What is Rugby union?

Chess Rugby is based loosly on the actual game of Rugby union. For those of you who do not know what Rugby union is, I have included a discription below.

Rugby is a football game in which the ball is kicked or carried forward down a field to score points either by touching the ball down beyond a tryline or kicking the ball through posts. The primary rule governing the game is that no pass to a player forward of the ball is allowed. Two codes of rugby are played, Rugby Union and Rugby League. All information on this site concerns Rugby Union. Union is normally played with fifteen players, but versions of the game featuring only seven or ten players is also popular. Football is quite ancient and has existed in most every cultural group through time. The current form of Rugby Football was first developed at Rugby School in England and thus the school provided the name for the sport.The object of the game is to score as many points as possible. The team that scores the greater number of points is the winner.

Points are awarded for scoring a try or kicking a goal. A try, which is worth 5 points, is scored when the ball is grounded by a player on the attacking team within the opponent's in-goal area. A goal is scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar of the opponent's goal while remaining between the posts.

There are three ways to score a goal: (i) a dropped goal (historically scored in open play where the ball must hit the ground immediately before it is kicked, but now it is just kicked in open play); (ii) a penalty goal (awarded after the opposing side infringes against the laws of rugby and may be kicked from a stationary ground position or by drop kick); and (iii) a conversion (awarded after a try is scored) by either a drop kick or a place kick. A penalty or dropped goal is worth 3 points; a conversion is worth 2 points.

The pitch must be no more than 100 meters in length, not including the in-goal area. The depth of the in-goal area can vary but must be at least 10 meters (where practicable) and no more than 22 meters. The width of the pitch may also vary but must be no more than 70 meters wide. The goal posts are situated on the centre of the goal line with the upright posts placed 5.6 meters apart and the crossbar is placed 3 meters above the ground in an 'H' shape. The overall height of the goal posts must be over 3.4 meters.

A typical passage of rugby takes the following form: the team in possession of the ball moves the ball up the field in an effort to ground the ball over the opponents' goal-line in order to score a try until such time as the ball carrier is tackled. They then form a ruck in order to win the ball back. This process repeats until one team loses possession, makes a mistake that violates the Laws of the game, moves off the field of play or a try or goal is scored.

The team in possession may choose to advance by kicking the ball forward. The ball may be passed from one player to another as long as the ball is not thrown forward. Rugby union is one of the few ball games where the ball cannot be passed forward. Any team mate nearer the opposition goal than the ball-carrier is off-side and must not interfere with play, meaning that American football-style blocking is forbidden.

The team not in possession attempts to stop the ball carrier by tackling them, which consists of grabbing hold of them and bringing them to ground. A tackled player must pass or release the ball, allowing the opposition to contest possession of the loose ball. Play does not stop unless there is an infringement of the laws, or the ball / ball-carrier leaves the field of play.

If the ball goes into touch (out of the field of play), the game restarts with a line-out. If the game stops because of an infringement, play restarts with either a scrum, free kick or penalty kick (depending on the severity of the infringement) awarded to the non-infringing team.

Tries are the main form of scoring, and the primary aim of most teams is to score tries. Drop goals and penalty kicks are usually augmenters, a safer option against a steadfast defense or to punish ill-disciplined opposition. On some (usually rare) occasions, a team may be awarded a penalty try, if their opponents commit a foul which is deemed by the referee to have prevented a probable try, for example collapsing a scrum or maul close to the try line.