Types of Rugby
Rugby has further types as it is being played with different rules and style at different places and at different levels. These types differ in many ways. Following are the further forms of Rugby
Rugby Union is a professional and amateur game. It is dominated by eight 'major' unions: France, Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales and Scotland. Rugby union is a major sport played nationwide in each of these countries and is the national sport in New Zealand and Wales.
Numerous 'minor' unions include Argentina, Canada, Fiji, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Namibia, Romania, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, the United States and Uruguay. Rugby union ranks as the national sport of Pacific countries such as Tonga, Fiji, and Samoa.
Rugby league is a team sport, played by two teams of 13 players. The aim is to carry an oval ball up the field towards the opponent's in-goal where the ball is grounded to score a try, worth four points. Having scored the try, the team has the right to attempt to kick a goal worth a further two points if successful. The opposing team attempts to prevent the attacking team from carrying out this objective by tackling the player with the ball.
Rugby league was initially played by a breakaway faction of the English Rugby Football Union (RFU) known as the Northern Union. When similar breakaway factions occurred from RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand, in 1907 and 1908 they formed associations known as Rugby Leagues and used the modified Northern Union rules. The Northern Union later changed its name to the Rugby Football League. Thus, the game became known as rugby league.
Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby football in which only seven players per side feature. Although it was conceived as an event for rugby union, rugby league has also adopted the sevens format.
Rugby union sevens is sanctioned by the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is played under substantially the same rules and on a field of the same dimensions as the 15-player game.
Wheel Chair Rugby
Wheelchair rugby is called quad rugby. This sport was developed by 3 Canadians back in the 1970s and is now a Paralympics sport. It was originally called murder ball because it contained elements of basketball, football, ice hockey and was very aggressive in nature. The name was later changed to quad rugby and now it is played in over 36 countries.
Quad rugby involves a basketball court with 4 players on each team. There are goal lines drawn on each end and the game is played in 4 8-minute periods. Instead of a rugby ball, volleyball is tossed back and forth between players. One team must pass the ball into their opponents' side of the court within 15 seconds of making contact with the ball. Scoring a tri is like making a touchdown in football. The ball must enter the opponents' end zone in order to score points.
Another style of the sport is wheelchair tag rugby. This game is played indoors and teams of 3 use a medium-sized rugby ball. There's no official code of conduct for this game, as it is a game with elements from different sports melded together. Regardless, there still seems to be a consistent rule base practiced amongst wheelchair tag rugby players. To score a tri, the ball must enter a teams' end zone. Because this is a no contact sport, a tackle is made when a player touches the person carrying the ball or his/her chair. When this contact occurs, the tackler yells 'tag'. After 2 tags, the tackler takes possession of the ball.
There is also organized, more traditional wheelchair rugby in a league. This game shares many rules of a typical rugby league. A league rugby ball is used for play, it can only be passed backwards, there's a handover of the ball after 6 tackles and offside rules apply
