Five replacements does not always mean five one-way changes.

Which version and competitions this page covers

This page applies World Rugby's Laws of the Game 2026, July 2026 consolidated edition, principally Law 3 together with the Sevens variation to Law 3. World Rugby states that the July amendments apply to new competitions or events beginning after 1 July 2026. A league already in progress may use a different implementation date set by its union.

This is the international-law baseline, not a particular tournament handbook. An organiser may choose the number nominated in a non-international match, whether Law 3.34 rolling replacements operate, and the administration of team lists and interchanges. Those published competition rules must be read alongside the law.

Seven on the field and up to five replacements

The Sevens variation replaces Law 3.1 so that each team has no more than seven players in the playing area during play. For international sevens, variation 3.4 says a team may nominate and use up to five replacements.

For other sevens matches, variation 3.5 lets the match organiser decide how many replacements may be nominated, but the maximum is still five. A tournament squad can be larger than the players eligible for one match; registration, injury call-ups and match-list deadlines belong to the event regulations, not to Law 3's on-field count.

Name the change before deciding who may return

• Tactical replacement: the coach changes a player for playing reasons.
• Permanent injury replacement: an injured player leaves and may not return to that match.
• Temporary blood replacement: a player with uncontrolled active bleeding leaves for treatment and may return within the law's time limit.
• Temporary HIA replacement: available only in a match approved in advance by World Rugby to use the Head Injury Assessment process.

A card is different again: suspension or sending-off reduces the team unless a specific law or competition process later permits another player to enter. Taking a carded player off is not an ordinary tactical substitution.

The ball must be dead and permission must be given

World Rugby Law 3.6 applies unchanged to sevens: replacements are made only when the ball is dead and only with the referee's permission. At managed events a sideline manager or replacement controller may process the request, but the replacement must still wait for authorisation.

“There has been a whistle” is not a safe shortcut. World Rugby's sideline guidance says a team taking a penalty or free-kick quickly prevents a replacement at that moment. A quick-throw option can also keep a lineout replacement waiting. After a try, the change can be completed before the restart. The decisive question is whether play is legally dead and officials have admitted the player.

Rolling replacements are a competition choice

Law 3.34 allows a match organiser to implement rolling tactical replacements at defined levels within its jurisdiction. If adopted, the total number of interchanges must not exceed 12, and the organiser controls the detailed administration. The five named replacements and the number of interchange events are therefore separate limits.

If the competition has not adopted rolling replacements, a tactically replaced sevens player cannot simply return for another tactical switch. Law 3.33 permits a return only for a listed reason. In sevens, the front-row return provisions at 3.33(a) and 3.33(e) are deleted, leaving a return to replace a player with a blood injury, a head injury, an injury just caused by foul play and verified by the match officials, or—at elite level—the eligible player after a qualifying 20-minute red-card period.

An injured player who is permanently replaced is finished

Under Laws 3.21–3.23, an injured player may be replaced, but may not return once the replacement is permanent. At national representative level, the doctor decides whether continuing would be inadvisable. In other authorised matches a medically trained person may decide; if none is present, the referee may agree to the replacement. The referee may also order a player off for examination.

This is not a free injury-assessment interchange. Unless the blood or approved-HIA procedure applies, a player who is declared injured and replaced has left the match permanently. A player injured by foul play also leaves permanently, but Law 3.33(d) may allow someone who was tactically replaced earlier to return in that player's place when the match officials verify the foul-play cause.

Recognise and Remove is the ordinary safety rule

Law 3.24 requires a player who is concussed or suspected of concussion to be immediately and permanently removed. That is World Rugby's “Recognise and Remove” rule and is the default outside an approved HIA competition. A short sevens match does not create an exception.

Do not treat “HIA” as a universal synonym for any head-injury stoppage. A competition must have World Rugby approval to operate the formal HIA process. Without that approval, there is no 12-minute temporary assessment window: suspected concussion means permanent removal.

Twelve actual minutes, even if the bench is used

In a World Rugby-approved HIA match, Law 3.27 requires the player to leave and be temporarily replaced, even if all replacements have already been used. The game cannot restart until that temporary replacement has been made. If the assessed player is not available to return after 12 minutes of actual time, the replacement becomes permanent.

If the player also has a blood injury, up to five minutes may first be used to control the bleeding before the 12-minute HIA period begins. World Rugby's sideline guidance therefore records a combined maximum of 17 actual minutes. “Actual time” continues independently of match playing time, including during half-time.

Control and cover the bleeding within 15 actual minutes

World Rugby defines a blood injury as uncontrolled active bleeding. Under Laws 3.25–3.26, the player leaves and may be temporarily replaced. The player returns as soon as the bleeding is controlled and/or covered; if not available to return within 15 minutes of actual time after leaving, the replacement becomes permanent.

In an international match, the match-day doctor decides whether the injury requires a temporary blood replacement. The deadline is when the player must be ready and report back through the officials, not permission to start treatment at minute 15. If the limit expires at half-time, Law 3.32 requires an immediate return at the start of the second half or the change becomes permanent.

The replacement can also be replaced

Laws 3.28–3.29 allow a temporary replacement to be temporarily replaced, even when the ordinary replacements have been used. If the temporary replacement is injured, that player may also be replaced. These provisions prevent the medical assessment of one player from forcing an unrelated injured stand-in to continue.

If the temporary replacement receives a sevens yellow card, variation 3.31 prevents the original player returning until the two-minute suspension has ended. The original player must also be medically cleared and still be within the applicable blood or HIA return time. The team cannot erase the temporary replacement's suspension by sending the original player straight back on.

