RUGBY

Look at the photographs. Discuss the following points and give reasons for your answers:

1. What are the differences between soccer/football and rugby?

2. What are the effects of the differences on: a. speed; b. costs

Talking about similarities and differences:

A + verb + comparative adjective + than + B
A + verb + more adjective + than + B
A + verb + as + adjective + as + B
A + verb + not so + adjective + as + B
A + verb + not as + adjective + as + B

Examples:
Ice hockey is faster than hockey played on grass.
Football is more exciting than rugby.
Football is different from rugby in that football uses a round ball.
Squash is similar to badminton in that they are both played indoors.
People seem to be more interested in watching sport than participating.
Judo appears to be more dangerous than boxing.
The first bicycle looks less expensive than the second.

Read the following text:

While playing soccer at Rugby School of England in 1823, William Webb Ellis picked up the ball in his
hands and ran with it. This sparked an interest, leading to the creation of rugby. Cambridge University
immediately adopted the game, popularized it and made local rules. The game grew popular at area
schools and in 1871, ten years after the common rules of soccer were set, the first Rugby Union was
founded in London and firm rules of the game were established.
In 1895 The Rugby League was founded and a 13-player game with altered rules were created for
professionals.
Rugby spread across the globe and competition emerged between countries. In the United States, the
game emerged primarily on the West Coast. The lack of precise rules, ambiguities in the game and
complexity of the sport drew a lot of United States players away from the game and major changes were
invoked. In 1880 the scrum was replaced by a line of scrimmage, drawing emphasis from the free-
running characteristic of the game. The game continued to play with rugby rules until 1905 where the
publication of photographs of a harsh game between Sarthmore and Pennsylvania created a stir.
President Theodore Roosevelt insisted on reform of the game to lower the brutality with threat of
abolishing the game by edict. In 1906 the forward pass was introduced to the United States game. The
rules of rugby died and the game of American football was born.
Rugby continued to flourish elsewhere, with especial regard to Britain, New Zealand, Australia and
South Africa. Although a handful of clubs remained in the United States, rugby did not reemerge until
the 1960's. College campuses turned to the sport because it was one where many could play and
escape the rigid discipline and professionalism inherent in college football. Minimal costs, constant
action and the opportunity for frequent play with a primary emphasis on fun also attracted many. The
number of clubs grew from about 80 to over 1,000 between 1964 and 1980. The United States of
America Rugby Football Union (USARFU) was formed in 1975, creating added recognition and a
measure of organization.
The sport continues to grow and now played in over 80 countries worldwide. The rules of rugby
continue to evolve and amateurism remains as dominant characteristic.

World Cup
The first Rugby World Cup was hosted by Australia and New Zealand in 1987, amid doubts that there
were 16 teams good enough to make an international tournament worthwhile. New Zealand's 70-6
victory over Italy in a first-round match reinforced the doubts, but the tournament was pronounced a
success and the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) decided to hold the tournament every four
years, as with soccer's World Cup.
The 1991 tournament was hosted by the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France. The eight quarter-
finalists from 1987 were automatic entries and 32 other IRFB members competed in qualifying rounds
to fill the remaining eight places.
Because of its apartheid policies, South Africa wasn't allowed to take part in the first two Rugby World
Cups, but the country was readmitted to the IRFB in 1992 and it hosted the 1995 tournament. South Africa
also won the championship, beating New Zealand, 15-12, in an exciting final.
Wales was the nominal host in 1999, but matches were actually played in five different countries,
creating ticketing and scheduling problems that drastically cut into attendance at several matches. The
high point of the tournament was France's upset of Australia in their semi-final match.
The 2003 World Cup tournament will again be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
The World Cup champion is awarded the William Webb Ellis trophy, named for the Rugby School
student who supposedly invented the sport by picking the ball up and running with it during a soccer
match in 1823.

Discussion:
What do you know about Romanian rugby?
Do you enjoy watching rugby events?
Do you have a rugby idol?
Do you think rugby is a violent sport?

