ScopeThe ruleset used on this page
This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, including the standard Sevens variations and the digital law assets updated on 1 July 2026. The main provisions are Laws 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18 and 21, plus the Sevens variations to Laws 8, 12, 18 and 21.
World Rugby says the July changes apply to new competitions and events starting after 1 July 2026. A league or tournament already in progress may use a later union-approved implementation date. Domestic age-grade, Game On and local competition rules can also vary the baseline, so identify the regulations appointed for the match.
MeaningWhat is an open-play kick?
World Rugby defines a kick as intentionally hitting the ball with any part of the leg or foot except the heel, from the toe up to but not including the knee, so that it moves a visible distance out of the hand or along the ground. A punt is kicked before the dropped ball touches the ground; a drop-kick is kicked as it rises from its first bounce.
“Open play” is the live period between phases or after a set piece, penalty, free-kick, kick-off or restart. This page therefore covers a live-play punt, chip, grubber, cross-kick or dropped-goal attempt. The special procedures for kick-offs, restart kicks, penalties, free-kicks and conversions are separate.
Starting testOffside position is not an automatic whistle
Under Law 10.1, a player is offside in open play when in front of a team-mate who carries or last played the ball. For a kick, the kicking foot fixes that line at the instant of contact. Team-mates behind the foot are onside and may chase immediately.
A player ahead of the foot is not automatically penalised merely for occupying that position, but may not play the ball, tackle the receiver, prevent an opponent from playing as they wish, loiter, move towards the ball or otherwise interfere. The player also has a positive duty to retreat, with a stricter immediate requirement under the 10-metre law.
Mandatory retreatEvery player ahead of the kicker must work back
World Rugby Clarification 3-2025 explains Laws 10 and 18: while the ball remains live, every player ahead of the kicker must be actively retreating towards that player's own dead-ball line. Standing still is not retreating, and drifting towards the receiver or likely landing point is moving the wrong way.
This matters even when the player began more than 10 metres from the catch. The familiar claim that a receiver automatically puts everyone onside by running five metres is not part of current Law 10.7 for open play. The player remains out of the game until one of the lawful onside events occurs.
10-metre lawThe landing area has the strictest retreat requirement
Law 10.4c applies to a player who was ahead of the kicker and is within 10 metres of where the ball is caught or lands, including after the ball first hits a post or crossbar. That player must retire immediately behind either an onside team-mate or the imaginary line across the field 10 metres on the player's own side of the catch or landing point.
The referee judges the relevant point when the ball is caught or lands, not where the receiver was standing when the kick began. If several players breach the requirement, Law 10.4c specifies that the player closest to the catch or landing point is penalised.
Becoming onsideA team-mate normally releases the chase
Under Laws 10.6 and 10.7, an offside player can become onside by moving behind the team-mate who last played the ball, moving behind an onside team-mate, or being passed by an onside team-mate who is in or has re-entered the playing area.
For an offside player who is not restricted by the 10-metre law, an opponent can also put that player onside by kicking the ball or intentionally touching it without gaining possession. Those opponent actions do not release a Law 10.4c player, except for a charge-down. Until put onside, the player must keep retreating and stay out of play.
SanctionThe opponents have a penalty-or-scrum choice
For the kick-chase offside infringements in Law 10.4, the non-offending team may choose a penalty at the place of infringement or a scrum where the offending team last played the ball. The scrum is moved into the scrum zone at the point closest to that place under Law 19.
Law 7 allows the referee to play advantage, but the benefit must be clear and real rather than merely possible. If no advantage develops, the referee returns to the selected Law 10 sanction. Dangerous play is an immediate exception when continuing would be unsafe.
Charge-downA genuine attempt to block the kick is the exception
The 10-metre requirement does not apply when the kick is charged down or touched in an attempted charge-down. Law 10.8 also permits that charge-down to put otherwise restricted players onside.
That exception is narrower than “an opponent touched the ball.” A downfield catch, knock or tap is not a charge-down merely because the defender made contact. Nor does a charge-down erase interference or foul play that already occurred before players were put onside.
