Rugby is an exciting sport that
is comprised of players who display strength, endurance, agility and teamwork
as they try to drive the ball into the opponents try zone while also defending
their own try zone. There are fifteen players on each team when a game is in
play; and those fifteen can be divided into two groups that re described below:
Forwards
There are eight forwards in play
at all times for each team. The job of these forwards, also known as the pack,
is to drive the opposing team backwards, make defensive plays and recover
dropped balls. Most of this is accomplished within the scrum, where each pack
acts as a unit to drive back the other pack.
Generally the forwards are larger
in size than the backs, as they use their weight and strength to overpower the
opposing line.
The forwards consist of a loose
head prop (also identified as a “1”), a hooker (2), a loose head pop (3), two
locks (4 and 5), two flankers (6 and 7) and the number eight.
Backs
There are seven bucks to a rugby
team; and they are there to use their speed, agility and ability to evade
opponents to make plays and get the ball down the field so they can score
points. Black's move the ball amongst each other to create holes in the defense,
so they can break past the sacrum area.
The backs are led by the scrum
half (9), and then it goes flying half (10), left wing (11), inside center
(12), outside center (13), right wing (14) and full back (15).