Rugby 101 - Know your rucks from your mauls!

MJohnston · 16-09-2015 7:07am #1

MOD: Massive thanks to MJohnston for doing up this [click to view] Rugby 101 cheat sheet. During the RWC we'll undoubtably get an influx of new posters into our community. If you're unsure of what a ruck is, or a line out, or where the offside line is, then this is the thread to ask!

It's fair to say we're all buzzing for Friday's kickoff, but I figure (and hope) this RWC is going to bring a few people onboard to watching rugby who've never seen it before. As I've been basically stuck with nothing to do in a hotel room this week (steady on), and am fairly handy with the oul Photoshop I decided to make a sort of printable poster to provide a newbie guide to the game.

So I'm looking for people here to point out what I've gotten wrong, and whether there's anything major I've left off - I know there's lots of parts of the rules that I'm not covering, but I think I hit all the big points?

It's too big to embed, I reckon, but you can view it here

Hopefully this is useful!

sydthebeat · 16-09-2015 7:36am

Your description of "the gate" isn't technically correct.

16-09-2015 8:12am

MJohnston wrote: »

It's fair to say we're all buzzing for Friday's kickoff, but I figure (and hope) this RWC is going to bring a few people onboard to watching rugby who've never seen it before. As I've been basically stuck with nothing to do in a hotel room this week (steady on), and am fairly handy with the oul Photoshop I decided to make a sort of printable poster to provide a newbie guide to the game.

So I'm looking for people here to point out what I've gotten wrong, and whether there's anything major I've left off - I know there's lots of parts of the rules that I'm not covering, but I think I hit all the big points?

It's too big to embed, I reckon, but you can view it here

Hopefully this is useful!

Amazing effort - well done!

errlloyd · 16-09-2015 8:33am

I love the design, I did a lot of that sort of stuff in college and it looks crisp. Just wonder if you could do more with the backdrop, perhaps a faded out stadium (Twickenham) or some photos of players. (maybe using some effects or filters to cartoonise them so they match the colour scheme)

tommy100 · 16-09-2015 8:39am

Haven't read it all yet, looks pretty good, there is so much rules u could keep branching off what u have said already.
-in relation to the ball going over dead ball line, it can also be restarted by a scrum 5 if defenders put it out, also u decribed in detail about ball going between post, most people would get that but they might not understand some of your/rugby lingo (ball goes dead, dead ball line). Maybe have u should have an index of all main lingo, sorry but im trying to think like a non rugby virgin

Losty Dublin · 16-09-2015 8:52am

tommy100 wrote: »

Haven't read it all yet, looks pretty good, there is so much rules u could keep branching off what u have said already.

Laws.

Rugby has laws. Laws and not rules.

Laws.

;-)

Seriously though, it's a good idea. Something that jumped out at me is in relation to a ruck and a maul and that it's worthy to mention the two critical differences between them. Namely a ruck needs the ball to be on the ground and it involves a minimum of one player from each team to be bound whereas a maul involves three players bound and for the ball to be in and hand and off the ground. It can be as simple as ruck=ground and maul=held ball; bear in mind that you don't need a tackle to ruck and there isn't a (successful) tackle for a maul to be formed.

tommy100 · 16-09-2015 9:00am

Other lingo, set piece, touch.. also i see in your pitch drawing, the dead ball line, they might know that this also includes corner flag to very corner of the pitch. Man, you could keep branching and picking at things, what u have written and diplayed id very good, i wouldn't have done better myself, maybe index of all rugby and spectator lingo, and maybe current world rankings annd facts.

Mr Tickle · 16-09-2015 9:10am

Nice Job. Do you mind if others commandeer this for personal use?

also it might be worth mentioning the bench/ how many subs you can make. Even the blood sub rule etc. this might be more detail than they need to enjoy the games though.

accidentprone1 · 16-09-2015 9:55am

It's a really great piece of work. Well done!

May I nit-pick?

