ScopeThe ruleset used on this page
This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, especially Laws 10, 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19, together with the 2026 sevens variations. It is the international rugby-union baseline for sevens, not a rulebook for rugby league, touch rugby or a locally modified game.
World Rugby's July 2026 update applies the revised book to new competitions or events starting after 1 July 2026. A league or competition already under way may use an implementation date set by its union. Local age-grade, community and tournament regulations can also supplement the baseline, so the appointed competition rules remain controlling.
Core testPosition and offence are different questions
Law 10.1 says a player is offside in open play when in front of a team-mate who is carrying the ball or who last played it. The next question is what the player does. An offside player must not play the ball, tackle the ball-carrier, prevent opponents from playing as they wish, or loiter where that position affects their options.
Law 10.4 permits a penalty when the player does not make an effort to retreat and interferes, moves towards the ball, or fails the 10-metre retirement requirement after a team-mate's kick. A player can therefore be offside without immediately stopping play, but cannot hold an advantageous advanced position and then join in.
Open playHow an ordinary offside player becomes onside
Under Laws 10.6 and 10.7, an offside player can restore legality by moving behind the team-mate who last played the ball or behind an onside team-mate. An onside team-mate may also run past the player while in, or after re-entering, the playing area.
Outside the 10-metre kick situation, an opponent can put the player onside by kicking the ball or intentionally touching it without gaining possession. Catching the ball, carrying it five metres or passing it are no longer listed as opponent actions that put an ordinary open-play player onside. The safest response is active retreat, not waiting for the receiver to act.
Kick chaseThe 10-metre law demands immediate retirement
Law 10.4(c) applies to 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. The player must retire immediately behind an onside team-mate or behind an imaginary line across the field 10 metres towards that player's own try line from the catch or landing point. The rule still applies if the ball first hits a post or crossbar or is touched or played by an opponent.
An opponent's catch, pass, run or ordinary touch cannot put this player onside. Under Law 10.8, the only opponent action that does so is a charge down. If several team-mates breach the 10-metre law, Law 10.4(c) identifies the one closest to the catch or landing point for the sanction.
Charge downA charge down is a real exception
The 10-metre law does not apply when the kick is charged down, and Law 10.8 allows the opponent's charge down to put an otherwise affected player onside. This is narrower than any touch of the ball: it must be a charge down, not merely a receiver fumbling, catching or deflecting a tactical kick.
Once put onside, the player may take part subject to the other laws. A later tackle can still be illegal for a separate reason, but it is not made offside merely because the tackler was in front of the original kicker before the charge down.
Ball in touchOffside ends when the ball is officially dead
World Rugby Clarification 3-2025 addresses a kick that goes into touch while offside players are retreating. They must actively retreat towards their own dead-ball line, avoid moving towards the ball and comply with the 10-metre law while the ball remains live. Once the assistant referee indicates touch or the referee blows the whistle, open play has ended and the players are onside.
They may then respond to a legal quick throw. This protection only applies if they were complying before the ball became dead; going forward early or obstructing the receiver while the ball was still live remains liable to sanction.
TackleAn offside line can exist before a ruck forms
Law 14.10 creates offside lines at a tackle as soon as at least one player is on their feet and over the ball on the ground. Each team's line runs through the hindmost point of any player in the tackle or standing over the ball, or through the try line if that is nearer.
This matters when only one arriving player is over the ball, so the requirements for a ruck are not yet met. A defender cannot step beyond that tackle offside line simply because no opponent has arrived to create a ruck. The line lasts until the tackle ends under Law 14.11 or a ruck forms and Law 15 takes over.
RuckThe hindmost point sets the ruck line
Under Law 15.4, each team's offside line runs parallel to the try lines through the hindmost point of any ruck participant on that team's side. If that point is on or behind the try line, the try line is the offside line. Arriving players must join from behind it, may join alongside but not in front of the hindmost player, and must bind legally.
Current live Law 15.19 says the ruck ends when the ball leaves it, when the player playing it away lifts it from the ground, or when the ball is on or over the try line. “Available” or a referee's “use it” call does not by itself end the ruck. Clarification 2-2026 also tells officials not to find a material offence merely because the half-back repositions the secured ball with the hands when the contest is clearly over. That management does not authorise defenders to cross the offside line before the ruck legally ends.
