Rugby football, often just "rugby", may refer to a number of sports descended from a common form of football developed at Rugby School in England. Rugby union and rugby league, (and, to a lesser extent, American football and Canadian football) are modern sports that originated from rugby football, and are the only two sports likely to be referred to as "rugby" today.
Rules
Distinctive features common to both rugby codes (league and union) include the prolate spheroid ball and the ban on passing the ball forward, so that players can gain ground only by running with the ball or by kicking it. Scoring in both games occurs by achieving either a try or a goal. A try (at goal) involves grounding the ball (touching the ball to the ground) over the goal line at the opponent's end of the field. A goal results from kicking the ball over the crossbar between the upright goal posts. Three different types of kick at goal can score points: the goal kick after a try has been awarded (which if successful becomes a conversion); the drop kick; and the penalty kick. The points awarded for each vary between the games. The main differences between the two games, besides league having teams of 13 players and union of 15, involve the tackle and its aftermath: Union players contest possession following the tackle: depending on the situation, either a ruck or a maul occurs. League players may not contest possession after making a tackle: play is continued with a play-the-ball (AKA: "Scratch") In league, if the team in possession fails to score before a "set of six" tackles, it surrenders possession. Union has no six-tackle rule; a team can keep the ball for an unlimited number of tackles before scoring as long as it maintains possession. Set pieces of the union code include the scrum, where packs of opposing players push against each other for possession, and the lineout, where parallel lines of players from each team, arranged perpendicular to the touch-line (the side line) attempt to catch the ball thrown from touch (the area behind the touch-line). In the league code, the scrum still exists, but with greatly reduced importance. Set pieces are generally started from the play-the-ball situation which has meant that rugby league has evolved into faster and more attacking game with a greater emphasis on running with the ball in hand, passing and scoring tries. Many of the rugby league positions have similar names and requirements to rugby union positions but there are no flankers in rugby league.
