Rules and History of Rugby

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Rugby Union

According to legend, rugby originated when a student at England’s Rugby School picked up the ball during a soccer game and began running with it. In doing so, William Webb Ellis created a sport that combines speed and skill with strength and toughness. Its fast-paced and ferocious nature has made it popular around the world, and the last three world champions have come from three different continents. This Web guide includes Web sites that can teach you the rules, history, and skills required to play the game and help you follow the world of competitive rugby.

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Rules and History of Rugby

Rugby began with one player playing by his own rules. Today, the international rulebook has almost 150 pages that dictate even the most minute detail. This section will show you the beginnings of the game and what it has become today.

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This is a guide to rugby union, the most popular form of rugby. The second most popular form is rugby league, which was formed after an 1895 split of England's Rugby Football Union. BBC Sport has an excellent guide to the rules of rugby league.

This section gives you the basic rules of rugby, along with the official International Rugby Board rulebook. For the official rulebooks of other leagues and competitions, see the official Web sites listed in the “Rugby Associations, Tournaments, Leagues and Teams” section of this Web guide.

The IRB is experimenting with a set of new laws, known as the Stellenbosch Laws. The IRB’s referee manager Paddy O’Brien explains the laws in this illustrated BBC Sport feature and this video.

There is another popular form of rugby known as rugby sevens, which is a simpler version of the rugby union played with seven players on each side. The official IRB Web site has a sevens rulebook in PDF format and information on the Sevens World Series.

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For rules …

BBC Sport has a comprehensive guide to the laws, terms, scoring, equipment, and positions of rugby union. The explanation to laws includes illustrations and video. The positions guide features articles written by players themselves, who give firsthand accounts on how to play each position. For more knowledgeable rugby fans, there is a section in which professional referees answer questions, clarifying the game’s laws and interpretations.

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The International Rugby Board has the official rulebook for international rugby in PDF form. Additionally, there are rulebooks for under-19 rugby and rugby sevens, as well as a book of referee signals.

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Scrum.com has a rugby dictionary, featuring short definitions of rugby idioms, terms, and competitions.

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For history …

Rugbyfootballhistory.com covers the history of rugby in Britain, including the William Webb Ellis story, the RFU split, and the role of rugby during World War II. Additionally, it tells the history of prominent international competitions and of Tri Nations squads. A particularly useful resource is the Club History Links, which links to the history pages of club Web sites.

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WesClark.com has a collection of historical documents, including newspaper articles, book selections, photographs, and cartoons. There is little organization or overriding theme, but these interesting bits from rugby’s history will entertain and enlighten any rugby enthusiast. There are several links to other sites included, the best of which are Pete Shortell’s examination of the William Webb Ellis myth and copy of the 1871 Laws, and Rugby-Pioneers.com, a blog about historical photographs.

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Colonial Rugby features a collection of articles by Australian author Sean Fagan, covering rugby’s early history in Australia and abroad.

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