A quick tap is legal only when the penalty is kicked correctly from the right place.

Scope: standard World Rugby sevens

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, July 2026 final edition, principally Law 20, together with the Sevens variation to Law 20.8. The July law assets apply to new competitions and events beginning after 1 July 2026; the quick-tap provisions themselves were not changed by that update.

The baseline is full-contact, seven-a-side rugby under World Rugby. A union, school, age-grade competition or community organiser may appoint other authorised variations. In particular, Game On and non-contact forms have their own replacement wording, so this page should not be treated as their rulebook.

It is a penalty kick taken without delay

World Rugby does not define a special restart called a “quick tap”. Law 20.5 requires a penalty or free-kick to be taken without delay, Law 20.6 allows any player from the non-offending team to take an ordinary penalty, and Law 20.9 allows the kick in any direction.

Once the kick has been taken successfully, the kicker may play the ball again. That is why the same player can tap and immediately run, pass or kick in open play.

Five tests for a legal quick tap

1. Award: confirm that the referee awarded a penalty and where its mark is.
2. Place: take it at the mark or behind it on the permitted line.
3. Ball and kick: use the ball that was in play and make a permitted, visible kick.
4. Attackers: keep every team-mate behind the ball until it is kicked.
5. Defenders: distinguish being caught inside 10 from illegally participating there.

“Nearby” is not close enough

Law 20.2 permits the kick at the mark or anywhere behind it on a line through the mark and parallel to the touchlines. The player cannot move sideways from that line or run beyond the mark before tapping. A kick from the wrong place must be retaken; that is a different outcome from the scrum sanction for several other taking errors.

The mark must be in the field of play and at least five metres from a try line under Law 20.1. If the original offence is in-goal or within five metres of the try line, the penalty mark is on the five-metre line in line with the infringement.

The ball must visibly leave the hands

World Rugby defines a kick as intentionally hitting the ball with the leg or foot from toe to knee, excluding the heel and knee, so that the ball moves a visible distance out of the hand or along the ground. Law 20.11 adds that a held ball must clearly leave the hands.

A token brush while the player keeps hold of the ball is not enough. The visual test is: did a permitted part of the leg or foot intentionally kick the ball, did the ball visibly move, and did it clearly separate from the hands? If not, Law 20.11 gives a scrum as the sanction.

No place-kick in sevens

The ordinary Law 20.8 allows a punt, drop-kick or place-kick, but the World Rugby Sevens variation replaces it: the kicker may punt or drop-kick and may not place-kick. That is the only Sevens-specific replacement in Law 20.

For an ordinary quick tap, use a clearly legal punt-style or drop-kick action. Do not import a local “ground tap” convention without checking the appointed competition rules, because the controlling Sevens text expressly removes the place-kick option.

Support players get no head start

Under Law 20.10, every team-mate other than a placer at a permitted place-kick must remain behind the ball until it has been kicked. Because sevens does not permit a place-kick here, the exception has no practical use for this quick tap.

A support runner who is initially ahead can restore legality by getting behind the ball before the kick. If a team-mate is still ahead when it is kicked, the listed sanction is a scrum. The referee cannot play advantage from an incorrectly taken penalty: Law 7.3(e) requires an immediate whistle.

Retreat immediately: 10 metres or the try line

Law 20.12 requires every opponent to retreat immediately 10 metres towards their own try line, or to that try line if it is closer. Law 20.15 also forbids delaying the kick or obstructing the kicker, including intentionally taking, throwing or kicking the ball out of the attacking team’s reach.

The sanction is a second penalty 10 metres in front of the original mark. Unlike the first quick tap, that second penalty cannot be taken until the referee has made the new mark. Law 20.1’s five-metre minimum still applies near the try line.

Position alone is not the second offence

Law 20.14 protects an opponent who had no opportunity to retreat before a very quick kick: the player is not sanctioned merely for still being within 10 metres. The player must nevertheless keep retreating and must not take part in the game.

The player can participate only after retreating 10 metres from the mark, or after a team-mate who was 10 metres from the mark has moved in front of that player. Near the try line, reaching the try line satisfies the shorter retreat required by Law 20.12. Simply waiting for the ball-carrier to run past is not one of the onside routes stated in Law 20.14.

A tackle from inside 10 changes the ruling

A retreating defender may be close to the runner without offending. But tackling, playing the ball, deliberately obstructing the runner or otherwise joining play before becoming onside breaches Laws 20.13–14 and exposes the team to the advanced penalty.

The referee may apply Law 7 advantage to that new defensive infringement. If the quick-tapping side gains a clear and real tactical or territorial benefit, play can continue; if not, the referee returns to the second penalty.

