Rugby tens
![]() Canterbury (NZ) vs Penguins (UK) at the 2008 COBRA Tens | |
Highest governing body | International Rugby Board |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | Tens, Ten-a-side, 10's or 10s and Xs. |
Characteristics | |
Contact | Full Contact |
Team members | Ten |
Mixed gender | Separate competitions |
Categorization | Team sport, Outdoor, variant of rugby union |
Equipment | Rugby ball |
Presence | |
Olympic | NA |
Rugby tens, also known as ten-a-side and Xs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of ten players, typically five forwards and five backs. Matches are much shorter, often of two ten-minute halves.
The rules are similar to rugby sevens, with the IRB publishing the tens Variations in 2012. http://www.irblaws.com/downloads/EN/Tens_Var_EN.pdf
The game is fairly popular in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, and is growing elsewhere.
Unlike the other two major rugby union variants - sevens and beach rugby - which were invented in major rugby nations, rugby tens was developed in Malaysia, a Tier-3 rugby playing nation that has never qualified for the Rugby World Cup.[1]
Major rugby tens tournaments include the COBRA Rugby Tens (since 1967) and the Hong Kong Football Club Tens (since 1986).[2][3] Other regular tournaments include the Cape Town Tens, first held in 2009.[4]
Influence of rugby sevens
The main origin of rugby tens is perhaps the abbreviated code of rugby sevens which originated in the Scottish Borders, and was very successfully exported to produce the Hong Kong Sevens, where it still runs, and is a great missionary force for rugby in Asia. There is also a Singapore Sevens tournament in the region.
Unlike rugby sevens, which has established a substantial presence on every continent, tens is still largely confined to its region of origin, South East Asia, although tournaments have been organised in Europe, Africa, Australasia and North America.[5]
See also
- American Flag Rugby
- Beach rugby
- Rugby league nines
- Snow rugby
- Seven-a-side football
- 9-a-side footy
External links
- COBRA Tens
- Hong Kong Tens
- Vientiane Tens
- Cape Town Tens
- Bangkok Tens
- Heineken High King Tens (Navan, Ireland)
- Phuket Rugby 10s
- Bondi Tens
- Stockholm 10s
- Landshark 10s (Flagstaff, Arizona)
- Helsinki 10s
- Manila Tens
References
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1-86200-013-1)
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