The object of rugby union is to score more points than the opposition across eighty minutes by carrying, passing or kicking an oval ball over the opponents' goal line and grounding it for a try, then adding points by kicking the ball between the posts and above the crossbar. Two teams of fifteen contest a pitch up to 100 metres long between the goal lines, with an in-goal area beyond each, and up to 70 metres wide. Play flows almost continuously, and the ball may travel forward only by kicking or running — never by a forward pass or a knock-on.
A contest is a rhythm of phases. From a kickoff, scrum or lineout the attacking side runs into contact, and when the ball-carrier is tackled a breakdown forms over the ball, which the team that arrives fastest and stays legal can win or retain. A referee, two assistant referees on the touchlines and a Television Match Official police a dense body of law governing the tackle, offside and foul play. Points come from tries, conversions, penalty goals and drop goals, and small margins — a single kicked penalty, one turnover near the line — routinely decide the biggest matches.
Scoring at a glance
Core rules
Forward pass and knock-on
The defining constraint of the game: a pass must travel level or backwards relative to the passer, never towards the opponents' goal line. A ball that goes forward off the hand or arm and touches the ground or another player is a knock-on. Both are minor infringements punished by a scrum to the non-offending side, which is why attacking teams gain ground by carrying into contact and offloading, not by throwing the ball ahead. Only the boot may legally send the ball forward, making the kicking game central to how territory is won.
The tackle
A defender may bring the ball-carrier to ground by grasping and holding them, but only below the shoulders — contact with the head or neck is illegal. Once a player is tackled and grounded, they must immediately release the ball or place it, and the tackler must release the carrier and roll away from the ball before competing again. This release rule is what keeps the ball alive: it prevents a pile-up and creates the split-second window over which the breakdown is contested. Failing to release on either side is the most common penalty in the game.
The ruck (breakdown)
When the ball is on the ground after a tackle and at least one player from each side is on their feet over it, a ruck has formed. From that moment players may not use their hands on the ball — they must bind and drive with their feet, rucking opponents backwards to expose the ball for the scrum-half. An offside line runs through the hindmost foot of each side's players in the ruck, and arriving players must enter through the 'gate' directly behind their own team. Winning quick ruck ball, or slowing the opponent's, decides most modern matches.
The maul
A maul forms when the ball-carrier is held up but kept on their feet and at least one team-mate binds on, with an opponent also bound; the ball never touches the ground. Team-mates drive the whole bundle forward, often from a catch off a lineout, in the game's most efficient way of gaining metres and drawing defenders in. The defending side may not collapse it or pull it down, but if the maul stops moving for a few seconds and the ball is not used, the referee awards a scrum to the team not in possession — a rare reward for the side without the ball.
The scrum
The scrum restarts play after a knock-on, forward pass or other minor stoppage. Each side's eight forwards bind in three rows — front row of loosehead prop, hooker and tighthead prop, two locks behind, and a back row of two flankers and a number 8 — and the two packs engage on the referee's calls of 'crouch, bind, set'. The scrum-half feeds the ball into the tunnel, the hookers strike for it, and both packs shove for possession. A dominant scrum can win penalties, pin the opposition and set a platform from which the backs attack.
The lineout
When the ball goes out of bounds into touch, play restarts with a lineout at the point it crossed the line. The forwards of both sides form two parallel lines a metre apart, and the hooker of the team throwing in must deliver the ball straight down the middle. Jumpers are lifted by two supporting players to contest the throw in the air, and the winning side can then set a maul, feed the scrum-half, or launch a strike play. A well-drilled lineout is a launchpad; a malfunctioning one hands the opponent easy possession.
Offside
Offside law keeps the game honest by policing where players may stand. In open play a player is offside if they are ahead of a team-mate who last played the ball; at a ruck, maul, scrum or lineout, offside lines are drawn that players must stay behind until the ball emerges. From a kick, team-mates ahead of the kicker are offside and must not interfere until put onside. The rule prevents attackers from loitering behind the defence and forces sides to build through phases, retreat behind the ball, and time their runs onto it.
