Rugby descends from an 18th century Cornish or Welsh sport known as "hurling" in which a ball was thrown up and the players acting either as individuals or as teams attempted to carry it to a goal. The goal could be set as far as several miles away thereby creating the opportunity for large-scale brawls in intervening villages. In Welsh the sport is called cnapan or "criapan," and has medieval roots. The old Irish predecessor of rugby may be caid, not to be confused with Gaelic "hurling" or "hockey" which has the difference that the ball was hit with a stick rather than carried. Rugby Football is commonly known as "rugby" and as "rugger". Rugby is also said to be derived from Bottle Kicking an old English tradition which is said to date back to pagan times. The oldest attested ball-game resembling rugby football was a game played by ancient Greeks, episkuros.

The status of the rugby codes in various countries

Rugby union, is both a professional and amateur game, is dominated by eleven "major" unions: France, Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Wales, Argentina, Italy, and Scotland. Rugby Union is administered by the International Rugby Board (IRB). Rugby union is the national sport in New Zealand, South Africa and Wales. "Minor" unions include Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Samoa, Spain, Tonga, Chile, The United States and Uruguay. In Malaysia, rugby union is played by campus students. Rugby League is also both a professional and amateur game, administered on a global level by the Rugby League International Federation. In addition to the countless amateur and semi-professional competitions in countries such as the United States, Russia, Lebanon and across Europe, there are two major professional competitions worldwide - the Australian National Rugby League and the European Super League. In the 'National Rugby League' there are teams from all Australian states and territories except South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania, and there is also one in Auckland, New Zealand. In Super League there are just two teams from outside the north of England, London-based Harlequins and Perpignan-based Catalans.

Rugby Rules

Distinctive features common to both rugby codes (league and union) include the prolate spheroid ball and the ban on passing the ball forward, so that players can gain ground only by running with the ball or by kicking it. As the sport of rugby league moved further away from its union counterpart, rule changes were implemented with the aim of making a faster-paced, more try-oriented game, in the hope of increasing attendances at games.

Today, the main differences between the two games, besides league having teams of 13 players and union of 15, involve the tackle and its aftermath:

Union players contest possession following the tackle: depending on the situation, either a ruck or a maul occurs. League players may not contest possession after making a tackle: play is continued with a play-the-ball (AKA: "Scratch")
In league, if the team in possession fails to score before a set of six tackles, it surrenders possession. Union has no six-tackle rule; a team can keep the ball for an unlimited number of tackles before scoring as long as it maintains possession and does not commit an offence.
Set pieces of the union code include the scrum, where packs of opposing players push against each other for possession, and the lineout, where parallel lines of players from each team, arranged perpendicular to the touch-line (the side line) attempt to catch the ball thrown from touch (the area behind the touch-line).

In the league code, the scrum still exists, but with greatly reduced importance. Set pieces are generally started from the play-the-ball situation. Many of the rugby league positions have similar names and requirements to rugby union positions but there are no flankers in rugby league. The result of these variations have led to rugby union being considered a traditional form of rugby.