The International Olympic Committee (IOC) added men’s and women’s rugby sevens — along with men’s and women’s golf , perhaps to balance the aggressiveness of rugby? out— to the Olympics, starting in 2016 at Rio de Janeiro. Rugby in its own is an exciting sport. It is non-stop, full contact and a cross between soccer and football. Sevens is an explosive, less complicated? version of traditional rugby. There are seven, verses fifteen players. The half’s are seven minutes, verses forty.
“It’s a speed game,” said Emil Signes, a legend in the rugby community.? “For Americans (who are less exposed to the sport), it’s really easy to understand because most everything takes place in the open field. You see people tackle each other, chase each other, pass to each other: It’s a lot less technical than 15-a-side rugby.”
When I played rugby in college, we had an expression: “Ruck, it’s only a four-letter word when your on the bottom.” A ruck is formed after a tackle and? a new line of scrimmage is set. Depending on the number of people involved in the tackle, the “ruck” maybe several people deep with both teams trying to obtain possession of the ball. Possession can only be obtained by going directly over the line of scrimmage where the ball is (in other words, you cannot run around the tackle to get to the ball. You have to go OVER it).
You can read up on Rugby Terms For Dummies to learn more.