What is Rugby Union?

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Rugby is an exciting and fast moving contact sport played in many countries around the world. The main countries being England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales France and Italy in the Northern hemisphere with quite few more countries also playing rugby.


In the Southern hemisphere the main countries are South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentine. As in the northern hemisphere there are quite a few other countries playing rugby.

Some counties like Fiji excel in seven aside rugby as do Samoa but that is not to say they do not give a good account of themselves in the fifteen aside game.

The game of rugby started about 1846 when William Webb Ellis was supposed to have picked up the ball during a game of football and ran with it. Since then the game has evolved into various formats and the rules have changed to where they are today.

Playing, training and coaching methods have also changed. Rugby is not only played by men today but also played and followed by women. Ladies rugby is going from strength to strength.

Rugby union is played with fifteen players per team and seven substitutes who can only be brought on to the field of play for injuries or to bring a player off. The game is played with an oval ball lasts for eighty minutes, played in two halves of forty minutes with a ten minute break between each half.

There are various rugby tournaments in the world the most important being the rugby world cup which is called the Webb Ellis trophy. In the North ther is the Six Nation Rugby Union tournament, the Magners League and the Top 14 in France.

The tournaments in the are Tri-nations, the Currie Cup, Bledisloe Cup and Air New Zealand Cup. A very seven aside rugby competition played in various venues around the world, the most famous and well known being the Hong Kong sevens. For any one who wants their rugby fast and furious the sevens competition is for them, the games last for fourteen minutes each half being seven minutes long.

The women have their own competitions but the rules are the same as in the mens game.

Rugby split in about 1896 with a break away professional league being formed as certain thought the game was to slow. League rugby is played with thirteen players in the side with five substitutes which can rotated at any time during the game.