Comparison of Canadian football and rugby union "rouge" and the receiving team gains possession of the ball but give up a point to the punting team for failing to advance the ball out of the endzone. An important difference between the two sports involves the aftermath of a score. In Canadian football, the scoring team kicks off, except after a safety. In rugby union, the team scored upon kicks off (in rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union featuring seven players per side, the scoring team kicks off). Canadian teams have twelve players on the field per side. Different players may be interchanged at will for offence
Comparison of Canadian football and rugby union running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks have roles similar to backs in rugby. Because of the playing time, number of pauses, number of players and the nature of the game in general, rugby players will typically need higher physical endurance than Canadian football players while more short-term bursts of physical strength, power, and speed are required in Canadian football (amongst equivalent positions and weights). Collisions between players in rugby union tend to last significantly longer than Canadian football, in which collisions are more often "hits" in which the momentum of the player is enough to bring the other player to ground