Some sports are more known to us than others, like football. No sport is as popular and everyone is familiar with the rules, to an extent. A ball, two goals, 11 players and lots of kicking and sometimes tackling. 

A game like rugby may be familiar to fans, but outside of the fans and those familiar with aussie rules or American football, it is a stretch. Some prefer rugby to other sports, due to its fast paced action and brutality, but others because it is more entertaining than golf or even baseball. 

Sports bettors often bet on sports like rugby and they use online sportsbooks like Ladbrokes. They often want their money as soon as possible, asking questions like how long does Ladbrokes withdrawal take, albeit the same can be asked of any online sportsbook. Some of them even bet on touch rugby.

Wait, what is touch rugby? Is it different to regular rugby? It sure is and here are the main differences between touch and rugby.

Rugby Versus Touch – Match Length and Players

Rugby union, as it is often called, when we talk about rugby, has long matches, 80 minutes long. They are divided into two halves of 40 minutes with either 10 or 15 minute breaks in between. That is very difficult for the 30 players of both teams to survive. 

Touch, on the other hand, has half the length, being 20 minute per half. The touch rugby field is 70 by 50 meters, compared to the rugby field of 100 by 70 meters. It is smaller in both ways. Compared to the 15 per team players for regular rugby, touch has 6 players per team, meaning a total of six. With less than double the players, touch is already easier for the new players.

The Actual Reason – Touch Versus Tackle

In regular rugby, tackling is part of the sport, part of the job, why everyone loves it. Add to that no armor like the US version has, and you have lots of men and women fighting and running into one another at full speed. This is quite brutal.

In touch, there is no tackling. You can make contact with an opponent, but tackling is not allowed, and neither are other harmful actions. This alone makes touch much less painful to play, and is often used as a practice variant of rugby, to prepare new players for the real deal.

Small Differences in Play – Huge in Popularity

The rules are not that dissimilar, but the popularity of the two games is light years apart. Rugby is much more popular and covered, having huge championships and prizes, especially compared to touch. Both are minimal compared to football, but in all honesty, what comes close?

These are the main differences between touch and regular rugby. It is recommended to play touch first and then rugby, if you want to get familiar with the game and the inevitable pain which comes packaged with it.