Rugby Rules Explained for Beginners
Rugby IQ · 3 November 2026 · 8 min read
With Ben O'Keeffe · Referee
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Rugby rules, in short: two teams of 15 play for 80 minutes. You can run with the ball or kick it forward, but you can only pass it backwards or sideways, and you score by grounding the ball over the opposition’s try line or kicking it between the posts. Everything else, from the scrum to offside, is there to keep that contest fair. World Rugby calls the rules the Laws of the Game, and every answer below comes from them.
What are the 5 basic rules of rugby?
- Pass backwards, kick forwards. The ball can be carried or kicked forward, but every pass must go backwards or sideways.
- Ground it to score. A try is scored by being first to ground the ball in the opposition’s in-goal area.
- Release in the tackle. A tackled player is held and brought to ground, and the ball must be made available straight away.
- Stay onside. You cannot play the ball from in front of a team-mate who is carrying it or last played it.
- Restart by the book. Play restarts with a kick-off, a scrum after a minor infringement, or a lineout when the ball goes into touch.
Read the full guide
How long is a rugby match?
A rugby match lasts 80 minutes: two halves of no more than 40 minutes each, plus any time lost to injuries and stoppages. Half-time is an interval of up to 15 minutes. Extra time is only played in a drawn knock-out match, and only when the competition allows it. In real life a match takes close to two hours from kick-off to the final whistle, and the ball is in play for only about 35 of the 80 minutes.
How many players are in a rugby team?
A rugby union team has no more than 15 players on the field: eight forwards, numbered 1 to 8, and seven backs, numbered 9 to 15. Up to eight replacements can be named, and they come on only when the ball is dead. Each of the fifteen shirts has its own job, all of them in rugby positions. Rugby sevens plays with seven a side (see rugby 7s positions), and rugby league with 13.
How does scoring work in rugby?
| Score | Points | How it is scored |
|---|---|---|
| Try | 5 | Ground the ball in the opposition's in-goal area |
| Conversion | 2 | A kick at goal after a try, taken in line with where the try was scored |
| Penalty try | 7 | Awarded when foul play stops a probable try; no conversion is needed |
| Penalty goal | 3 | A kick at goal from a penalty, between the posts and over the crossbar |
| Dropped goal | 3 | A drop kick between the posts and over the crossbar in open play |
The conversion is taken on a line through the place where the try was grounded, parallel to the touchlines. The kicking itself is in rugby kicking.
What is a scrum in rugby?
A scrum restarts play after a minor infringement, such as a knock-on or a forward pass, or after a stoppage. With 15 players a side, eight from each team bind together: two props and a hooker in the front row, two locks behind them, and three back-row players. The scrum half throws the ball in once both packs are square, stable and still, and the hooker of the team that threw it in must strike for it. The front row is explained in hooker rugby and prop rugby, and the throw-in in scrum half rugby.
What is a ruck in rugby?
A ruck is a contest for the ball once it is on the ground. It forms when at least one player from each team is in contact, on their feet, over the ball, which in practice is after almost every tackle. Each side tries to win the ball by rucking it, driving over it and playing it back with their feet, or by pushing the other team off it. Nobody may pick the ball up with their hands, and once one side has clearly won it the referee calls “use it”: the ball must then be played away within five seconds.
| The rule | Law |
|---|---|
| A ruck forms when at least one player from each team is in contact, on their feet, over the ball on the ground | 15.2 |
| Heads and shoulders stay no lower than hips | 15.3 |
| Join on your feet, from behind your offside line, alongside but not in front of the hindmost player, and bind on | 15.5 to 15.7 |
| The ball is won by rucking it or by pushing the other team off it | 15.10 |
| No hands, unless you had them on the ball before the ruck formed and you stay on your feet | 15.11 |
| Stay on your feet; players on the ground must roll away from the ball | 15.12, 15.15 |
| You may play the ball with your feet, as long as it is done safely | 15.14 |
| Once the referee calls "use it", the ball must be played within five seconds | 15.17 |
| The ruck ends when the ball leaves it or is lifted; if the ball will not come out, a scrum is given | 15.19, 15.20 |
Each team’s offside line at a ruck runs through the hindmost point of the hindmost player in it, so anyone not in the ruck must get back behind that line or join from it. Winning the ball at the ruck is a back-row and front-row job as much as anyone’s: see flanker rugby and hooker rugby.
