NFL Melbourne Live: LA Rams Take on San Francisco 49ers at MCG

The National Football League has made its way to Australia for the first time, transforming the Melbourne Cricket Ground into an American football coliseum. The LA Rams and San Francisco 49ers, rivals in the NFC West division, faced off in front of a packed crowd for their opening regular-season game.

A Quick Guide to the NFL: Defence

So you've heard all about the NFL coming to Australia, and you've decided to see what it's all about. This is your quick guide to the defence.

The defence is the team without the ball. There are 11 players on the field. Their job is to stop the offence advancing, and try to steal the ball.

The defence wants to prevent the offence from gaining the 10 yards they need to reset their downs. They do this by tackling ball runners, tackling the quarterback, or knocking down attempted passes to receivers.

The defence can also steal the ball and end a possession by either forcing the ball loose in a tackle and gathering it, or by intercepting a pass.

Of the 11 players on the field for the offence: There are very large men who are responsible for attacking running backs and the quarterback. There are players who stand deeper to defend against passes. And there are players who do both, depending on the type of play the defence has chosen to run.

A Quick Guide to the NFL: Offence

So you've heard all about the NFL coming to Australia, and you've decided to see what it's all about. This is your quick guide to the offence.

The offence is the team with the ball. There are 11 players on the field. Their job is to advance the ball and try to score.

You can advance the ball by running with it or throwing it down the field and having a receiver catch it.

At the start of a possession, the offence has four plays (known as downs) to advance the ball 10 yards. If they achieve the 10 yards, their downs are reset, and they must advance the ball another 10 yards from where the ball is.

Of the 11 players on the field for the offence: Some are very large men who are responsible for blocking defenders and protecting their teammates. Some are players who run the ball. Some are players who run down the field and catch the ball. And there is the quarterback, who calls the play, reads the defence, makes adjustments to the play, then either hands the ball to a runner, throws it to a receiver, or runs it himself.

A Quick Guide to the NFL: Scoring

So you've heard all about the NFL coming to Australia, and you've decided to see what it's all about. This is how teams score points.

Touchdown: 6 points. This is what teams want to do more often than not. You score a touchdown by getting the ball into the end zone. You can achieve this by either running the ball or catching a pass. The defence can also score a touchdown if they steal the ball from the offence and are able to run the ball back into the end zone they are attacking.

Conversion after touchdown: 1 point or 2 points. 1 point: After a touchdown, you attempt either a place kick or drop kick at goal. 2 points: After a touchdown, you run an offensive play from the 2-yard line, trying to get the ball in the end zone again.

Field goal: 3 points. A successful place kick or drop kick by the offensive team through the opposition's goalposts.

Safety: 2 points. This can only be achieved by the defence. If an offensive player is tackled inside their own end zone, then the defensive team is awarded two points.

The crowd is slowly building up, with about half the spectators having found their seats. The seats at the very top of the ground are jam-packed, and there are still thousands of fans enjoying the festivities outside the MCG and slowly making their way in.

Californian fans, Jamie and Carmen, made the journey all the way from California to the MCG for the game. They said, "We're opposing teams; she likes the Rams from Los Angeles, I like San Francisco 49ers." Jamie added, "Typically, hanging out is forbidden in those places, so we thought if we come here it would be okay."

Jamie also said, "People like San Francisco more because San Francisco has a history of gold mining, being the wild west, rough-and-tumble just like Australia when they had a gold rush."

The two teams have taken different approaches to managing the long-distance travel, with the 49ers flying in a week earlier and taking part in various PR appearances, while the Rams arrived just 24 hours before the game.

The MCG has become the fifth stadium to host an NFL game and the opening/closing ceremony of an Olympic Games.