Rugby League is without a doubt one of the toughest games played anywhere in the world.

Whilst Rugby League owes its origins to Rugby Union, the two sports are very dissimilar. Rugby League was born in 1895 when a group of Rugby Union players broke away to establish a new game with more entertaining rules.

The objective in rugby league is beautifully simple, move the ball to the opponents line within six tackles. A rugby league field is 100m long and approximately 60m wide, although the width of a field can vary.

A player scores in rugby league by placing the ball over the oppositions line and this is called a try, which is worth four points. After a try has been scored a player can earn their team an extra two points with a kick at goal. Rugby League players use the place kick (where the ball is kicked off the ground or a kicking tee) to ‘convert’ their tries.

The other way players can score in rugby league is with a field goal. A field goal is awarded when a player drop-kicks the ball between the two posts and over the uprights. A field goal is worth one point.

The most central aspect to the game of rugby league is that the ball must travel backwards when being passed to a team mate. The only exception to this rule is when the players kick. While the kick can travel forward, the player that receives it must have originated behind where the kick was taken from.

Rugby League is predominantly played in Australia, New Zealand, and in the northern part of England. While these three countries are considered to be at the top of the Rugby League tree, the sport is also played in Europe and the Pacific Islands.

Every four years there is a rugby league world cup, and while Australia has won the most (nine), it is New Zealand who are the current reigning world champions.