| Ankle tap: |
| An ankle-tap or tap-tackle is a form of tackle. It is used when the player carrying the ball is running at speed and a defending player is approaching from behind. Even if the defender is not able to get close enough to the ball-carrier to wrap his arms around him in a conventional tackle, he may still be able to dive at the other player's feet and, with outstretched arm, deliver a tap or hook to the player's foot (or feet) causing the player to stumble. |
| Advantage line: |
| Also called the gain line. It is an imaginary line drawn across the centre of the pitch when there is a breakdown in open play, such as a ruck, maul or scrum. Advancing across the gain line represents a gain in territory. |
| Advantage: |
| "Advantage" is the period of time after an infringement, in which the non-offending side have the opportunity to gain sufficient territory or tactical opportunity to negate the need to stop the game due to the infringement. The referee will signal advantage with their arm out horizontally, toward the non-infringing team. If no tactical or territorial advantage is gained, the referee will whistle, and give the decision that had been delayed. If sufficient advantage is gained, the referee will call "advantage over", and play will continue. The Advantage Law allows the game to flow more freely, and not stop for every minor infringement. An example of the application of advantage would be if Team A knocked the ball on (technical offence, conceding a scrum) but a Team B player picked the ball up and made a run forwards before being tackled. |
| Ball back: |
| If the ball enters touch, then play is restarted by a line-out at the point where the ball left the field of play. The exception to this is if the ball is kicked into touch on the full. In this case, a line-out is taken from the point from where the ball was kicked from, and not from where it entered touch. |
| Blindside: |
| The narrow side of the pitch in relation to a scrum or a breakdown in play; it is the opposite of openside. The blindside flanker is expected to cover the opposing team openside at scrum and breakdown. |
| Bonus points: |
Bonus points are a method of deciding table points from a rugby union match. It was implemented in order to encourage attacking play throughout a match, to discourage repetitive goal-kicking, and to reward teams for "coming close" in losing efforts.
1 bonus point is awarded for scoring 4 (or more) tries and 1 bonus point for losing by 7 points (or fewer). |
| Blitz defence: |
The blitz defence is a defensive technique similar to the defence used in rugby league. It relies on the whole defensive line moving forward towards their marked man as one, as soon as the ball leaves the base of a ruck or maul. The charge is usually led by the inside centre.
The idea of this technique is to prevent the attacking team gaining any ground by tackling them behind the gain line and forcing interceptions and charged down kicks. However, the defending team can be vulnerable to chip kicks and any player breaking the defensive line will have lots of space to play because the defence are running the other way and must stop, turn and chase. |
| Blood bin: |
| It is also called blood replacement. A player who has a visible bleeding injury may be replaced for up to fifteen minutes (running time not game time), during which he or she may receive first-aid treatment to stop the flow of blood and dress the wound. The player may then return to the pitch to continue playing. |
| Box-kick: |
| This is a kick taken from behind a scrum, normally by the scrum-half, in which he turns away from the scrum facing the touchline, and kicks the ball back over the scrum into the clear "box" of space behind the opposition to allow his own team to chase through and regain the ball in undefended territory. |
| Breakdown: |
| The breakdown is a colloquial term for the period immediately after a tackle and the ensuing ruck. During this time teams compete for possession of the ball, initially with their hands and then using feet in the ruck. Most referees will call "ruck" or "hands away" as soon as a ruck is formed. Most infringements take place at the breakdown, owing to the greater variety of possible offences at a breakdown, for example handling in the ruck, killing the ball, offside at the ruck and so on. |
| Caution: |
| A player who deliberately or repeatedly infringes the laws is cautioned, and shown a yellow card. A cautioned player is suspended from playing for ten minutes. |
| Centre: |
| They are the players wearing shirts numbers 12 & 13. They are divided into inside and outside centre. |
| Conversion: |
If a team scores a try, they have an opportunity to "convert" it for two further points by kicking the ball between the posts and above the crossbar - that is, through the goal. The kick is taken at any point on the field of play in line with the point that the ball was grounded for the try parallel to the touch-lines. So it is advantageous to score a try nearer to the posts as it is easier to convert it.
The kick can be either a drop kick or a place kick. |
| Counter rucking: |
| If a team (usually the team that took the ball into contact) has secured the ball at a ruck, and the other team manage to force them off the ball and secure possession themselves, the defending team are said to have "counter-rucked" |
| Crash tackle/Crash ball: |
It is an attacking tactic where a player receives a pass at pace and runs directly at the opposition's defensive line. The crash ball runner attempts to commit two or more opposing players to the tackle, then attempts to make the ball available to team-mates by off-loading in the tackle or recycling the ball quickly from the ruck.
