Rugby union Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known in most of the world as rugby, is a contact team sport which originated in England in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its most common form, a game is between two teams of 15 players using an oval-shaped ball on a rectangular field with H-shaped goalposts on each try line. Rugby union is a popular sport around the world, played by male and female players of all ages. In 2014, there were more
Rugby union in Scotland football-type sporting nationalism. Aside from Murrayfield, there are few major rugby stadiums in Scotland. Many clubs in the Scottish Borders have grandstands and city sides in Edinburgh and Glasgow also have seated, covered stands. According to the International Rugby Board as of September 2010, Scotland has 241 rugby union clubs; 343 referees; 7,556 pre-teen male players; 13,402 teen male players; 10,556 senior male players (total male players 31,514) as well as 1,303 (total) female players. However, many more pre teen players are not registered with the SRU. Rugby union is particularly popular in the Borders region. The towns of Hawick,