Player safetyOnside does not make every challenge legal
A legal chaser may compete for the ball, but Law 9.17 prohibits tackling, charging, pulling, pushing or grasping an opponent whose feet are off the ground. Law 9.13 also prohibits an early, late or dangerous tackle. The field restart is a penalty, with any card considered separately under the foul-play process.
The kicker is protected too. If an opponent intentionally charges, obstructs or late-tackles a player who has just kicked, Law 9.25 lets the non-offending team choose the penalty at the infringement or at the prescribed downfield location where the ball lands or is next played. Special marks apply when the ball goes into touch or in-goal, or strikes a post or crossbar.
TouchDirect and indirect kicks produce different marks
- The ball bounces in the field before touch: it was kicked indirectly into touch. In sevens the opposition throws in where the ball reaches touch.
- It goes directly into touch from outside the kicker's 22: there is no gain in ground. The opposition throws at the point where it went out or in line with the kick, whichever is nearer the kicker's own try line.
- It goes directly into touch from inside the kicker's own 22: the opposition still throws. Ground is gained only if the defending team did not take the ball back into the 22, or a tackle, ruck or maul occurred there, or an opponent touched the ball there.
“Directly” means the kick reached touch without first landing in the playing area or touching a player or the referee.
Taken backCrossing into the 22 does not always earn ground
If the defending team takes the ball into its own 22 and then kicks directly to touch before an opponent touches it or a tackle, ruck or maul occurs, Law 18.8d gives no gain in ground. The mark is brought back to the line of the kick if that is nearer the kicker's try line.
The same “taken back” result applies when a player standing inside the 22 picks up a ball still outside it, or catches the ball before it reaches the plane of the 22-metre line, and then kicks directly out. A mere pass within the 22 is not one of the listed reset events.
Sevens variationNo 50:22 throw-in reward
The general Law 18.8a rewards a qualifying 50:22 by giving the kicking team the throw. The Sevens variation expressly deletes that row. A sevens kick from the team's own half that bounces into touch inside the opponents' 22 therefore gives territory, but the opposition has the throw.
The same variation replaces the ordinary 30-second lineout-formation limit with 15 seconds from the assistant referee or touch judge indicating the mark. Neither rule should be imported from 15-a-side broadcasts without checking the Sevens variation.
Touch edge caseOffside ends when the ball is dead in touch
Clarification 3-2025 states that a player cannot remain offside when the ball is dead. Players ahead of the kicker must still comply with Law 10 until the ball is deemed in touch, normally when the assistant referee raises the flag or the referee blows the whistle.
Once it is in touch, open play and that offside status end, even if the opponents may take a quick throw. This does not excuse a player who moved towards the ball, failed the immediate 10-metre retreat or interfered before it became dead.
In-goalWho made the ball dead decides the restart
For World Rugby sevens under the July 2026 text:
- Attacking chaser grounds first: a try is scored under Laws 8.2a and 21.3.
- The attacking kick enters in-goal and a defender makes it dead: the Sevens variation to Law 12.11 awards a 22-metre drop-out.
- The ordinary open-play kick runs through touch-in-goal or over the dead-ball line: Law 21.11 lets the defending team choose a 22-metre drop-out or a scrum where the ball was kicked.
- The kick was an unsuccessful kick at goal or attempted dropped goal and runs dead: the Law 21.11 exception gives a 22-metre drop-out, without the scrum choice.
- The defending team itself played or took the ball into in-goal before making it dead: Law 19.1 gives the attacking team a five-metre scrum and the throw.
The 2026 sevens wording is not the same as the general 15-a-side try-line-drop-out sequence, so the appointed variation matters.
MarkA direct catch can stop the chase
Under Law 17, a defender may claim a mark by having at least one foot on or behind their own 22-metre line when catching, or when landing after an airborne catch; catching an opponent's kick directly after it has crossed the plane of the 22; and calling “mark” simultaneously. The ball must not first touch the ground or another player, although it may first hit a post or crossbar.
A valid mark stops play immediately and gives that team a free-kick. It cannot be claimed from a kick-off or restart after a score, but it can be claimed from a penalty goal attempt or dropped-goal attempt if the other requirements are met.
Dropped goalAn open-play drop-kick can score three points
Laws 8.1e and 8.28 award three points when a player scores from a drop-kick in open play. The ball must pass over the crossbar and between the posts without first touching a team-mate or the ground after it is kicked.
