Rugby League
is the ultimate team sport.
It’s fast, exciting and spectacular and is
played by skilful and powerful athletes.
The sport demands that players show determination,
sporting ingenuity and courage. The action on the
field happens at high speed, so here’s
advice on some of the things to look out for when
you’re
watching …
The Aim of
the Game …
The aim of the game is to win by scoring more points
than your opponents during the 80 minutes of play
(which is split into two 40 minute halves).
A team
accumulates points by scoring TRIES, GOALS and FIELD
GOALS.
The greatest return comes from a TRY (worth four points).
These are scored by grounding the ball over your opponents’ try-line.
A
team scoring a try also gets the chance to add another
TWO POINTS to their tally by taking a place kick (a
kick with the ball placed on the ground). To score
these ‘extra’ two
points, the kicker must get the ball through the
uprights of the posts and above the crossbar.
A FIELD GOAL is
worth one point and must also pass through the posts
in this way but is kicked instaneously after being
dropped to the ground by the player in possession.
Also
Penalty GOALS are worth two points and must be scored
by a place kick. A team will be offered an attempt
at a Penalty GOAL if their opponents have broken some
aspect of the rules.
The Problem…
Is that all thirteen players on the opposing team (there
are four others on the bench who at certain points
will interchange with players who started the game)
can stop you getting over their try-line by tackling
you.
A tackle involves a fierce physical
collision followed by a short but demanding ‘wrestle’ between
the players involved.
The defending side will be trying
their best to deter the attacker from carrying the
ball into their ‘defensive
line’ again and also trying to slow down the
attack in general.
But…
The attacking team is allowed to be tackled six times
(seven if you receive the ball from an opponent’s
mistake) as they attempt to try to score.
After these
tackles the ball must be ‘handed
over’ to the other team. Then the other team
become the attackers etc.
Most teams try not to hand the ball over directly to
their opponents on the sixth tackle, but prefer to
kick to gain field position (i.e. as far away from
their try-line as possible).
After a Tackle…
The defenders must get off the man with the ball and
allow him to bring it back into play by a PLAY-THE-BALL.
This involves the player in possession heeling the
ball backwards in a controlled manner to a teammate.
The position taken up by the teammate collecting
the ball in this position is known as Dummy-Half
or Acting-Half.
Before the PLAY-THE-BALL, the defending
team have to retire ten metres, apart from two defenders
who may guard or ‘mark’ the play-the-ball
area, one stood squarely behind the other.
The match
Referee polices this aspect of the game and may from
time to time award PENALTIES against players for
not letting the man in possession play the ball quickly
or for the other defenders being less than ten metres
away (i.e. they are ‘offside’).
Also the team in possession
may sometimes be penalised for not playing the ball
properly.
Scrums Involve
a Maximum of Six Players and Take Place When…
A player fails to catch a ball cleanly and knocks it
forward. If such an event happens on the last tackle
of the ‘set of six’, however, possession
is handed over to the other side. A scrum is also formed
when a player is tackled into touch or when the ball
is kicked into touch. But if it’s kicked on the
last tackle and goes in touch without bouncing, it’s
a handover to the defending team.
