Rugby Union

Rugby Union Football (simply referred as Rugby or Union) is a 15-player, full-contact outdoor sport played with an oval ball. Rugby Union Football is one of the two main forms of full-team Rugby, the other being Rugby League. There is also a quicker seven-player sport called Rugby Sevens, which exists in both Rugby Union and Rugby League derived forms.

The key differences between Rugby and Soccer are:

in Rugby the ball is a oval instead of a sphere.
in Rugby the players are allowed to pick the ball up and run with it. The players may kick the ball, and also are allowed to throw the ball from player to player.

The key difference between Rugby and American Football is that Rugby players are not allowed to throw the ball forward. The ball must only go sideways or backwards when thrown or passed.

Rugby Union Football has established itself throughout the world as a highly popular sport, particularly in the following countries:

Argentina
Australia
Canada
England
Fiji
France
Ireland

New Zealand
Samoa
Scotland
South Africa
Tonga
Wales

Rugby Union Football is also gaining popularity in Italy, following its acceptance into the Six Nations, and Japan, despite their unsuccessful bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which went to New Zealand.

The International Rugby Board (IRB), founded in 1886, governs the sport worldwide and also publishes the game's laws. There are currently 95 full members and eight associate member countries. According to IRB figures, rugby union is played in more than 100 countries spanning five continents by men and women of all ages. The IRB controls the Rugby World Cup, the Women's Rugby World Cup, Rugby World Cup Sevens, IRB Sevens World Series, Under 21 World Cup, Under 19 World Championship, and the Super Cup. It holds votes to decide where all of these events shall be held, except in the case of the Sevens World Series. For that competition, the IRB contracts with several national unions to hold individual events.