Rugby Rules Explained — Union, League and Sevens

Rugby is three games that look alike from the stands. This page starts with the rules every code shares — passing backwards, the tackle, offside, how you score — then shows exactly where union, league, sevens and touch part company, with a table to keep them straight and the labeled pitch to point at.

The game in a minute

Two teams try to carry an oval ball over the other side’s goal line and touch it down for a try, or kick it between the posts for a goal. You may run with the ball and kick it in any direction, but you may only pass backwards or sideways: a forward pass, or fumbling the ball forwards off your hands (a knock-on), hands the other team a scrum. The player with the ball can be tackled — grabbed and brought to ground, below the line of the shoulders — and once down must let go of it. Everyone else must stay behind the ball: being in front of it and taking part is offside. There are no downs, no blocking, and no stoppage after a tackle in union; play flows until someone breaks a law, the ball crosses a touchline, or a score is made.

The codes, side by side

Same ball, same shape of field, four rulebooks. These are the differences that decide what you are watching.

Code	Players	Match	Scoring	The tackle	Set piece	Cards
Rugby union	15 (8 forwards, 7 backs); 23-man squad, 8 replacements	Two 40-minute halves	Try 5 · conversion 2 · penalty goal 3 · drop goal 3	Unlimited -- the ball is contested in rucks and mauls	8-man scrum; lineout after the ball goes into touch	Yellow: 10 min in the sin bin. Red: off (a 20-minute red card with a replacement is used in competitions trialling it)
Rugby league	13 (6 forwards, 7 backs); 17-man squad, 8 interchanges	Two 40-minute halves	Try 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 foot	6-man scrum, effectively uncontested; no lineouts -- a scrum or tap restarts play	Yellow: 10 min in the sin bin. Red: off for the match
Rugby sevens	7 (3 forwards, 4 backs); 12-man squad, 5 substitutes	Two 7-minute halves (finals may be longer)	Same as union: try 5 · conversion 2 (drop-kicked, within 30 s) · penalty 3 · drop goal 3	Unlimited, as in union	3-man scrum; lineouts with fewer players	Yellow: 2 min in the sin bin. The team that scores kicks off
Touch	6 on the field (14-player squad)	Two 20-minute halves	Touchdown 1 point; no kicking	Six touches, then a changeover; the touched player performs a rollball	None -- a tap restarts play	Period of time off the field at the referee's discretion

Rugby union: the contest never stops

Fifteen a side, two 40-minute halves, and a try worth five with a two-point conversion kicked from in line with where it was scored. What defines union is that the ball is contested after every tackle. The tackled player must release it; the first arrivals from each side bind over it to form a ruck, and from then on it may only be moved with the feet until it comes out the back. A maul is the standing version — ball carrier held up, team-mates bound on, the whole thing driving forward. Because possession can turn over at any breakdown, there is no limit on how many phases an attack can run.

Set pieces restart play after mistakes. A forward pass or knock-on brings an eight-man scrum; the ball going into touch brings a lineout, thrown in straight between the 5 m and 15 m dash lines and contested by lifted jumpers. Penalties can be kicked at goal for three, kicked to touch (your team throws in), or tapped and run. Inside your own 22 you may kick straight into touch; outside it the ball must bounce first — and a 50:22, a kick from your own half that bounces into touch inside the opposition 22, wins your side the lineout. A ball grounded or held up in-goal by the defence restarts with a goal-line drop-out. A yellow card is ten minutes in the sin bin; a red is the match, and many competitions now trial a 20-minute red card that lets a replacement come on.

Rugby league: six tackles and a kick

Thirteen a side, a try worth four, a conversion two, a penalty goal two and a field goal one. League took the contest out of the tackle in 1906 and built a different game around it: when a player is tackled the play simply stops, the tackler stands off, and the tackled player rolls the ball back under a foot to the dummy-half — the play-the-ball. The defence must retreat ten metres apart from two markers, so every tackle resets the field. An attack gets six tackles; on the last it almost always kicks, because on the seventh the ball is handed over where it lies.

There are no rucks, no mauls and no lineouts. A ball into touch restarts with a scrum or, more often now, a tap 20 metres in, and the six-man scrum is rarely pushed. The kicking game is rewarded by the 40/20 — kick from behind your own 40-metre line, bounce into touch past the opposition’s 20, and your team keeps the ball — and since 2020 the NRL adds the 20/40 in reverse. Teams carry four on the bench and make eight interchanges; the sin bin is ten minutes.