MaulJoin or retire behind the hindmost foot
Law 16.4 places each team's offside line through the hindmost foot of its maul participants nearest that team's own try line. A player must join from an onside position and bind to the hindmost player, or immediately retire behind the line. A player who leaves must retire before rejoining.
World Rugby's Maul Law Application Guideline, effective for new competitions from 1 June 2026, clarifies the “wrong side” problem. A player who gets beyond the ball and is no longer legally contesting or driving should leave and rejoin from their own side or retire to the offside line; pulling, dragging or disrupting from there is liable to sanction.
After a phaseEnding the set phase does not rescue every player
Law 10.9 says a player who was offside at a ruck, maul, scrum or lineout remains offside after that phase ends. Under Laws 10.10 and 10.11, the player must retire immediately behind the applicable line and must not interfere or move towards the ball.
That player is put onside only by completing the retirement, by an opponent carrying the ball five metres in any direction, or by an opponent kicking it. This is a different route from ordinary open-play offside and prevents a player stranded on the wrong side from waiting for the phase to end and making an immediate tackle.
ScrumThree bound players, two scrum-half lines
The sevens variation to Law 19.5 requires three players from each team, all bound until the scrum ends. Other players must remain at least five metres behind their team's hindmost foot, or behind the try line when that is nearer. The scrum-half of the team in possession must keep at least one foot level with or behind the ball.
For 2026, Law 19.30 remains marked as a Global Law Trial. Once play begins, the non-possessing scrum-half may stay near the scrum with both feet no farther forward than the tunnel's centre line, or permanently retire to the hindmost-foot line, or permanently retire to the five-metre line. The sevens variation also changes when the scrum ends: where Law 19.36(b) applies, it ends when that team's scrum-half plays the ball, not merely when the ball reaches a hindmost player's feet.
LineoutThe line changes after the throw is touched
Until the throw has been made and the ball touches a player or the ground, lineout players remain on their side of the mark of touch. After that, their offside line is through the ball. When a ruck or maul forms at the mark, a participant must join it or retire to that team's hindmost-foot line.
Non-participants stay at least 10 metres on their team's side of the mark, or behind the try line if nearer. If the throw occurs before a non-participant reaches the line, Law 18.35 avoids a sanction only if that player immediately retires; another player's action cannot put them onside. The sevens variation requires teams to form the lineout within 15 seconds of the assistant referee or touch judge indicating the mark, but does not shorten or remove these offside tests.
RestartsSevens changes both the kicker and the sanction
After a score, the scoring team takes the sevens restart with a drop kick on or behind the centre of halfway within 30 seconds. At a halfway kick-off or restart following a score, every team-mate of the kicker must be behind the ball when it is kicked.
The sevens variation to Law 12.5(a) makes the sanction for a team-mate starting in front a free-kick, rather than the scrum stated in the general fifteen-a-side law. This is a restart infringement, not the open-play 10-metre law, and the receiving team's position is governed by the separate restart requirements.
SanctionsPenalty, scrum, free-kick or advantage
- Law 10 open-play offence: the non-offending team chooses a penalty at the place of infringement or a scrum where the offending team last played the ball.
- Accidental offside: when a player cannot avoid contact with the ball or a team-mate carrying it, play stops only if that player's team gains an advantage; the restart is a scrum.
- Tackle, ruck, maul, scrum or lineout offside: the relevant phase law normally specifies a penalty.
- Team-mate ahead at a sevens kick-off or restart: free-kick under the sevens variation.
Under Law 7, the referee may let play continue when the non-offending team gains clear, real tactical or territorial advantage. If sufficient advantage does not develop, the referee returns to the applicable sanction. Intentional or repeated offside may also be dealt with under Laws 9.7–9.8; a penalty does not by itself require a card.
The worked cases below are hypothetical applications of the named 2026 rules, not official World Rugby casebook rulings.
Worked case 1A chaser is eight metres from the catch
Situation: Blue 11 is ahead of Blue 7's kick and only eight metres from where Red 14 catches it. Blue 11 stands still, then advances when Red 14 passes.
