The Gentleman's Sport, Etiquette, 2007 and a Map

As they say in the U.K, Football is a gentlemen's game played by hooligans. Rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen.

"Contrary to many American sports, etiquette is a large part of the game of Rugby.

The referee's judgment is never questioned. Under the showboating rule, the referee can penalize pompous celebrations after a try by revoking the score. As Mr. Sung says, "You don't really want to showboat anyway, because if you do, then everyone is looking to hit you really hard." The honor of rugby and mutual respect between teams is upheld regardless of how rough a game may be.

In rugby, fifteen players on each team battle to score a try, which is accomplished by crossing into the goal area and touching the ball to the ground. A try is worth five points and the ensuing kicked conversion is worth two.

All players are allowed to run with the ball and tackle. A player can kick the ball forward at any time, but can only pass backward. Teammates are not allowed to block for the ball carrier but follow closely behind him. When tackled, the ball carrier must release the ball immediately, and another player then picks up the ball to advance it. The action rarely stops.

The exact origins of rugby are debated, but many believe that the game was born in 1823 when students at the Rugby School in Warwickshire started playing a distinctly different version of soccer. Legend has it that one William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and, with complete disregard for the rules, ran it into the goal. Rugby became an Olympic sport in 1900 and was last played at the 1924 Games in Paris, when the United States beat France 17-13 for the gold medal. Shortly after the Paris Games, the IOC cancelled rugby as an Olympic sport because of its violence, even though rugby sold more tickets than the same track and field events later glorified in the movie Chariots of Fire. The Rugby World Cup, played every four years, was created in 1987, and the sport's popularity has grown dramatically since then. Some 3-billion people watched the World Cup on television in 2003."