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Rugby league

A 40/20 or 20/40 rewards a long, accurate kick into touch.

Both rules let a team keep possession after a tactical kick from deep in its own half. The kick must be made in general play, start in the correct zone, bounce in the field of play, and then find touch in the required part of the opponents' half.

Quick ruling: under International Rugby League's 2026 Laws of the Game, a 40/20 travels from the area between the kicker's own dead-ball line and 40-metre line into touch between the opponents' 20-metre line and goal line. A 20/40 travels from the kicker's own 20-metre area into touch between the opponents' 40-metre line and goal line. The ball must not go into touch on the full. A successful kick gives the kicking team a tap restart.
Scope

The governing rule used on this page

Unless a competition variation is identified, every rule statement on this page refers to International Rugby League's 2026 International Laws of the Game, Section 9, Law 6 and the accompanying notes. Those laws include both the 40/20 and the 20/40.

Domestic governing bodies and individual competitions can adopt modified playing conditions. Age-grade, schools, community, Masters, nines, and other formats may omit one or both kicks or use a different restart process. Check the rules issued for the match rather than assuming the televised professional rule always applies.

At a glance

The two rules compared

40/20Kick from your own 40-metre zoneFind touch beyond the opponents' 20-metre line, toward their goal line
20/40Kick from your own 20-metre zoneFind touch beyond the opponents' 40-metre line, toward their goal line

Under the IRL 2026 law, both kicks must be from general play and must find touch after bouncing. Both produce the same reward: a tap restart to the kicking team.

40/20

How a 40/20 works

Under the IRL 2026 law, the player must kick from the part of the field bounded by their own dead-ball line, their own 40-metre line, and the two touch lines. The ball must then bounce before entering touch between the opponents' 20-metre line and goal line.

The name describes the two important zones: the kick begins in the team's own 40-metre area and reaches touch inside the opponents' 20-metre area. It does not mean the ball travels only 20 metres, and the kick does not have to be taken on a particular tackle.

20/40

How a 20/40 works

Under the IRL 2026 law, the player must kick from the deeper area bounded by their own dead-ball line, their own 20-metre line, and the touch lines. After bouncing, the ball must enter touch between the opponents' 40-metre line and goal line.

The 20/40 offers a way out when a team is pinned near its own goal line. Its target zone is larger than the 40/20 target, but the kick begins much deeper. It is a separate general-play kick rule, not a 20-metre optional restart or drop-out.

Checklist

What every successful kick needs

For either result under the IRL 2026 law, officials look for all of these conditions:

  1. The kick was made during general play, not as a penalty kick, kick-off, drop-out, or other restart.
  2. The point where the ball was kicked was inside the correct own-half zone.
  3. The ball touched the ground in the field of play before going into touch.
  4. The ball entered ordinary touch in the required opponents' target zone.
  5. No other event changed which law or restart applied before the ball became touch.

If any condition is missing, the special 40/20 or 20/40 reward does not apply.

Bounce first

Why “not on the full” matters

The IRL 2026 law says the ball must find touch “otherwise than on the full.” In practical terms, it must bounce in the field of play before becoming touch. A kick that flies directly over the touch line and lands out does not qualify, even if it started and finished in the correct numbered zones.

Under Section 9, Law 4 of the same IRL 2026 laws, an ordinary general-play kick that goes into touch on the full produces a handover where the ball was kicked, subject to the law's minimum distances from touch and the goal line. The bounce is therefore essential, not a minor detail.

Touch point

Where the ball enters touch decides the target

Under Section 9, Law 3 of the IRL 2026 laws, the point of entry is where the ball first crossed the touch line once it has entered touch. The touch judge uses that point—not where the ball finally stops beyond the sideline—to judge whether it reached the 40/20 or 20/40 target zone.

A ball merely travelling across the vertical plane of touch is not automatically out. Under the IRL 2026 touch law, it becomes touch through contact with the touch line, the ground or an object outside it, or a player in contact with the ball who is in touch. A ball that swerves back and lands in the field can remain in play.

