National Arco Rugby League

The National Arco Rugby League (NARL) is the rugby league club competition in Arcerion, and the most competitive professional rugby league in Crona and Ixnay. The league is comprised of twenty teams from all five of Arcerion's Governorates, however the Port Northford Icebergs play in Kurst due to the time zone and geographic dislocation of Howland Governorate. The league has been playing games uninterrupted since 1956, when it amalgamated and merged several smaller semi-professional and amateur leagues.

Background and 1956 Merger
small beginnings with 4 teams

1950s
no expansion but first televised games and games, smaller season

arco rugby success in olympics

1960s
7 new teams added, the golden age of Arcer rugby, very violent and grudge match style play, first fully proffesional contract players who have rugby as a career

1970s
stagnation, only one new expansion team, 12 teams total in two division (North/South)

1980s
rugby rennaisance

oil money sponsors and lots of new tv contracts

major new players and a much faster game with rule changes

sports teleivison helps with viewership and game attendance

1990s
three new teams, major changes to player health and safety and player's union established

sports contracts now in millions of pounds and major player endorsements and modern era of sports dawns

2000s and Modern Period
two new teams added

restructure into four divisions in 2006 and modern play structure

Divisional Structure
Four Divisions of five teams each.

Matches
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Each team starts the match with 15 players on the field and seven or eight substitutes. Players in a team are divided into eight forwards (two more than in rugby league) and seven backs. Rugby union is played between two teams – the one that scores more points wins the game. Points can be scored in several ways: a try, scored by grounding the ball in the in-goal area (between the goal line and the dead-ball line), is worth 5 points and a subsequent conversion kick scores 2 points; a successful penalty kick or a drop goal each score 3 points. The values of each of these scoring methods have been changed over the years.

Games are divided into 40-minute halves, with an intermission of not more than 15 minutes in the middle. The sides exchange ends of the field after the half-time break. Stoppages for injury or to allow the referee to take disciplinary action do not count as part of the playing time, so that the elapsed time is usually longer than 80 minutes. The referee is responsible for keeping time, even when—as in many professional tournaments—he is assisted by an official time-keeper. If time expires while the ball is in play, the game continues until the ball is "dead", and only then will the referee blow the whistle to signal half-time or full-time; but if the referee awards a penalty or free-kick, the game continues.

Playoffs
Top two teams in each division go to playoffs (eight teams). Playoffs are single elimination, teams need to win all 3 of their games to win a national champtionship).

Exhibition Games and International Games
Arcer rugby teams play several exhibition games prior to the regular season beginning. Many of these are held in Levantia and Sarpedon to crowds not used to rugby matches as an organized professional sport. This also includes several games against non-NARL teams to foster competitive spirit between professional leagyes.

Current Rugby Clubs
Listed below are the twenty current active chartered Rugby Clubs in Arcerion in active competition and not relegated as of the current season. C = Central, F = Foxhey, M = Moorden, N = Northlea