Rugby sevens: union at sprint pace

Sevens is union with the numbers changed. Seven players on the full-size pitch, two seven-minute halves, three-player scrums and short lineouts. Conversions must be drop-kicked within 30 seconds of the try, the scoring team kicks off rather than the conceding one, and a yellow card is two minutes — a huge penalty when a side is already outnumbered on 7,000 square metres. Squads are twelve with five substitutes, and a World Series tournament fits its whole pool stage into a day.

Touch, and rugby in the United States

Touch replaces the tackle with a touch: six players a side on a 70 × 50 m field, six touches then a changeover, a rollball after each touch, a one-point touchdown and no kicking. It is the mixed, social and school version of the game, and its own international sport under the Federation of International Touch. In the United States, Major League Rugby (professional 15s since 2018), USA Rugby, National Collegiate Rugby and NCAA women’s rugby all play World Rugby’s laws unchanged, with age-grade adjustments for youth. The Rugby World Cup uses the same laws and adds pool bonus points — one for four tries, one for losing by seven or fewer.

Print the pitch

Rugby field diagrams and positions sheets

The labeled pitch above, blank union and league fields, a half pitch, drill cards, positions for each code and a builder with your crest.

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Measure the pitch

Rugby field dimensions — union, league and sevens

Every line measured on both fields, the posts to scale, metres and feet.

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What are the basic rules of rugby?

Score by grounding the ball over the opponent's goal line (a try) or kicking it between the posts and over the crossbar. You may run with the ball and kick it forward, but you can only pass it sideways or backwards — a forward pass or a fumble forwards (a knock-on) gives the other side a scrum. Anyone carrying the ball can be tackled below the shoulders and must release it once on the ground; everyone else has to stay behind the ball. Play is continuous: the only stoppages are for infringements, the ball going out, or a score.

How many points is a try, a conversion and a penalty?

In rugby union and sevens a try is 5 points, the conversion kick that follows it 2, a penalty goal 3 and a drop goal 3. In rugby league a try is 4, a conversion 2, a penalty goal 2 and a field goal (drop goal) 1 — or 2 in the NRL if kicked from beyond the 40-metre line, a rule added in 2021. A converted try is therefore 7 in union and 6 in league.

What is the difference between rugby union and rugby league?

The tackle. In union the ball is contested after every tackle in a ruck, so possession can change at any moment and there is no limit on phases; the game also has lineouts and eight-man scrums. In league the tackled player simply stands up and rolls the ball back with a foot — the play-the-ball — and the attacking side gets six tackles before handing over, with no rucks, no lineouts and six-man scrums that are rarely contested. League has 13 players, union 15; tries are worth 4 and 5.

How long is a rugby match?

Two 40-minute halves in union and league, with the clock stopped for injuries and TMO reviews in union and running in most league competitions. Sevens plays two seven-minute halves — finals were ten-minute halves until 2017 — which is how a tournament fits 45 matches into a weekend. Touch is two 20-minute halves.

What is a ruck, and what is the six-tackle rule?

A ruck forms in union when a player is tackled and at least one player from each side binds over the ball on the ground; the ball can then only be played with the feet until it emerges, and everyone must join from behind the back foot. League removed all of that: the tackled player plays the ball back, the two markers may stand in front, the rest of the defence retreats ten metres, and after six tackles the ball is handed over — which is why league teams kick on the fifth.

What is the 50:22 and the 40/20?

Rewards for a kick that finds touch in the opposition's territory. Union's 50:22 (a law since 2022): kick from your own half so the ball bounces in the field of play and then goes into touch inside the opposition 22, and your team throws in to the lineout. League's 40/20 is older and similar: a kick from behind your own 40-metre line that bounces into touch past the opposition's 20 gives your team the feed at the scrum, and since 2020 the NRL adds the reverse 20/40.

Are Major League Rugby and college rugby played under different rules?

No — both use World Rugby's laws. Major League Rugby, the professional competition that started in 2018, plays standard 15-a-side union with the same laws and law trials as Europe and the southern hemisphere; USA Rugby, National Collegiate Rugby and NCAA women's rugby (an NCAA emerging sport) do the same, with age-grade variations at youth level. The Rugby World Cup uses the same laws too, with tournament bonus points: one for scoring four tries, one for losing by seven or fewer.

How is rugby different from Australian rules football?

Almost completely. Aussie rules is played on an oval 135–185 m long by 110–155 m wide with 18 players a side, the ball is moved by kicking and by handballing (punching it off the palm) — not passing — and there are no tackles above the shoulder or below the knee, no offside and no scrums. A goal between the two tall central posts is worth 6 and a behind 1. The shared ancestry is real, but the two games diverged in the 1850s and share little beyond the oval ball.

Based on the World Rugby Laws of the Game, the RFL / NRL Laws of the Game and the Federation of International Touch playing rules. Updated through September 2026.