So, look. Rugby is an awesome game. It’s possible people are just being nice to me given my obvious and outspoken love for it, but I have literally never met a person who followed the sport and didn’t enjoy it. As an American, however, I understand how impenetrable it can be when just watching a few games on TV at the bar. It’s that fan—the fan who sees the big hits and the impressive runs and the fan base that looks like it’s having so much fun, but watches the game in frustration when every whistle is a mystery and strategy of play seems random—for whom this series of articles is intended.

Is this going to be your best resource to learn the game?Absolutely not!Not even close.But hopefully it will be a start and we can have a little fun along the way.If you really want to dig in, starting from scratch, I recommend Rugby Revealed by Gavin Hickie.If you’d like to learn the fascinating history of the sport and how it separated from soccer and NFL football along the way, try A Game …