Rugby sevens · World Rugby July 2026

The whistle tells you play has started or stopped; the signal tells you the ruling.

Published 5 July 2026

In World Rugby sevens, the referee normally gives the outcome first: scrum, free-kick, penalty, advantage, try or penalty try, no try, or a drop-out. A secondary gesture or short verbal explanation can then identify the reason. The signal communicates a decision made under the laws; it does not create a different sevens offence.

Quick ruling: under the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026, July 2026 update, read the sequence in layers. If advantage is being signalled, play is still live. After a stopping whistle, watch the primary signal for what happens next and its direction for the team receiving it; then use the secondary signal, card or flag to learn why play stopped and whether discipline or another procedure follows.

Scope

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies World Rugby's rugby-union laws and standard sevens variations current after the 1 July 2026 law update. World Rugby states that the general laws apply to sevens except where a listed sevens variation replaces or adds wording. The match-official signal catalogue itself is the common World Rugby catalogue; the sevens variations change some timings, personnel and restarts around those signals.

The baseline is worldwide World Rugby sevens, not one domestic union, age grade or tournament. A match organiser may appoint a television match official under Law 6.15, while the sevens variation to Law 6 provides for in-goal judges and says they are not required when a TMO is present. Competition regulations and authorised domestic or community variations can therefore change which officials, review process and underlying law threshold are in use.

Reading order

Use a six-step decision path

Is play live? An advantage arm and call normally mean keep playing; a stopping whistle means wait for the decision.
Identify the primary signal. This gives the score, restart or advantage status.
Check the direction. For a scrum, penalty, free-kick or advantage, the arm identifies the team entitled to the decision.
Find the reason. Watch for a secondary signal such as knock forward, not releasing, offside or high tackle, and listen for the referee's explanation.
Separate discipline from restart. A warning or card concerns the player; the primary signal and underlying law determine how play resumes.
Check other officials and procedures. A flag, time-off sign or TMO rectangle adds information but is not necessarily the final ruling.

Whistle law

World Rugby Law 6.8 defines when the whistle is used

The referee blows the whistle to begin and end each half; to stop play; to indicate a score or touch down; to caution or send off and again when awarding the related penalty or penalty try; when the ball becomes dead or unplayable; when a penalty, free-kick or scrum is awarded; and when continued play would be dangerous or serious injury is suspected.

That is why a whistle is not shorthand for “penalty”. It may confirm a score, a scrum, a free-kick, dead ball, safety stoppage or the end of a period. Law 6.8 also contains a specific exception: the referee does not blow merely because an unsuccessful conversion has made the ball dead.

Whistle tone

Length and tone are communication guidance, not a new sanction

World Rugby's officiating training guidance recommends a long, loud blast for a penalty or mark, a distinct upbeat loud blast for a try or goal, and a short blast for a scrum. These are practical cues, not separate clauses that override the arm signal or law decision.

Audio can be unclear in a stadium or broadcast, and referees vary within the guidance. Do not decide “penalty” only from the sound. Confirm it from the angled penalty arm, the direction and any secondary signal.

Primary signals

The 2026 catalogue shows the outcome first

Scrum: shoulders parallel to touch; one arm horizontal toward the team that will throw in.
Free-kick: shoulders parallel to touch; the arm is bent square at the elbow, with the upper arm toward the non-offending team.
Penalty: shoulders parallel to touch; the arm points upward at an angle toward the non-offending team.
Advantage: an arm is extended at waist height toward the non-offending team for about five seconds. Play remains live.
Try or penalty try: the referee faces away from the dead-ball line and raises one arm vertically. The same primary gesture covers both, so the referee's words and any card or follow-up procedure matter.
No try: the arms cross and then uncross in front of the body. This rejects the score but does not by itself identify the restart.
22-metre or try-line drop-out: the arm points to the relevant drop-out line.

Direction

The pointing arm names the beneficiary, not merely an end of the field

For a penalty, free-kick and advantage, the signal points toward the non-offending team. For a scrum it points toward the team entitled to throw in. That can look counter-intuitive when a team is attacking in the opposite direction, so identify the jerseys before inferring who received the decision.

A direction signal also does not establish the exact mark. Under Law 20.2, a penalty or free-kick is taken at the award point or behind it on a line parallel to touch; a kick from the wrong place must be retaken. Watch where the referee makes or manages the mark as well as the arm.

