A held-up carrier is not a maul until both teams and support are bound in.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, updated from 1 July 2026, principally Law 16, together with World Rugby's maul Law Application Guideline effective for new competitions from 1 June 2026. World Rugby's Sevens variations do not replace Law 16, so the general maul law governs the sevens phase.

The July changes apply to new competitions and events starting after 1 July 2026. World Rugby tells leagues already in progress to check their union's implementation date. Tournament regulations may also control administrative matters, but they should not be treated as changing Law 16 unless the appointed union or World Rugby has authorised a variation.

Four tests create a maul

Under Laws 16.1–16.3, all of these must be true:

1. The contest is in the field of play, not in-goal.
2. The ball is held off the ground by a ball-carrier.
3. At least one player from each team is bound with the carrier or the forming group.
4. The required players are on their feet and bound together.

A defender holding a carrier upright does not create a maul by itself; the carrier's team still needs a bound team-mate. The instant that support binds legally, maul offside lines and Law 16 entry rules begin. If the ball is already on the ground, the phase may become a tackle or ruck instead, but it is not a maul.

Same maul law, larger numerical cost

World Rugby does not publish a reduced-player version of Law 16 for sevens. The legal tests, five-second provisions and sanctions are the same as in the full game. What changes is the practical cost: every extra player in a maul is one of only seven, so a short contact maul can remove a large share of either the attack or defence from the next phase.

The restart does have a sevens-specific shape. If Law 16 produces a scrum, the Sevens variation to Law 19.5 requires three players from each team, all remaining bound until the scrum ends, and Law 19.4 requires the teams to be ready within 15 seconds.

Arrivals enter from onside and bind at the back

Law 16.7 requires every joining player, attacker or defender, to come from an onside position and bind onto the hindmost player already in the maul. World Rugby's June 2026 guideline says players may not build a chain of two or more team-mates and swing that chain up or around the side.

A legal bind is not a fingertip touch. The guideline uses the World Rugby definition: grasping a player already in the maul between the shoulders and hips, with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder. A side entry or a bind ahead of the hindmost player is a penalty. Joining with the head and shoulders lower than the hips is the narrower Law 16.7(c) offence and brings a free-kick.

The hindmost foot usually sets the line

Law 16.4 gives each team an offside line parallel to the try lines through the hindmost foot of that team's maul participants nearest its own try line. If that foot is on or behind the try line, the offside line is the try line. A player who does not join must retire behind that line immediately.

A player leaving the maul must also retire behind the line before rejoining. Detaching and immediately tackling the receiver, blocking the pass or defending from the side is not made legal merely because the player is no longer bound.

A lineout maul has an extra transition to watch

When a maul forms at a lineout, Law 18 still controls participating players until the lineout ends. World Rugby's June 2026 guideline explains that a participant may join the maul or retire to the hindmost-foot offside line; moving past the ball while the maul forms, joining ahead of the ball or remaining ahead of the hindmost foot is offside.

The lineout ends only when all feet of all players in the maul move beyond the mark of touch under Law 18.37(b). That is why a player cannot assume ordinary open-play positioning the instant the jumper lands and support binds.

The ball can move back, but the carrier cannot slide back

Law 16.2 requires a player ripping the ball from the carrier to remain in contact with that carrier until the transfer is complete and prohibits a long-arm transfer. Law 16.10 separately says a player in possession must not slide or move backwards through the maul. Both offences are penalties.

The June 2026 guideline distinguishes a legal transfer from obstruction: if a team wants the ball at the rear as more players join, it should pass or transfer the ball back to the hindmost player. It may not move a carrier bodily through bound team-mates or use a sideways, long-arm hand-off that leaves blockers in front and denies the defence a fair contest.

Players must push, drive or contest possession

All players must be caught in or bound to the maul, not merely alongside it. Apart from the ball-carrier, who has the specific Law 16.8 option to go to ground and make the ball immediately available, players must endeavour to stay on their feet.

