Sunday, September 11, 2011

Rugby World Cup!


So the Rugby World Cup started two days ago and I am doing my best to follow it! It is the third largest sporting competition in the world..so it's a pretty big deal. For some reason we really don't care about it in the US, but it's an awesome sport to watch and definitely a great time to learn about it.

Even though USA lost today against Ireland...I am still looking forward to watching many of the games. Because I went to New Zealand for two months, I will be rooting for the All Blacks this year. They're one of the top teams and very much wish I was in NZ right now to watch these games live! (NZ is hosting this year). 

At the beginning of each rugby game the All Blacks perform the Haka.




I've found some (lengthy) basic rules from Active New Zealand about the game so you can learn more about it!

Rugby is played on a rugby pitch. The pitch is expected to be a grass field 100 metres long by 69 metres wide. The sidelines are called touchlines and there are two in-goal areas which are expected to be 10 to 22 metres deep with a tryline marking the front and a dead ball line at the back. The goal posts are located on the try line and are 5.6 metres apart with a crossbar set at 3 metres. The height of the posts varies.
Other important lines on the pitch include the half way mark at 50 metres. A dashed 10 metre line set each side of the the 50 metre line, which is used to judge kickoffs, and a solid 22 yard line marked 22 yard from each tryline. Other lines include two dashed lines set at 5 and 15 metres marked parallel to each touchline that are used mostly to identify the zones for lineouts.

What a rugby team consists of:

Rugby Union teams are known as "15s" because they consist of two groups of players: 8 forwards and 7 backs. Each position has specific responsibilities during the match and the numbers 1-15 on the players’ jersey refer to the position they play, rather than a personal squad number, and generally every team uses the same standard formation. 
Forwards "the pack": The main role of the 8 forwards, who play in the first 3 rows of the formation, is to gain and retain possession of the ball and play in the scrum, so they are usually larger and stronger but slower and less agile than the backs.
#1: Prop (Loose head)
#2: Hooker (Rake)
#3: Prop (Tight head)
#4: Lock (Second row)
#5: Lock
#6: Flanker (Blindside)
#7: Flanker (Openside)
#8: Number 8 (Eightman)
Backs: The main role of the 7 backs positioned behind the forwards is to take the ball won by the forwards and score points, either by running or kicking the ball. 
#9: Scrum half
#10: Flyhalf (1st 5, short for the first five-eighth)
#11: Wing (Prop, left winger, three quarters)
#12: Inside Centre (2nd 5, or second five-eighth)
#13: Outside centre 
#14: Wing (right winger, three quarters)
#15: Fullback (custodian or sweeper)

Rugby Sevens is a variant of Rugby Union developed in Hong Kong in the 70s that features only 7 players per side instead of 15, but is less popular in New Zealand than 15s. 

How a rugby game begins:

A coin toss determines the team which will kickoff first. The kicking team will send their forwards to one side of the pitch at the 50 metre line. The opposing forwards will move in front of their opposites, but spread out behind the 10 metre line in preparation to receive the kick.
The kicker, who can be any member of the team, will set the ball on the ground and start the match on the referee's whistle most often kicking the ball high and short to the opposing forwards (he can also kick it long and deep or away from the forwards if desired). The kick must travel forwards at least 10 metres and land in bounds. The kicker's forwards will charge down the pitch attempting to catch the ball themselves. If a receiving team's forward successfully catches the ball, he will attempt to advance the ball normally running into a large amount of opposition. His supporting forwards will then often bind around him to prevent him being brought to the ground and losing possession of the ball.
The second half of a match is started in the same way except the teams have switched ends of the pitch and the team starting the match kicking now receives the ball.

