Comparison of rugby league and rugby union 1 in league. A penalty goal is worth 3 points in union and 2 points in league. Use of a penalty box (or "sin bin") was introduced by rugby league in 1980. Rugby union had been experimenting with the same concept since 1979, although it was not formally sanctioned until 2001. Video referee technology was first used for rugby league in 1996 and for rugby union in 2001. In rugby league the ball may be thrown or knocked out of play deliberately, while in union those are penalty offences. Kicking the ball out of play is legal in both codes.
Rugby union in Canada the traditional centre of the Canadian game, and although there have often been as many players in Ontario as BC, there has been a steady drift westward of players. This westward drift has ensured that Canadian rugby now has an outlook to the Pacific Rim, rather than one merely fed by a heritage of largescale British emigration. Confusingly, in Canada, Canadian football has also frequently been referred to as "rugby football", and a number of national and provincial bodies were called "Rugby Football Unions" or "Rugby Unions", such as the Ontario Rugby Football Union, Quebec Rugby Football Union. For example,