Rugby has evolved quite a bit over time, and the rules used for the game play today are very different from the rules when the game was invented. If you haven’t watched a game of female rugby in a while and decide to do so now, you will certainly be confused because of all the changes that have happened. Here are a few basic rules that will help both newcomers as well as those who haven’t watched rugby in a while.
Rugby is played over two halves of 40 minutes each. There’s a 10-minute break between both halves. Either team has 15 players, and they are allowed to have 7 substitutes.
The field the games are played on is called the pitch. It’s a 70-meter wide grassy pitch which is 100 meters long and separated into two by a white line down the centre.
Scoring in women’s rugby can be done in five different ways. They are:
Try – Whenever players touch the ball on the ground in the goal area of their opponent, their team is given 5 points.
Penalty Try – Players can attempt penalty tries whenever they are about to score tries but are prevented by opponents illegally. This is also worth 5 points.
Conversion Goal – These goals are attempted after any team scores a try. These goals are worth just 2 points.
Penalty – When penalties are called, the team who wins the penalty gets to perform a penalty kick. If their kick is successful, they get 3 points.
Dropped Goal – This only occurs when players run back with the ball after drop kicks during general play.
The play never stops, and forward passing is not allowed in rugby. Players can kick the ball forward whenever they want. Players can run with the ball until they go out of bounds or are tackled.