Secondary signals

The next gesture answers “what for?”

World Rugby groups secondary signals by the primary outcome they explain. Scrum examples include a throw forward, knock forward, an unplayable ruck or tackle and a ball held up in-goal. Free-kick examples include a front-row foot-up, a crooked scrum throw and certain lineout spacing or lifting offences. Penalty examples include not releasing after a tackle, the tackler not releasing, failure to roll away, wrong-side entry, side entry at a ruck or maul, collapsing, obstruction, offside, high tackle and dissent.

The catalogue is a communication aid, not a complete list of offences or sanctions. The referee may name an offence verbally, and the controlling law—not how dramatic the gesture looks—determines the mark, options, card threshold and restart.

Advantage

An advantage signal means the infringement has not yet stopped play

World Rugby Law 7 requires an advantage to be clear and real, whether tactical, territorial or both. The waist-high arm shows which team is receiving that opportunity. If the team gains the benefit, the referee calls advantage over and play continues. If a real benefit is unlikely, the referee whistles and returns to the original sanction.

If the non-offending team infringes before gaining advantage, Law 7.2 normally returns play to the first infringement; foul play is dealt with as required. Advantage cannot be played through every event: Law 7.3 requires an immediate whistle for specified cases including dangerous play, suspected serious injury, the ball being made dead and an incorrectly taken quick throw, free-kick or penalty.

Penalty or free-kick

Similar-looking restarts have different rights

The angled penalty arm and square-elbow free-kick arm must not be confused. Under World Rugby Law 20, opponents immediately retreat 10 metres toward their own try line, or to that line if it is closer, and must keep retreating even after a legal quick tap. The kick must travel a visible distance and, when held, clearly leave the kicker's hands.

A penalty team may choose a scrum; a free-kick no longer carries a general scrum option, although Law 20.4 gives specific lineout options when the award occurs at a lineout. Only a free-kick may be charged once the kicker initiates the kicking movement. The sevens variation to Law 20.8 prohibits place-kicking a penalty or free-kick, and the sevens scoring variation requires a penalty-goal attempt to be a drop-kick.

Scrum signal

The secondary reason can change what viewers should expect

A knock forward or throw forward commonly produces a scrum signal, but “scrum” does not always mean a handling error. It can follow an unplayable tackle or ruck, doubt about an in-goal grounding, or another law-specific outcome. In sevens, Law 19.5 requires three players from each team in the scrum, and the variation to Law 19.4 requires teams to be ready within 15 seconds after the mark.

A particularly important sevens difference is a ball-carrier held up in-goal. Under the sevens variation to Law 21.16, the ball is dead and play restarts with a five-metre scrum, attacking team throw-in. The no-try/held-up communication should therefore be followed by a scrum signal; importing the ordinary 15-a-side try-line drop-out assumption gives the wrong sevens restart.

Scores

Try, penalty try, no try and goal flags answer different questions

The raised-arm signal confirms a try or penalty try. Under Law 8.3, a penalty try is seven points, no conversion is attempted, and the player responsible for the foul play must be yellow-carded or sent off. A normal try is five points and creates a conversion opportunity; the sevens variation requires a drop-kick within 30 seconds of playing time.

A no-try gesture says only that a try has not been awarded. The next signal may be a scrum, penalty, drop-out or another restart depending on the decisive fact. General Law 6.25 tells assistant referees or touch judges to raise their flags for a successful kick at goal. Where sevens in-goal judges are appointed, the sevens variation to Law 6 assigns them the result of conversions and penalty kicks at goal.

Touch and flags

A raised flag has a defined but limited job

Under Laws 6.24–6.26, an assistant referee or touch judge raises the flag for touch or touch-in-goal, moves to the place of the throw and points toward the team entitled to throw. The referee—not the touch judge—decides whether the throw is taken from the correct place. Law 6.9 also recognises that the ball is not treated as dead in touch when a quick throw remains permissible.

Only an assistant referee authorised by the match organiser may use the horizontal flag pointing infield to report foul play. The assistant continues other duties until the next stoppage and reports when invited by the referee. The flag does not itself announce the card or restart; the referee considers the report and takes the appropriate action.

TMO and in-goal judges

The television-screen gesture announces a review, not its answer

Law 6.15 allows the match organiser to appoint a TMO for grounding, touch in the act of grounding or making the ball dead, doubtful kicks at goal, possible infringements leading to or preventing a try, and foul play including sanctions. The rectangle traced with the index fingers means the referee is consulting the TMO. It is not a try, no-try or card signal.

