Page:EB1911 - Volume 10.djvu/641

&emsp; élan, makes them formidable opponents. The Rugby code has also obtained a firm footing in Canada, India, Ceylon and the Argentine.

The game itself is essentially a winter pastime, as two requisite conditions for its enjoyment are a cool atmosphere and a soft though firm turf. The field of play is an oblong, not more than 110 yds. long nor more than 75 yds. broad, and it usually approximates to these dimensions. The boundaries are marked by lines, called touch-lines, down the sides, and goal-lines along the ends. The touch-lines are continued beyond the goal-lines for a distance of not more than 25 yds.; and parallel to the goal-line and behind it, at a distance of not more than 25 yds., is drawn a line called the dead-ball line, joining the ends of the touch-lines produced. On each goal-line, at an equal distance from the touch-lines, are erected two posts, termed goal-posts, exceeding 11 ft. in height, and generally much more—averaging perhaps from 20 to 30 ft. from the ground, and placed 18 ft. 6 in. apart. At a height of 10 ft. from the ground they are joined by a cross-bar; and the object of the game is to kick the ball over the cross-bar between the upright posts, and so obtain a goal. The ball is egg-shaped (strictly an oblate spheroid), and the official dimensions are—length, 11 to 11 in.; length circumference, 30 to 31 in.; width circumference, 25 to 26 in.; weight, 13 to 14 oz. It is made of india-rubber inflated, and covered with a leather case. Halfway between the two goal-lines there is generally drawn the half-way line, but sometimes it is marked by flags on the touch-line; and 25 yds. from each goal-line there is similarly marked the 25-yds. line. In the original game the side that had gained the majority of goals won the match, and if no goal had been scored, or an equal number, the game was said to be left drawn; but a modification was adopted before long. A goal can be kicked from the field in the ordinary course of play; but from the very first a try goal could be obtained by that side one of whose players either carried the ball across his opponents’ goal-line and then touched it down (i.e. on the ground), or touched it down after it had been kicked across the goal-line, before any of his opponents. The “try” is then proceeded with as follows: the ball is taken out by a member of the side obtaining the try in a straight line from the spot where it was “touched down,” and is deposited in a selected position on the ground in the field of play, the defending side being all confined behind their own goal-line until the moment the ball is so placed on the ground, when another member of the attacking side endeavours to kick it from the ground (a “place kick”) over the bar and between the goal-posts. Frequently a goal is kicked; very often not. The modification first allowed was to count that side the winner which had gained the majority of tries, provided no goal or an equal number of goals had been scored; but a majority of one goal took precedence of any number of tries. But this, too, was afterwards abolished, and a system of points instituted by which the side with the majority of points wins. The numerical value, however, of goals and tries has undergone several changes, the system in 1908 being as follows:—A try counts 3 points. A goal from a try (in which case the try shall not count) 5 points. A dropped goal (except from a mark or a penalty kick) 4 points; a dropped goal being a goal obtained by a player who drops the ball from his hands and kicks it the moment it rises off the ground, as in the “half-volley” at cricket or tennis. A goal from a mark or penalty kick 3 points. Under the Northern Union code any sort of goal counts 2 points, a try 3 points; but if a try be converted into a goal, both try and goal count, i.e. 5 points are scored.

In the game itself not only may the ball be kicked in the direction of the opponents’ goal, but it may also be carried; but it must not be thrown forward or knocked on—that is, in the direction of the opponents’ goal—though it may be thrown back. Thus the game is really a combination of football and handball. The main principle is that any one who is not “offside” is in play. A player is offside if he gets in front of the ball—that is, on the opponents’ side of the ball, nearer than a colleague in possession of the ball to the opponents’ goal-line; when in this position he must not interfere with an opponent or touch the ball under penalty. The leading feature of the game is the “scrummage.” In old days at Rugby school there was practically no limit to the numbers of players on each side, and not infrequently there would be a hundred or more players on one side. This was never prevalent in club football; twenty a-side was the usual number to start with, reduced in 1877 to fifteen a-side, the number still maintained. In the old Rugby big sides the ball got settled amidst a mass of players, and each side attempted to drive it through this mass by shoving, kicking, and otherwise forcing their way through with the ball in front of them. This was the origin of the scrummage.

The game is played usually for one hour, or one hour and ten minutes, sometimes for one hour and a half. Each side defends each goal in turn for half the time of play. Of the fifteen players who compose a side, the usual arrangement is that eight are called “forwards,” and form the scrummage; two “half-backs” are posted outside the scrummage; and four “three-quarter-backs,” a little behind the halves, stretch in a line across the field, their duties being mainly to run and kick and pass the ball to other members of their own side, and to prevent their opponents from doing the same. In recent years, owing to the development of “passing,” the field position of the half-backs has undergone a change. One stands fairly close to the scrummage and is known as the “scrum-half,” the other takes a position between the latter and the three-quarters, and is termed the “stand-off-half.” Behind the three-quarters comes the “full-back” or “back,” a single individual to maintain the last line of defence; his duties are entirely defensive, either to “tackle” an opponent who has managed to get through, or, more usually, to catch and return long kicks. Play is started by one side kicking the ball off from the centre of the field in the direction of the opponents’ goal. The ball is then caught by one of the other side, who either kicks it or runs with it. In running he goes on until he is “tackled,” or caught, by one of his opponents, unless he should choose to “pass” or throw it to another of his own side, who, provided he be not offside, may either kick, or run, or pass as he chooses. The ball in this way is kept moving until it crosses the touch-line, or goal-line, or is tackled. If the ball crosses the touch-line both sides line up at right angles to the point where it crossed the line, and the ball is thrown in straight either by one of the same side whose player carried the ball across the touch-line, or, if the ball was kicked or thrown out, by one of the opposite side. If the ball crosses the goal-line either a try is gained, as explained above, or if the defending side touch it down first, the other side retire to the line 25 yds. from the goal-line, and the defending side kick it up the field. If the ball is tackled the player carrying the ball gets up from the ground as soon as possible, and the forwards at once form the scrummage by putting down their heads and getting ready to shove against one another. They shove as soon as the ball is put down between the two front rows. In the scrummage the object is, by shoving the opponents back or otherwise breaking away with the ball in front, to carry the ball in the direction of the opponents’ goal-line by a series of short kicks in which the players run after the ball as fast as possible, while their opponents lie in wait to get the ball, and either by a kick or other device stop the rush. Instead, however, of the forwards breaking away with the ball, sometimes they let the ball come out of the scrummage to their half-backs, who either kick or run with it, or pass it to the three-quarter-backs, and so the game proceeds until the ball is once more “dead”—that is, brought to a standstill. The scrummage appears to be an uninteresting man&oelig;uvre, and a strange relic of bygone times; but it is not merely a man&oelig;uvre in which weight and strength alone tell—it also needs a lot of dexterity in moving the ball with the feet, applying the weight to best advantage, and also in outflanking the opposing side, as it were—usually termed wheeling—directing all the force to one side of the scrummage and thus breaking away. As a rule the game is a lively one, for the players are rarely at rest; if there is much scrummaging it is called a slow game, but, if much running and passing, a fast or an open game. The spectator, unless he be an expert, prefers the open