A maul vs ruck:

maul is formed when more than two players have bound together around the ball carrier, if the ball is held up off the ground. 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. 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.
A scrum:

Very often a player will lose the ball forward during a tackle or just while running and receiving a pass, thus knocking-on. If the ball is quickly picked up by the other team, the referee will let play continue to allow the recovering team to take advantage of the mistake. If no advantage occurs, then the referee will whistle for a scrum to be set at a spot he indicates on the pitch also called a mark. The team that did not lose the ball is awarded the ball to put into the scrum. A scrum is also awarded whenever a pass is made in which the ball goes forward.

The typical procedure of scrummaging involves each set of front row players binding and the hookers calling for the locks to join the formation. The flankers join on each side of the locks setting their shoulders below a prop's outside buttock. The No. 8 joins at the back between the hips of the two locks. While this is occurring the captain of the forwards can be calling a move while the backs are shouting out code words signalling what move they will be running. The forward pack with the put in is then allowed the courtesy of initiating the coming together of the scrum. Upon a prearranged signal between the hooker and scrumhalf, the scrumhalf will roll the ball into the tunnel underneath the two locked together front rows. Each of the hookers will then attempt to push the ball behind him with a sweep of his foot. All of this is occurring while each pack is attempting to push the other backwards driving themselves over the ball.

If the ball is won cleanly, most often the scrumhalf will run to the back of the scrum to retrieve the ball from in front of the No. 8's feet and pass it to the backs, to a breaking loose forward, or make a run or kick of his own. The opposing scrumhalf will follow looking for a chance to snap up any loose ball. The No. 8 may also decide to pick up the ball himself, and start a back row move from the back or base of the scrum.

One exciting aspect of scrummaging is the pushover try. A pushover try is scored when a scrum is set close to the attacking tryline. The attacking scrum will keep the ball at the No. 8's feet driving the defending pack backwards across the tryline. Once the ball has been dragged across the tryline, the No. 8 or scrumhalf will touch the ball down for the try.

How to score a try:

If and when the ball is produced from a ruck or maul without penalty, usually by the scrumhalf, the ball will most often be passed to a forward charging back through the defence or to the flyhalf who has pre-determined a course of action. The flyhalf is the person normally determining all moves which the backs will run. Once he has received the ball he will then start a run, make a pass, or kick the ball. All of this must be done very quickly as the opposing backs and forwards will be quickly rushing up to tackle whomever has the ball. 

The moves the backs run will include a number of different manoeuvres and ploys to put the backs into open running space. Common running tactics include loops, switches, dummies, and miss passes. A loop is where a player will make a short pass to another and then run around to the other side of that player to receive a return pass. A switch is where two players will cross paths allowing the ball carrier to pass behind himself to a runner running on a different angle. A dummy is a faked pass to another runner freezing or decoying the defender. A dummy switch is a switch where the ball carrier does not pass the ball to the crossing runner. A miss pass is a pass which is thrown past the first immediately available supporting player to runners further past him. 

When the ball is being run, a player tackled to the ground must immediately release the ball (the defender tackling the runner must release the runner after the tackle) making it available to both teams. Typically the tackled player will attempt to place the ball closest to his own supporting players. Those supporting players will make a decision to pickup the loose ball or drive over the ball and tackled player to bind together into a new ruck. The defending team will do the same thing in an attempt to push the attacking team backwards. If the ball is picked up and advanced again by either side, a maul can quickly ensue if the advance is checked by the defence and the ball does not go to the ground. Each time a successive ruck or maul is set, it is described as a phase of play.

Once a player makes a break over the tryline, he must touch the ball down to the ground to be awarded the 5 points for the try. If he loses the ball in the dead ball area, the ball will come out and play will be restarted with a 22 metre dropout. Often a player will cross the tryline close to one of the touchlines and will turn back towards the posts before touching down. This is done to provide a better angle for the person attempting the conversion kick. The kick for extra points must be taken from a mark perpendicular to the spot where the try was touched down. Thus the kicker's job is typically made much easier when the try is awarded centered between the posts.

The conversion kick is a place kick taken immediately after the try and worth 2 points. The defending team must retreat behind the tryline but can rush the kick once the kicker makes a move towards the ball to kick it through the uprights.

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