Rugby has had a varied, complicated and worldwide influence. Not only did professionalism and amateurism collide to create the two different codes used today, but rugby was also the primary influence for American football. The major difference between the two codes is the number of repeated efforts each team is allocated during a match.
History
Until 1895, according to Dave Hatfield in "The Independent," there was only one form of rugby. Clubs from Northern England "decided to break away, because of the southern-based rugby union hierarchy's refusal to let them compensate players for wages lost whilst playing the game." This divide allowed rugby league teams and governing bodies to evolve "a set of rules encouraging a more open and fluid style of play."
Rugby Union: Rucks
During open play in rugby union, players can run with the ball and are only permitted to pass the ball backwards -- one of the rules American football's early pioneers removed -- and once they're tackled, open play is finished. At this point a ruck or a maul must form. The International Rugby Board, or IRB, the organization that regulates rugby union, state that a ruck "is a phase of play where one or more players from each team, who are on their feet, in physical contact, close around the ball on the ground. Open play has ended." The attacking team can remove the ball from the ruck whenever they choose, continue with open play move the ball around their team. They're also allowed to enter into as many rucks, or repeated efforts, as they want, so long as they have control of the ball at all times.
Rugby Union: Mauls
The maul is the other instance when open play ends and the defending team has a chance to retrieve the ball. According to the IRB, a maul "begins when a player carrying the ball is held by one or more opponents, and one or more of the ball carrier's team mates bind on the ball carrier." The key difference between a ruck and a maul is that the latter is mobile. Depending on the physical dominance of either side or the momentum gained at the beginning of the maul, the maul can move forwards or backwards till it collapses and thus becomes a ruck. Again, the attacking team can enter into as many mauls as they want throughout a game, so long as they have control of the ball.
Rugby League: Six Tackles
Rugby league has more comparisons with American football because the attacking side is given a set number of repeated efforts to advance down the field of play. While American football has "downs," the rugby league attacking team has six "tackles" before they must hand the ball over to the opposing side. Once a player is tackled they must stand up and roll the ball backwards with the sole of their boot. The BBC Sport website states the crucial difference between rugby league and rugby union is that once a player is tackled in rugby league, unlike union, "he tackled player must be immediately released by the tackler and cannot be touched again until the ball is back in play."
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