Restart

What the kicking team receives

A successful 40/20 or 20/40 gives the kicking team a tap restart under the IRL 2026 law. The restart is set 20 metres in from touch, in line with the point where the ball first crossed the touch line, and no closer than 10 metres from the opponents' goal line.

The IRL 2026 glossary defines the tap restart as keeping the ball in the hands while touching it with the foot; the ball is then in play. It is not an immediate self-start. The referee first gives the defending team reasonable time to get into position and waits until the match officials are ready, then blows the whistle for the tap.

Near misses

What happens when the attempt fails

Under the IRL 2026 laws, the outcome depends on how the attempt failed. If the ball stays in the field, normal play continues. If it is caught or played by an opponent, the ordinary laws for that play apply. If it goes into touch on the full, the ball-back handover rule applies.

If the ball bounces into touch but the kick began outside the required starting zone or entered touch outside the required target zone, there is no 40/20 or 20/40 tap. The ordinary IRL 2026 touch restart applies instead. For the wider boundary framework, see touch, in-goal, and dead-ball rules.

Examples

Three quick decisions

  • Successful 40/20: under the IRL 2026 law, a player kicks from 35 metres out from their own goal line. The ball bounces and enters touch 15 metres from the opponents' goal line. The kicking team receives the tap restart.
  • Not a 40/20: the same route ends with the ball crossing touch without first bouncing. Under the IRL 2026 law it went out on the full, so the special restart is not awarded.
  • Successful 20/40: under the IRL 2026 law, a player kicks from 15 metres out from their own goal line. The ball bounces and enters touch between the opponents' 40-metre and goal lines. The kicking team receives the tap restart.
Officials

How referees and touch judges enforce it

Under the IRL 2026 laws, the referee judges where and how the kick was taken, while the official touch judge decides touch and marks the point of entry. Together they confirm the starting zone, whether the kick was from general play, whether it bounced, and whether the point of entry was inside the target zone.

After awarding the result, the referee controls the tap restart. Video review may assist only where the governing competition's rules and review protocol permit it; the IRL 2026 international law itself does not make video review a condition of a 40/20 or 20/40 decision.

Variations

Not every competition uses both rules

The IRL 2026 international laws include both kicks, but local playing conditions can narrow that position. For example, the Rugby Football League's 2026 Community Game Rules and Fees Chart removes the 40/20 from a number of listed age-grade and community formats, with a separate condition for one tier when touch judges are appointed.

Other modified RFL formats also publish their own exceptions. The safe practical question is: “Which governing body's laws and which competition conditions apply today?” A match played under modified rules may treat the same kick as ordinary touch even though it would qualify under the IRL 2026 international law.

Common mix-ups

Where readers get caught

  • “The numbers show how far the kick travelled”: no. Under the IRL 2026 law, they identify the starting and target field zones.
  • “A 40/20 can go straight into touch”: no. The IRL 2026 law requires it to find touch other than on the full.
  • “Any kick from behind halfway can be a 40/20”: no. The IRL 2026 starting area ends at the kicker's own 40-metre line.
  • “A 20/40 is a 20-metre restart”: no. Under the IRL 2026 law, a 20/40 is kicked during general play; a 20-metre restart begins after a stoppage.
  • “The kicking team can tap immediately”: no. The IRL 2026 note requires the referee's whistle after reasonable positioning time and official readiness.
  • “Every rugby league match uses both rules”: no. Competition and format variations can remove them.
Decision path

How to read the call

  1. Identify the governing body, effective law version, and any competition variation.
  2. Confirm that the ball was kicked in general play.
  3. Locate the kick: own 40-metre zone for a 40/20 or own 20-metre zone for a 20/40.
  4. Check that the ball bounced in the field before becoming touch.
  5. Mark where it first crossed touch: opponents' 20-to-goal zone for a 40/20 or opponents' 40-to-goal zone for a 20/40.
  6. If every condition is met under the IRL 2026 law, award the kicking team the controlled tap restart.