Apollo's Templates
HomeSportsCourts & FieldsRugby Field Dimensions
Rugby · measured pitch sheets

Rugby Field Dimensions

Rugby has two fields, not one. Union and sevens share the World Rugby pitch — up to 100 × 70 m with in-goals as deep as 22 m — while rugby league marks a fixed 100 × 68 m field with a numbered line every ten metres. Both are measured here line by line, in metres and in yards and feet, with the goal posts drawn to scale and a code-by-code table of what is played on them.

Measured · print and pin up

Five sheets, two fields and the posts.

The union pitch three ways, the league field, and both sets of goal posts in front elevation. Every number is on the diagram or in the facts beneath it.

Measured rugby union pitch drawn wide, labeled 100 m goal line to goal line and 70 m wide, with 10 m in-goals, the 22-metre lines, dashed 10-metre lines, the 5 m and 15 m dash lines and posts 5.6 m apart
NewPDF

Union & Sevens Pitch — Metres

The World Rugby pitch with every line measured: 100 × 70 m between the goal lines and touchlines, in-goals 6–22 m deep, the 22s, the dashed 10-metre and 5-metre lines, the dash lines 5 m and 15 m in from touch, and posts 5.6 m apart. Sevens plays on the same pitch.
Download PDF
Measured rugby union pitch in upright orientation, 100 by 70 metres, with the line spacings labeled down the side
PDF

Union & Sevens Pitch — Portrait

The same measurements upright for a clubhouse wall, a binder or a groundskeeper's clipboard.
Download PDF
Measured rugby pitch converted to imperial units — 109.4 yards by 76.6 yards, in-goals 32.8 feet, posts 18 feet 4.5 inches apart
PDF

Rugby Field in Yards and Feet

For American clubs marking a pitch on a football or soccer field: 109.4 × 76.6 yd, 24.1-yd 22s, 32.8-ft in-goals and posts 18 ft 4½ in apart — the law's metres converted on the diagram.
Download PDF
Measured rugby league field labeled 100 by 68 metres with numbered 10-metre lines, 8 m in-goals, dashed lines 10 m and 20 m in from touch and posts 5.5 m apart
PDF

Rugby League Field (NRL / RFL)

The 13-a-side field: 100 × 68 m with a numbered line every 10 m, the 40-metre lines, in-goals 6–11 m deep, broken lines 10 m and 20 m in from touch, and posts 5.5 m apart.
Download PDF
Front elevation of rugby union and rugby league goal posts side by side — 5.6 m and 5.5 m between the uprights, crossbar 3 m above the ground, padding to 1.5 m
PDF

Goal Post Dimensions — Union & League

Both sets of posts in front elevation: 5.6 m (union) and 5.5 m (league) between the uprights, the crossbar at 3 m, padding to 1.5 m, and how they compare to American football posts.
Download PDF

Union vs. league vs. touch

Two metres of width, a lot more paint, and shallower in-goals — that is the whole difference between the fields of the two main codes.

MeasurementRugby union & sevensRugby leagueTouch
Governing lawWorld Rugby Law 1 (sevens uses the same pitch)RFL / NRL Laws of the Game, section 1Federation of International Touch
Goal line to goal line94–100 m (100 m is standard)100 m — fixed70 m
Width68–70 m68 m50 m
In-goal depth6–22 m (pro grounds usually 8–12 m)6–11 mSet by the venue
Overall lengthUp to 144 m112–122 m70 m plus in-goals
Solid linesGoal lines, 22-metre lines, halfwayEvery 10 m, numbered; halfway is the 50Scorelines, halfway
Dashed lines10-metre lines, 5-metre lines, 5 m and 15 m dash lines in from touch10 m and 20 m in from touchNone
Goal posts5.6 m apart, crossbar 3 m, uprights at least 3.4 m5.5 m apart, crossbar 3 m, about 16 m tallNo posts
Players15 (7 in sevens)136

The codes, side by side

The fields are similar; the games on them are not. Players, scoring, the tackle and the set piece all change by code — the rules page explains each in plain English.

CodePlayersMatchScoringThe tackleField
Rugby union15 (8 forwards, 7 backs); 23-man squad, 8 replacementsTwo 40-minute halvesTry 5 · conversion 2 · penalty goal 3 · drop goal 3Unlimited -- the ball is contested in rucks and mauls94–100 x 68–70 m, in-goal 6–22 m, posts 5.6 m apart
Rugby league13 (6 forwards, 7 backs); 17-man squad, 8 interchangesTwo 40-minute halvesTry 4 · conversion 2 · penalty goal 2 · field goal 1 (2 from beyond 40 m in the NRL since 2021)Six tackles, then the ball is handed over; the tackled player plays the ball with the foot100 x 68 m, in-goal 6–11 m, posts 5.5 m apart
Rugby sevens7 (3 forwards, 4 backs); 12-man squad, 5 substitutesTwo 7-minute halves (finals may be longer)Same as union: try 5 · conversion 2 (drop-kicked, within 30 s) · penalty 3 · drop goal 3Unlimited, as in unionFull union pitch
Touch6 on the field (14-player squad)Two 20-minute halvesTouchdown 1 point; no kickingSix touches, then a changeover; the touched player performs a rollball70 x 50 m

Reading the pitch

The 22-metre line does more work than any other mark on a union pitch. Inside your own 22 you may kick directly into touch and keep the ground you gained; outside it the ball has to bounce first. A kick that goes dead or is grounded in-goal restarts with a drop-out, and since 2022 a ball held up over the line brings a goal-line drop-out instead of a five-metre scrum. The dashed 10-metre lines exist for the kick-off — it has to reach the receivers’ 10 — and the dashed 5-metre line in front of each goal line is where scrums and lineouts are held back from the try line.

