Rugby Rules Explained: How Rugby Union Actually Works
TL;DR
Rugby union is played by two teams of 15 over two halves of no more than 40 minutes each. You score by carrying, passing, kicking and grounding the ball: a try is 5 points, a conversion 2, a penalty goal or drop goal 3, and a penalty try 7. The one rule that shapes everything else is that the ball can never be passed or knocked forward — so the whole game moves the ball backwards in order to go forwards.
On this page8
The one rule that explains all the others
If you only take one thing from this page, take this: in rugby the ball may never travel forwards out of a player’s hands. You cannot pass it forward, and you cannot knock it forward.
That single constraint produces almost everything that looks strange about the sport. Attackers run sideways to find space because they cannot throw past the defence. Support players stay behind the ball carrier because that is the only legal place to receive a pass. Kicking exists because it is the only way to send the ball forward at speed.
World Rugby’s Playing Charter states the object plainly: two teams should, by carrying, passing, kicking and grounding the ball, score as many points as possible. Everything below is machinery built around that sentence.
Scoring
There are five ways to put points on the board, and the values come straight from Law 8.
| Method | Points |
|---|---|
| Try | 5 |
| Penalty try | 7 |
| Penalty goal | 3 |
| Dropped goal | 3 |
| Conversion | 2 |
A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opponents’ in-goal area — applying downward pressure with hand, arm or the front of the body. It is the primary way to score, and the name is a fossil: originally it scored nothing at all and merely earned a try at goal.
After a try, the scoring team attempts a conversion, a kick at the posts taken from a line straight back from where the ball was grounded. This is why players work so hard to ground the ball near the posts rather than in the corner — a try scored on the touchline leaves a far harder kick.
A penalty try is different from all of the others: it is awarded when a try would probably have been scored but for the opposition’s foul play, and it is worth seven points outright. There is no conversion attempt, because the seven already includes it.
American football, which shares an ancestor with rugby, built its scoring the same way round — a grounded score worth roughly double a kick, with a kick added on top. A touchdown is six points against rugby’s five, and its conversion splits into a one-point kick or a two-point play.
The 21 laws
Rugby union has 21 numbered laws. Knowing the list is genuinely useful, because it tells you what kind of thing each rule is about:
| 1 The ground | 2 The ball | 3 Team | 4 Players’ clothing |
| 5 Time | 6 Match officials | 7 Advantage | 8 Scoring |
| 9 Foul play | 10 Offside and onside | 11 Knock forward | 12 Kick-off and restarts |
| 13 Players on the ground | 14 Tackle | 15 Ruck | 16 Maul |
| 17 Mark | 18 Touch and lineout | 19 Scrum | 20 Penalty and free-kick |
| 21 In-goal |
The law book also carries separate variations for under-19s, sevens, 10s and “Game-on” — so a sevens match is not a different sport with different rules, it is the same law book with a defined set of amendments. Sports that keep a single governing law text like this are the easiest to write about accurately, which is why we work from them directly rather than from summaries — see our research and sourcing policy.
Teams and time
Fifteen players per side are allowed in the playing area during play. For international matches a union may nominate up to eight replacements; for other matches the organiser decides, up to the same maximum of eight.
A match lasts no more than 80 minutes, split into two halves of no more than 40 minutes each, plus time lost. Half-time is an interval of up to 15 minutes. Extra time only happens if the competition has authorised it for a drawn knock-out match.
The four contests: tackle, ruck, maul, scrum
Most confusion about rugby comes from these four, so it helps to see what each one is for.
Tackle (Law 14)
A tackle occurs when the ball carrier is held and brought to ground by one or more opponents. Both parts matter — holding a player who stays on their feet is not a tackle, which is precisely how a maul begins instead.
Ruck (Law 15)
A ruck’s purpose is to let players compete for a ball that is on the ground. It typically forms straight after a tackle, once the carrier has gone down and players from both sides arrive over the ball.
Maul (Law 16)
A maul’s purpose is to let players compete for a ball held off the ground. It needs a ball carrier plus at least one player from each team, bound together and on their feet.