World Rugby 2026 ruling: Blue 11 has not complied with Law 10.4(c). The player had to retire immediately behind an onside team-mate or the relevant 10-metre line; the catch and pass did not put the player onside. Red chooses the Law 10 penalty or scrum option. The decisive fact is the player's position within 10 metres at the catch and failure to retire.
Worked case 2The kick reaches touch during a lawful retreat
Situation: Gold 6 was ahead of a kick and retreats towards Gold's dead-ball line without obstructing. The ball crosses touch and the assistant referee raises the flag; the opponent immediately takes a legal quick throw.
World Rugby 2026 ruling: Gold 6 is onside once the ball is officially in touch and dead and may defend the quick throw. Clarification 3-2025 controls. The decisive fact is that Gold 6 complied with Law 10 until touch was indicated.
Worked case 3One player stands over the tackled ball
Situation: a ball-carrier is tackled. One attacking support player is on their feet over the ball, but no defender has arrived to form a ruck. A defender steps beyond the hindmost point and blocks the pass.
World Rugby 2026 ruling: penalty for offside under Law 14.10. The standing player created tackle offside lines even though a ruck had not formed. The decisive fact is a player on their feet over the grounded ball.
Worked case 4A player is trapped beyond a ruck
Situation: a defender is on the wrong side when the ball leaves a ruck. The defender stays there and tackles the scrum-half immediately.
World Rugby 2026 ruling: penalty under Laws 10.9–10.11. Ending the ruck did not put the defender onside; the player had to retire immediately and avoid interference. The decisive fact is participation before any lawful retirement, five-metre carry or opponent kick.
Worked case 5The defending scrum-half crosses the tunnel
Situation: the non-possessing scrum-half stays beside the sevens scrum but puts a foot beyond the centre line of the tunnel before the scrum ends.
World Rugby 2026 ruling: penalty under the Law 19.30 Global Law Trial. The player could stay near only with both feet no farther forward than the centre line, or retire permanently to one of the permitted rearward lines. The decisive fact is the foot beyond the trial's near-scrum limit.
Decision pathHow to read an offside decision
- Name the appointed rules. Confirm World Rugby 2026 and any union or event variations.
- Identify the phase. Open play, kick chase, tackle, ruck, maul, scrum, lineout or restart.
- Locate the line at the relevant moment. Use the last team-mate to play the ball, the kick landing point, or the phase-specific hindmost point, foot, ball or mark.
- Separate position from conduct. Did the player retreat, interfere, move towards the ball, join illegally or cross a mandatory line?
- Check how onside status can be restored. The route differs for ordinary open play, the 10-metre law and a player retiring from a completed set phase.
- Choose the stated outcome. Play on, advantage, Law 10 penalty-or-scrum option, accidental-offside scrum, phase penalty or sevens restart free-kick.
Common mix-upsSix claims that cause confusion
- “Ahead of the ball always means a penalty.” No. It creates an offside position; the player's next action determines whether Law 10.4 is infringed.
- “An opponent's catch puts every chaser onside.” No. A catch is not one of the current Law 10.7 actions, and it cannot cure the 10-metre restriction.
- “A charge down is just another touch.” No. It is the express Law 10.8 exception that can put a player subject to the 10-metre rule onside.
- “No ruck means no tackle offside line.” No. Law 14.10 can create lines before a ruck forms.
- “The ball is out when the scrum-half touches it.” Not always. The relevant tackle, ruck or scrum ending test must be satisfied; availability alone is not enough.
- “All offside offences have the same restart.” No. The outcome can be a penalty, scrum, free-kick, advantage or play-on depending on the phase and facts.
Official referencesGoverning-body sources and effective versions
Checked on 28 August 2026 against World Rugby's current 2026 law book, July 2026 update, live law pages, sevens variations, formal clarifications and maul guideline. The downloadable PDF and current live Law 15.19 differ on the express ruck-ending wording; this page follows the current live law, read with Clarification 2-2026. The baseline applies to new competitions or events beginning after 1 July 2026; competitions already under way and locally modified forms should be checked against their union and event regulations.