On the section on Mauls: One sentence that stuck out as little poorly phrased was "The team with the ball must drive forward, otherwise the referee will tell them that they must use the ball, and they cannot deliberately collapse their own maul."
It sounds a little like the ref would tell them that they cannot collapse the maul. Perhaps starting a new sentence would be clearer? i.e., "...they must use the ball. They cannot deliberately...
I'd also consider making the text in the diagram of the pitch a little larger—I zoomed into 100% size, and it's still quite small, even up close.
Found a small typo in the Penalties section: "When the referee chooses to award a penalty, they will indicate towards the team that 'won' the penalty."
Can I also suggest adding "with a raised arm" to the end of this?

Akrasia · 16-09-2015 1:19pm

I think it's really good. One useful addition would be something to do with the TMO and what usually causes a try to be disallowed, as these are usually the most tense and important moments in a game

The ball must be grounded with downward pressure, if it touches anywhere on the line, this counts as a try, if the player has any part of his body in touch, the deadball line, what happens if a ball is held up, the fact that the conversion is taken in line with where the ball was grounded...

MJohnston · 16-09-2015 3:12pm

Thanks all, I'm making some changes thanks to your advice. I've got this wording for the gate now: "is a line at the rear of the ruck facing their own goal line."

I'm also working on a mobile friendly version! And yes, please feel free to share it with whoever you'd like

Edit: Also, I don't intend for it to be an exhaustive tutorial for rugby laws, just enough to get someone who wants to watch with a bit of insight to feel comfortable doing so. There's far too many nuances and laws to fully cover, I reckon!

El Weirdo · 16-09-2015 3:28pm

Looks brilliant, but...

*Noob's

Ol' Donie · 16-09-2015 3:33pm

Ha, I think this is great.

Nice one.

.ak · 16-09-2015 4:16pm

I like it. Infact I think stick'ing this thread during the RWC isn't a bad idea....

captbarnacles · 16-09-2015 4:45pm

It's brilliant. A newspaper should do a pullout of that for the WC.

Can I ask a laws question here? re: scrum rotating 90. Seems rare now the dominant scrum gets possession. Most decisions seem to be eithe penalty for deliberate wheeling or runninng around in the scrum.

Stheno · 16-09-2015 4:47pm

That's great my oh is just starting to learn the terminology and this will be a great guide for him

MJohnston · 16-09-2015 4:51pm

captbarnacles wrote: »

It's brilliant. A newspaper should do a pullout of that for the WC.

Can I ask a laws question here? re: scrum rotating 90. Seems rare now the dominant scrum gets possession. Most decisions seem to be eithe penalty for deliberate wheeling or runninng around in the scrum.

Yeah, I wanted to add a line about that, but settled for using "should" instead

pickarooney · 16-09-2015 9:26pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Thanks all, I'm making some changes thanks to your advice. I've got this wording for the gate now: "is a line at the rear of the ruck facing their own goal line."
!

It still doesn't make sense to me. A line facing one other line? Across the width of the pitch or parallel to the goal lines maybe?

.ak · 17-09-2015 12:00am

MJohnston wrote: »

Thanks all, I'm making some changes thanks to your advice. I've got this wording for the gate now: "is a line at the rear of the ruck facing their own goal line."

I'm also working on a mobile friendly version! And yes, please feel free to share it with whoever you'd like

Edit: Also, I don't intend for it to be an exhaustive tutorial for rugby laws, just enough to get someone who wants to watch with a bit of insight to feel comfortable doing so. There's far too many nuances and laws to fully cover, I reckon!

Generally the gate is the tackled player, however most refs interpret a line running parallel to the goal line and about a meter wide.

Losty Dublin · 17-09-2015 12:16am

captbarnacles wrote: »

Can I ask a laws question here? re: scrum rotating 90. Seems rare now the dominant scrum gets possession. Most decisions seem to be eithe penalty for deliberate wheeling or runninng around in the scrum.

