RUGBY LESSON NO.2

February 3, 2010 by The SportLite

Rugby Lessons For Beginners : Part 2

BallReplicaSuper14Size5 Hey again…

We’re not going to waste much time dilly-dallying on this second lesson because there’s a lot of stuff we need cover. Rugby “experts” will probably cringe when they read some of the stuff – but I’m not trying to turn you into half time analysts here – let’s leave that to Naas Botha.

The rugby playing field is flat…with grass all over…pretty much like the football field – but obviously the dimensions and markings are different. Each team starts the match with 15 players and 7 subs on the bench – making up the Match 22 (if you needed a calculator for that – please enroll for Maths 101). We’re going to discuss the rugby positions at a later stage – keep socks on.

Games are officiated by one referee with the help two touch judges (TJ’s)- and for big televised games there’s also a Television Match Official (always say TMO – this will earn you more street cred) – the TMO is there to check some tricky situations on video replay if asked by the ref.

Rugby matches run for 80 minutes (40 mins per half) – unless the Bulls are losing then the game can run as long as a football match. Ok, never mind that last bit – don’t know how it got there * wears neutral cap *. The point of the game is to score more points than the other team via one of the following scoring methods.

TRY

A try is scored when one team manages to ground the ball (using hands or a hand) in the other team’s in-goal area (you’ll notice that some show-offs prefer to dive over the line). If you’ve seen a rugby match for a few seconds – you’ll know that moving from your side of the field to the opposition’s in-goal area is easier said than done – it should therefore not come as a shock to know that one try = 5 POINTS.

CONVERSION

For every try scored – the scoring team will be given a chance to kick at goal – also known as converting the try. The ball will be placed on a spot parallel to where the try was scored. (You’ll understand this when you watch your first match). The kicker will then have to punt the ball over the crossbar – but between the side poles. (Check the H – shaped goals above) Makes sense? You’ll also see that some conversions are trickier than others – but they all count for 2 POINTS.

PENALTIES

Rugby is not a rough sport – it’s a CONTACT SPORT – but now and then players will commit infringements – and some of those will lead to penalties. Unlike football where penalties are only awarded in the “in-goal” area – in rugby penalties may be awarded anywhere on the field. It’s up to the captain and his kickers to decide if the ball is close enough to kick at goal – or if they want to try other options. Successful penalty = 3 POINTS

DROP-GOAL

During open play – if one of the kickers feels they have enough time and space to kick at goal – they may do so by dropping the ball to ground and kicking it half-volley style (as it hits the ground). If the kick is successful – the kicker will earn himself and his team 3 POINTS. It’s not an easy thing to do – only selected players are actually good at this.

So quick recap:

TRY = 5 pts

TRY CONVERSION = 2 pts

PENALTY = 3 pts

DROP-GOAL = 2 pts

That’s all for today.

Tomorrow we cover RUGBY POSITIONS as well as other ways of punishing infringements = Freekicks , Scrums , Yellow Cards and Red Cards.

BEGINNER’S TEST: Team A beats Team B by 7-3 …what happened?

Mail answers to: sportlite @ justcurious.co.za

By The SportLite ©

OOOOOH I can stomach rugby, used to hate it until I lived with a rugby fanatic. I undertsand it quite well took me 3 years hey. My Fridays and Saturdays are down the drain again. But tell me about cricket, now we are talking. I love that game to bits, everytime the Proteas play in Centurion and Wanderes you bet your ass I will be there. That is theeeee sport for me.

Normajay on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 2:10 pm

picking teams was easier, the lessons are getting technical, means i really need to pay attention ! i was never good at that…err Mr sportlite does the ball need to be in the hand to be grounded as a TRY? or you just need to ground it ( Lord knows why they call it a try , clearly you were’nt trying to score, YOU DID SCORE). Ive seen some people just diving with the ball….

The SportLite on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 2:33 pm

@normajay

The ball does not necessarily have to be on the scorer’s hand…

Sometimes you’ll find that the ball will be rolling around in the in-goal area and all the scorer has to do in that case is apply pressure on the ball (as it’s already on the ground)…using hand / arm and sometimes chest.

There are a lot of technicalities when it comes to grounding the ball – most tries will be straightforward but some will indeed go to the TMO – and even then it usually goes down to “his” interpretation…leading to lots of arguments after the match.

The SportLite on Fri, 5th Feb 2010 2:41 pm

Lots of cricket fans coming out of the JC closet…pity you guys were in hiding when we had visitors from England – or should we say “South Africans visiting home”?

Anyway – the Proteas are in India now – I’m sure they’ll give us enough to talk about.

Besides the Super 14 starting next weekend – there’s some good rugby this weekend – the 6 Nations…

MissB on Sat, 6th Feb 2010 4:42 am

I find it interesting that people automatically assume that The Sportlite is a man just because she/he knows so much bout sport…..

MissB on Sat, 6th Feb 2010 10:42 am

Oh and SportLite, you are a legend! Am loving the classes. Wish I could see one of these matches. Next time

Normajay on Sat, 6th Feb 2010 11:30 am

SO are we going to get an line up of the games ? gotta go checkout that all these lessons are not going to waste…

Free tickets would be nice too : )…for the sharktank

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RUGBY LESSON NO.2

Rugby Lessons For Beginners : Part 2

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