With millions of fans around the world, rugby is often hailed as one of the most popular sports in the world, especially in the western countries with prominent platforms like the National Football League (NFL). Originated in the 19th century in England, Rugby is now looked upon as an extremely diverse sport with different formats including Rugby Union, Rugby Sevens, Tag Rugby, Touch Rugby and many others.
While each format of rugby enjoys an enormous fan base, Rugby Union, with a global reach of over a hundred countries, is often hailed as one of the most prominent and classic formats of Rugby globally.
In this article we will take a closer look at the different types of rugby formats.
Top 4 Most Popular Types of Rugby
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Rugby Union
At the first spot in our list of top four most popular types of rugby, we have “Rugby Union”. As mentioned earlier, the Rugby Union is the most popular and prominent format of rugby sport and has a significant following in over 100 countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Argentina, South Africa, the United States and many more.
The rugby Union is also considered to be a major part of numerous prominent rugby tournaments, including, The Rugby Championship, The Rugby World Cup, Six Nations Championship, and other domestic leagues, including, France’s “Top 14” and England’s “Premiership”.
Rugby Union is governed by World Rugby, which currently has a total of 116 countries as “full members” and a total of eighteen associate members. According to recent reports and statistics, there are a total of 10 million active Rugby Union players as of January 2025, 10.4 million out of which are registered rugby players.
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Rugby Sevens
At the second spot in our list of top four most popular types of rugby, we have, Rugby Sevens, often popularly referred to as “Sevens”, consists of seven members per team, as compared to the traditional Rugby Union that consists of 15 players per team. The format of “Rugby Sevens” originated in Scotland with a mission to attract more viewers with a shorter and much more dynamic format.
In Rugby Sevens, each team attempts to score points through conversions (2 pts) and tries (5 pts). With fewer players on the field, fast-paced action gameplays and continuous thriving, Rugby Sevens is commemorated by millions of Rugby fans around the world as one of the most popular formats of the sport.
Rugby Sevens is currently a part of numerous major rugby tournaments, including the Olympic Games, the World Rugby Seven Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens.
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Rugby League
While Rugby Union and Rugby sevens enjoy a global fan base, Rugby League is considered to be more popular in England, Australia and Papua New Guinea. Rugby League is currently a part of major leagues, including the National Rugby League (NRL), Europe’s Super League and the Rugby League World Cup.
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Tag Rugby
Finally at the fourth spot in our list of top four most popular types of rugby, we have “Tag Rugby”. Popularly referred to as “Rippa Rugby” or “Flag Rugby”, Tag Rugby is another non-contact team game in the sport where each player wears a belt and has two Velcro tags attached to their belts. Instead of tackling, defenders make attempts to pull off these Velcro tags of the attacker in order to score points in the game of Tag Rugby.
Tag Rugby is the most popular in countries like New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Tag Rugby is a popular sport at numerous international rugby league festivals, including The Rochdale Swarm International Mixed Tag Rugby League Festival, The Pig ‘n’ Porter Tag Rugby festival, The Malta International Tag Rugby Festival and the Tag Rugby World Cup, which is typically held in Australia.