Underline adjectives in the text. Write 10 sentences using some of them:

1. ………… 6. …………
2. ………… 7. …………
3. ………… 8. …………
4. ………… 9. …………
5. ………… 10.…………

Newspaper Article:
Rugby's Rules
Andrew Blake,
Boston Globe, 10/11/98
Rugby, according to some history and some legend, began at the Rugby School in England in 1823 when a
student named William Webb Ellis, possibly bored with the game of soccer he was playing, picked up the ball
and ran with it.
An engraved stone on the school grounds commemorates Ellis and the birth of rugby, noting his "fine
disregard of the rules" of soccer.
The game is played with 15 players to a side, on a "pitch" or field that is 100 meters long by 69 meters wide.
The game is played in two halves of 40 minutes each with time out for penalties added to total playing time.
Substitutes are allowed only if a player is injured too severely to continue the game.
"It's a very physical game, but there are fewer injuries than one might imagine. I've been playing for 20
years and I've only gotten a broken thumb," said Declan O'Riordan, captain of the Mystic River Rugby Club.
There are eight forwards, with names such as props and hookers, and six backs -- flyhalfs and scrumhalfs in
some places, halfbacks and fullbacks in others.
The object of the games is to score trys, like touchdowns, where the ball, which looks like a fat American
football, is run or kicked across the goal line and is touched down. A try
is 5 points and a conversion kick -- through the uprights and over the crossbar -- after a try is worth 2
points. Three points are awarded for a successful penalty or drop-kick goal.
Under rugby laws, not rules, forward passes are not allowed but one can lateral, or pass back, to a player.
The ball can be kicked forward but if it is dropped forward -- a knock on -- it is banned the same as a
forward pass. In those cases, a scrum is used to re- start play, unless an opposing player quickly picks up
the ball, like recovering a fumble, and keeps it in play.
A scrum involves most of the two teams locking arms with members of their own team, while the side
awarded the ball in the scrum sets a pre-arranged signal for the ball to be rolled into a tunnel formed by the
locked-together front rows. Coded plays are called out while the hookers on each team try to push the ball
out behind them. While this is happening, both sides are trying to push themselves over the ball and away
from the opposing team.
Blocking American style is not allowed. Players on the advancing team stay behind the ball. Straight-arm
tackling also is banned. When a player is tackled, he must immediately release the ball and the tackler must
immediately release the ballcarrier to keep play in motion.
"It's not very complicated, although the terms may seem a bit unusual to players new to the game," said
O'Riordan.
There is rugby union and rugby league. Union is for amateur play while league, a slightly different game, is a
professional group whose players are recruited from union teams.
As the British Empire expanded, so did rugby. The rugby world championship is scheduled to be played in
Wales next year, and a US team is expected to be among about 20 at the international event.
Although rugby, like American football, has backs who are better at scoring than others and players who are
better at running or passing the ball than tackling. Everyone is eligible to catch, kick, run or tackle. "It's a far
more democratic game," said O'Riordan.
Activity:
1. Identify the most important points of this article.
2. Give an alternative headline to this article.
3. Select 10 nouns referring to rugby.
4. Write 10-20 lines on Romanian Rugby.

Rugby Glossary
Advantage – a method of referee. The referee allows the game to proceed uninterrupted as long as the ball is in play and
there are no major infractions. Play can continue after an infraction if the non-offending team gains an advantage.
Blind Side – The side nearest to the touch line.
Drop Kick – A kick technique where the ball is dropped to the ground and as it bounces back up it is kicked.
Dummy – A technique where one pretends to pass the ball.
Free Kick – Kick where a score may be made. Can be taken as a place kick, drop kick or if no score is attempted, a punt.
Knock On – Where a player drops the ball forward (toward the opponents goal line)
Line Out – A play where two single file lines are formed by both teams after the ball goes out of touch. A player from the
team that did not take it out throws the ball back in from the touch line between the two lines. This brings the ball back into
play and determines which team receives the ball.
Maul – A loose formation brought around a player who is still in possession of the ball and has not been brought to the
ground.
Obstruction – Also called blocking. Where a player gets in the way of an opponent who is chasing after the ball. This
results in a penalty.
Off-Side – Generally when a player is in front of the ball when it was played last by a team member. A penalty occurs if a
player is off-side and obstructs an opponent, plays the ball or is within 10 meters (10 yards) of an opponent playing the ball.
Penalty Kick – Kick awarded to the non-offending team after a penalty occurs.
Place Kick – A kick technique where the ball is place on the ground before being kicked.
Punt – A kick technique where the ball is dropped and kicked before it touches the ground.
Ruck – A loose formation created around a free ball or a player who has been brought to the ground with the ball.
Scrum (Scrummage) – A tight formation between the two opposing teams in readiness for the ball to be put in the tunnel
between the two front rows and brought out into play.
Try – Method of scoring worth 5 points by touching the ball down in the opponent's goal area.