Kicking, touch and the 22
Kicking is a legal way to move the ball forward and to win territory. If a player kicks directly into touch from outside their own 22-metre line, the lineout is taken from where the ball crossed the touchline only if it bounced in-field first; kicked on the full from outside the 22, ground is not gained. Inside a team's own 22, or from a penalty, a player may kick directly to touch and gain the full distance. The garryowen (up-and-under), the box kick and the cross-field kick are core attacking weapons built around this territorial calculus.
Fouls & penalties
High and dangerous tackle
Any tackle making contact with an opponent's head or neck, or a tackle delivered with no arms, is illegal and dangerous. Under World Rugby's head-contact process, the referee grades the force and mitigation to choose between a penalty, a yellow card (ten minutes in the sin-bin) or a red card. Reckless head contact is the sport's most scrutinised offence, and the framework has steadily lowered the legal tackle height to protect the ball-carrier and the tackler alike.
Not releasing or holding on
After a tackle the ball-carrier must release the ball or place it immediately, and the tackler must let go of the player and roll clear before playing the ball. A carrier who holds on while grounded, or a tackler who does not release and roll away, kills the contest for possession and concedes a penalty. Because these decisions happen in a fraction of a second at every breakdown, they are the single most frequent penalty in a match and a constant duel between jackal and carrier.
Offside at the breakdown
Players joining a ruck or maul must come through the gate directly behind their own hindmost team-mate, not from the side. Entering from an offside position, handling the ball on the ground in a ruck, or standing beyond the offside line to disrupt the scrum-half all concede a penalty. Defenders creeping past the offside line to shut down attacking space is heavily policed, since it strikes at the heart of how phase play is meant to flow.
Collapsing the scrum or maul
Deliberately pulling down a scrum or maul is dangerous and illegal, because bodies bound at the neck and spine are exposed when the structure buckles. Props who bore in, hinge or drop the scrum, and defenders who collapse a driving maul rather than holding it up, concede penalties and risk cards for repeat offences. Scrum penalties are prized: from a dominant set piece near the posts, a penalty is three near-certain points or an attacking platform.
Dangerous play: tip and spear tackles
Lifting a ball-carrier beyond the horizontal and driving or dropping them so the head or upper body hits the ground first — the tip or spear tackle — is one of the game's gravest offences and almost always a red card. So too are dangerous clear-outs at the ruck that target the head, neck or legs of a supporting player, and any charge without a genuine attempt to wrap the arms. Player safety has made these among the most severely punished acts in modern rugby.
Repeated and professional fouls
A side that concedes penalty after penalty in its own half, or a defender who deliberately kills the ball, knocks on or offsides to stop a certain try, commits a professional foul. The referee can issue a warning, then a yellow card and, for a clear try-scoring opportunity denied, a penalty try — worth seven points with no conversion required. Persistent team infringement inside the 22 routinely ends with a player sent to the sin-bin for ten minutes.
Match format
A rugby union match lasts eighty minutes, split into two forty-minute halves with a break of up to fifteen minutes. The clock runs almost continuously but is stopped by the referee for injuries, substitutions and Television Match Official reviews, so a half often exceeds forty minutes of real time; play in a half only ends once the ball next becomes dead after time expires, which is why sides can mount one last attack after the hooter. Each team may make up to eight replacements from a bench of specialists, and a front-row forward who leaves can force uncontested scrums if no trained replacement remains.
In league and pool play a draw is an accepted result, and standings often use bonus points — one for scoring four or more tries, and one for losing by seven points or fewer — to reward attacking, competitive rugby. In knockout matches that cannot end level, a tie after eighty minutes leads to two ten-minute periods of extra time; if still level, a further period of sudden death and, ultimately, a place-kicking competition decides the winner. The 2023 World Cup was defined by margins this fine: South Africa won its quarter-final, semi-final and final each by a single point.
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