SportsMaze

What changes the result

The rules behind the moments commentators get excited about. They build on the beginner rules.

I · Intermediate · 6 rules · Step 2 of 3

The fifteens game

  1. What are the positions in rugby union, and when can a player be replaced?A team has eight forwards and seven backs.
  2. How long is a rugby union match?Eighty minutes: two halves of no more than 40 minutes plus time lost, with a half-time of up to 15 minutes.

Open play

  1. What is offside in rugby?A player is offside in open play when in front of a team-mate who has the ball or last played it.
  2. What are a ruck and a maul in rugby?Two ways of contesting the ball after contact.
  3. What does the referee mean by "advantage" in rugby?That an offence has been seen but play is being allowed to continue, because the team that did not offend may gain more from playing on than from a stoppage.

Set pieces and discipline

  1. What do yellow and red cards mean in rugby union?A yellow card sends a player to the sin-bin for ten minutes, and the team plays one short.
A · Advanced · 1 ruleNext: advanced rules