Can’t tell a ruck from a scrum? Here’s everything you need to know about rugby lingo and rules before the World Cup final
Everyone and their besties will be watching the rugby this weekend when the Springboks take on the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final in France.
We are hoping for tries and conversions and the odds to be in our favour, buuuuut if you’re just there for vibes and have no actual clue what happens in rugby, I got you.
I mean, for some, it’s just a bunch of men running after a weird-shaped ball, all jumping on top of each other and basically getting beaten up.
So, here’s a very simple guide to rugby 101!
First things first, the South African national rugby team is called the Springboks. They’ll be the team in green and gold (with the hotter looking gents!) and the other team, the ones in black, they are the opposition team - The All Blacks or New Zealand.
The Springboks will be captained by Siya Kolisi.
I'm going to break down some of the words you'll hear during Saturday's match. Here goes:
Advantage - this is good for your team. It means the other team messed up.
Bind - grabbing another player's body firmly between the shoulders and the hips with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder.
Conversion kick - according to worldrugby.com, after scoring a try, that team can attempt to add two further points by kicking the ball over the crossbar and between the posts from a place in line with where the try was scored. The conversion kick can be taken either as a place kick (from the ground) or a drop kick.
Drop kick - when a player drops the ball and kicks it after it hits the ground once, and it goes over between the poles (almost like goal posts in soccer). These are worth three points.
Lineout - a restart of play after the ball has gone into touch (I'll explain touch later).
Knock on - so this happens when a player loses possession of the ball and it falls forward.
Maul - florugby.com describes this as a moment in play when a player with the ball goes into contact with a defender, and while both players remain on their feet, at least one more player from the attacking team joins the contact. At this point, a maul is formed and looks sort of like a scrum, except with the ball in the player's hands instead of on the ground.
Obstruction - when a player is trying to play and someone from the opposing team prevents him from doing so.
Penalty - this is awarded against the opposition team for wrongdoing.
Penalty try - the match ref decides this; this means your team would've scored a try but was prevented from doing so, most likely due to foul play from the other team.
Ruck - when one or more players from each team, who are on their feet and in physical contact, are close to the ball, which is on the ground (got this from sarugby.co.za)
Scrum - when the eight forwards from each team bind (scroll up because I explained what that was earlier) and the scrumhalf puts the ball between their legs.
Sin bin - the naughty corner.
Try - this is when someone on the team gets the ball over the line and it's five points for the team.
So, I’ve done my bit to help you sound rugby smart for Saturday’s game - at 9pm!
@rugbyworldcup He is the moment - Handre Pollard 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #rugby #ENGvRSA #RWC2023 ♬ Outro - M83
Go Boks!
IOL