By Oreoluwa Tokan-Lawal

A rugby tackle. Photo credit: Dreamstime.com user Alisonbowden.

Rugby: the closest thing to football anywhere that isn’t the United States. Growing up in the UK, I played this sport often. Whether it was club play or for my school, rugby was a significant part of my sporting life.

There are two main team types for rugby: rugby 15s and rugby 7s. Rugby 15s, the more popular version, is a 15 v. 15 matchup with two 40-minute halves. It is played more in league play and the Rugby World Cup. England, South Africa, and New Zealand are some of the powerhouses in international rugby. There is league play in England in the Premiership Rugby League, the highest-tier rugby league in England. It is structured similarly to the English Premier League for soccer.

Rugby 7s, on the other hand, is the type played in the Olympics. Instead of 40-minute halves, the game features seven players on each side, playing seven-minute halves. Having played both for school and a club, I enjoyed rugby 7s much more, as it gave me more chances to make plays, as there were fewer people. You also have to think quicker on your feet, as there is less time on the running clock.

With rugby, you can only pass the ball backwards or with a lateral, unlike American football. Tackling is also different in rugby than in football in some ways. Although the form of a tackle is the same, the tackling player has to release themselves from the tackled player, so the tackled player can make the ball available to be put back in play.

A rugby scrum. Photo credit: Wayne Beckett via Dreamstime.com.

One of the more notable moments in a rugby game is a scrum: eight people from each team, mainly the forwards, pushing each other back and forth to see who gets possession of the ball. Lineouts are when players are jumping for the ball when it is thrown back into play. Rugby can be confusing at first for the uninitiated, but so is any other sport if you’ve never heard of it.

A rugby lineout. Photo credit: Mark Eaton via Dreamstime.com.

Rugby influenced me in deciding to play American football when I moved here from London. I miss the physicality of the sport, especially playing without pads. I started playing rugby when I was 11 years old, as it was a required sport in my school, and I almost had the opportunity to go to South Africa to play in a rugby tournament with my school. It wasn’t until my first game that I realized that I was actually good at it. Yes, the bruising is more potent and visible, but it was still really fun.

Featured image credit: Dreamstime.com user Beethoven1612.