Whether it’s the World Cup or a local club game, playing rugby satisfies the soul like nothing else. This Cheat Sheet explains key rugby terms, rugby positions and scoring, and the laws of rugby, along with listing important tournaments worldwide.Rugby is a game of passion that’s full of action, excitement, and beauty, as well as unpredictable moments and dramatic resolutions on the field, but making sense of it can be intimidating for the first time viewer or playerTackling the laws of rugbyRugby is governed by laws, not rules.

The International Rugby Board controls the game of rugby union worldwide, and part of their job is to determine the laws of the game. The key laws are Offside: A player is offside in general play if he is in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball, or in front of a team-mate who last played the ball. Forward pass: An illegal pass to a player who is ahead of the ball; a player isn’t allowed to pass the ball forward to a team-mate.

Want to watch a rugby match and actually have some understanding of what’s going on? Want to impress people with your background knowledge of the game? Print out and pin up this basic information and you’ll always have the essentials at hand.

Australia and New Zealand are mad for rugby, and the hype for each Rugby World Cup — and each addition of another Super Rugby team — furthers the influence of the game. But watching rugby can be a little confusing if you don’t know the rules, or who the main teams are. Here are some tips for what to look for the next time you’re at the field or watching on TV.

Sometimes it can be tricky for rugby players — and spectators! — to understand the slight difference between a ruck and a maul. But here’s a simple explanation that should help: In a ruck, the ball is on the ground. In a maul, the ball is generally in the hands of a player. To put it simply: Off the ground, it’s a maul; on the ground, it’s a ruck.

While the basic aim of rugby is to score a try, players can get points on the board in many different ways. You can score points as follows: A try is worth five points, which is the most number of points you can score at once. A penalty try is worth exactly the same as a normal try — five points. A converted try is worth seven points: Five points are awarded for the initial try and two more are awarded when the goal kicker kicks the ball over the crossbar.

Super Rugby revolves around a 15-team format. A points system that encourages attacking play makes the competition even more attractive to the viewing public. The 15 Super Rugby teams are The Blues: The Auckland Blues hail from the North Island of New Zealand. The Brumbies: The ACT Brumbies have their home ground in Canberra Stadium in the Australian Capital Territory.

Rugby is governed by laws, not rules. The laws of the game are designed to produce an entertaining and free-flowing contest for possession in an attempt to score the most points. The laws of rugby are constantly evolving and are the same all over the world, wherever the game is played. In general, the laws governing play are straightforward about what’s allowed, but three crucial parts can be somewhat confusing: the tackle situation, advantage, and offsides: In a nutshell, when a tackle is made in rugby the requirements are that the tackler releases the tackled player, who then releases the ball so that players who are on their feet can use it.

For the first time rugby player or viewer, the sport can appear to be a chaotic collection of indecipherable movements and haphazard collisions. In reality, rugby is highly technical and organized with specific laws governing all aspects of play. To get you on the right track early, here are the four most important parts of rugby to familiarize yourself with before watching a match.