Rugby

Wheelchair rugby is a team sport for athletes with a disability. Developed in Canada in 1977, it is currently practiced in over twenty countries around the world and is a Paralympic sport.

The sport's original name was murderball; in the United States, it is referred to as quad rugby. All wheelchair rugby players have disabilities that include at least some loss of function in at least three limbs; most are medically classified as quadriplegic, although some are functionally closer to paraplegics. Wheelchair rugby is played indoors on a hardwood court.

The rules include elements of wheelchair basketball, ice hockey, handball and Rugby. It is a contact sport and physical contact between wheelchairs is an integral part of the game. It has little in common with Rugby football except for the name

The sport of wheelchair rugby is governed by the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation which was established in 1993.

Touch rugby refers to games derived from rugby football in which players do not tackle in the traditional, highly physical way, but instead touch their opponents using their hands on any part of the body, clothing, or the ball.

A formal, competitive variety, known as Touch, developed from rugby league and now exists as a sport in its own right. In addition, touch rugby games are played as training activities for rugby league and rugby union; as safer variants of rugby, particularly in schools and junior clubs, and as an informal social sport.

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side and VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. The game originated in Melrose, Scotland, and the Melrose Sevens is still played annually. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. 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. It has been dominated by New Zealand.

Rugby sevens is now recognised as an Olympic sport and will make its debut in the 2016 Summer Olympics. This follows a vote by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to include the sport. That decision was backed at the 121st International Olympic Committee Session in Copenhagen on October 9, 2009.

Rugby league football

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* (or simply rugby league)RLIF, 2004: 51 is a full-contact form of football, played with a prolate spheroid ballRLIF, 2004: 8 by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two major codes of rugby football, over the decades following rugby league's split from rugby union in 1895, its rules have been gradually changed, deliberately resulting in a faster and more open spectator sport.

Frequently cited as the toughest and most physically demanding of any team sport in the world,

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the primary aim in rugby league is to carry or kick the ball towards the opponent's goal line where points can be scored by grounding the ball; this is called a try. After scoring a try, the team is allowed the chance to try at goal with a conversion - a kick for further points. The opposing team will attempt to stop the attacking side gaining points by preventing their progress up the field by tackling the player carrying the ball.

Rugby league is most prominent in Australia, England, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, being the national sport in the latter. France and Wales also have professional clubs. New Zealand are the current World Cup holders as of 2008.

The game is played at a semi-professional and amateur level in several other countries, such as Samoa, Tonga, Serbia, Fiji, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Lebanon, Germany, Japan, the United States, Malta and Jamaica.

Rugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century.Origins of Rugby - Codification - "The innovation of running with the ball was introduced some time between 1820 and 1830." One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, up to 100 m long and 70 m wide.Law 2 The BallLaw 1 The Ground At each end of the field is an H-shaped goal.

William Webb Ellis is often credited with the invention of running with the ball in hand in 1823 at Rugby School when he allegedly caught the ball while playing football and ran towards the opposition goal. Although the evidence to support it is doubtful, the Ellis story was immortalised at the school with a plaque unveiled in 1895.William Webb Ellis - fact or fiction? bbc.co.uk In 1848, the first rules were written by pupilsEarly Rules ? this was one of recognized events in the early development of rugby; others include the Blackheath Club's refusal to adopt the rule revisions of The Football Association in 1863 and their resultant decision to leave this organisation of which they were founding members, and in 1895, the split between rugby union and rugby league.

Rugby union has been governed by the International Rugby Board since its formation in 1886 and currently has a membership of 115 national unions. In 1995, the IRB removed restrictions on payments to players, making the game openly professional at the highest level for the first time.

The Rugby World Cup, first held in 1987, takes place every four years, with the winner of the tournament receiving the Webb Ellis Cup. The Six Nations in Europe and the Tri Nations in the southern hemisphere are major international competitions held annually. Major domestic competitions include the Top 14 in France, the Guinness Premiership in England, the Currie Cup in South Africa, and the Air New Zealand Cup in New Zealand. Other transnational competitions include the Magners League (which is essentially a domestic competition throughout the Celtic Nations), involving Irish, Scottish and Welsh teams; the Super 14, involving South African, Australian and New Zealand teams; and the Heineken Cup, involving the top European based teams of their respective domestic competitions.