On the Field: Rugby Union Trivia Quiz

The perimeter area is a term very unlikely to be heard by the vast majority of people who watch - or even play - the sport of rugby union. The perimeter area is the part of the playing enclosure that surrounds the field of play (the zone in which the game is considered live and playable). The perimeter area consists of touch, touch-in-goal and dead ball zones.

When the ball is in the perimeter area the game is technically "dead" until a valid restart takes place but the 'Laws of the Game', such as foul play, still very much apply. If foul play takes place in touch then a penalty kick is typically awarded on the line that is 15 metres away from the touchline whereas foul play in the dead ball zone leads to a penalty awarded on the line that is five metres away from the nearest goal line. These nuances often catch out newer referees!

At each end of the field of play is an in-goal, the area in which a try can be scored resulting in the award of five points to the scoring side plus the opportunity to take a conversion kick at goal for an additional two points. The in-goal area includes the goal line (far more commonly referred to as the "try line") but does not include the touch-in-goal line and the dead-ball line.

A defending team can also ground the ball in their own in-goal area which, depending on how the ball entered the in-goal, will result in either a scrum to the attacking side on the 5-metre line, a defensive drop kick on the 22-metre line or a defensive goal line drop-out (a more recent concept in the union code).

In many respects the goal line or "try line" is the most important part of the playing area. This line separates the field of play from the in-goal areas and is the line that a team needs to reach in order to score points. The methods of scoring in rugby union are numerous and include a try for five points, conversion kick for two points, a penalty kick at goal for three points and a drop kick at goal for three points.

Where an act of foul play - such as a high tackle - from the defending side prevents the attacking team from scoring a "probable" try, then a penalty try is awarded. A penalty try is worth seven points (the conversion kick that typically comes after a try is not required) and a yellow card is usually issued to the infringing player.

A dead-ball line features at the very extremities of the playing area and it signifies the end of the in-goal. Once the ball - or a player carrying the ball - touches the dead-ball line then the game comes to a temporary stop as the ball is deemed "dead".

Law interpretation changes frequently in the sport of rugby union but a longstanding distinction exists between carrying the ball and touching the ball. A practical outcome of this is that a player standing or lying in the dead ball area, who simply taps a ball down into the in-goal without holding it, can be awarded a try! Rugby is full of exceptions.

The touch-in-goal line serves the same function as the dead-ball line; the difference rests solely in their respective locations. The only reason the distinction between the two types of line appears to exist is in order to specify the dimensions of the playing area.

For those interested (as a former referee even I struggle to get excited by this) the length of the touch-in-goal line must be between 6m and 22m. What is however interesting is that this is quite a big range which will change the tactics of the game depending on whether the in-goal is small or large. Larger in-goals provide for more opportunity to adopt a "kick chase" style of play whereas smaller in-goals tend to result in forward-driven "pick and drive" gameplay.

The two touchlines flank the field of play and they are solid lines along which assistant referees are on patrol. With some weird and wonderful exceptions, when the ball crosses the plane of touch or a player carrying the ball lands on the touchline or beyond it, the assistant referee will raise their flag to indicate that the ball is "in touch". Unless the time has expired or an advantage for a previous infringement is being played, the match will restart with a lineout.

The 22-metre line is the line behind which a 22-metre drop-out must be taken and it is also used to determine where lineouts should take place when the ball lands directly in touch from restart kicks and kicks in open play. Why put a line 22m from the goal line? Well, it is something of a relic from the days of imperial measurement where a line was originally placed 25 feet from the goal line (demarcating approximately a quarter of the length of the field).

Whilst not an exact conversion from imperial to metric, the 22-metre line was considered the appropriate response to the change in units.

The 10-metre line is a reference line to judge whether a ball has been kicked far enough from a kick-off or restart kick after a try or successful kick at goal. The ball is kicked from the half-way line and must reach the 10-metre line; if it fails to reach the line then the opposing side can either accept it and play on or opt for a scrum (or lineout if appropriate) on the half-way line. Outside of kick-offs and restart kicks after a score, the 10-metre line can be treated as invisible.

The half-way line is where the game begins and it can often be the site of great tension as everybody awaits the whistle to kick-off the game. Rugby is a territorial game and the territories are defined by reference to the half-way line. One of the aims of each side is to spend as much time in the opposition's half as possible as this tends to correlate with higher scores and greater likelihood of overall victory.

The only thing that matters at the end of the game however is the score and many a game has been won from a poor share of the territory.

The 22 is the region of the pitch bound by the goal line, 22-metre line and the two touchlines. As the playing enclosure in rugby union is symmetrical, there is a 22 in each half of the field. For a defending side to be penned in to their own 22 is to be flirting with danger as the opposition is close to breaching the goal line to score.

One option that is available to defending players within their own 22 is to call a "mark" when they catch a ball from an opposition kick without the ball first bouncing. A mark gives the defence a chance to regroup before taking a free kick to clear their lines.