Rugby Rugby Football was supposedly invented during a football game by William Web Ellis at Rugby School in England. The game is a team sport contested with an ovoid ball by two teams of 15 players. The ball is carried in the hand and may be passed backwards or laterally across the pitch or kicked in any direction. The opposing players attempt to halt the ball-carrier by tackling him or her. Points are scored by touching the ball down over the opponents goal line for a try (5 pts), by kicking a penalty or drop goal (3 pts), or by a conversion (2 pts). This variant of Rugby is called Rugby Union and is governed by the International Rugby Board, founded in 1886. in 1895 due to a row over professionalism a new professional union was born, which eventually became the Rugby Football League. This turned into a new variant of rugby, Rugby League, with rules that have diverged from Rugby Union. Most noticeably is the reduction of players from 15 to 13. 'play the ball', elimination of line outs, and slighty different scoring. Rugby Union: World Cup: Men Women Six Nations Cup: Men Women Men: Tri Nations Cup Men: European Nations Cup Women: European Championship Women: European Tournament Men: South American Championship Men: Africa Cup Men: Asian Five Nations Cup Men: World Cup 7's Men: World Games 7's Men: 7's World Series Men: Commonwealth Games 7's Men: Asian Games 7's Defunct Event: Men: Asian Games International Club Competitions: Men: European Cup European Challenge Cup Super 14 Championship Pacific Rugby Cup Defunct Event: Men: European Shield National Championships: Men: Argentina Australia (States) Celtic England France Georgia Germany Italy Netherlands New Zealand Portugal Romania Russia South Africa Spain Sweden Women: England Defunct: Men: East Germany Soviet Union National Cups: Men: Anglo-Welsh Defunct Events: Men: Olympic Games Men: Pan American Championship Men: FIRA Trophy Rugby League: Men: Rugby League World Cup Men: Rugby League Tri Nations Cup Men: International Club Competitions: Rugby League World Club Challenge Rugby League Challenge Cup Men: National Rugby League Championships: Australia England France New Zealand