What is a maul in rugby?
A maul is the other way round from a ruck: the ball is held off the ground by the ball carrier, and the players in it must stay on their feet. Mauls often form off a lineout, when the catcher keeps the ball and team-mates bind on, and a lineout maul near the try line is an effective way to score.
What is a lineout?
When the ball goes into touch, play restarts with a lineout. Each team forms a line, at least two players a side, and the team that did not put the ball out throws it in, straight down the corridor between the two lines. The hooker usually throws, and a jumper is lifted to catch it. Every part of it, from the calls to the lift, is in line out rugby.
What is offside in rugby?
In open play you are offside if you are in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball or who last played it, and an offside player must not interfere with play. When a team-mate kicks, you must be behind the kicker to chase legally. Rucks, scrums and lineouts each have their own offside line as well: at a ruck it runs through the hindmost point of the hindmost player in it, and at a scrum through the hindmost foot.
What is a tackle in rugby?
A tackle happens when the ball carrier is held and brought to ground by one or more opponents. The tackled player must make the ball available straight away, and the actions of everyone involved must keep the contest for it fair. How to tackle safely, step by step, is in how to tackle in rugby, by Ben O’Keeffe, an international referee.
What happens at a kick-off?
Every kick-off and every restart kick is a drop kick. A match starts with one, the second half starts with one, and play restarts with one after a score.
What are yellow and red cards in rugby?
A yellow card sends a player to the sin bin for 10 minutes in fifteens (two minutes in sevens). A red card means the player leaves the field straight away, and a serious offence can bring a suspension of weeks.
What is the difference between rugby union and rugby league?
Both codes play for 80 minutes and both pass backwards, but the tackle is where they part. In union, a tackle leads to a ruck and the defending side can contest the ball. In league, the tackled player gets up and plays the ball back with a foot, and the attacking side keeps it for a set of six tackles.
| Rugby union | Rugby league | |
|---|---|---|
| Players per team | 15 | 13 |
| After a tackle | A contested ruck | Play the ball, six tackles a set |
| Scrums | Contested, 8 players a side | Largely uncontested, 6 a side |
| Lineouts | Yes | No |
| Try | 5 points | 4 points |
| Conversion | 2 points | 2 points |
| Penalty goal | 3 points | 2 points |
| Drop goal | 3 points | 1 point |
Where to find out more
The full Laws of the Game are on World Rugby’s laws site. On this site, every shirt is in rugby positions, and the skills behind the laws are in rugby skills. If you grew up on American football, rugby vs American football lines the two rulebooks up side by side. To learn the game the way the professionals do, Rugby IQ is taught by players and coaches who do it for a living.
Frequently asked questions
How do rugby rules work?
Rugby rules work around one idea: you can run or kick the ball forward, but you can only pass it backwards. Teams score by grounding the ball over the try line or kicking goals, play restarts with scrums, lineouts and kick-offs, and the referee applies World Rugby's Laws of the Game.
Does rugby have rules or laws?
Rugby has laws rather than rules: World Rugby publishes them as the Laws of the Game, numbered from Law 1, the ground, onwards. Most people still say rugby rules, and both mean the same thing. Referees, coaches and players all work from the same set of laws.
How does rugby scoring work?
Rugby scoring works like this in union: a try is 5 points, a conversion after it 2, a penalty goal 3 and a dropped goal 3. A penalty try is 7 points, awarded when foul play stops a try that would probably have been scored. Rugby league scores differently.
How long is a rugby match including half time?
A rugby match including half time is 80 minutes of playing time plus a half-time interval of up to 15 minutes. Time lost to injuries and stoppages is added to each half, so from kick-off to the final whistle most matches take close to two hours.
What is rucking in rugby union?
Rucking in rugby union is competing for the ball once it is on the ground and players from both sides are over it on their feet. Players drive over the ball and may play it with their feet, safely, but nobody may pick it up with their hands. The side that wins it plays it away within five seconds of "use it".
How many players are on a rugby team?
A rugby union team has 15 players on the field: eight forwards and seven backs, numbered 1 to 15, with up to eight replacements on the bench. Rugby sevens has seven a side, and rugby league has 13, because league plays without the flankers.
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