Scoring in rugby is a lot bigger than in other sports and so it can get a little confusing at times. Hopefully, this article will make the way points are counted in rugby a little bit simpler for you.
How do they count points in rugby? In Rugby, it is five points for a try and two points for a successful conversion. You then also get three points if you score either a drop goal or a penalty kick.
There are four different ways that points are scored in rugby. It is five points if either team grounds the ball on or over the opposition’s try line to score a try. The team that scores the try then gets a place kick attempt which has to be taken from in line with where the try was scored. If the kick is successful then it is two points.
When the attacking team wins a penalty they have the option to attempt a place kick. If this kick is successful then they are awarded three points. In open play, an attacking team can also attempt a drop goal and if this is successful then it is three points for the attacking team.
How many points is a conversion in rugby?
It is two points for a conversion in rugby and this has been the case since 1894, making it the second oldest scoring rule to still be in place today. Originally the conversion was worth one point and a try was worth none. A try used to only be used to get a conversion until the rules began to change over time for a try to become more valuable than the conversion. It is similar to kicking an extra point in American Football.
How many points for a try in rugby?
In Rugby, a try is worth five points and this has been the rule since 1992, only a few years before rugby became professional. The amount of points given for a try has changed massively over time. Originally a try was not worth any points, scoring a try simply meant you got to attempt a conversion which was worth 1 goal.
Over the history of rugby the point value of a try slowly increased, most recently changing from being four points to five points in 1992.
How many points for a kick in rugby?
In Rugby, a place kick is worth three points. This is an option for attacking teams when they win a penalty and one they usually take when in the opponent’s half and sometimes in their own half if their kicker has a big enough boot to reach the opponent’s goalposts and kick the ball through them.
A drop goal is also worth three points and while this happens in open play it is also a kick. A conversion is also a kick but this is only worth two points and can only be attempted after a try.
How many points is a penalty try in rugby?
A penalty try is one of the rarer ways that points are scored in a rugby game and they are awarded when the referee feels the attacking team would have scored a try if it was not for an infringement from the defending team preventing the try.
A penalty try is worth seven points. This is because a normal try and conversion combined is seven points and so a penalty try being awarded means the attacking team gets the points from the conversion without having to attempt the kick.
What is a typical rugby score?
It is difficult to say exactly what a typical rugby score would look like because there are so many things that affect the score line like the weather, style of play and quality of attacking. But thankfully there have been some averages found from a recent season on the average rugby score.
In the 2020/21 season of the Premiership, the average score was 27-23 in favour of the home side. Other professional leagues were very similar with both the Pro 14 and MLR averaging 27-24 in the 2020/21 season. The Top 14 seems to be slightly more attacking with a typical score being 29-21 in favour of the home side.
The majority of games show a home advantage. The typical score is different in different competitions, with the average score at the 2019 Rugby World Cup being 35-14. This shows the skill level difference that happens in the group stages where massive wins are common for the bigger nations like New Zealand and South Africa.
Has there ever been a 0-0 in rugby?
In professional rugby history, there has never been a game that has finished 0-0, but there are examples of games being 0-0 before rugby turned professional.
There is a reasonably recent example of international teams ending a game 0-0. In July 2004 Togo and Nigeria finished a game without either team scoring a point. However neither of these teams were professional, but the game still ended 0-0.
As Rugby used to have much fewer scoring opportunities there are lots of historical examples of international teams finishing a game 0-0. The Calcutta Cup is the oldest international trophy to be played for and there are six examples of that game finishing 0-0 with the most recent happening in 1930. A game between New Zealand and Scotland in 1964 was the last top-flight game to end 0-0.
However, there are more local examples of 0-0 in rugby. In November 2019 Pinley RFC and Spartans RFC finished a Midlands Two West South League game with the scores at 0-0. The story of the match is pretty incredible. Both teams missed a combined six penalties and neither was able to score a try.
Some fans at the game called it the dullest game ever. It is a great recent example of two amateur sides finishing a game 0-0 and shows that it is possible for there to be a 0-0 in rugby even if it is incredibly rare.