The sevens variation to Law 6 adds two in-goal judges, one in each in-goal, to signal goal-kick results and touch-in-goal and, when required, assist with touch downs and tries. It says in-goal judges are not required when a TMO is present. Viewers should therefore identify the officials actually appointed for that tournament instead of assuming every sevens match has a TMO, in-goal judges or the same review protocol.

Cards

A card changes player status, not the identity of the restart

A yellow card means the player has been cautioned and sent to the sin-bin. The sevens variation to Law 9.29 makes that suspension two minutes, and a later second yellow-card offence sends the player off. A red card means the player is sent off and cannot return.

The underlying infringement still determines the penalty, penalty try or other field outcome. Under the July 2026 laws, any separate question about whether an elite competition may later replace a red-carded player depends on Law 9.30 and that competition's adopted process; the card gesture alone does not answer when or whether team numbers can be restored.

Level variations

The same signal can sit over a different competition rule

Signals identify the referee's category of decision, but they do not encode every local threshold or review process. For community seasons starting after 1 July 2026, World Rugby's law allows the relevant union or competition to use a waist or base-of-sternum tackle sanction line, while elite rugby retains the shoulder line. The familiar high-tackle gesture therefore does not prove which height threshold governed the match.

Likewise, a TMO rectangle, red card or timekeeper signal must be read with the appointed competition protocol. Before comparing rulings across an elite international series, a domestic tournament or community sevens, confirm the competition regulations and authorised variations.

Worked case 1

A knock forward is recovered by the opponents

Situation: Blue knocks the ball forward. Gold gathers cleanly in space and can counterattack.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: the referee may extend the advantage arm toward Gold without whistling. If Gold obtains a clear and real tactical or territorial benefit, advantage ends and play continues. If that benefit does not develop, the referee whistles, signals a scrum to Gold and can add the knock-forward secondary gesture. The decisive fact is whether Gold actually gained advantage, not merely touched the loose ball.

Worked case 2

A defender fails to release at the tackle

Situation: a tackler remains wrapped around the ball-carrier and prevents legal release; the attacking team still moves the ball away.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: the referee may signal penalty advantage toward the attacking team. If no clear and real benefit follows, the whistle returns play to the penalty, followed by the “tackler not releasing” secondary signal. If advantage is gained, play continues. The extended arm before the whistle means the penalty is pending, not that the ball is already dead.

Worked case 3

The ball-carrier is held up over the try line

Situation: the attacker reaches in-goal but cannot ground or play the ball.

World Rugby sevens July 2026 ruling: the referee whistles because the ball is dead, indicates no try/held up, then awards a five-metre scrum to the attacking team under the sevens variation to Law 21.16. The decisive fact is that this is sevens; the ordinary-format restart may differ.

Worked case 4

A quick free-kick is taken while defenders retreat

Situation: the kicker takes the free-kick correctly from the mark and clearly moves the ball through the hands before nearby defenders have reached 10 metres.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: defenders who had no opportunity to retreat are not penalised merely for being nearby, but they must continue retreating and cannot take part until put onside under Law 20.14. Eligible defenders may charge once the kicker initiates the kicking movement because the award is a free-kick, not a penalty. The square-elbow primary signal is the decisive visual clue.

Common mistakes

Six conclusions the signal does not support

“Any whistle means penalty.” Law 6.8 gives the whistle many uses, including scores, scrums, free-kicks, dead ball and safety.
“An advantage arm means play has stopped.” It means the referee is delaying the sanction while testing for a clear and real benefit.
“No try means a drop-out.” The restart depends on why the try was refused; a held-up ball-carrier in sevens produces a five-metre attacking scrum.
“A yellow or red card tells you the restart.” It tells you player discipline; the underlying offence supplies the field restart.
“A TMO rectangle means no try.” It announces consultation only.
“The touch judge decides whether a throw was from the right place.” Law 6.26 leaves that question to the referee.

Official references

Governing-body sources and effective versions

Checked on 28 August 2026 against World Rugby's July 2026 law book, live law pages and signal catalogue. The whistle-tone and signal-sequence pages are officiating guidance rather than law. Competition regulations may supplement the baseline for TMO protocol, appointed officials, elite red-card replacement and authorised domestic or community variations.