Starting life as just an offshoot of football, rugby union is today a major outdoor sport in its own right. One of the two forms of rugby football (along with rugby league), it is generally considered the more popular, being played by men in over 100 countries in five continents and by women in 52 countries. Indeed, according to statistics from the International Rugby Board, approximately 3 million individuals aged 6 to 60 years regularly play rugby union.
A substantial reason for such figures is rugby union’s cross-sport appeal. It is typically compared to an array of other sports such as football (with the game tracing its origins back to the beautiful game), American Football (largely due to the emphasis on ball-in-hand in both games) and rugby league (for obvious reasons). As such, for any sports fan, there is something familiar and therefore attractive about rugby union. However, while such similarities make the basics of rugby union easy to pick up, to understand the game properly requires more than a little effort and patience (which is where we come in!).
Such nuances are perfectly logical considering the physical nature of rugby union. Statistics have shown that injuries in the sport have increased commensurately with the growth in rugby’s popularity. A look at the injury record of England’s Jonny Wilkinson, for example, will give you a sense of the physical demands of rugby union. As such, setting out detailed regulations on what can and cannot be done is the best possible safety guarantee both to individuals starting out in the game, and experienced professionals.