So the distinction between ruck and maul is simply where the ball is: on the floor, it’s a ruck; still in hands and upright, it’s a maul.
Scrum (Law 19)
A scrum restarts play with a contest for possession after a minor infringement or stoppage — most commonly a knock forward. It is a restart mechanism, not a punishment: the non-offending team throws the ball in and is favoured to win it.
It is also the closest thing rugby has to a strength contest — though not a simple one. Body height, binding and timing decide scrums as much as raw power does, which is why claims about the strongest rugby players correlate so poorly with which packs actually dominated.
Offside
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. World Rugby states the principle in one line: the game is played only by players who are onside.
Being offside is not itself an offence. It becomes one when an offside player interferes with play — playing the ball, tackling the carrier, or preventing the opposition from playing as they wish. This is why you will see players who find themselves ahead of the ball visibly retreat and take themselves out of the action rather than stop.
Rucks, mauls, scrums and lineouts each create their own offside lines, which is a large part of why rugby needs a referee talking almost continuously. Rugby is not alone in this: offside is one of the few concepts that several unrelated sports invented independently, and each defines it differently. Soccer’s offside rule measures you against the second-last opponent; rugby measures you against your own ball, which is a direct consequence of the no-forward-pass law.
Knock forward and throw forward
Under Law 11, a knock forward happens when a player loses the ball forward off hand or arm. The sanction is a scrum to the non-offending team, and if the ball has gone into touch the non-offending team may take a quick throw or lineout instead.
Notably, it is still a knock forward if a defender makes contact with the ball while tackling or attempting to tackle and it goes forward — the law does not require the mistake to be the ball carrier’s. Deliberately knocking the ball forward with hand or arm is a separate, more serious offence.
What to watch for if you’re new
Three things make a live match far easier to follow:
Watch the ball’s direction, not the players. Once you notice that the ball only ever moves backwards by hand, the sideways running stops looking aimless.
Watch the referee’s arm. An arm held out horizontally means advantage is being played — an offence has occurred, but the non-offending team is being allowed to continue because they may gain more by playing on than by taking the penalty. That is Law 7, and it is the reason play sometimes carries on after an obvious infringement.
Watch what happens after the tackle. The seconds after the carrier hits the ground decide most possession in rugby. Whether it becomes a ruck, and who arrives over the ball first, matters more than almost anything else on the field.
If you want another example of how precisely a governing body can specify a single action, the table tennis service laws run to five separate clauses covering one throw of a ball. For the opposite approach — a sport whose entire rulebook rests on two sentences — see the Rules of Golf. More explainers of this kind sit in rules and techniques.
Frequently asked questions
How many players are on a rugby team?
Fifteen per side in the playing area in rugby union. For international matches a union may nominate up to eight replacements. Rugby sevens uses seven players a side, and there is also a 10-a-side variation — all three are covered by the same law book.
How long is a rugby match?
No more than 80 minutes, split into two halves of no more than 40 minutes each, plus time lost. Half-time is an interval of up to 15 minutes. Knock-out competitions may authorise extra time in a drawn match.
How many points is a try worth in rugby?
Five points. The conversion kick that follows adds two more, so a converted try is worth seven. A penalty try — awarded when a try would probably have been scored but for foul play — is worth seven points outright, with no conversion attempt.
Why can't you pass forward in rugby?
It is the defining constraint of the game. Under Law 11 a knock forward or throw forward is penalised with a scrum to the non-offending team. Because the ball can only travel backwards by hand, teams have to move it laterally or kick it to make ground, which is what produces rugby's distinctive shape.
What is the difference between a ruck and a maul?
Where the ball is. A ruck forms when players compete for a ball that is on the ground. A maul forms when the ball is held off the ground — it needs a ball carrier plus at least one player from each team, all bound together and on their feet.
What does offside mean 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. An offside player must not interfere with play — that includes playing the ball, tackling the carrier, or preventing the opposition from playing as they wish.