Rugby Vocabulary List
Word
|
Example sentence
|
Meaning
|
attack
|
Our team started another attack after getting the ball from a line-out.
|
move the ball forwards in order to score
|
conversion
|
If John had kicked the conversion, we would have won the game.
|
kick for goal after scoring a try, for two extra points
|
crossbar
|
My kick went through the goalposts but under the crossbar, so it wasn't a
goal.
|
horizontal bar that connects the goalposts
|
drop kick
|
Players practise drop kicks in case they get the chance to score a drop
goal.
|
kick in which the ball is dropped to the ground before being struck with
the foot
|
forward pass
|
After seeing a forward pass, the referee blew her whistle and play
stopped.
|
illegal pass thrown to a position ahead of the player who threw it
|
foul
|
Players who commit a serious foul can be sent off for the rest of the
game.
|
an infringement of the laws; illegal play
|
halfway line
|
To start a match, a player drop-kicks the ball from the middle of the
halfway line.
|
line across the pitch 50 metres from each try line
|
line-out
|
After the ball went into touch, the touch judge signalled for a line-out.
|
formation of forwards into which the ball is thrown to restart play after
the ball goes into touch
|
obstruction
|
The referee gave me a yellow card for obstruction so I had to go off for
ten minutes.
|
foul of obstructing a player by blocking, tripping, shirt-pulling, etc.
|
pass
|
Their team threw eight passes in a row before scoring a try.
|
throw of the ball to a team-mate
|
penalty kick
|
Before taking the penalty kick, Jonny set the ball on the ground and
stepped back.
|
free kick awarded by the referee that can be used to kick for goal
|
pitch
|
Most pitches are grassed, though some have surfaces of clay, sand or even
snow.
|
playing field on which rugby is played
|
place kick
|
Before taking a place kick, use some sand, a small hole or a plastic tee
to position the ball.
|
kick taken by placing the ball on the pitch, stepping back and then
moving in and kicking it
|
red card
|
The referee gave me a red card for punching, but the punch didn't really
hurt him much.
|
card shown to a player being sent off the pitch for the rest of the game
|
referee
|
You don't often see players being rude to a referee in rugby.
|
official who controls a rugby match
|
rugby sevens
|
Our game of rugby sevens only lasted twenty minutes, but a lot of points
were scored in this time.
|
form of rugby union with only seven players per side
|
scrum
|
Players can only use their feet to move the ball once it's been fed into
a scrum.
|
players from one team link arms, bend over and push forward against a
similar group from the opposing side
|
tackle
|
Our captain was penalized for a head-high tackle and had to go off for
ten minutes.
|
stop a player from running with the ball by wrapping arms around him and
bringing him to ground
|
touch
|
If a player goes into touch with the ball, play is restarted with a
line-out.
|
area outside the two touchlines
|
touch rugby
|
Touch rugby has become popular among the girls at our school, and many
have joined the school team.
|
form of rugby in which players stop opponents from running with the ball
by touching them instead of tackling
|
try
|
Jonah Lomu scored some of the most amazing tries I've ever seen.
|
act of taking the ball over the try line and grounding it to earn five
points
|
try line
|
I've seen Lomu push his way past five big defenders to get to the try
line.
|
line at each end of the pitch on which the goalposts are erected
(see goal line)
|
yellow card
|
The referee gave me a yellow card for dangerous play, but I didn't hurt
anyone.
|
card shown to a player being cautioned and sent off the pitch for ten
minutes
|
