Rules of Rugby

Here are a few of the Rules of Rugby...

10 metre law - When the team-mate of an offside player has kicked ahead, the offside player is considered to be taking part in the game if the player is in front of an imaginary line across the field which is ten metres from the opponent waiting to play the ball, or from where the ball lands. The offside player must immediately move behind the imaginary ten metre line.

Advantage rule - Referees give a team 'advantage' to try and speed up play. It occurs when one team breaks a law and the referee believes the other team can immediately take advantage of the situation. The referee gives the team that has been fouled the chance to do something positive with the ball. If the team is unable to do this, the referee takes play back to the site of the original infringement and awards the aggrieved team a penalty or scrum feed. Advantage basically gives the innocent team two chances.

Offside law - The law that prohibits a player who is offside from playing.

Rugby Pitch - A Few Terminologies

10 metre line - The imaginary line behind which an offside player must move in order to take part in the game.
22 metre line - The line marked on the ground between the halfway line and a team's goal line or tryline.
Advantage line - When an attack heads further downfield from the spot where it first received the ball, the advantage line is deemed to be where the ball was first received.
Crossbar - The bar joining the two uprights of the goalposts. For a conversion or penalty goal to be successful, it must go over the crossbar.
Dead ball line - The far end lines of the field.
Field of play - The ground on which a rugby match is actually played.
Goal line - The line that has to be crossed for a team to score a try. For this reason, the goal line is often called the tryline.
Halfway line - Marks the centre of the field where the game is started and also restarted after successful tries or penalty goals.
In-goal area - The area in which tries are scored.
Touch line - The two lines situated on either side of the field. A ball is described as going 'into touch' when it crosses either of those two lines and goes out of the field of play.