Comparison of Canadian football and rugby union

This rule in Canadian football allows top-flight teams to include hundreds of different plays in each and every match.

This determines the fluid and rapid nature of rugby where possession of the ball may change back and forth between teams without a break in play for long periods.

This means that although rugby teams practice and execute a large number of pre-rehearsed plays the players at the top level especially must be quick thinking and tactically adept to cope with an unpredictable, fast moving game.

The forwards numbered 6 through 8 are the players that need to have good all round rugby skills as well as speed and strength.

Most notably, a rugby union game will continue after the scheduled end of a half (half-time or full-time) until the ball is kicked into touch, a team scores, or the losing side commits a penalty.

Most commonly, however, the clock will be stopped by the referee to allow for treatment of injured players during the game, removing the need for added injury time.

In addition to this, the half time break is typically 12- to 15-minutes; this intermission allows for resetting of strategy in both rugby and Canadian football and adjusting to the opponents schemes.

The game clock in Canadian football is also stopped at various times depending on how the previous play ended; for example if the ball carrier runs out of bounds, or if a forward pass is incomplete.

Various forms of football have been played in Britain for centuries with different villages and schools having their own traditional rules.

It is most likely that rugby got its start in British Columbia in the late 1860s or early 1870s when brief mentions of "football" appeared in print.

F. Barlow Cumberland and Fred A. Bethune first codified rules for rugby football in Canada, in 1865 at Trinity College, Toronto, and the first proper Canadian game of rugby took place in 1865 when officers of an English regiment played local civilians, mainly from McGill University.

[2] Back in England, a schism developed between those who favoured strict amateurism and those who felt that players should be compensated for time taken off work to play rugby.

These are fixed to 20 yd and called the end zone in Canadian football, but of unspecified length in rugby union.

Both codes also have goalposts at each end of the field: on the goal line in the case of rugby union, same as in Canadian football.

Canadian football goalposts consist of two vertical posts 18.5 feet apart (24 feet in high school football) rising from a horizontal crossbar mounted on single (usually) post raising it 10 ft off the ground (resulting in a combined Y-shape of sorts).

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

In Canadian football, it is normal to punt on the last down, but, as in rugby union, a kick can take place at any phase of play.

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

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.

Also, Canadian football features the option of the going for a 2-point convert, where the attacking team gets one chance from 5 yards out to get the ball in the endzone again.

In Canadian football teams often opt to go for a field goal (worth 3 points) rather than attempt a touchdown.

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

A rare play called a "fair catch kick" is analogous to a goal from mark which existed in rugby union at one time.

In rugby union this does not score any points but results in a scrum 5 meters from the try zone with the tackling team in possession.

In Canadian football, players receiving a forward pass are often vulnerable because they must concentrate on catching the ball, often jumping very high or stretching out and thereby exposing their body to punishing hits; in rugby a player is not allowed to be tackled in the air, leaving the receiver of the kick with more time to assess his surroundings.

In rugby, rucks and mauls may develop following a tackle when multiple players from each team bind together to move the ball in play (on the ground or in-hand respectively).

Rugby union players are allowed to wear modest padding on the head, shoulders and collarbone, but it must be sufficiently light, thin and compressible to meet IRB standards.

Protective headgear which is becoming essential because of the quantity of cuts and head injuries that can occur, particularly by the boots of players involved in rucking.

No form of metal is allowed in any rugby kit, except for IRB-approved soft aluminum studs on boots.

An unintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted in increasing levels of violence in the game which unprotected would be extremely dangerous.