Playing

Teams gain territory by running with the ball in hand, and passing it between players. Passes must not go forward, but kicking the ball forward is allowed.

Kicking is a key way to gain territory, often by sending the ball into touch and setting up a line-out. The main method  of defence is tackling the player with the ball. Tackles must be made chest height, and tackling a player without the ball is forbidden.

Scoring

The aim of the game is to score as many points against your opponent as possible. Points are scored by the following methods:

• Tries: A try is worth 5 points and is scored by a player touching the ball down into the opponents "try zone " (between the try line and dead ball line). It is the rugby equivalent of the American football 'touchdown'. Tries can also be awarded as penalty tries when an attacking player is illegally kept from scoring a likely try.
• Conversions: A conversion is awarded when a try is scored and allows the attacking team to gain 2 more points by kicking the ball between the posts of the rugby goal. Again this is the rugby equivalent of American football's 'extra point'. The conversion is usually taken from the line in the field where the try was scored. This means you can back up as far as you would like so long as you are kicking along an imaginary line which runs parallel to the sidelines through the place the ball was touched down.
• Penalty: A penalty kick scores 3 points and is awarded if a serious foul has been committed. The kick is taken from the spot of the foul or any where behind it on a line through the referees mark.
• Drop Goal: A drop-goal scores 3 points and is a kick at goal during the run of play, where the ball is kicked just after touching the ground. These can be kicked at any time, from anywhere, by anybody. All that is required is that you literally drop the ball and let it hit the ground first.

The team that has been scored on always restarts play by kicking to the team that scored the points.