20 Rugby Union / Betfair Education / 18 March 2008 / Leave a comment

Points are awarded as follows:

Try - 5 points

The action of grounding the ball in the in-goal area. Breakaway tries are easiest to spot but in a pack of players over the line, the video official may be required to adjudicate if the ball has been grounded.

Conversion - 2 points

After scoring a try, a player has an attempt from any distance in line with where the try was scored in the field of play at kicking the ball between the posts and over the crossbar.

Drop Goal - 3 points

Scored in open play, the ball must be dropped and make contact with the ground before being kicked. The ball must pass between the posts and over the cross bar to be successful.

Penalty - 3 points

If a penalty is awarded in range of the goal kicker the team may opt to goal for a penalty as opposed to advancing towards the try line.

Teams will often take the easier three points from a penalty rather than push on in the hope of crossing the line for a try. With a reliable kicker, teams often don't need to score as many tries as their opponents to win the match. Drop goals become more of an option late in the game when the score is tight, particularly to break a deadlock or to force the opposition to score twice to win the match.