http://ruggachick.com Rugby 101 ep7. Of course the goal of scoring is for a team to score more points than their opposition in order to win. A try... That is what makes rugby so cool to watch, fans just love it when tries are scored! So a try is scored by grounding the ball. The most important thing when scoring a try is that the ball needs to be grounded!! If the player has control over the ball, he can place it on the ground over the opponents goal line, using his hands or arms. If the ball is already on the ground of the opponents goal line, the player can press down on the ball with any part of his body from the waist to the neck. Interesting to know is that the goal line includes the base of the posts and padding around them. So if an attacking player grounds the ball on the goal line or against the base of the goal posts - he scores a try. If a player touches the referee with the ball, as the referees often are in the way... It is seen as infringement and the try is then awarded. Now a try used to be between 1 then 2 and later 3 points back in the 1890’s. During the 1905 a try was 3 points and later in 1977 it became 4 points. Now we all know a try today is worth 5 points and has been since 1992. When the defending team commits foul play by preventing a try, according to the referee’s judgement, a penalty try will be awarded between the goal posts. In most cases the infringing player will be send off!! When a try is scored it gives the attacking team the opportunity to score a conversion. A conversion is when a try or penalty try is awarded a player in the team usually the fly half takes a kick at goal from where the ball was grounded. If it was a penalty try, the conversion will be taken in front of the goal posts. Interesting to know that we all have known a conversion to be only two points, but there was a time back in 1891 where a conversion counted for 3 points.
