Rugby offers scrums, tries, conversions, and at least three rulebooks that should never be tossed into the same ruck.
These rugby trivia questions clearly label rugby union, rugby league, and rugby sevens while covering rules, competitions, history, and famous players.
Rugby Basics Shared Across Codes
Start with the family resemblance before the rules split into union, league, and sevens.
- What shape is a rugby ball?
Answer: Oval or prolate spheroid - What is the main scoring act of grounding the ball beyond the goal line called?
Answer: A try - What kick follows a try for an additional score?
Answer: A conversion - Must most forward passes be ruled illegal in rugby?
Answer: Yes - What does offside generally restrict?
Answer: A player's position relative to play and teammates - What are the upright structures at each end called?
Answer: Goalposts - What does touch mean?
Answer: The area beyond the sidelines or the act of the ball going out - What is a tackle?
Answer: Stopping a ball carrier by bringing the player to ground or otherwise completing a code-defined tackle - What protective equipment is optional but common for players' teeth?
Answer: A mouthguard - What is a knock-on?
Answer: Losing the ball forward from hand or arm - What is a drop goal?
Answer: A goal scored by drop-kicking the ball during open play - What surface do players usually compete on?
Answer: A grass or approved artificial pitch - What official enforces the laws on the field?
Answer: The referee - What colored cards are commonly used for temporary dismissal and sending off?
Answer: Yellow and red - What term covers rugby union, league, and sevens collectively?
Answer: Rugby football codes
Rugby Union Rules and Positions
This round is union only, with 15 players, contested possession, and plenty happening after the tackle.
- How many players start for each team in rugby union?
Answer: 15 - How many forwards start in a union team?
Answer: Eight - How many backs start in a union team?
Answer: Seven - What set piece restarts play after a minor infringement?
Answer: A scrum - How many players from each union team normally bind in a full scrum?
Answer: Eight - What set piece restarts play after the ball goes into touch?
Answer: A lineout - What can teammates do to help a jumper in a union lineout?
Answer: Lift and support the jumper - What is a ruck in union?
Answer: Players on their feet contesting the ball over a tackled player - What is a maul in union?
Answer: A standing ball carrier bound with teammates and at least one opponent - How many points is a union try worth?
Answer: Five - How many points is a union conversion worth?
Answer: Two - How many points is a union penalty goal worth?
Answer: Three - How many points is a union drop goal worth?
Answer: Three - Which jersey number is traditionally worn by the scrum-half?
Answer: 9 - Which position usually wears number 10?
Answer: Fly-half
Rugby Union Competitions and Nations
Keep this union-only round straight by matching nations, trophies, and global tournaments.
- What men's union tournament is contested every four years by national teams?
Answer: The Rugby World Cup - Which country won the inaugural men's Rugby World Cup in 1987?
Answer: New Zealand - Which country won the 1995 men's Rugby World Cup on home soil?
Answer: South Africa - Which country won the 2003 men's Rugby World Cup?
Answer: England - Who kicked England's winning drop goal in the 2003 final?
Answer: Jonny Wilkinson - Which country won the 2023 men's Rugby World Cup?
Answer: South Africa - What trophy is awarded to the men's Rugby World Cup winner?
Answer: The Webb Ellis Cup - What annual union championship features England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales?
Answer: The Six Nations - What is a Grand Slam in the Six Nations?
Answer: Winning every match in one championship - What is the Triple Crown?
Answer: Beating the other three Home Nations in one championship - What trophy do England and Scotland contest?
Answer: The Calcutta Cup - What annual southern-hemisphere union tournament includes Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa?
Answer: The Rugby Championship - What team represents New Zealand in men's rugby union?
Answer: The All Blacks - What team represents South Africa in men's rugby union?
Answer: The Springboks - What are the British & Irish Lions?
Answer: A touring union team drawn from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
Rugby League Rules and Positions
Switch codes now: league has 13 starters, a six-tackle count, and no contested ruck after every tackle.
- How many players start for each team in rugby league?
Answer: 13 - How many points is a league try worth?
Answer: Four - How many points is a league conversion worth?
Answer: Two - How many points is a league penalty goal worth?
Answer: Two - How many points is a league field goal usually worth?
Answer: One - How many tackles does a league team normally receive before possession changes?
Answer: Six - What restart follows most completed tackles in league?
Answer: The play-the-ball - What does a player do in a play-the-ball?
Answer: Uses a foot to roll the ball backward to a teammate - What position commonly receives the play-the-ball?
Answer: Hooker or acting half - How many forwards traditionally start in a league side?
Answer: Six - What league position is numbered 1?
Answer: Fullback - Which positions usually wear numbers 2 and 5?
Answer: Wingers - Which creative positions commonly wear 6 and 7?
Answer: Stand-off or five-eighth, and scrum-half or halfback - Are league scrums normally used to contest possession as fiercely as union scrums?
Answer: No - What happens if a league team is tackled after using its final tackle?
Answer: Possession turns over
Rugby League Competitions and History
Stay in league for clubs, national sides, and the split that created the code in 1895.
- In what year did rugby league's founding split occur?
Answer: 1895 - At which English town did northern clubs form the Northern Rugby Football Union?
Answer: Huddersfield - What dispute helped drive the 1895 split?