World Rugby's June 2026 guideline allows an outside player who remains legally bound and dominant to contest the ball with the free arm or keep pushing and driving. If that player loses dominance and ends up able only to pull or drag, the player should leave immediately, return onside and rejoin legally. Intentionally collapsing the maul, jumping on it or pulling an opponent out is a penalty under Law 16.11.

A maul does not automatically end when defenders detach

Law 16.12 says the maul continues if all defenders intentionally leave it. They do not create open play simply by stepping away. If they return, Law 16.13 requires the first defender to bind onto the frontmost player of the team in possession; later arrivals then join legally from their side. An incorrect re-entry is a penalty.

This is a specific exception to the ordinary instruction to bind onto the hindmost player. It applies only after every player from the team without possession has intentionally left the existing maul.

“Use it” is not the first response to every pause

Law 16 separates several timing situations:

• First stop: a maul that stops may restart towards a try line if it does so within five seconds.
• Stopped for more than five seconds, ball visible and moving: the referee instructs the team to use the ball; Law 16.14 requires use within a reasonable time.
• Second stop: if the ball is visible and moving, the referee again instructs the team to use it under Law 16.15.
• Ball available after “use it”: Law 16.17(e) gives five seconds to play it. Failure brings a scrum to the team not in possession.
• No movement for more than five seconds and no ball emerging: the maul ends unsuccessfully and the referee awards a scrum.

The referee judges visibility, availability, movement and whether the stop is the first or second. A crowd count is not a substitute for that sequence.

The receiver within one metre is protected

Law 16.18 remains labelled a Global Law Trial in World Rugby's July 2026 live law. A player who is or was part of the maul may not play an opponent within one metre of it who is attempting to play the ball away. The sanction is a penalty.

World Rugby introduced this wording for new competitions or leagues starting after 1 January 2025 to protect the player moving the ball away. The July 2026 update says newer trials remain in operation for another season. For a competition that began during an implementation transition, check the union or event regulations rather than assuming a date from the broadcast.

Three events return the game to another phase

Under Law 16.16, a maul ends and play continues when the ball or ball-carrier leaves it, when the ball is on the ground, or when the ball is on or over the try line. The next law then depends on what actually happens: a ruck may form over a grounded ball, open play resumes when the ball is passed away, and the in-goal law controls grounding or a held-up carrier.

Seeing the ball at the rear does not by itself end the maul. The decisive question is whether the ball or carrier has actually left the maul, or whether another Law 16.16 event has occurred.

A legal failure produces a scrum, not a penalty

Law 16.17 ends a maul unsuccessfully if the ball becomes unplayable, the maul collapses without foul play, it fails to move for more than five seconds without the ball emerging, the carrier goes to ground without making the ball immediately available, or an available ball is not played within five seconds of “use it”.

The scrum is formed at the closest point in the scrum zone to where the maul ended. Under Law 19.1, the normal feed goes to the team that did not have possession when the maul began. If the referee cannot identify that team, the feed goes to the team last moving forward before the maul stopped.

A direct catch reverses the usual turnover

If a player directly catches an opponent's kick in open play and a maul forms immediately, Law 16.19 changes the feed for a scrum awarded because that maul becomes unsuccessful. The ball-catcher's team receives the scrum even though it had possession when the maul began.

The words directly, opponent's kick, open play and immediately matter. A maul several phases later, one following a loose-ball recovery or one formed after the catcher has passed does not fit this exception.

Penalty, free-kick and scrum answer different failures

• Penalty: offside or side entry; illegal binding or ball transfer; failing to stay on feet; sliding the ball-carrier backwards; deliberate collapse; dragging an opponent out; or interfering with the protected receiver within one metre.
• Free-kick: joining with head and shoulders below hip height, or taking action that falsely makes opponents believe the maul has ended.
• Scrum: the carrier goes down without immediate ball availability, or the maul legally becomes unsuccessful or fails the applicable “use it” requirement.

