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 American and Canadian football 18 games since 1986, while the NFL regular season has consisted of 16 games since 1978. There are several radical differences concerning how the leagues calculate regular season records and how ties in the standings are broken: Although the rules of Canadian and American football have similarities, the differences have a great effect on how teams play and are managed. Generally, the "big play" is more important in the Canadian game, and offensive series are more difficult to manage. The red zone is an unofficial designating the portion of the field between the 20-yard line and the goal line. Due