The dash lines running lengthwise at 5 m and 15 m in from touch frame the lineout: the throw has to travel five metres, and the players stand between the two. League has no lineout, so its lengthwise broken lines sit at 10 m and 20 m and fix where scrums and tap restarts are set after the ball crosses the touchline — and its 40-metre lines are painted red because a kick from behind your own 40 that bounces into touch past the opposition’s 20 wins your team the ball.

Coaching, not marking out?
Blank rugby pitch diagrams and positions sheets
Union and league blanks, a half pitch for set pieces, four to a page, a labeled pitch, positions for the XV, XIII and seven — and a builder with your crest.
Open
New to the game?
Rugby rules explained — union, league and sevens
Scoring, the tackle, rucks and the six-tackle rule, offside, the 50:22 and what each code does differently.
Open
How big is a rugby field?
The field of play is 94 to 100 metres from goal line to goal line and 68 to 70 metres wide under World Rugby Law 1 — nearly every senior pitch is marked at the maximum, 100 × 70 m. Behind each goal line is an in-goal area between 6 and 22 metres deep, so the whole playing area can be as long as 144 metres. That is about 7,000 square metres or 1.7 acres for the field of play alone.
What are rugby field dimensions in feet and yards?
A 100 × 70 m pitch is 328 × 229.7 feet, or 109.4 × 76.6 yards. The 22-metre line is 24.1 yards from the goal line, the 10-metre line 10.9 yards from halfway, and a 10 m in-goal is 32.8 feet deep. The posts stand 18 ft 4½ in apart with the crossbar 9 ft 10 in above the ground. The imperial sheet above puts every one of those on the diagram.
What is the difference between a rugby league and a rugby union field?
League is slightly narrower and more heavily marked. A league field is a fixed 100 × 68 m with a solid, numbered line every 10 metres — the halfway line is the 50 — and in-goals only 6–11 m deep, with posts 5.5 m apart. A union pitch can be up to 70 m wide and marks only the goal lines, 22s and halfway as solid lines, with dashed 10-metre and 5-metre lines; its in-goals run to 22 m and its posts are 5.6 m apart. League's broken lines sit 10 m and 20 m in from touch; union's sit at 5 m and 15 m.
Is a rugby field bigger than a football field?
Yes, noticeably. An American football field is 120 yards long including the end zones and 53⅓ yards wide — 109.7 × 48.8 m. A rugby pitch is 68–70 m wide, about 20 metres wider, and 120–144 m long with the in-goals. Rugby posts also stand on the goal line rather than the end line. That width is why a rugby match squeezed onto a football field feels cramped, and why US clubs usually mark their own pitch on an open field instead.
Is a rugby pitch the same size as a soccer pitch?
Close enough that stadiums share them. FIFA's standard international pitch is 105 × 68 m; a rugby field of play is 100 × 68–70 m, and the in-goals then extend beyond where the soccer goals would be. A soccer pitch is a little longer between the goal lines, a rugby pitch a little wider and much longer overall. Both codes mark the pitch to the same width in most multi-use grounds.
Is a rugby sevens field smaller?
No — sevens is played on the full 15-a-side pitch, which is the whole point of the format: seven players covering 100 × 70 m is what produces the open running game. Everything else is shortened — seven-minute halves, three-player scrums, two-minute sin bins — but not the field.
What are the dimensions of rugby goal posts?
Union: 5.6 m between the uprights, the crossbar 3 m above the ground, and uprights at least 3.4 m tall overall — professional grounds run them to 8–16 m so kicks can be judged. League: 5.5 m apart and 3 m to the crossbar, with posts around 16 m tall at NRL grounds. Both codes pad the posts to about 1.5 m. For comparison, American football posts are 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) wide with the crossbar at 10 ft.
What size field do college and Major League Rugby teams use in the US?
World Rugby Law 1 — the same 100 × 68–70 m pitch. USA Rugby, National Collegiate Rugby, NCAA women's rugby and Major League Rugby all play to World Rugby's laws, so an MLR ground is marked exactly like a Six Nations one. Many campus clubs share a football or soccer field and end up a few metres narrow, which Law 1 tolerates for non-international matches as long as the ground is as close to the specification as possible.
How big is a touch rugby field?
Under Federation of International Touch rules the field of play is 70 metres long and 50 metres wide, with a scoreline at each end and an in-goal area behind it. Six players a side, six touches, two 20-minute halves. Social touch played across half a rugby pitch — roughly 70 × 50 — is the same footprint.
What size is a rugby ball?
A size 5 match ball is 280–300 mm long, 740–770 mm around the long way and 580–620 mm around the middle, weighing 410–460 g, per World Rugby Law 2. Rugby league balls are the same size class but slightly more pointed. Size 4 is used up to about 14 years old, size 3 for the youngest age grades.

Measurements from World Rugby Law 1 and Law 2, the RFL / NRL Laws of the Game and the Federation of International Touch playing rules. Updated through September 2026.