Law 7 permits advantage only when it is clear and real. The referee must stop immediately where continuing would be dangerous, so a dangerous collapse should not be expected to play out merely because the non-offending team still has the ball.

Held up, then support arrives

Situation: a sevens carrier is held upright by one defender. A team-mate then arrives, stays on feet and binds legally.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: there was no maul while only carrier and defender were involved. The legal support bind completes the Law 16.2 minimum, so the maul forms at that moment and the hindmost-foot offside lines apply. The timing of the bind is the decisive fact.

The maul stalls and the ball disappears

Situation: the attacking team took the ball into a maul in open play. It stops for more than five seconds, the ball does not emerge and there is no illegal collapse.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: scrum to the defending team under Laws 16.17(c) and 19.1, because it did not possess the ball at formation. If the maul instead formed immediately after the attacker directly caught a defender's open-play kick, Law 16.19 would give the scrum to the catcher's team.

Every defender steps away

Situation: all defenders intentionally detach while the attacking group remains bound around the ball.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: play does not automatically become open; the maul continues under Law 16.12. If the defence re-enters, its first player must bind onto the attacking team's frontmost player under Law 16.13. The total defensive withdrawal is the fact that activates the special re-entry rule.

A former maul defender tackles the passer

Situation: a defender leaves the maul and tackles the scrum-half standing half a metre away as the scrum-half tries to pass the ball out.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: penalty under the Law 16.18 global trial. The defender was part of the maul and played an opponent within one metre who was attempting to move the ball away. If the defender had merely left elsewhere, Law 16.6 would still require an immediate retreat behind the offside line.

How to analyse a maul call

1. Confirm the appointed laws. Use World Rugby 2026 and check the competition's implementation date.
2. Test formation. Field of play, ball off ground, carrier plus one player from each team, all bound and on feet.
3. Set the offside lines. Use each team's hindmost foot and retain the lineout transition where relevant.
4. Check every join and bind. Onside, onto the correct player, whole-arm bind, safe height.
5. Watch the contest. Players must remain bound or caught in and may not slide, drag or deliberately collapse.
6. Apply the stopping sequence. First stop, possible restart, second stop, ball visibility, “use it” and five-second availability test.
7. Choose the outcome. Play on, advantage, penalty, free-kick or three-player sevens scrum; then identify which team feeds.

Claims the law does not support

• “Held upright means maul.” Not until the carrier's team-mate also binds and the Law 16.2 minimum is complete.
• “The maul ends when all defenders leave.” Law 16.12 expressly says it continues after an intentional total withdrawal.
• “The ball can always be handed to the back.” A legal transfer is possible, but long-arm or sideways transfer and bodily sliding backwards are penalised.
• “Every stopped maul gets an immediate use-it call.” The law distinguishes the first five-second stop, a restart, a second stop and whether the ball is visible or available.
• “An unplayable maul always turns possession over.” The direct-catch exception in Law 16.19 gives the scrum to the catcher's team.
• “Sevens lets defenders pull a maul down.” Law 16 has no such sevens variation; intentional collapse remains a penalty.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• World Rugby — Laws of the Game 2026, July 2026 edition, Laws 7, 16, 18 and 19
• World Rugby — current Law 16: Maul, including Law 16.18 Global Law Trial
• World Rugby — Maul Law Application Guideline, applicable to new competitions from 1 June 2026
• World Rugby — Sevens variations, 2026
• World Rugby — Sevens variation to Law 19: Scrum, 2026
• World Rugby — Global Law Trials effective for new competitions from 1 January 2025, Law 16.18
• World Rugby — July 2026 law update and implementation notice

Checked against World Rugby's July 2026 law book, live Law 16, the June 2026 maul application guideline and current sevens variations. Competitions already in progress on the change dates should confirm implementation with their union; authorised age-grade or local variations may supplement this international sevens baseline.