If You're Still Baffled By Invictus, A Rugby Primer From Our Expert

Yesterday Hair Balls went to see Invictus with a friend who does not understand even the concept of a “first down” in American football. Since the movie revolves around — in addition to Nelson Mandela and post-apartheid politics — South Africa’s victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup, we were curious to see how she might take to the sport.

Her confusion took no longer than the first scene of the first game (which depicted a scrum) to boil over, leading her to wonder, loudly, “What the hell are they doing?”

We assumed the basics would be covered as the movie went along, but, aside from the mention that all passes must be thrown backward, no real explanation came as players packed into man-mash-ups on the field, randomly kicked balls through uprights and threw each other into the air.

Hair Balls played some rugby in college. Here’s a little primer, based on what you might like to know for the movie.

The Basics
There are 15 people on each team. Play is continuous, and players
switch between offense and defense as possession bounces back and
forth, just like in soccer. They also run with the ball and tackle each
other, like in football, and the goal is to carry the ball into the end
zone for a score, also like football. And again, no forward passes (though you can kick the ball forward whenever you feel like
it). The ball is shaped like a football, but it’s bigger. No
blocking is allowed.

The Scrum
The scrum serves the same purpose as a face-off in hockey, or a tip-off
in basketball. The fattest eight people on each team huddle
together — three in front, four in the middle, and one in back. Then they
push against the fattest eight people from the opposing side. Someone
throws the ball into the middle of this. Each team then tries to kick
it backward to their side.

Line-outs
When one team knocks, kicks, throws or takes the ball out of bounds,
the other team gets to throw it back in — kind of like in basketball.
Except in rugby, teams form opposing lines right near the sideline,
about a yard apart, and the thrower must throw the ball between those
two lines. During the fight to catch the ball, players are allowed to
lift each other into the air. They usually do. The thrower calls out
coded plays that signal who to throw into the air and when.

Rucks
If you’re running with the ball, and I tackle you, you’ve got to let it
go on the ground. Either team can now pick it up. But if someone just
bends down to grab it, he’s likely to get killed. So a few big guys
from each team usually rush to form a mini-scrum over the ball. When
one side pushes the other back far enough to expose the ball (enough so
that a bird can shit on it, as the saying goes), a little man called
the scrum half — kind of like the quarterback — quickly grabs it and passes
it out to one of his teammates.

Tries
In football, when a player takes the ball into the end zone for a
score, he doesn’t have to touch it down to the ground. In rugby he
does. Strangely, this is where the word “touchdown” came from in the
first place. A try is worth five points.

Kicking
After scoring a try, a team gets to attempt a free kick. If it goes through
the uprights, that’s worth two points. Teams can also try a free kick
after a penalty. That’s worth three points. And, as the movie
demonstrates, it is also possible to randomly try to drop-kick the ball
through the uprights whenever you damn well please. That’s worth three
points too.

Penalties
Can be for lots of things — not releasing the ball after getting tackled;
tackling too high; throwing a punch; touching the ball during a ruck
before a bird can shit on it. Penalties play a big role in the final
game of Invictus, because, true to history, the only scoring comes from
kicks. In the movie, the refs don’t explain which penalties are being
called. But that’s why the teams keep getting those free kicks.