Comparison of American Football and Rugby Union - The Field - Lines - Major Interior Lines

Major Interior Lines

In both rugby and American football all the major interior lines run transversely across the playing area.

The border between the regular field of play and a scoring zone in both sports is called the goal line (though sometimes it is incorrectly referred to as the try line in rugby union).

The playing field of rugby is divided into halves by a half way line, an American football field has a 50 yard line which is sometimes referred to as the midfield line. On an American football field there are a further 18 solid yard lines crossing the field, marked at 5 yards (4.6 m) intervals between each goal-line and the 50 yard line. These lines are named for the distance that they are from the nearest goal line, for example 5 yard line, 10 yard line, 35 yard line, etc. Rugby union pitches have only two further solid lines called the 22 metre lines. They are so called because they are marked 22 metres (24 yd) from the goal lines. This unusual distance exists because rugby changed from Imperial units to Metric units in 1977, the line had previously been a 25-yard-line. Interestingly the metric equivalent of 25 yards is 22.86 metres which should round to 23 metres; some sources argue that the reason for rounding down to 22 was to further restrict players within the 1968 25-yard line kicking law; a rule that had been introduced to encourage more running play.

In rugby, the kickoff to begin each half and restarts after scores are taken from the half way line whereas in American football these can be taken from the 30, 35 or 40 yard line depending on if it is a college, NFL or high-school game. The yard lines of American football are vitally important during game play because a team's advance is measured against them which, in turn, determines possession of the ball. The 22 metre lines in rugby union effectively divide the field into approximate quarters (though not always as rugby pitches vary in size; the total length of the field of play must not exceed 100m but can be shorter than that if space is limited). The 22 metre lines determine the position from which drop-outs are taken and also mark the limit where a defending player may kick-the ball directly (without bouncing) into touch without losing the ground gained by the kick.