Girls guide to Rugby League

Rugby League is the 13-a-side version of the rugby football that was developed by professional players.

Changes to the rules were made to encourage a faster game, with more emphasis on passing skills and tackling and less on scrummaging and kicking than its Union counterpart. In addition it enabled players to be paid for their sport over a century before Rugby Union embraced professionalism.

Origins of the game

In 1895, at a meeting in Huddersfield, it was decided by the representatives of 23 clubs to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, in order to allow working class players to receive "broken time" payments for the time they missed from their jobs to represent their clubs.

The breakaway occurred because of a North-South divide in the sport in England. Northern teams typically had more working class players who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. There were similar movements in other countries.

Over the following decades, the rules of both forms of rugby were gradually changed, and now rugby league and rugby union are distinctly different sports.

Where is it played?

Rugby League is most popular in the North of England and in the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland. It is also played in New Zealand and France, and it is the national sport of Papua New Guinea.

Basics

Each team consists of 13 players. Substitutes can be used, the number of which will vary according to the tournament or league rules.

A match lasts for 80 minutes. After 40 minutes there is a 10-minute half-time break, the teams change ends and play for another 40 minutes.

Players

Rugby League players are numbered 1-13, with those numbered 1-7 designated as backs, while those wearing shirt numbers 8-13 are the forwards.

Backs

Typically the backs are smaller than the forwards, they tend to be quicker players with better ball handling and kicking skills.

The backs are made up of two halves (scrum-half and stand-off half) whose job it is to direct the play of both the forwards and the backs. Two centres, two wingers and a full-back who will generally be among the fastest members of the team and will be expected to score the bulk of the team's tries.

Forwards

The forwards are generally bigger, heavier and stronger than the backs, relying on brute force more than finesse in both defence and attack; they make up the scrum.

The front-row of the scrum consists of two props (usually the largest players on the field), a hooker, two second-rows, and a loose forward.

Scoring

The aim of the game is simply to score more points than the opposing team through scoring tries and goals.

Tries

A try is scored when the ball is taken over the goal line and touched down.

For a try (4 points) to be scored the player must be in control of the ball when it is touched down on the ground and downward pressure applied.

Goals

A goal is scored when the ball is kicked between the goal posts and over the cross bar. There are three possible ways for a goal to be scored.

• 1: A conversion (2 points) is taken when a try has been scored. The team's player of choice is given a chance to kick for goal. The position of their kick is determined by where the ball was grounded in the try.
• 2: A penalty goal (2 points) can be attempted after a side is awarded a penalty. The team can elect to kick for goal and the kick is taken from the point where the offence was committed.
• 3: A field goal (1 point) is a goal scored from a "drop kick" - the ball is kicked from the player's hands and must bounce off the ground before being kicked over the posts.

Drop goals are kicked in open play, whereas normal play is halted for conversions and penalty kicks.

Field of play

Matches are on a rectangular grass field of 120 metres in length and about half that in width. In the middle of the field is the 50 metre "halfway" line. Each side of the field, on either side of the 50-metre line, is identical.

10 metres from the 50-metre line is the 40-metre line, followed by the 30, 20, 10-metre and goal or 'try' lines. This makes up 100 metres of field that is used for general play.

Attack

The attacking team has possession of the ball for six tackles. During each set of six tackles it will attempt to work the ball upfield by running and passing it in order to score points.

Once a tackle has been completed the tackled (see below) ball player must rise to his feet and play the ball through his legs in order to begin the next tackle.

When a side has used five tackles indicating that five of the tackles in the set have taken place and the next tackle will be the last. If a sixth tackle is made, a changeover takes place, where the attacking team hands the ball to the defending team at the point on the field where the tackle was made.

Sixth tackles are usually avoided by the attacking team kicking the ball after the fifth tackle in either a last-ditch attempt to score, or to force the opposition to start their next set of six tackles as far back in their half of the field as possible.

Defence

The defending team will attempt to prevent the attacking teams progress by tackling the player in possession of the ball and either forcing him to the floor or ending his forward momentum for long enough for the referee to deem the tackle has been made.

The ball carrier may be tackled by any number of defenders from any direction. The initial contact in the tackle must be made below the ball carrier's neck or it will be deemed a high tackle and penalised.

