The GENERAL PRINCIPLES of Rugby Union Play

-- Forward passes are not allowed. Dropping the ball forward is also prohibited and is called a knock-on.
-- The ball can only be advanced by running or kicking the ball forward.
-- A tackled runner must immediately release the ball; the tackler must immediately release the tackled player.
-- Play is continuous; all stoppage of play must be immediately restarted (unless there is an injury).
-- A scrum restarts play after a forward pass or knock-on, a scrum can also be awarded in other situations.
-- A lineout restarts play after the ball travels into touch (out of bounds).
-- No blocking, normally all supporting players must stay behind the ball carrier.
-- A Try, worth 5 points, is awarded when the ball is carried or kicked across the goal line and touched to the ground.
-- 2 points is awarded for a successful conversion kick after a try.
-- 3 points is awarded for a successful penalty or drop goal kick.
-- After points are scored, the ball is kicked back to the scoring team.
-- Laws, not rules, govern the game. The referee is the sole enforcer of those laws.
-- The game clock is stopped only for injury.

After this crash course, you'll be ready to boot up!

GAME ON!
We play on a pitch. It looks like a field and it is a field, but we call it a pitch. It is preferably grassy and level, but we also take what we can get. All of these markings will someday make sense. For now one important thing to store in your memory banks is that the lines are included in what is beyond them (i.e. the touchline is out of bounds, and the goal line is in-goal). Your rugby kit is what you wear to the pitch. It consists of a sturdy rugby jersey, a pair of rugby shorts, rugby socks and cleats (see us for details) and that's it! Well, maybe a little athletic tape for effect or a mouth guard so you'll look pretty in the team pictures.
Teams often line up on the 50 m line for cleat inspection and salutations, but the action begins with a kick-off. This is taken at center field. The game is divided into two halves, no more than 40 minutes long and sometimes less. The clock never stops, but any time taken for injury is added on to the half in which it occurs.

EVERYONE WANTS TO SCORE
The game begins with a kickoff from midfield that must travel at least ten yards. When one side is successful in crossing the opponent’s goal line, and actually touches the ball to the ground they score, which is called a try as opposed to a touchdown, and are awarded five points. The ball must be placed on the ground in a ‘controlled’ manner (meaning not flying out of your hand onto the ground, or lunging forward and dropping it into the goal area); running across the goal line is not enough to score. If a player runs out of the goal area, or is unable to make the ball touch the ground a ‘try’ will not be awarded. However, once a try is made, a conversion kick is awarded representing a chance to add two more points. Two other kicks can put points on the scoreboard at any time during the game. A dropkick can be kicked through the goal posts anytime during play and it brings three points for a successful effort. If the referee finds a team breaking certain rules, he may award a penalty kick at the point of the infraction to the opposition. A place kick may be taken from that point and if it goes through the uprights (goalposts) it is worth three points.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Teams in a fifteens (15s) match will consist of two groups of players, the forwards and the backs. Each position has a specific number and responsibilities during the two 40 minutes halves of a match.
The players are as follows:

THINK OF IT AS A GROUP HUG...
A scrum is a restart mechanism and is generally what most people associate with rugby or as my mom says, “when all those people are piled together.” When the whistle blows and the referee calls for a scrummage, the eight forwards on each team bind together in a formidable ‘pack’ and come together against the opposition, aligned in the same manner. The team that did not commit the infraction is awarded the ball. The scrumhalf from that side sends the ball in between the two struggling masses. They push and try to use their feet (but not hands) to heel the ball back through their own scrum. Once the ball is out, the scrum half takes the ball and passes it out to the backfield.
<-- Here is a simple representation of how the players will line up at the start of a scrum awarded on the left side of the pitch.

MAUL IN THE AIR... RUCK ON THE GROUND
If the ball is held up off the ground, once more than any two players have bound together a maul is formed. If the ball has gone to ground, then the group of bound players is called a ruck. The very important principle of rucks and mauls is that once they are set, two imaginary offsides lines become present at the back of each team’s rucking/mauling players extending from touchline to touchline (sidelines). Any player running into the zone who is not joining the ruck or maul, from behind this line, before the ball leaves is considered offside and a penalty can be awarded to the other team.
Here is a simple representation of this concept.-->

GET IN LINE
A scrum is called a set piece. The other common set piece in rugby is the lineout. After a ball has been kicked or run into touch (out of bounds), the forwards of each team will line up at the spot indicated by the touch judge as the touch mark. The other forwards will lineup and the opposing team will lineup to match them, which forms the lineout. Normally, the hooker of the team being awarded the ball will be the person to throw the ball in between the two lines.
<-- This is a diagram of the most typical positioning of attacking players during a lineout on the left side of the pitch

GET BACK!
The football scrimmage line is call the offsides line, or game line, in rugby. It is an imaginary line that runs across the field through the ball while the ball moves. In order to be eligible to take part in play, a rugby player must play from behind the ball, both defensively and offensively. That’s why the’ forward pass’ is futile (and illegal) in rugby.
Other major blunders including holding the ball after a tackle, intentionally lying on the ball, blocking or ‘obstructing’ an opponent, or dangerous tackling methods. You will be able to recognize the guilty side by the ten-yard retreat they must make from the point of the infraction. Minor violations of the laws such as a ‘knock-on’ (fumbling the ball forward) or a forward pass result in a scrum.

TAKE ADVANTAGE WHEN YOU CAN
This is one of the best parts of rugby. If a player from the defending team commits a breach of the rules the ball carrier from the other team is allowed to continue the play. This is called playing advantage. Basically it means that if a player commits a blunder the other team is not penalized, instead they are allowed to take advantage of the situation by not having to stop play and try to regain momentum. If the offensive team does not gain yardage from where the original infraction was committed then the referee will stop play and penalize the team that committed the foul. This allows for the game of rugby to be a continuous flow of play without constant stopping and resetting.

PENALTIES... NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THESE
Offside is the most common penalty during a match. If a penalty is awarded within goal kicking distance of a team's kicker, the team captain may elect to have the kicker take an uncontested place kick at goal for three points from a spot determined by the referee called a mark.

YOU MADE IT!
Any time lost due to injury will be added to the end of each half. Once the referee observes that injury time has expired, he will whistle the end of the half or match upon the next stoppage of play to signal the completion of play.

TIME TO SOCIAL!
A rugby social is the customary party after a rugby match where the two teams that just played come together to toast each other and well... get toasted.