What is a scrum? How much are annotations worth? : guide to understanding the games of the Condors

Sunday at eight o’clock in the morning, the Chilean anthem will resound loud and clear at the Stade Toulouse. It will be the first time that the national song will be exhibited in a Rugby World Cup. An opportunity that will also allow thousands of people to turn on their televisions and follow Los Cóndores from a distance. For many of them, it will even be the first time they will attend a rugby match.

This is why it is necessary to review the games, positions and charges that surround this discipline. A complex situation, mainly due to the large number of situations that are generated over the minutes (two periods of 40 minutes) on the pitch.

The first thing is to understand that like most team sports (15 players per team play with up to eight substitutions), the objective of rugby is to get the ball to the end zone (into the goal) of the rival team. At the end of the match, the team with the most points wins.

There are four types of annotations. The first is a try (a player deliberately pushes the ball into the end zone) and is worth five points. . In this situation, the team will also have the opportunity to have a conversation which will mean two additional points. There is also the possibility that during the game, a team chooses to kick the posts, which adds three points. Another option, very similar to the latter, is the drop, ie when a team in play chooses to release the ball so that it slowly bounces and hits the posts. This also gives three points.

The other option to add points is to complete a “penalty try” which is worth seven points and is charged for foul play in a game with a clear scoring option. If this happens, there is no chance of conversion.

If in the knockout matches, the matches end in a tie, this will be defined by two extensions of ten minutes each. If the parity persists, ten more minutes of sudden death will be played, where the first team to score points will be declared the winner. If all is equal (which is very rare), penalty shootouts are used as a last resort, as happened in the match between Leinster and Cardiff in the 2009 Heineken Cup.

Rugby XV teams are divided into forwards and backs, two groups that have different functions, but are in constant contact. Both groups are still in the field and all they have a specific number per possession, not per player like in football.

Forwards, also known as packs, are the strongest players on the team who seek to gain and maintain position in addition to making tackles. It consists of three lines. In the first are the pillars (#1 and #3) and the hooker (#2), then come the second line (#4 and #5) and in the third are the wings, both on the closed side (# 6 and #7) upon opening. Next to them is number eight, who is responsible for ordering formations like scrum and ruck.

Behind them are the full-backs, who create and convert goalscoring opportunities. Number nine is the scrum half who acts as a liaison and playmaker. The fly half (#10) is the player who receives the ball and decides whether to pass, run or kick. On the wings appear the wingers (#11 and #14) who are the race specialists. Further on are the centers (#12 and #13) characterized by players with great defensive and attacking ability. The last line of defense is occupied by the back (#15), who should stand out for his position. He must be agile to tackle, precise to clear with his foot and adept at supporting speed during offensive plays.

Rugby is characterized by being a discipline with different formations during the game, which are mainly performed to dispute possession of the ball. The first thing is to understand that in rugby, the tackle is the means used by the defending team to stop the opponent’s advance. For World Rugby it is essential that this action is performed correctly as most injuries occur there . For example, it is specified that this can only be done below the shoulder line and that when the tackled player falls and touches the ground, they must immediately pass the ball.

This specification leads to ruck, one of the free formations that exist in rugby. There, one or more players from each team, standing, in physical contact, gather around the ball which is on the ground and fight to advance or reverse play. Since this formation can compromise defenders, it is a good opportunity to create space for attacks.

A similar situation is the maul (another free formation), although this is done when the tackled player does not fall to the ground. Defenses are also compromised here and spaces can be found turning it into a dynamic attacking platform. All players involved must be trapped or tied to the maul and must be upright and moving towards a goal line.

One of the most traditional formations in rugby, the scrum is a way to restart play after a minor foul like a forward pass. The eight attackers are grouped together, form the platoon and fight shoulder to shoulder with the rival platoon, forming a kind of tunnel in the middle of the two teams. The favored team’s scrum half will enter the ball into the tunnel and his teammates will attempt to return it with their feet at the end of the formation, to continue the action.

Finally, when the ball leaves the authorized areas, play resumes with a line out (these are, like the scrum, fixed formations). Opponents of the team that had the ball before it went out of play will throw the ball into the formation where the players are, who can lift a player between two players to reach the ball. Once this one is caught, he can go to the scrum-half to distribute it or decide to form a maul.

To punish foul play offences, there are yellow and red cards. While the first suspends a player for 10 minutes, the second puts him out of play, without the possibility of replacing him, the team therefore finds itself playing with 14 rugby players.

In addition to cards, another way to punish infringements or minor faults are penalties, which are used to restart play. Penalties result in free kicks, scrums or kicks. The latter is usually given when the penalty was close to the posts, since it allows you to kick and score three points.