Spilling Over the Try Line

The Guinness Premiership is one of the best Rugby Union top flights in the world. The Prem is the top flight of English Rugby and has some of the best players in the world playing in it.

Some of the top players are as follows:

Sebastien Chabal (France)- Sale Sharks
Jonny Wilkinson (England)- Newcastle Falcons
Lawrence Dallaglio (England)-London Wasps
Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)-Leicester Tigers
De Wet Barry (South Africa)-Harlequins
Marco Bortolami (Italy)-Gloucester
Gareth Llewellyn (Wales)-Bristol
Eliota Fuimaono  (Samoa)-Bath

With six games played in the Guinness Premiership this season, it is still a tightly contested race, with Gloucester holding a slim lead over Bath 23 points to 22. Saracens and Harlequins are trying to nip at their heels, tied for third at 19 points.

Worcester and Leeds are trying desperately to get back into it and avoid relegation. Worcester has four points and Leeds have five.

Here are the tables:

Gloucester 23pts

Bath 22 pts

Saracens 19pts

Harlequins 19pts

Leicester Tigers 17pts

Bristol 14pts

Sale Sharks 14pts

Newcastle Falcons 14pts

London Irish 10pts

London Wasps 8pts

Leeds Carnegie 5pts

Worcester 4pts

According to Guinness Premiership’s website, “In all Guinness Premiership matches, four points are awarded for a win and two points are awarded for a draw.  One bonus point is awarded to a team scoring four or more tries and one bonus point is awarded to a team losing a match by seven points or less.”

Not many people on this side of the pond know much about the game of Rugby, so I will put up a series of explanations of the game so that one can better understand how the game works.

The first installment is the scoring aspect of the game.

There are three ways to score points in Rugby. First off is the Try.

Tries are the main scoring option in rugby, and they are worth 5 points. In order to score a try, you have to have the ball cross the goal line and physically put the ball down to the ground. You cannot spike it, drop it or bring it down and lose it. There has to be complete possession from a player to be called a success by the official.

Once a player scores a try, the team has to kick a conversion, which is much like an American Football field goal. The only difference is that it is uncontested and the designated kicking person has to kick it from the distance to the left or right of the goalposts that they scored. For example, if the player scored right under the goalposts, they can kick a straight ball to the posts directly in front of them. If they are to the left or right of the posts when they score the try, they can kick it anywhere back of the spot that they scored from. This is worth two points. The ball is also placed on a tee when kicked.

Penalty Goal: Also called a penalty kick, it is worth three points and can be scored from the spot of the penalty. The kick is from a tee and is very similar to the conversion kick.

Drop Goal: The drop goal is the most complicated, and subsequently, most impressive way of scoring. It also involves a kick, but it is during live play. The player quickly drops the ball to the ground, and as it hits the ground, it is kicked between the posts. This is worth three points.

Next Rules Explanation: The positions on the pitch.