A kick in sevens can create space, but it also creates offside risk.

What counts as an open-play kick

An open-play kick is a kick while play is live, not a kick-off, restart kick, penalty, free-kick, conversion, or penalty-goal attempt. It can be a punt downfield, a grubber along the ground, a chip over defenders, a cross-kick, a tactical kick to touch, or a drop kick at goal.

The ball remains live unless it goes into touch, becomes dead in in-goal, a score is made, an infringement occurs, or the referee otherwise stops play. Sevens does not ban tactical kicking; it simply makes the risk and reward sharper because there are fewer defenders and fewer support players.

Kicking is usually about space

Sevens is played on a full-size rugby field with only seven players per team. That creates space behind the defensive line and near the touchlines, especially when defenders compress around the ball. A kick can force a defender to turn, isolate a receiver, or move play into a more useful part of the field.

Because possession is valuable and matches are short, sevens teams do not usually kick aimlessly. The best kicks either have a realistic chase, find touch at the right time, exploit a mismatch, or create pressure that the attacking team can immediately follow.

Who can chase the kick

When a player kicks in open play, team-mates who are behind the kicker are onside and may chase. Team-mates in front of the kicker are offside because the kicker's foot creates the offside line at the moment of the kick.

An offside player must not play the ball, tackle the ball-carrier, block an opponent, move towards the ball, or otherwise interfere. If an offside player affects play, the non-offending team may be given a penalty at the place of infringement or a scrum where the kicking team last played the ball.

How offside chasers are put back onside

An offside player can normally be put onside by retiring behind the kicker, retiring behind another onside team-mate, or being passed by an onside team-mate who has moved ahead. In some situations, an opponent's deliberate action can also put offside players onside.

That does not mean an offside player can stand still and wait to become useful. Referees expect players in front of the kicker to make an immediate effort to retire or stay out of play. A player who loiters, blocks a receiver's path, or moves towards the landing area is likely to be penalised.

The strict rule near the landing point

The 10-metre law is the key kicking rule for contestable kicks. A player who was in front of a team-mate's kick and is within 10 metres of where the ball is caught or lands must retire. That player cannot simply wait for the ball to arrive or rely on a minor touch by an opponent.

Under this law, the offside player is not put onside by an opponent's action except after a charge-down or an attempted charge-down. The practical test is simple: if a player started ahead of the kicker and is close to the landing zone, that player must get out of the contest unless legally put onside by a team-mate.

A charge-down changes the picture

If a defender charges down a kick, or touches it while attempting a charge-down, the normal kick-chase picture changes. The 10-metre restriction for players in front of the kicker does not apply in the same way after a charge-down, so play can become live and chaotic very quickly.

Referees distinguish a genuine charge-down attempt from a later touch by a receiver. A blocked kick at close range is treated differently from a high kick that a defender catches, spills, or taps after it has travelled downfield.

When the ball goes out

If an open-play kick bounces in the field of play and then goes into touch, the lineout is normally where the ball reaches touch and the opposition throws in. If a player kicks directly into touch from outside the 22, there is usually no gain in ground: the lineout is brought back in line with where the kick was taken if that is nearer the kicker's try line.

A direct kick to touch from inside the kicker's own 22 can gain ground, but only if the team did not take the ball back into the 22 without a reset. A tackle, ruck, maul, or opponent touch inside the 22 can reset the position. The opposition still normally throws in after an ordinary open-play kick to touch.

Sevens does not use the 50:22 reward

In 15-a-side rugby union, a valid 50:22 can give the kicking team the lineout throw after a kick from its own half bounces into touch inside the opponents' 22. Rugby sevens removes that lineout reward in its sevens variation to the touch and lineout law.

That is an important practical difference. In sevens, a long kick that bounces into touch inside the opposition 22 may still be good territory, but it does not automatically give the kicking team the throw the way a 50:22 can in rugby union.

Kicks that enter in-goal

A kick into the opponents' in-goal can create a try if an attacking player legally grounds the ball before it becomes dead. It can also create a defensive touch down, a try-line drop-out, a 22-metre drop-out, or a scrum option depending on who played the ball, where it was grounded, and whether it went dead.

If a team simply kicks the ball through the opponents' in-goal from the field of play and it goes dead, the defending team may have a 22-metre drop-out or the option of a scrum where the ball was kicked, depending on the law sequence. Officials first identify how the ball entered in-goal, then apply the restart.

Kicking at goal in open play

A dropped goal is legal in rugby sevens. It is scored when a player drop-kicks the ball over the crossbar and between the posts from open play, and it is worth 3 points. The ball must be dropped from the hands and kicked after it rebounds from the ground.

Dropped goals are uncommon in sevens because tries are often more valuable and possession is scarce. They still matter late in close matches, especially in extra time where the first points can decide the game under sevens scoring variations.

What defenders can do after a kick

The receiving team may catch the ball, let it bounce, kick it back, run it, call and take a mark if the law requirements are met, or force the ball dead in in-goal when the law allows. Once a receiver has possession, the kick chase becomes ordinary open play, subject to tackle, ruck, touch, offside, and foul-play laws.

Receivers are also protected from illegal pressure. A chasing player cannot tackle early, play a player in the air, obstruct support runners, or interfere from an offside position. In sevens, referees often judge these moments quickly because a single illegal chase can remove a clear counter-attack.

Where people get caught

• "Kicking is not used in sevens": no. It is legal and can be decisive, but teams use it carefully because possession is so valuable.
• "Anyone can chase once the ball is kicked": no. Players in front of the kicker are offside and must not interfere until legally put onside.
• "An opponent touching a high kick always puts everyone onside": not under the 10-metre law, except for charge-down situations.
• "Sevens has 50:22 like rugby union": no. The sevens variation removes that reward.
• "A kick to touch always gives the kicking team the lineout": no. That is generally a penalty-kick feature, not an ordinary open-play kick outcome.
• "A kick through in-goal is always a dropout": no. The restart depends on who took or played the ball into in-goal and how it became dead.

How referees judge open-play kicks

1. Identify the kick type: open play, restart, penalty, free-kick, conversion, penalty goal, or dropped-goal attempt.
2. Check team-mates' positions at the moment of the kick, especially players ahead of the kicker.
3. Apply the 10-metre law around the landing or catching point if the kick is contestable.
4. Watch for contact in the air, early tackles, obstruction, or offside players affecting receivers.
5. For touch, decide whether the ball went directly or indirectly into touch, where it was kicked from, and whether any 22-metre restrictions apply.
6. For in-goal, identify who put the ball there, who grounded or made it dead, and the correct restart.

Source material

• World Rugby Law 10: Offside and onside in open play
• World Rugby Law 18: Touch, quick throw and lineout
• World Rugby Sevens variation: Touch, quick throw and lineout
• World Rugby Law 8: Scoring
• World Rugby Sevens variation: Scoring
• World Rugby Law 12: Kick-off and restart kicks
• World Rugby Laws of the Game