What are the two types of rugby?

The two types of rugby played in the United Kingdom are Rugby Union and Rugby League, two related but distinct codes of the sport that split from each other in 1895 over the question of whether players could be paid.

Rugby Union is the older of the two codes and the one played in most countries around the world. It is played between two teams of 15 players, with a ball that can be carried, passed backwards, or kicked. Points are scored through tries (five points), conversions (two), penalties (three), and drop goals (three). The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the governing body in England, with equivalent bodies in Scotland (Scottish Rugby Union), Wales (Welsh Rugby Union), and Ireland (Irish Rugby Football Union). The professional men's and women's Six Nations Championship, contested each spring between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy, and the Rugby World Cup, held every four years, are the two pillars of the international game. Twickenham Stadium in south-west London, with a capacity of 82,000, is the home of English rugby and the largest dedicated rugby union stadium in the world.

Rugby League emerged in 1895 when 22 clubs in the north of England broke away from the RFU to form the Northern Rugby Football Union, which later became the Rugby Football League. The split was driven by a dispute over "broken-time payments", compensation for working men who lost wages by playing rugby on Saturdays. The amateur RFU refused to allow any form of payment. The breakaway clubs did, and from 1898 openly paid their players, becoming in effect the first professional rugby code. Over time, Rugby League developed its own rules. It is played by teams of 13 players, with a six-tackle rule in place of contested rucks, and with different scoring values. It has remained geographically concentrated in the north of England (Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cumbria), Wales, Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific.

Both codes have amateur, semi-professional, and professional levels. Rugby Union was itself a strictly amateur sport at the top level until the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby) declared the game "open" in August 1995, allowing payment to players. The two codes now co-exist, with some players moving between them.

Rugby Union tends to dominate the international calendar and national conversation, particularly through the Six Nations and the World Cup. Rugby League retains a devoted regional following, with the Super League as its top club competition and the Challenge Cup final as its showpiece.