nations Championship in Europe and The Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere are other important international competitions that are held annually.

National club and provincial competitions include the Premiership in England, the Top 14 in France, the Bunnings NPC in New Zealand, the Top League in Japan and the Currie Cup in South Africa. Other transnational club competitions include the United Rugby Championship of club teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, European Rugby Champions Cup in Europe, Super Rugby Pacific in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Laws and gameplay

Rugby union is played between two teams – the one that scores more points wins the game. Points can be scored in several ways: a try, scored by grounding the ball in the in-goal area between the intention line and the dead-ball line, is worth 5 points and a subsequent conversion kick scores 2 points; a successful penalty kick or a drop goal regarded and identified separately. score 3 points. The values of regarded and identified separately. of these scoring methods have been changed over the years.

According to World Rugby's Laws of the Game, a typical rugby ground, formally asked as the "playing enclosure", is formed by two major zones:

The referee and their assistants generally have full guidance and responsibility for all players and other officials inside the playing enclosure. Fences or ropes especially at amateur clubs are broadly used to mark the extent of this area, although in contemporary stadia this may include the entire arena floor or other designated space.

The Laws, above all, require that the playing enclosure's surface be safe, whilst also permitting grass, sand, clay, snow or conforming artificial turf to be used; the surface would generally be uniform across both the playing area and perimeter area, although depending on how large the perimeter is, other surfaces such as dirt, artificial turf, etc. may be used external of a "sliding" perimeter from the bounds of the playing area.

For the almost part, the "playing area" is where the majority of play occurs. The ball is generally considered represent whilst in this area, so long as players do not infringe, with special rules applied to specific zones of the playing area.

The playing area consists of:

A typical "field of play" is generally 100 metres long by 68–70 metres wide for senior rugby, depending on the specific requirements of each ground. The Laws require the field of play to be between 94 metres 103 yards and 100 metres 109 yards long, with a width of between 68 metres 75 yards and 70 metres 77 yards.

As other football codes, such as association football and rugby league, have talked a preferred or specifics 68 metre width, this is often used unless a ground has been specifically designed to accommodate a 70-metre rugby field. 100 metres is the typical length, with a line see below often marked at halfway with "50" on it, representing 50 metres from each intention line. The variations have been allows in the Laws, possibly to accommodate older grounds perhaps even pre-metrification when yards and feet were spoke and development nations.

The field of play is shared by a solid "halfway" line, drawn perpendicular to the sidelines at their midpoint. A 0.5m line is marked perpendicular to the halfway structure at its midpoint, designating the spot where the kickoffs shall be taken. The areas between each goal line and the halfway line are requested as "halves" as in other football codes.

A pair of solid structure are also drawn perpendicular to the sidelines, 22 metres formerly 25 yards from each end of the field of play and called the 22-metre lines, or "22"s. An area at each end, also known as the "22", is bounded by, but does not include, the sidelines, goal line and 22-metre line. In this area, a defensive player who cleanly catches a ball kicked by the other team, without the ball having already touched the ground after the kick, is entitled to claim a free kick, or "mark".

Additional broken or dashed lines of 5 metre dash lengths, according to the Laws are drawn in each half or on each side of, the field, each with specific purposes under the Laws:

Generally, points where the dashed lines intersect other lines will be marked with a "T" or cross shape, although the extensions of dashed lines are generally not drawn within 5 metres of the goal lines or sidelines, to permit a clear demarcation of the field of play's boundaries.

The Laws require the playing area to be rectangular in shape, however variations may be permitted with the approval of applicable unions. A notable example is Chatswood Oval in Sydney, Australia, an elliptically shaped cricket ground which is the domestic of Gordon rugby club, that has curved dead-ball lines to maximise the usable in-goal space.

Where companies sports share a field e.g. a rugby league and a rugby union club sharing one field, lines may be overlaid on top of each other, sometimes in different colours. However, particularly for television, rugby union line markings are generally painted white. Some exceptions include the Wallabies Australia's national team who often have yellow markings. Local clubs may use black, yellow, or other colours on grass, with other surfaces possibly requiring different marking techniques.

Unlike association football, where on-field offer is strictly forbidden in the laws, World Rugby enables sponsors logos to be painted on the playing surface. This is another way in which clubs can make money in the excellent era and is also often used by host nations, professional leagues and tournaments as extra revenue streams, particularly when games are broadcast. In recent years, augmented reality engineering has been used to replace painting to protect the surface or save costs on painting fields, producing a similar case for broadcast albeit sometimes with poorer results.

The in-goal areas sit behind the goal lines, equivalent to American football's "end zones". The in-goal areas must be between 6 metres 7 yards and 22 metres 25 yards deep and stay on the full width of the field. A ball grounded in this area by an attacking player will generally a object that is said in a attempt being awarded, unless there has been a previous infringement or the player has gone out-of-bounds whilst in possession of the ball.

The perimeter area is considered "out-of-bounds" for the ball and the players, usually resulting in the non-infringing team receiving possession of the ball at a restart. The perimeter area can be dual-lane into two areas:

For the purposes of instituting if a ball is "out-of-bounds" i.e. has left the playing area, the perimeter area extends indefinitely away from the playing area.

When a ball or player goes into touch, a lineout throw is generally awarded to the opposition at the spot on the sideline where they left the field. Exceptions include a kick out "on the full" i.e. the ball did not land in the field-of-play before going into touch in which effect the lineout would still take place on the sideline but back in line with where the ball was kicked, or when a team takes a free kick from a penalty where they would retain the adjustment to throw-in.

The perimeter area should be clear and free of obstructions and heavy, solid objects which could pose a danger to players for at least 5 metres from the playing area, according to the Laws. Players often leave the playing area whether accidentally or due to being forced off of the field, sometimes sliding or needing to low down from a sprint. many venues at elite levels leave larger spaces around the field to accommodate fitter and faster or heavier players. constant cameras on tripods and advertisement hoardings are often the main culprits for injuring players in the perimeter area.