Law 8.29 supplies an important exception: after a free-kick, that team cannot score a dropped goal until the ball next becomes dead or an opponent plays or touches it or tackles the ball-carrier. In sevens extra-time, any valid score—including a dropped goal—immediately wins under Sevens Law 8.30.
Worked case 1A chip with a team-mate five metres ahead
Situation: the kicker chips over a defender. A team-mate began ahead of the kicking foot and is five metres from where the ball lands. The receiver catches it while that team-mate stands still.
World Rugby July 2026 ruling: the team-mate has failed the immediate Law 10.4c retreat and can be penalised. The receiver's catch does not put that player onside. The opponents choose a penalty at the infringement or a scrum where the kicking team last played the ball.
Worked case 2An onside chaser runs past
Situation: a wide player is ahead when a grubber is kicked, immediately retreats and stays away. The kicker, who was onside, runs past that player before either contests the ball.
World Rugby July 2026 ruling: Law 10.7a puts the retreating player onside when the onside team-mate passes. The player may then join the contest, subject to the ordinary tackle and foul-play laws.
Worked case 3A bounced kick reaches touch inside the 22
Situation: from inside its own half, a sevens team kicks; the ball bounces in the field and reaches touch inside the opponents' 22.
World Rugby July 2026 ruling: the opposition throws in where the ball reached touch. The decisive fact is the Sevens Law 18.8 variation deleting the 50:22 reward, not whether the territorial kick otherwise resembles a 15-a-side 50:22.
Worked case 4The team carried the ball back into its 22
Situation: a player receives a pass from a team-mate outside the 22, carries it behind the 22-metre line and immediately punts directly into touch 30 metres upfield. No tackle, ruck, maul or opponent touch occurred inside the 22.
World Rugby July 2026 ruling: no gain in ground. Under Law 18.8d, the opposition throws at the line of the kick because that is nearer the kicker's try line than where the ball went out.
Worked case 5Grounded in-goal or allowed to run dead?
Situation A: an ordinary attacking grubber enters in-goal and a defender grounds it. Ruling: 22-metre drop-out under the Sevens variation to Law 12.11.
Situation B: the same ordinary kick instead runs untouched over the dead-ball line. Ruling: the defenders may choose a 22-metre drop-out or a scrum at the place of the kick under Law 21.11. The decisive fact is who or what made the ball dead.
Decision pathHow to rule an open-play kick
- Confirm the appointed rules. World Rugby 2026 Sevens variation, implementation date and any local competition regulation.
- Fix the kick point. The kicking foot sets the Law 10 line.
- Identify players ahead. They must retreat and may not interfere.
- Locate the catch or landing point. Apply the immediate 10-metre retreat where required.
- Ask how each player became onside. Do not use the old “receiver ran five metres” shortcut.
- Check safety and late contact. Offside, contact in the air and a late charge on the kicker are separate issues.
- Follow the ball. For touch, decide direct or indirect and whether the team took it into the 22; for in-goal, identify who put it there and how it became dead.
- Apply advantage or the exact restart. Penalty/scrum choice, lineout, mark free-kick, 22-metre drop-out, five-metre scrum, try or score.
Common mix-upsClaims that lead to the wrong ruling
- “Offside position is an automatic whistle.” No. It restricts participation and creates a retreat duty; the sanction follows the Law 10.4 tests.
- “The receiver ran five metres, so everyone is onside.” Not under current open-play Law 10.7.
- “Any defender's touch releases the 10-metre players.” No. Only a charge-down is the opponent-action exception for Law 10.4c.
- “A bounced kick into the 22 earns a 50:22.” Not in sevens; the opposition throws.
- “Inside the 22 always means a gain in ground.” Not if the team took the ball back and none of the listed reset events occurred.
- “A kick through in-goal always has one restart.” The sevens result changes with the type of kick and whether a defender made it dead or the ball ran dead.
Official referencesGoverning-body sources and effective versions
Checked against World Rugby's July 2026 law book, current digital law pages and Clarification 3-2025. Competition and union regulations may set a later July-2026 implementation date for an event already under way and may add age-grade or local variations.