New to Rugby

[oldmandave]

I'm an American that has no knowledge of the game or how the leagues work. Can anyone recommend somewhere that has good learning videos. I'm really interested in getting into Rugby but am pretty ignorant to the game. I've watch a couple of matches in the Olympics and had no idea what was going on but still enjoyed it. Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.
Thanks for any advice.

 

[The Seeker]

I'm an American that has no knowledge of the game or how the leagues work. Can anyone recommend somewhere that has good learning videos. I'm really interested in getting into Rugby but am pretty ignorant to the game. I've watch a couple of matches in the Olympics and had no idea what was going on but still enjoyed it. Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.
Thanks for any advice.

Welcome to the forum Dave. I got interested in Rugby Union over 21 years ago. The way I learned was by watching matches and highlights on YouTube. You'll find instructional videos there also like the one I linked below. United Rugby Championship, Premiership Rugby and Super Rugby Pacific are my favorites, but I check out all the pro leagues. As far as the USA goes, Major League Rugby just lost another team (Utah) and is down to an all time low of 6 teams from 13 at their peak. Things aren't looking good for MLR. World Rugby is another good channel to check out on YouTube. They stream men's and women's rugby from all around the world. Professional rugby in the USA is struggling, but the College game keeps growing and they have national tournaments. A lot of it's on YouTube.

 

[Scotty]

Welcome to the forum Dave. I got interested in Rugby Union over 21 years ago. The way I learned was by watching matches and highlights on YouTube. You'll find instructional videos there also like the one I linked below. United Rugby Championship, Premiership Rugby and Super Rugby Pacific are my favorites, but I check out all the pro leagues. As far as the USA goes, Major League Rugby just lost another team (Utah) and is down to an all time low of 6 teams from 13 at their peak. Things aren't looking good for MLR. World Rugby is another good channel to check out on YouTube. They stream men's and women's rugby from all around the world. Professional rugby in the USA is struggling, but the College game keeps growing and they have national tournaments. A lot of it's on YouTube.

It's such a huge market in America how can MLR fail so badly?. And this above it is exactly it. Videos to explain the basic rules to you, watch highlights and matches. And eventually lean the more complex rules. And enjoy matches.

 

[BPM]

Also worth pointing out that rugby in the olympics is Sevens which is very different to the 15-a-side game.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Also worth pointing out that rugby in the olympics is Sevens which is very different to the 15-a-side game.

Yeah exactly. He’ll watch 5 mins of 15s and think **** this.

 

[Scotty]

Yeah exactly. He'll watch 5 mins of 15s and think **** this.

That's what I do with 7s

 

[The Seeker]

I like 7s, 15s and 10s too. If it's Rugby Union I like it. But I just can't get into Rugby League. I've tried many times, but it doesn't do it for me.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

This should give you all the information you need

 

[Yulia]

Yeah exactly. He'll watch 5 mins of 15s and think **** this.

Personally I can't stand 7s

Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.

I'm not a huge expert in rugby either (started to watch it during Covid) but for me anything related to All Blacks/New Zealand is INCREDIBLY interesting!!! Just check literally any game with them and you'll be impressed. Also both French and Irish rugby are pretty exciting to watch

 

[Rinkadink]

Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.

Bristol Bears; can be utterly bonkers to follow at times due to the exciting style of rugby played but also traumatic as sometimes it can go badly wrong. Fun times.

Drink up thy cider.

 

[oldmandave]

Thanks for the info guys. So there are different team sizes? Are those different leagues?

 

[oldmandave]

This should give you all the information you need

That was a funny video. Thank for that.

 

[BPM]

Thanks for the info guys. So there are different team sizes? Are those different leagues?

Yes. 7s is a ‘short form’ version of rugby union which is very different to the 15 man version.

Rugby League is a different ‘code’ played with 13 and no scrums or lineouts.

There are mutilple different leagues in rugby union, mostly in the major countries:

England - Prem rugby
France - Top 14 (T14)
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, South Africa - United Rugby Championship (URC)
NZ, Australia, Fiji - Super Rugby
Japan - League One

The Prem is usually pretty fun to watch and quite high scoring as the teams are mostly pretty evenly matched. T14 and URC are a bit more predictable as the bigger teams dominate.

 

[Which Tyler]

My usual advice to someone who's new to rugby, is to just watch the sport.
Watch some videos explaining terminology so that you know what commentators are talking about, but mostly - watch some matches.
Especially, for a newcomer, watch some classic matches from the past. Things like the final of RWC21 or RWC10, pretty much any KO match from RWC23, "that" SF from RWC99 or RWC25, 2nd lions test 2009, Eng v Sco 6N19, or the upsets in Chicago or Brighton...
Prem finals of 2004, 2013, 2019, 2024, or "that" SF Prem21...

If you've no local(ish) team to support, pick whichever team plays in a way that you find entertaining. There's plenty of variety out there.

