All about Rugby Union: the great game of rugby explained

Rugby Union, the ‘game played in heaven’: rugby fans can’t get enough of it. It’s fast; it’s brutal; it’s strategic; it’s a game for all shapes and sizes. Rugby Union is everything you want in a sport. Read on to find out what is rugby: an explanation of the sport of rugby union, as well as links of where to find more information about rugby.

Rugby union is a fifteen a side full-contact sport played with an oval ball on a 100m by 70m field. Sound easy? Well …

The Lineout in Rugby Union

To a first time viewer the rugby union lineout must look as choreographed and graceful as the rugby scrum looks brutal and explosive. In what can only be described as a weird performing arts spectacle, two lines of players yell out unintelligible coded words then run back and forth till a number of them get spontaneously lifted into the air to try and catch a ball. What we are seeing is the rugby lineout, one of the most contested components of the game of rugby union, not to mention the most nerve-racking to viewers.…

The Scrum in Rugby Union

The marvel of the rugby union scrum is truly one of rugby’s unique spectacles. Sixteen of the biggest players on the field smash together and push in a desperate bid for the ball. In professional level rugby fixtures this can mean that often two tones of rugby player are colliding together to contest the rugby scrum.

In rugby the ball can only go forward if it is kicked or carried. If a ball goes forward off a player, either by a forward pass, dropped or knocked-on, play resets with a scrum. A rugby scrum …

As France and Wales vie for the title of 6 Nations 2012 Champions and Italy and Scotland look for their first victory, a lot of attention has been on the strategy of the coaches, motivation of the players and the team selection itself. But perhaps an overlooked aspect, yet a very important one, is what’s going into the water bottles of the players on match day. Here sports supplement company Myprotein.com take a look at the science behind match day nutrition during the Six Nations and the sports supplements that could be the difference between winning and losing.

Whilst the …

Rugby players require a unique mix of power, size and fitness. In fact, some of the biggest players on the field, the tight forwards, have the most cardiovascular fitness due to constantly running between rucks as well having the energy to drive into the ruck, then get up and do it again. In between, they need the energy and focus to be able to concentrate on their set pieces, such as scrums, lineouts and kickoffs. While maintaining this fitness, rugby players often try to put on 10 – 20kgs of muscle to not only be stronger, but to condition themselves …