Olympic sport Rugby

Sport

Rugby

Kind of sport

Summersport

Old sport

Yes

Description

This discipline was on the program in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924. Nowadays, rugby is especially popular in the Anglo-Saxon countries and France.
There are two forms of rugby, one with 13 players to a team and the other with 15. Rugby is played on a field which is no larger than 100 metres by 68 metres. The objective of the game is to score more points than your opponents. The oval shaped ball may be played with the hands as well as the feet. Scoring occurs in several ways. When a try (four points) has occurred, the ball has been set down in the opponents' goal area. Afterwards, the same team can earn another two points, which is called the conversion, by bringing the ball from the spot where the try was scored, into the field and kicking the ball from the ground over the cross-bar and between the goal-posts. Another way is through a drop kick. The player drops the ball from his hands and kicks it after it touches the ground. This drop goal counts for three points. A penalty goal (three points) is awarded when, after a severe violation, the ball is kicked over the cross-bar from the place of the violation.
After a minor violation the game continues with a scrum: the forwards (8 players in the offensive line) put their arms around each other's shoulders and bend over in formation towards the opponents who are standing in the same formation. A player of the team which did not commit the violation throws the ball into the formed tunnel. The ball cannot be played by hand and the forwards try to push their opponents away. The team that manages to move the ball behind them can start a new offensive.