 

[Yulia]

My usual advice to someone who's new to rugby, is to just watch the sport.
Watch some videos explaining terminology so that you know what commentators are talking about, but mostly - watch some matches.
Especially, for a newcomer, watch some classic matches from the past. Things like the final of RWC21 or RWC10, pretty much any KO match from RWC23, "that" SF from RWC99 or RWC25, 2nd lions test 2009, Eng v Sco 6N19, or the upsets in Chicago or Brighton...
Prem finals of 2004, 2013, 2019, 2024, or "that" SF Prem21...

I'd recommend to watch any RWC, it's the most entertaining thing for someone new in rugby, even "boring" matches there are still more clear to understand and enjoy. And all the finals are just brilliant and super exciting/dramatic/emotional to watch
Premiership and Super Rugby are also interesting to watch

 

[Which Tyler]

I'd recommend to watch any RWC, it's the most entertaining thing for someone new in rugby, even "boring" matches there are still more clear to understand and enjoy. And all the finals are just brilliant and super exciting/dramatic/emotional to watch
Premiership and Super Rugby are also interesting to watch

Actually, that's a really good point - especially on the "to understand" - RWCs with their broader base of appeal tend to have a lower bar to entry i terms of commentary than normal internationals, which have the same versus club rugby.
I'd suggest that the same goes more-so for women's rugby, with even easier-to-digest commentary - and a much more "fun" atmosphere which comes across on telly - in which case, this year's women's RWC is probably a really good place to start

 

[BPM]

Yeah, I'd fully endorse that. There are several commentators went out of their way to explain different aspects of the game/laws so the women's RWC is a great gateway. Some nice rugby too.

 

[Ddanno]

I'm an American that has no knowledge of the game or how the leagues work. Can anyone recommend somewhere that has good learning videos. I'm really interested in getting into Rugby but am pretty ignorant to the game. I've watch a couple of matches in the Olympics and had no idea what was going on but still enjoyed it. Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.
Thanks for any advice.

This is pretty good for some of the basics and if you know your NFL it seems to do a decent job of relating it to that



Like Which said though, just start watching matches. You'll pick it up.

And support Harlequins, we're awesome (sometimes)

 

[Vaquer]

Yes. 7s is a 'short form' version of rugby union which is very different to the 15 man version.

Rugby League is a different 'code' played with 13 and no scrums or lineouts.

There are mutilple different leagues in rugby union, mostly in the major countries:

England - Prem rugby
France - Top 14 (T14)
Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy, South Africa - United Rugby Championship (URC)
NZ, Australia, Fiji - Super Rugby
Japan - League One

The Prem is usually pretty fun to watch and quite high scoring as the teams are mostly pretty evenly matched. T14 and URC are a bit more predictable as the bigger teams dominate.

Rugby league has scrums they're rarely contested so it's more a way to restart play with players in a position.

 

[JDM]

I'm an American that has no knowledge of the game or how the leagues work. Can anyone recommend somewhere that has good learning videos. I'm really interested in getting into Rugby but am pretty ignorant to the game. I've watch a couple of matches in the Olympics and had no idea what was going on but still enjoyed it. Also, what team would you recommend following that is considered one of the better teams but not necessarily the best.
Thanks for any advice.

Welcome,

I'm an American too with absolutely no connection to the game but have been studying/watching it over the last 5-10 years or so. If you got any question, I'll try to answer the best I can and hopefully can relate to some U.S. sports - football (not soccer) in particular.

Just a couple of things that I've noticed that seem generally different from U.S. sports and football in particular that you might notice or find weird:

1) The refs: The refs seem to play a more significant part in the game and are actively telling players what to do mid-game. The refs seem generally more well-known because how they decide to call matches and what their tolerances are for certain things (esp. at the breakdown) can have a very material effect on outcomes. Also, the enforcement of certain rules seems to be a bit more arbitrary than you find in the NFL IMO. There's an argument to be made that you could call holding, for instance, on almost every NFL snap but often it's very subjective and often immaterial to the outcome of the play. At the breakdown (i.e. after a player is tackled and a ruck is formed) there seems to be a consistent violation of the laws governing the breakdown, the ruck, and poaching the ball. From my understanding, there's a balance being had between enforcing the rules and maintaining the flow of the game, so the refs have to contend with this as well. Also, if you look at scrum feeds, they seem to be crooked quite a bit. Got to admit, seems to be harder than hell being a Rugby Ref.

2) The laws/rules while generally steady, seem to be more in flux compared to the NFL. The recent NFL rule changes with the kickoff, extra point we Big precisely because changes of that magnitude are not common. In my opinion, there seems to be more rule changes in rugby that aren't merely clarifications and tweaks. From my understanding Rugby didn't really become professionalize until the 1990's so with that in mind I think a lot of the change has to do with a balancing act between creating an entertaining product, spirit of the game, and long-standing rules. Player safety as well seems to be a big one.

I'll admit this last year or so I haven't been able to watch as much so maybe some of this has changed through points of emphasis and other laws, but I just wanted to provide a viewpoint coming from a background similar to yours. It's a neat game but it definitely is a bit of a "culture shock" sometimes when looking at it through the lens of a U.S. sports viewer.