When a Maul becomes a Ruck: British Ball Sports

WOOD GREEN, LONDON
Did you catch the finals of the World Cup last week?  No, not the World Series.  The Rugby World Cup!  Whereas football (soccer) is the most popular sport in England, for two weeks the front page each day featured the World Cup being hosted by New Zealand.

Modern Wiff Waff

The British are proud of the many globally popular ball sports they invented.  We mention American Football – they spout on about its origins in England.  Baseball?: “Grew out of cricket, popularized during the Civil War when pitches (fields) were too ripped up for reliable bowling (which require a bounce).”  “Oh, and did you know the first international cricket match was played between Canada and the US in 1844 in New York?”  Tennis?: “Modern Tennis was a favorite pastime of King Henry VIII in the 16^th century.”  Ping Pong?: “Originally called “wiff waff” and played as an after dinner diversion for the Victorian British elite using cigar box lids (paddles) and a champagne cork (ball).”

Rugby and Cricket in particular the British developed to perfection and exported to their empire, whose inhabitants, by the way, quickly excelled at and left England rarely, if ever, the victor in international competitions.

The quip goes: “football (soccer) is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans, and rugby is a hooligans’ game played by gentlemen.”  For most of its history the top rugby union league was amateur and played by elite “public” school boys.  The players call the referee “sir.”  Football on the other hand was always popular with the poor and working class.  Hooliganism and racist issues, while not as prominent now, have scarred its history.

A Proper Rugby Line Out

In my effort to understand rugby I find several "laws" (not "rules") illustrate the challenges of the game and its differences from US football:

• You can’t pass the ball forward – to move it forward it must be kicked or run. 

• When a player is tackled the ball is still “live” but they must immediately release it upon hitting the ground and the ball can only be touched by players who are standing.
• "Mauls” and “Rucks” are two forms of play around the ball.  In a ruck the ball is on the ground whereas in a maul the ball is still in the hands of a stalled attacking player.  Consequently a maul can often lead to a ruck.  But it is a penalty to purposely create a ruck from a maul.
• A “line out” is similar to a throw-in in basketball or soccer only members of the two teams line up apposing each other (no closer than 1m apart), the player throws in the ball (and it must be straight), and as soon as the ball is in the air both teams elevate one of their players high in the air so he can catch the ball and toss it back to his team to start an attack.
• And then there are scrums.  We'll postpone trying to understand them until we are drinking a beer and watching a match on the telly.

By now I'm sure you are impatient to learn who won the Rugby World Cup.  New Zealand All Black beat France 8:7.  A nail biter!


Peter