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Rugby Rules and Positions

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Rugby Rules and Positions

Help your team make smart, safe decisions. Read the match situations and use your knowledge of rugby union rules, positions and teamwork. Write answers in your own words where asked.

Know the game

Rugby union has 15 players per team on the field: eight forwards and seven backs. A try is worth 5 points; a conversion is worth 2; a penalty goal or drop goal is worth 3. Players may pass sideways or backwards, but not forwards by hand. The referee applies the laws of the game.

1.Ari is tackled while holding the ball. What should she do next, according to the game rules?

Keep holding the ball until the tackler gets up.
Release or pass the ball and move away from it.
Pass the ball forwards by hand.
Pick the ball up and run without getting up.

2.The ball carrier passes the ball forwards by hand to a teammate. Is this a legal pass? Explain your answer.

3.A team scores a try, then successfully kicks the conversion. How many points have they scored altogether? Show how you worked it out.

Positions and roles

Each position contributes differently. Forwards commonly contest scrums and lineouts and work hard in close contact. Backs often use space, speed and passing to attack. The scrum-half links the forwards and backs by moving the ball from the base of a scrum or ruck. The hooker is a forward who usually throws the ball into a lineout and hooks the ball in a scrum.

4.Match each role to its main job. Write the correct letter beside each role.

1. Forwards
2. Backs
3. Scrum-half
4. Hooker

C. Use speed and space to attack
A. Link the forwards and backs
D. Usually throw into a lineout and hook in the scrum
B. Contest close-contact play such as scrums and lineouts

5.A team has 15 players on the field. Eight are forwards. How many are backs? Explain your calculation.

Think like a team

Situation: Maia carries the ball towards a line of defenders. Her teammate Wiremu is close behind and to her left, while Hana is wider to her right in open space. Maia is still on her feet and has not been tackled.

6.Which option is most likely to help Maia's team keep the attack moving? Choose one and explain why.

Maia communicates and passes backwards or sideways to a supporting teammate in space.
Maia passes forwards by hand to Hana.
Wiremu and Hana move away so Maia has no passing options.
Maia keeps the ball and ignores her teammates.

7.Name two useful things a supporting player can do to help the ball carrier.

8.True or false: A team should spread out and communicate so the ball carrier has useful passing options.

TrueFalse

Play safely and fairly

Safe rugby depends on respect for teammates, opponents and the referee. Players should follow instructions, use legal techniques and stop when play is called dead. Rugby has a strong place in Aotearoa New Zealand sport; the national men's team is known as the All Blacks. The haka is a Māori cultural performance, not simply a rugby warm-up.

9.Choose two actions that help make a rugby match safer and fairer.