What is Rugby?

This post is geared towards my good friend's curiousity in the sport of Rugby. He recently saw the movie Invictus and was very disappointed because of the lack of information to go along with the unfamiliar sport in an American movie. It must have been similar to the time I took my wife to an ice hockey game and she thought the lines painted on the ice were for decoration. She had no idea why the whistle kept blowing let alone where the puck was. Well don't worry William I'm going to break it down for you and for everyone else who may go see this movie. If the information is out there maybe it will be more enjoyable.
The sport of Rugby is often referred to as the "father" of America football, something my friend does appreciate. Although if that means it came before football he may lose interest being that it is a past time. "If it's america's past time, then let it be in the past," he would say. Anyway, Rugby is a fastpaced game with many changes in possession and very few stoppages in play. It is very physical like football but players are not allowed to block like in football. The game is played on a "pitch" which is similar to a football field or soccer field however the goal posts are at the front of the "goal lines". The ball is much like a mix between a football and a soccer ball. It is more round than a football and doesn't come to a point on either side. Each team has 15 players on the "pitch" at a time. 8 players are considered forwards and are generally bigger and stonger athletes. On the defensive side their are 7 players generally your smaller quicker athletes. Just like american football the game begins with a kickoff. Once the ball travels 10 yds it is fair game for either side, but it also is a game of field position which is key. When a player gets the ball he is free to run until he is either tackled, runs out of bounds, or runs past the goal line. Their are no downs and the players can pass the ball both laterally and backwards but never forwards. Essentially it's an 80 minute struggle of two teams trying to lateral the ball much like a football team that has to return a kick at the end of a game with the time running out. Here's the kicker, literally, the players can choose to kick the ball forward at any point and either team can retrieve the ball either out of the air or from the ground. This is used both to progress the ball forward or to reset field position. In order to score it is much like a continuous football game. A player can run the ball in to the goal area and that scores 5 points much like a touchdown. Following this type of score they kick the ball through the uprights for 2 additional points much like an extra point, only its a drop kick. Next, at any point in the game when their is a penalty called on the other team, the team that was fouled gets to attempt a drop kick if they are in range and it is worth 3 points. Also, at any point during the game if a player drop kicks it through the uprights they gain three points and if any of these attempts fail the ball is live. As far as when the ball goes out of bounds or their is a minor infraction their are 2 ways of starting play again a scrum and a line-out. The line out is when you will see the players lifted in the air to catch basically a jumb ball thrown straight up in the air by the team who was not responsible for the ball out of play. The scrum is probably the most known or commonly seen play where each team gets in a "line of scrimmage" formation and the ball is placed in the middle. At that point either team pushes forward until they can get the ball out from behind their line and the play begins at that point. Lastly, their is a need to know about the tackles. Tackles are allowed from the mid section down and once a player is tackled the play is not dead but that player has to immediately give the ball up. With the exception of drop kicks and no blocking allowed this is much like an american football game nearing the end of the game like I described earlier. Each team is constantly running and trying to advance the ball without passing forward. Sounds like fun!
Honestly, after reading about all of this and describing it I really want to play, however I'm even less excited about seeing the movie. Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who may see Invictus to try to keep up with it better than my friend Will. Good luck and enjoy.