Comparison of American football and rugby league

A comparison between American football and rugby league is possible because of their shared origins and similar game concepts.

To score a try or touchdown in rugby league, the player has to push the ball directly onto the ground once in the try zone, whereas in American football the player has to simply have possession of the ball as it crosses the plane of the goal-line, or receive a forward pass while in the end zone.

American football requires its players to use a large amount of protective equipment, including helmets, gloves and padding around the body, whereas protective clothing is much more minimal in rugby league, usually amounting to light padding (if any) and soft headgear (hard helmets being illegal).

American football goalposts were formerly H-shaped and were located on the goal line, but; in 1967, the NFL adopted the current modern offset-fork design, made from extruded steel pipes.

The central vertical post is offset from the crossbar toward the rear, placing it as far as possible from the field of play; it is also usually padded to minimize collision-related injuries.

As four replacements in a rugby league team, with only twelve interchanges of players allowed to be made throughout the game (eight in the Australian NRL).

Broadly speaking, offensive and defensive linemen in American football correspond to forwards in rugby league and other players are somewhat similar to backs.

A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following: This closely resembles the six-tackle rule in rugby league.

As this could result in long periods with one team in possession of the ball, in 1966 the game's administrators implemented the limited tackle rule from American football.

At first, the number of tackles was set at four, as in American football; it was later extended to six to give teams more time to develop attacking play.

A key difference with American football is that there is no automatic way of earning a new set of tackles in rugby league.

Following a down, the ball is returned to play within a restricted time limit by a "snap" in American Football.

One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball back between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback and play commences.

Possession may change in different ways in both games:- In both codes, tactical kicking is an important aspect of play.

The forward pass is a distinguishing feature of American and Canadian football as it is strictly forbidden in rugby league.

In both codes, if the ball is caught by an opposition player this results in an interception and possession changes hands.

In both games it is permitted to bring down the player in possession of the ball and prevent them making forward progress.

Illegal blocks, when observed by the officials, are flagged for penalties that vary in their severity, depending upon the particular infraction.

In both games, following a try / touchdown, there is the opportunity to score additional points by kicking the ball between the posts and over the bar.

Rugby league has no equivalent to American football's two-point conversion, in which the scoring team chooses not to kick at goal, but attempt a second touchdown from short range.

Following the award of the penalty, the attacking team may opt to kick for goal rather than advance the ball by hand or punting.

In rugby league this does not result in any points but causes the team in possession to kick the ball back to the opposition from under the posts.