Rugby League Rule: Rugby has emerged as a popular sport in various countries during the nineteenth century. With time, the sport has been divided in two main domain, rugby union and rugby league. In the late nineteenth century, the Northern Rugby Football Union or the NRFU emerged as an independent body from the English Rugby Football Union or the RFU.
Later the RFU-affiliated Rugby Unions in Australia and New Zealand also underwent similar division. All these associations breaking away from the Rugby Unions together formed the association called the ‘Rugby League'. In 1922, the Northern Rugby Football Union became the Rugby Football League, and the game was reckoned as rugby league. In the early days, rugby league followed the same rules as the rugby union. With the establishment of the Rugby League, the rules for the game were also modified and changed. Currently rugby league is a completely different game form rugby union.
All the rules for rugby league are set and accepted by the International Rugby Board or the IRB. Some of the rules, which are followed during the rugby league, are:
- The aim of the rugby game is to score points by carrying, kicking, passing and grounding the ball. Each rugby team should consist of maximum thirteen players. The team with more points is declared the winner.
- Rugby is played on a rectangular field with the length of 120 meter and width of half the length. The duration of a rugby game is 80 minutes, consisting of two halves of 40 minutes each.
- Each team is given six chances to score. After the allotted sox chances, the opponent team gets the chance of scoring.
- The players try to ground ball in the in-goal of the challenger for scoring tries. They also aim to kick the ball over opponent's crossbar to score goals.
- The try carries four points, while the conversion goal or penalty goal counts two points. During the play, a drop goal is worth one point.
- Only the referee is authorized to award a try to a team. However, he is always free to consult with Touch-Judges and in-goal judges.
- The players of each team are numbered according to their position on the field.
- The players are not allowed to wear or use anything that might cause harm to other players. However, they are permitted to wear protective clothes as long as they are not dangerous to others.
- An oval shaped ball, puffed up with air, should be used during the rugby game. The outer portion of the ball is generally covered with leather. Any other substance used for covering the ball has to be approved by the International Rugby Board or the IRB.
- The IRB has determined the dimension of the ball used for the game.
- The player, who is not in possession of the ball, cannot be tackled or blocked.
- Distracting the attention of the player kicking at goal is considered to be a punishable offence.
- A number of tactics and rules are followed during the game both at the time of attacking and defending. The zero tackle rule implies when the defending team intentionally touches the ball in possession of the attacking team. The attacking team is awarded by the rule, and the next tackle by the defending team is counted as tackle zero, rather than tackle one.
- Scrum is formed at the time of starting play, while a kick-off, a drop-out, a penalty kick or a play-the-ball is not used to restart play.
