Try

Why a touchdown in rugby is called a try goes back to when the game of rugby was evolving during the 19th century. The first focus then was on the kicking goals by kicking the ball between the uprights. This could be done from anywhere on the field at any time, by kicking or punting the ball out of hand, or by fly-hacking it. As the game evolved, a goal could also be scored after a ‘run-in’ i.e. after a player had run the ball in behind the goalposts and touched it down. After a run-in, a player could try to kick a goal and that is how the term ‘try’ came about. It was a kick rather than the try we know today. At first, run-ins did not register any points. They merely afforded an opportunity to kick a goal. It was only from 1886 that points were first awarded for a run-in or a try, as it became known, but even then it only registered one point, whereas three points were awarded if it was followed by a successful kick. It took some time for rugby players to realise that tries or run-ins were more difficult and more important than merely kicking goals. Therefore, by 1893, a try became worth three points compared with two points for the successful kick. Since then, of course, tries have gone on to become worth five points today, compared with two for the successful kick. The OED dates the word try in rugby from 1845 but both try and run-in were used simultaneously well into the late 19th century. By the early 20th century, run-in virtually disappeared from rugby jargon and the word try took its place.