page_title: Laws of rugby union
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Laws of rugby union / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Richard Lindon, believed to have invented the first footballs with rubber bladders, holding the new "buttonless" balls.
context_page_description: The laws of Rugby Union are defined by World Rugby and dictate how the game should be played. They are enforced by a referee, generally with the help of two assistant referees.
  When playing a game of Rugby Union the overall objective is to score more points than the opposition through tries and goals. A try worth five points is scored when a team grounds the ball in the opposition's in-goal. A conversion is then attempted by either place- or drop-kicking the ball between the H-shaped goal posts and above the crossbar. If successful this is worth two extra points.
  Penalties are awarded for major infringements such as offside or foul play and the team that is awarded them can choose to take a shot at goal in an attempt to score three points. They can also use the penalty to kick for territory or tap the ball and continue running it. Three points are awarded if a team member drop kicks a goal during general play.
  The game of Rugby evolved from early association football, with the rules of play being agreed upon before the start of each match.
context_section_description: The early rules of football were determined by pupils before the game, with the legality of carrying or running with the ball often agreed shortly before commencement. The first set of written rules were published by pupils at Rugby School in 1845 and while a number of other clubs based their games on these rules there were still many variations played. The Football Association intended to frame a universal code of laws in 1863, but several newspapers published the 1848 Cambridge rules before they were finalised. The Cambridge rules included rules for "running with the ball" and "hacking" (kicking an opponent in the shins) which were not part of the Football Association draft. They decided not to include those rules in their release, causing a number of rugby clubs to break away from the Football Association.
  The rules for playing rugby still differed between clubs, so in 1870 twenty one clubs formed the England-based Rugby Football Union (RFU) and standardised the laws of the game. As the game spread internationally disagreements arose over interpretations of the laws. Scotland, Ireland and Wales formed the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) in 1886, with the RFU joining in 1890. The IRFB oversaw games between the four nations and in 1930 was made responsible for developing any new laws.
  The balance in value between tries and conversions has changed greatly over the years. Historically, no points at all were awarded for a try, the reward being to "try" to score a goal (to kick the ball over the cross bar and between the posts). Scoring points from tries was not introduced until the late 1880s. Until 1891, a try scored one point and a conversion two. For the next two years tries scored two points and conversions three, until in 1893 when three points were awarded for a try and two for a kick. The number of points from a try increased to four in 1971 and five in 1992. In 1891 penalties were increased from two to three points, while drop goals were awarded four points (drop goals were subsequently reduced to three points in 1948). Before 1905 it was possible to score by kicking the ball through the posts from the ground in open play and in 1977 it was also possible to score three points by kicking a goal after taking a mark before both methods were banned in their respective years.
  The defence was originally allowed to attempt to charge down a conversion kick from the moment the ball was placed on the ground, generally making it impossible for the kicker to place the ball himself and make any kind of a run-up. In 1958, the law governing conversions changed to allow the kicker to place the ball, prohibiting the defence from advancing toward the kicker until he begins his run-up.
  The ball used until the 1860s was leather around a pigs bladder and it was almost spherical. In 1862 rubber bladders were introduced and balls began to be manufactured with a more pronounced oval shape. In 1892 the RFU developed compulsory dimensions for the ball in the Laws of the Game for the first time. In the 1980s leather-encased balls, were replaced with balls encased in synthetic waterproof materials. In 1877 the number of players was reduced from 20 to 15 a side.
  The IRB trialled 23 changes to the modern laws in 2006 and some competitions in Scotland and Australia adopted them in 2007. In 2008, 13 of the variations were trialled globally. Important changes included; no gain in ground if the ball is kicked directly into touch after it has been moved back into the 22 by a player from the same team as the kicker, the offside lines for backs moved five metres from the scrum, allowing mauls to be legally pulled down and players to enter with their head lower than their hips, no restrictions on the number of players in a line-out, and allowing pregripping and lifting. In 2009 the IRB approved 10 of the laws, rejecting the laws relating to mauls, and numbers in a line-out.
  More recently, New Zealand Rugby, in co-operation with World Rugby, is set to trial several significant changes in the 2016 Mitre 10 Cup:
  Games will be officiated by two r
caption: Early footballs with rubber bladders.
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