Touch rugby

Touch rugby, also named touch or touch football, is a sport that is derived from Rugby League. It minimizes body contact so that rugby players practice over the preseason and improve their handling skills without any risk of injuries. It also eliminates body contact to allow inclusion of both genders and people from all ages.

 History 
Touch rugby was started in South Sydney in the late 1960s and was pursued as a non-contact off season sport and as a fitness program for Rugby League players. The game was introduced in Europe in the 1980s, and the first touch league began in Ireland in 2005.

 Rules 
 Size of field 
Touch rugbyis played on fields or pitches of 70 meters long by 50 meters, wide with sidelines, a half-way line and In goal areas.

 Numbers 
According to touch rugby's official rules, each team may have up to 14 players, with 6 players per team in the field at one time. Therefore, a total of 12 players get to play on a field. The team may interchange players as often as it wants.

 Start of game 
Tossing a coin decides the starting team, and an attacking team has six chances, called touches, to score.

 Scoring 
Players score by grounding the ball in goal areas. Ggrounding is holding a ball and letting it touch the ground.

 Turn over 
If the attacking team drops a ball, its possession is changed to the other team, and the game starts over with rollball by using the hands or the feet to roll the ball slightly backward.

 Penalty Situations 
 Forward pass 
The team that has possession may pass a ball to teammates who are sideways or backwards. If it is passed forward, it is a penalty, and the team loses possession. The game starts over by a tap kick, which is kicking the ball by using the foot.

 Touch and pass 
If a player is touched but still passes the ball, a penalty occurs for forward pass.

 Off the mark 
Players must start over with rollball or a penalty at the same mark that the rollball or a penalty was given.

 How to touch? 
In touch rugby, tackle from traditional rugby is replaced by touch, which uses a hand. Any part of body may be touched but with minimum force.

 Purpose 
Touch rugby encourages many people to join the rugby world, whoever or whatever age they are. It is used as a tool to promote rugby to new players such as youth players or girls and women.

References

Category:Rugby