A scrum can't be deliberately wheeled and is a penalty offence. Players in a scrum must not drive or push or move it at an angle; again it's a pension offence. The natural wheel tends to be more gradual and natural in its nature; a deliberate one is easy spotted and easily managed on the day.

sydthebeat · 17-09-2015 7:09am

Losty Dublin wrote: »

A scrum can't be deliberately wheeled and is a penalty offence. Players in a scrum must not drive or push or move it at an angle; again it's a pension offence. The natural wheel tends to be more gradual and natural in its nature; a deliberate one is easy spotted and easily managed on the day.

Not to drag this off topic, but i was at a j1 game last weekend where both teams loose heads were mincing their opponents, and thus practically every scrum wheeled. The amount of scrum turnovers was ridiculous.
What would you do in that situation?

MJohnston · 17-09-2015 8:51am

Thanks for all the tips everyone - I've updated it big time now, instead of using images it's all HTML, mobile friendly, tablet friendly, desktop friendly, plus there's the original printable version if you want that!

Hope people find it useful

sydthebeat · 17-09-2015 9:23am

That is fantastic!

.ak · 17-09-2015 9:34am

Thanks MJ, I've stickied the thread. If anyone wants to ask questions about the game, then here's the place to do it. No question is stupid!

17-09-2015 10:59am

.ak wrote: »

Thanks MJ, I've stickied the thread. If anyone wants to ask questions about the game, then here's the place to do it. No question is stupid!

Would you rather fight 40 duck sized .ak's or 1 horse sized .ak?

The Lost Sheep · 17-09-2015 10:59am

I could have stuck this in the laws discussion thread but its better here

Wales Online have a four and a half minute video of Nigel Owens explaining the different signals a referee will use in the game.
Didn't get to hear the audio as he explains each but should be pretty good for people unsure of what exactly a referee is signalling
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/rugby-world-cup-2015-what-10030082#ICID=sharebar_twitter

.ak · 17-09-2015 11:33am

The Lost Sheep wrote: »

I could have stuck this in the laws discussion thread but its better here

Wales Online have a four and a half minute video of Nigel Owens explaining the different signals a referee will use in the game.
Didn't get to hear the audio as he explains each but should be pretty good for people unsure of what exactly a referee is signalling
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/rugby-world-cup-2015-what-10030082#ICID=sharebar_twitter

No harm in posting in both.

I think the Laws thread is more for indepth discussion on the details of the laws, this thread is for people new to the game that want to understand the basics.

Losty Dublin · 17-09-2015 12:55pm

sydthebeat wrote: »

Not to drag this off topic, but i was at a j1 game last weekend where both teams loose heads were mincing their opponents, and thus practically every scrum wheeled. The amount of scrum turnovers was ridiculous.
What would you do in that situation?

Without seeing what was going on the onus is on the front rows to bind their arms as per law and to drive straight. When you see a prop who's arms are flapping or their hips are moving then you know that there are problems; when second rows are crawling through the drive then Lord help us all.

If the wheel is consistent then talk to both front rows as it's ultimately their gig to keep things stable and to not make you piss on their parades. Occasionally you'll have lads who aren't as strong in the position and players can take the mick; at J1 level this really shouldn't be an issue. If needs be, penalty and card sanctions (and unopposed scrums.) may be imposed but man management should sort out the worst of it.

17-09-2015 5:10pm

Perhaps add something around Jackeling the ball before a ruck is formed? Its the most common way for a defensive team to gain an advantage through a penalty or turn over

mogwai81 · 17-09-2015 7:20pm

Whenever i'm watching rugby people always seem to be complaining about the defending team been offside in open play. What situation would cause this to be true?

Pudsy33 · 17-09-2015 7:29pm

mogwai81 wrote: »

Whenever i'm watching rugby people always seem to be complaining about the defending team been offside in open play. What situation would cause this to be true?

Before the ball leave the ruck, the defense has be lined up behind an imaginary line which extents horizontally for the hind most foot in the ruck. I think...

Rugby 101 - Know your rucks from your mauls!

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