By committing players to the tackle, the crash ball runner creates holes in the opposition's defense, thereby creating attacking opportunities for team-mates. |
| Drop kick: |
| A drop kick is when a player kicks the ball from hand and the ball touches the ground between being dropped and kicked. If a drop kick goes through a goal then it results in a drop goal. |
| Dummy runner: |
| Another offensive tactic; a player on the attacking team runs towards the opposition as if running onto a pass, only for the ball to be passed to another player, carried on by the ball carrier or kicked forwards. As with a dummy pass, this tactic draws defenders away from the ball and creates space for the attacking team. |
| Dummy pass: |
| An offensive ruse, where the ball carrier moves as if to pass the ball to a team-mate, but then continues to run with the ball himself; the objective is to trick defenders into marking the would-be pass receiver, creating a gap for the ball carrier to run into. |
| Dump tackle: |
| It is a tackling technique. The tackler wraps his arms around the ball carrier's thighs and lifts him a short distance in the air before forcibly driving him to the ground. The tackler must go to ground with the ball carrier for the tackle to be legal. This technique is useful to completely stop the opponent in his tracks. A dump tackle which drops the ball carrier on his head or neck is known as a spear tackle, and will almost invariably concede a penalty and possibly result in a caution for the tackler. |
| Five metre scrum: |
| When a scrum offence is committed within 5m of either try line, or a player carries the ball over his own try line and touches it down, the referee will award a scrum on the five metre lie; this is to prevent all but the most brutal packs from driving the ball over the try line within the scrum. |
| Flanker: |
| Also known as breakaways or wing forwards. They are the players wearing shirts numbers 6 & 7. They are the players with the fewest set responsibilities. The player should have all round attributes: speed, strength, fitness, tackling and handling skills. Flankers are always involved in the game, as they are the real ball winners at the breakdown, especially the number 7. The two flankers do not usually bind to the scrum in a fixed position. Instead, the openside flanker will attach to the scrum on whichever side is further from the nearer touchline, while the blindside flanker attaches himself to the scrum on the side closer to the touchline. |
| Fly half: |
| Also referred to by a number of different names, they are the players wearing shirt number 10. This position is one of the most influential on the pitch. The fly-half makes key tactical decisions during a game. Generally a fly-half is also the goal kicker due to excellent kicking skills. |
| Forward pass: |
It is called a throw-forward in the laws of the game.
A forward pass occurs when the ball fails to travel backwards in a pass. If the ball is not thrown or passed forward but it bounces forward after hitting a player or the ground, it is not a throw-forward.
If the referee deems it accidental, these results in a scrum to the opposing team, however deliberate forward passes result in the award of a penalty. |
| Fourth official: |
| A fourth official is one who controls replacements and substitutes. He may also substitute for referee or touch judge in case of injury to either of them. |
| Foul play: |
| Foul play is defined as the deliberate infringement of the laws of the game. |
| Free-kick/ Short arm penalty:: |
Also called short arm penalty. This is a lesser form of the penalty, usually awarded to a team for a technical offence committed by the opposing side such as numbers at the line-out or time wasting at a scrum. A free kick is also awarded for calling a mark.
A team cannot kick for goal and the normal 22m rule applies for kicking for position from a free kick. A Free Kick is signalled by the referee with a bent arm raised in the air. |
| Fullback: |
| They are the player wearing jersey number 15. They act as the last line of defense against running attacks by the opposing three-quarter backs. The full back is expected to field high kicks from the opposition, and reply with a superior kick or a counterattack. The full back is sometimes the specialist goal-kicker in a team, taking penalty and conversion kicks. |
| Garryowen: |
| An Garryowen or up and under kick, is a high short punt onto or behind the defending team. |
| Goal from mark: |
| Goal from mark is an antiquated method of scoring. It occurred when a player "marked" and scored a goal from there. In the modern game, a goal cannot be scored from a free kick, but in the past the reward for scoring a "goal from mark" (which is a difficult kick to play) was three or four points. Occasionally referred to as a field goal. |
| Goal: |
| A goal is scored when a player kicks the ball through the plane bounded by the two uprights and above the crossbar. A drop goal or penalty goal count for 3 points except and conversions count for two. |
| Goal line, Tryline: |
Two solid, straight white lines (one at each end) stretching across the entire width of the pitch passing directly through the goal posts which defines the boundary between the "field of play" and the "in-goal". As the goal line is defined as part of the "in-goal", attacking players can score tries by placing the ball with downward pressure onto the goal line itself. The base of the goal posts and post protectors are also defined to be part of the goal line.
The goal line is often referred to as the "try line" though that term does not appear in the Laws of the Game. |
| Grubber kick: |
| It is a type of kick which makes the ball roll and tumble across the ground, producing irregular bounces making it hard for the defending team to pick up the ball without causing a knock-on. It gives the ball both high and low bounce and on occasions, the ball can sit up in a perfect catching position. |
| Group of death: |
Is an informal sobriquet used in to describe a situation that often occurs during the group stage of a tournament, where any team in the group could qualify and any team could be eliminated.
Typically, a group of death will see an unusual match-up of heavyweight sides, due to a quirk in the seeding system. |
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