Sherman Pride Rugby 101

Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board (IRB), the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.

Notable international competitions include the IRB Sevens World Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens. Rugby sevens is also played at some multi-sport events such as the Commonwealth Games, taking place four times (1998 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2002 – Manchester, England, 2006 – Melbourne, Australia, and 2010 – Delhi, India), each time the gold medal being won by New Zealand.

Rugby sevens is now recognized as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Rugby sevens is sanctioned by the IRB, and is played under substantially the same laws and on a field of the same dimensions as the 15-player game. While a normal rugby union match lasts at least 80 minutes, a normal sevens match consists of two halves of seven minutes with a one-minute half-time break. The final of a competition can be played over two halves of ten minutes each, with a half-time break of two minutes. (In the IRB Sevens World Series, only the Cup final, which determines the overall winner of an event, is played with 10-minute halves; all finals for lower-level trophies are played with 7-minute halves.) This allows rugby tournaments to be completed in a day or a weekend. However, sevens scores are generally comparable to union scores; scoring occurs much more frequently in sevens, since the defenders are more spaced out.
Many sevens tournaments have a competition for a cup, a plate, a bowl, and a shield, allowing many teams of different standards to avoid leaving empty handed.

The Hong Kong Sevens tournament has been especially important in popularising the game in Asia, and rugby sevens has been important as a form of international rugby "evangelism", hence is perhaps the most widely played form of the game, with tournaments in places as far apart as Bogota and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Kenya, Singapore and Scandinavia, as well as the countries in which rugby union is well known.

Playing area

Sevens is played on a standard rugby union playing field as defined in the International Rugby Board's handbook. The field measures up to 100 metres (330 ft) long and 70 metres (230 ft) wide.  On each goal line are H-shaped goal posts.

Teams and positions

Teams are composed of three forwards, one scrum half and three backs.
Scrums are composed of just three players from each team. Because of the speedy nature of the game, good sevens players are often backs or loose forwards in fifteens rugby.

Rugby sevens positions

Rugby Sevens Positions are numbered as follows:

Starters

1) Prop
2) Hooker
3) Prop
4) Scrum-Half
5) Fly-Half
6) Center
7) Fullback

Only 5 subs may be brought to a game, and only 3 subs made per game. (e.g. #1-7 start the game; #8 prop, #11 scrum-half, and #13 center can be substituted during course of the game, but only a total of five active substitutes may be on the bench)

Variations to the Laws of the Game

A sevens scrum

There are several variations in laws which apply to Rugby Sevens,[9] primarily to speed up the game and to account for the reduced number of players. The main changes can be summarised as follows:

• Seven players per team on field (instead of 15).
• Five substitutes, with only three interchanges (instead of 7 and 7).
• Seven minute halves, though ten minute halves are allowed in the final of a competition (instead of forty minute halves).
• One minute half-time, two minutes in finals (instead of ten minutes).
• Matches drawn after regulation are continued into Extra Time, in 5-minute periods.
• All conversion attempts must be drop-kicked (instead of having the option to place-kick).
• Conversions must be taken within 40 seconds of scoring a try (instead of 60 seconds).
• Three player scrums (instead of eight players).
• Kick-offs: in sevens, the team which has just scored kicks off, rather than the conceding team, as in fifteen-a-side.
• Yellow cards net a 2-minute suspension (instead of 10 minutes).
• Suspensions are more severe in Sevens than in Fifteens. The team plays a man down for 1/7 of the match instead of 1/8, and losing 1 man out of 7 opens up more space than 1 man out of 15.
• Referees decide on advantage quickly (where one play usually ends advantage, not true in fifteens).

In major competitions, there are additional officials present (in-goal touch judges) to judge success of kicks at goals and hence the game is not delayed waiting for touch judges to move into position to judge conversion attempts.

Kevin Power, D.C.
kpower@sherman.edu
Head Coach
864-578-8770 x 203

Todd Riddle, RKT, CSCS, DC
triddle@sherman.edu
Team Chiropractor/Strength and Conditioning Coach
800-846-8771 x 281
www.sesportschiro.com

Dr. Doug Cushing
Team Pastor
doug@tygerriverpres.org
www.thetyger.net

History of Rugby

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 rugby clubs in northern England called for compensation of lost wages for players. The Rugby League was founded as a result and a 13-player game with altered rules was 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 when 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 special regard to Britain, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Although a handful of clubs remained in the United States, rugby did not re-emerge 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.