Comparison of American football and rugby union possession of the ball at their own 20-yard (25 yard line in College Football) line. An important difference between the two sports involves the aftermath of a score. In American football, the scoring team kicks off, except after a safety. In rugby union, the team conceding the score kicks off (in rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union featuring seven players per side, the scoring team kicks off). An American football team consists of an offensive unit, a defensive unit and a "special teams" unit (involved in kicking and kick returns). Only eleven players can be on the field at
Australian football at the 1956 Summer Olympics the Olympic Games. To an outsider, the game features elements of association football, gaelic football, and rugby. It is played on a grass surface with an oval ball, in four 20-minute quarters. Also, at the time of the Olympic Games, a team consisted of eighteen players and two reserve players (each of whom could substitute for a player on the field, with the substituted player being unable to resume their place on the field under any circumstances). Like today, the goals consisted of an inner and outer pair of posts, where the scoring was six points for a goal (between