The Close at Rugby School where, according to legend, the game was invented.

Rugby football is a style of football that developed at Rugby School and was one of several
versions of football played at English public schools during the 19th century.[1] The two main
types of rugby are rugby league and rugby union. Although these two forms share the same
objective of getting the ball over the line to score a try, the specific rules are different.

Contents

1 Forms
2 History
3 Global status of rugby codes
4 Laws
5 Culture
o 5.1 Home countries
o 5.2 Internationally
6 Rugby ball
7 World Cups
8 Rugby shirt
9 Rugby betting
10 References
11 External links

Forms[edit]
See also: Comparison of rugby league and rugby union

Rugby union: A scrum between the Crusaders and Brumbies (May 2006)

Rugby league: Australia's Paul Gallen looks to offload the ball from a tackle. (2008 World Cup)

History[edit]
See also: History of rugby union and History of rugby league
In 1871, English clubs met to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). In 1892, after charges of
professionalism (compensation of team members) were made against some clubs for paying
players for missing work, the Northern Rugby Football Union, usually called the Northern Union
(NU), was formed.[2] The existing rugby union authorities responded by issuing sanctions against
the clubs, players and officials involved in the new organization. After the schism, the separate
clubs were named "rugby league" and "rugby union"