An eighth player and an early entrant are related but distinct

If a team has too many players, Law 3.3 requires the captain to reduce the number. The score at the time the issue is identified remains unchanged and the sanction is a penalty. The law does not retrospectively cancel all points merely because an eighth player was discovered.

Law 3.7 separately covers a player who re-joins or a replacement who enters without permission. A penalty for misconduct follows when the referee believes the player entered that way to gain an advantage. That belief is part of the test; the law does not say that every momentary administrative overlap automatically proves advantage-seeking misconduct.

Player removal is not the same as team replacement

A sevens yellow card suspends the player for two minutes of playing time, and the team plays short during that period. A replacement cannot enter merely to restore the seventh player. If a temporary medical replacement is the player shown yellow, the special variation described above controls the original player's return.

From 1 July 2026, the 20-minute red-card replacement became full World Rugby law for qualifying red cards in elite rugby. A permanently sent-off player never returns, and some red cards remain non-replaceable. Because an ordinary sevens match is only 14 minutes, the 20-minute restoration point normally cannot be reached; event-specific sevens disciplinary and red-card procedures must be checked rather than inferred from fifteens.

A replacement waits while a penalty is tapped

Situation: Blue asks for a tactical change after receiving a penalty. Before officials admit the replacement, Blue takes a quick tap.

Ruling: under World Rugby's July 2026 Law 3 and sideline guidance, the replacement waits for the next lawful opportunity. The penalty award did not guarantee time for the change, and the player may not enter without permission while play continues.

A tactically replaced player is requested again

Situation: Gold tactically replaces No. 4, then later wants No. 4 back for No. 7.

Ruling: first check the tournament rules. If the organiser adopted Law 3.34 rolling replacements and the interchange remains within its limit, the return can be processed at a dead ball with permission. Without rolling replacements, an ordinary tactical return is not allowed; No. 7 would need to fit a Law 3.33 exception, such as a head or blood injury.

The fifth replacement is already on when HIA is called

Situation: Red has used all five replacement players. In a World Rugby-approved HIA competition, a starting player is then removed for an HIA.

Ruling: Law 3.27 still permits and requires a temporary replacement before the game restarts. The assessed player has 12 minutes of actual time to be available to return; otherwise the temporary change becomes permanent. The decisive fact is the competition's prior HIA approval, not whether the normal bench allocation has been exhausted.

The blood clock keeps running through half-time

Situation: Green's player leaves with uncontrolled bleeding early in the first half and is temporarily replaced. Treatment continues through the two-minute interval and into the second half.

Ruling: the interval counts because the 15-minute limit is actual time, not playing time. If the player has not reported ready to return by 15 actual minutes after leaving, the replacement becomes permanent; stopping the match clock or crossing half-time does not extend the deadline.

How to resolve a sevens replacement question

1. Identify the union, competition and effective law date; check whether a July 2026 change has been implemented.
2. Confirm the player is on the eligible match list and the team will have no more than seven players in the playing area.
3. Classify the change as tactical, permanent injury, blood, approved HIA, foul-play injury or card-related.
4. For a tactical return, confirm whether the organiser adopted Law 3.34 rolling replacements and how many interchanges remain.
5. For blood or HIA, use actual time and confirm medical clearance and reporting before the deadline.
6. Complete any authorised sideline process, then wait for a dead ball and the referee's permission before the player enters.
7. If entry was illegal, separate the too-many-players ruling in 3.3 from advantage-seeking entry misconduct in 3.7.

Five shortcuts that give the wrong answer

• “Five replacements means only five change events”: not if the organiser has adopted rolling replacements; Law 3.34 permits up to 12 interchanges.
• “Every sevens event uses rolling replacements”: no. The organiser must implement and administer them.
• “Any head knock gets a 12-minute HIA”: no. Formal HIA applies only in competitions approved in advance; otherwise Recognise and Remove controls suspected concussion.
• “Medical time stops at half-time”: no. Blood and HIA limits use actual elapsed time.
• “A whistle always opens the gate”: no. A quick penalty, free-kick or quick-throw can require the replacement to wait.

World Rugby July 2026 source material

• World Rugby, Laws of the Game 2026, July consolidated edition — Law 3 on book pages 33–37 and the Sevens Law 3 variations on book pages 125–126.
• World Rugby, Sevens variation: Law 3 Team — seven-player limit, five-replacement limit and deleted sevens clauses.
• World Rugby, Law 3: Team — entry procedure, permanent and temporary medical replacements, tactical returns and rolling replacements.
• World Rugby, July 2026 law updates — 1 July implementation rule and confirmation of the 20-minute red-card replacement in full law.
• World Rugby, Law Application Guideline: 20-minute red-card replacement — qualifying and permanent red-card outcomes and the rule that the sent-off player cannot return.
• World Rugby, Sideline Officials: Law and Application — practical timing of replacements at scrums, lineouts, scores, penalties and free-kicks.
• World Rugby, Sideline Officials: Medical Replacements — 12-minute HIA, 15-minute blood and combined 17-minute actual-time administration.
• World Rugby, HIA Procedures: Frequently Asked Questions — sevens HIA administration and replacement availability after the ordinary bench has been used.

Source note: checked against World Rugby's July 2026 consolidated law book and live Law 3 material on 28 August 2026. Competition handbooks may supplement the baseline on rolling interchanges, match lists, medical protocols and implementation dates; this page does not treat one organiser's procedure as universal.