Fast does not override a stoppage

Law 6 makes the referee the sole judge of fact and law and permits the referee to stop play at any time. Law 7 also requires an immediate whistle where continuing would be dangerous, a serious injury is suspected, or the penalty itself was taken incorrectly.

An ordinary first penalty does not have the special requirement that the referee draw a new mark before it can be taken quickly. But if the referee has stopped the sequence for safety, consultation or another necessary decision, the attacking team cannot create live play merely by tapping while that stoppage is being managed.

A declared shot at goal closes the tap option

A team awarded a penalty may tap, kick to touch, attempt a penalty goal or choose a scrum where Law 20 permits. The choice remains open until the team commits to an option.

Under Law 8.20, once the team indicates to the referee that it will kick at goal, it must do so. In sevens that penalty goal must be a drop-kick and is subject to the 30-second Sevens limit. The team cannot declare the shot and then switch to a quick tap.

Similar tap, different defensive rights

Many Law 20 requirements apply to both penalties and free-kicks, including the correct mark, visible kick and retreat. But they are not interchangeable. A penalty may be kicked directly for goal and has different touch consequences; a free-kick cannot be kicked directly for goal.

Most importantly for a quick action, Law 20.16 lets opponents charge a free-kick as soon as the kicker initiates the kicking movement. That charging right is not stated for a penalty. First identify the referee’s award, then judge the defenders.

A clean tap before the defence is set

Situation: under World Rugby 2026 sevens, Blue receives a penalty. A Blue player at the mark intentionally taps the held ball with the foot; it visibly leaves the hands. Every Blue team-mate is behind the ball.

Ruling: play continues. Law 20.11 permits the kicker to play the ball again after the successful kick. Red must keep retreating even though Blue is already running.

The kick is two metres beyond the mark

Situation: the kicker runs past the referee’s mark and then makes an otherwise clear tap.

Ruling: retake the penalty from a legal location under Law 20.2. Do not confuse this wrong-place remedy with Law 20.11’s scrum sanction for failing to kick the ball visibly.

A defender is trapped inside 10

Situation: Green taps immediately. A Gold defender three metres from the mark turns and retreats without touching the runner or ball.

Ruling: no penalty merely for the defender’s position. Law 20.14 recognises that Gold had no opportunity to get 10 metres away, but Gold must continue to retreat and remain out of play until onside.

The trapped defender makes the tackle

Situation: the same Gold defender stops retreating and tackles Green before reaching the required line or being put onside by the specified team-mate action.

Ruling: Gold has now participated illegally. Unless Green gains clear and real advantage, award the second penalty under Laws 20.13–14, ordinarily 10 metres in front of the original mark, and wait for the referee to make that mark.

The ball never leaves the hands

Situation: Red brushes the ball against a boot but keeps a continuous grip and runs.

Ruling: the penalty was not taken legally. Law 20.11 requires a held ball to move a visible distance and clearly leave the hands; the sanction is a scrum, and Law 7.3(e) rules out playing advantage from the incorrect penalty.

Five shortcuts that produce the wrong call

• “Quick means anywhere near the offence”: no; Law 20.2 fixes the permitted line through the mark.
• “A toe touch is always enough”: no; the ball must visibly move and clearly leave the hands.
• “Inside 10 is automatically another penalty”: no; lack of opportunity excuses the position, not participation.
• “The runner passing a defender puts that defender onside”: not under the two restoration routes in Law 20.14.
• “Penalty and free-kick taps have the same charging rule”: no; Law 20.16 gives the charge only at a free-kick.

World Rugby 2026 source material

• World Rugby, Laws of the Game 2026, July 2026 final edition — Law 20 on pages 113–117 and Sevens Law 20 variation on page 133.
• World Rugby live Law 20: Penalty and free-kick — mark, taking requirements, retreat, participation and sanctions.
• World Rugby Sevens variation, Law 20.8 — punt and drop-kick permitted; place-kick prohibited.
• World Rugby live Law 7: Advantage — clear and real advantage, and mandatory whistle for an incorrectly taken penalty.
• World Rugby live Law 6: Match officials — referee control, whistle and safety powers.
• World Rugby live Law 8: Scoring — commitment after indicating a kick at goal; read with the Sevens scoring variations.
• World Rugby Sevens variations, Law 8.21 and 8.24 — 30-second penalty-goal limit and mandatory drop-kick.
• World Rugby, July 2026 law updates — implementation timing for competitions and events beginning after 1 July 2026.

Source note: checked on 28 August 2026 against the July 2026 final law book and World Rugby’s live English law pages. World Rugby says the 1 July 2026 updates apply to new competitions/events starting after that date and directs competitions already in progress to their union for implementation timing. Those updates did not replace Law 20’s quick-tap mechanics. Competition regulations and authorised local variations may supplement this baseline.