Its distinctive features are (1) that players may use their hands and catch, throw, or run with the ball in addition to maneuvering it with their feet, as in association football (soccer), and (2) use of the scrum , or scrummage, a method of putting the ball in play from a set formation in which eight men on each team--six in a professional game--form a closely packed group that includes two front rows of three men each, the ball being thrown onto the ground between them with each team trying to get possession.

Although in rugby the ball may be kicked or carried or passed from player to player by hand or foot, it may not be passed forward. Players running with the ball inevitably caused tackling to become a part of the game. A tackle occurs when, depending on the form of rugby being played, a player carrying the ball is held by one or more opponents so that he is brought to the ground or the ball touches the ground or he is unable to free himself without delay and is unable to continue play.

Scoring in the game is achieved by touching the ball down in the opponents' goal area behind their goal line (a try) and by kicking the ball over the crossbar between the opponents' goalposts (a goal). There are two principal types of rugby football: Rugby Union, which is the amateur game; and Rugby League, the partly professional game.