Answer: Payment for players' lost working time - What is England's leading rugby league club competition called?
Answer: Super League - What is Australia's leading rugby league competition called?
Answer: The National Rugby League - What annual series pits Queensland against New South Wales?
Answer: State of Origin - What trophy is awarded in British rugby league's famous knockout competition?
Answer: The Challenge Cup - At which London stadium is the Challenge Cup final traditionally associated?
Answer: Wembley Stadium - What international tournament crowns the world champion in rugby league?
Answer: The Rugby League World Cup - Which nation won the first Rugby League World Cup in 1954?
Answer: Great Britain - What nickname belongs to Australia's national rugby league team?
Answer: The Kangaroos - What nickname belongs to New Zealand's national rugby league team?
Answer: The Kiwis - What nickname belongs to Papua New Guinea's national rugby league team?
Answer: The Kumuls - Which English club plays at Headingley and is called the Rhinos?
Answer: Leeds Rhinos - Which Australian club plays in Melbourne and is called the Storm?
Answer: Melbourne Storm
Rugby Sevens at Full Speed
Sevens uses union laws in compact form, creating more space, faster matches, and brutally quick tournaments.
- How many players start for each team in rugby sevens?
Answer: Seven - How long is a standard sevens match, excluding halftime?
Answer: 14 minutes - How long is each half in a standard sevens match?
Answer: Seven minutes - How many players bind in a sevens scrum for each team?
Answer: Three - Is sevens derived from union or league?
Answer: Rugby union - In which Scottish town was rugby sevens created?
Answer: Melrose - Who is credited with proposing rugby sevens in 1883?
Answer: Ned Haig - Why was the original sevens tournament organized?
Answer: To raise money for Melrose RFC - In what year did rugby sevens debut at the Olympics?
Answer: 2016 - Which city hosted that Olympic debut?
Answer: Rio de Janeiro - Which country won the first Olympic men's sevens gold medal?
Answer: Fiji - Which country won the first Olympic women's sevens gold medal?
Answer: Australia - What global annual circuit is now branded as the SVNS series?
Answer: The international rugby sevens series - How many points is a try worth in sevens?
Answer: Five - What kick is used for sevens conversions to keep play moving?
Answer: A drop kick
Rugby Origins, Laws, and Famous Names
Return to the wider rugby family for founding stories, law changes, and players identified by code.
- Which English school is central to rugby's traditional origin story?
Answer: Rugby School - Who is traditionally said to have run with the ball there in 1823?
Answer: William Webb Ellis - Is the Webb Ellis story proven contemporary fact?
Answer: No, it is a later tradition - In what year was the Rugby Football Union founded?
Answer: 1871 - Where was the Rugby Football Union founded?
Answer: London's Pall Mall Restaurant - Which two countries played the first rugby union international in 1871?
Answer: Scotland and England - Which country hosted the 1995 union World Cup featured in Invictus?
Answer: South Africa - Which Springbok captain lifted the 1995 Webb Ellis Cup?
Answer: Francois Pienaar - Which New Zealand union player was nicknamed The King and starred in the 1960s?
Answer: Colin Meads - Which New Zealand wing became a global union star after the 1995 World Cup?
Answer: Jonah Lomu - Which Australian union captain lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in 1999?
Answer: John Eales - Which Welsh union player was famous for sidesteps and played fly-half in the 1970s?
Answer: Barry John - Which English league player is nicknamed Sir Kev and starred for Leeds Rhinos?
Answer: Kevin Sinfield - Which Australian league player captained Queensland through a long State of Origin era?
Answer: Cameron Smith - Which code did dual international Jason Robinson play before switching to union?
Answer: Rugby league
Rugby Terms, Trophies, and Quick Distinctions
Finish by identifying which code a term belongs to and what the referee is signaling.
- In union, what is advantage?
Answer: Allowing play to continue when the nonoffending team may benefit - In union, what is a mark inside the player's 22?
Answer: A protected fair catch from an opponent's kick - In union, what does 50:22 reward?
Answer: A kick from inside one's own half that bounces into touch inside the opponents' 22 - In league, what does a 40/20 kick achieve?
Answer: A favorable restart after a kick from inside one's 40 bounces into touch inside the opponents' 20 - Which code uses lineouts as a standard restart: union or league?
Answer: Rugby union - Which code uses a six-tackle count: union or league?
Answer: Rugby league - Which code uses three-player scrums at elite level: sevens or 15-a-side union?
Answer: Sevens - What is a conversion taken after?
Answer: A try - Where is a conversion kick aligned?
Answer: In line with where the try was scored - What is a sin bin?
Answer: A temporary suspension area - How long is a standard union yellow-card suspension?
Answer: Ten minutes - How long is a standard sevens yellow-card suspension?
Answer: Two minutes - What does the TMO assist with in union?
Answer: Video review of match incidents - What does HIA stand for in elite union protocols?
Answer: Head Injury Assessment - What shared principle requires a tackler to release and move away after a completed tackle?
Answer: The tackled-player or ruck laws, depending on code
Keep the game going with sports trivia, football trivia, Olympics trivia, and soccer trivia.
Sources and Further Reading
- World Rugby laws
- World Rugby tournament history
- International Rugby League laws and competitions
- Olympics rugby sevens overview
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Rugby
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