After each tackle all but two of the defending team must retreat 10-yards in order to be onside for the next tackle. Two markers may stand directly in front of the tackled player while he plays the ball and can then move wider to defend again.

Changeover

The ball will "changeover" from possession of one team to the other if the end of the six tackles is reached. It will also change if the attacking team kicks downfield and the defending team gathers it, or if the attacking team kick the ball into touch, play will be re-started with a scrum, at which the defending team have "head and feed".

The ball can also change possession if one of defenders successfully intercepts an attacker's pass or if the ball is stripped from an attacker during a tackle. However, the ball can only be stripped from an attacker if only one defender is involved in the tackle.

If the attacking team gives away a penalty for a rule infringement the ball will also change possession to the defending team.

Kicking

The attacking team will kick the ball for a number of reasons. Late in a set of six tackles, they may kick the ball downfield, giving away possession, but ensuring that the opposition have to begin their attack from deep in their own territory.

They may also kick into the in-goal area as a last attempt to score in their set of six. In addition, ground can be gained and possession recovered if the kicker performs a 40-20 kick, where he kicks from his own 40-yard line and the ball goes out of play behind the defence's 20-yard line. Play will then be restarted with a scrum where the ball left the field of play, but in a reversal of the usual role, the attacking team would get the "head and feed".

Scrum

In rugby league the scrum is not considered important, there is rarely any contest for the ball or pushing in the scrum.

Instead, it is used simply as a means to restart the game, tying the forwards into the scrum and creating space for the backs.

The scrum is formed by the two props and the hooker in the front-row, the two seond-rows behind them and the loose forward.

The scrum-half will feed the ball into the scrum between the props and the second-row and then collect it at the base of the scrum.

Penalties and discipline

The standard disciplinary sanction in rugby league is the penalty. The referee may also award a penalty try, if they are convinced that the penalty offence prevented a try being scored.

If a penalty is awarded the offending team must retreat 10-yards, the opposition may elect to start play from where the penalty occurred with a "tap kick" or kick for touch, gaining ground before restarting with a "tap kick", the tackle count will start at the beginning following a penalty. They can also elect to kick for goal from the place the penalty occurred or from directly behind that spot.

If a team that has been penalised commits a further offence (often dissent against the referee's decision), the referee may advance the position of the penalty 10 metres towards the offending team's goal line, and may also sin-bin (a 10-minute expulsion) or send-off (permanent expulsion) the offending player.

Domestic competitions

The two most important domestic competitions are the Super League, which is played in by English, French and Welsh clubs and the National Rugby League of Australia, which includes a New Zealand-based side.

English, Welsh and French clubs also compete annually for the Challenge Cup with the final being played at Wembley.

In Australia the annual State of Origin series between Queensland and New South Wales is one of the highlights of the Rugby League calendar.

In Europe the Super League consists of:

Bradford Bulls
Castleford Tigers
Catalan Dragons
Celtic Crusaders
Harlequins RL
Huddersfield Giants
Hull FC
Hull Kingston Rovers
Leeds Rhinos (who are the current Super League champions)
Salford City Reds
St Helens
Wakefield Wildcats
Warrington Wolves
Wigan Warriors

In Australia the National League is made up of:

Brisbane Broncos
Canterbury Bulldogs
Canberra Raiders
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
Gold Coast Titans
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
Melbourne Storm
New Zealand Warriors
Newcastle Knights
North Queensland Cowboys
Parramatta Eels
Penrith Panthers
St George Illawarra Dragons
South Sydney Rabbitohs
Sydney Roosters
Wests Tigers

International rugby league

International rugby league tournaments in rugby league have tended to be scheduled erratically.

2008 sees the return of the World Cup, after a gap of eight years. It will be played in Australia and the hosts are strong favourites to keep the trophy they won at every World Cup since 1975.

The 2008 World Cup features 10 teams, Australia, England, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Fiji and Samoa.

The Tri-Nations tournament has been played between Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain on four occasions between 1999 and 2006 and is next scheduled to be played in 2009. Australia are the current Tri-Nations champions.

How to get involved

Watch

The World Cup will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK, unfortunately due to the time difference most games will be on early in the morning, but the clashes between Australia, England and New Zealand should be well worth setting the alarm for.

Play

For those wanting to play the game its bad news, as the options are limited to moving to Australia, where the world's only women's league exists or finding some like-minded soul and get a game together yourselves.