The ball must be legally grounded in in-goal.

The law used on this page

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game for 15-a-side rugby union, including the law assets updated from 1 July 2026. World Rugby says the July changes apply to new competitions or events starting after 1 July; a union decides the implementation date for a league or competition already in progress.

The main provisions are Law 8, “Scoring,” and Law 21, “In-goal,” read with Laws 6, 11, 12 and 19. The separate World Rugby sevens held-up variation is identified below. A competition's appointed regulations and authorised trials should be checked before applying the restart mechanically.

Two actions legally ground the ball

World Rugby Law 21.1 gives two routes:

1. Holding the ball: a player holding it in the hand, hands, arm or arms touches the ground with it.
2. Ball already on the ground: a player presses down on it with one or both hands, one or both arms, or the front of the body from the waist to the neck.

Picking the ball up is not grounding it. The player may pick it up and ground it elsewhere in in-goal while the ball remains live.

The try line is part of in-goal

World Rugby's definitions include the try line in in-goal, so legal grounding on the line can score. The touch-in-goal lines and dead-ball line are not part of in-goal. The ball must also still be live and the grounding player must be entitled to play it.

A player who is outside the playing area may ground a loose ball in in-goal and score under Laws 8.2e and 21.9, provided that player is not holding the ball. A ball-carrier cannot use the same exception after carrying the ball into touch or touch-in-goal.

Attack must be first

Law 8.2 requires the attacking player to be first to ground the ball. A defender who grounds first makes a touch down, not a try. World Rugby Clarification 1-2022 says that simultaneous grounding of a loose ball by attacker and defender is not first grounding by the attacker; the defender's touch therefore takes precedence.

If the officials simply cannot determine which team grounded first, Law 21.17 instead orders a five-metre scrum in line with the grounding, with the attacking team throwing in. Known simultaneous grounding and unresolved doubt are therefore not the same finding.

“Lost control” is not the whole test

A bobble does not automatically rule out a try. Ask where the ball went and what happened next. If the attacker loses possession forward and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player catches it, the World Rugby definition and Law 11 treat that as a knock forward. If it occurs in the opponents' in-goal, Law 12.12c gives a try-line drop-out.

If the ball goes backwards or comes loose without a knock forward, it remains available to be grounded. The original attacker or a team-mate can still score by being first to apply one of the Law 21.1 grounding actions, provided no other infringement or boundary event has made the ball dead.

Momentum or one immediate reach can score

Law 8.2c permits a player tackled short of the try line to score when momentum carries the player in one continuous movement along the ground into in-goal and the player is first to ground the ball. Law 8.2d separately permits a player tackled near the line to reach out and ground the ball immediately.

Those are narrow permissions, not a licence to crawl, propel the body again or take repeated placements after the tackle. The referee separates continuous momentum or an immediate reach from a later action that must comply with the tackled player's release duties.

Crossing the line without grounding is no try

Law 21.16 makes the ball dead when a player carrying it is held up in in-goal and cannot ground or play it. “Held up” is not simply “the referee could not see the ball”: it is the ruling that the carrier cannot legally ground or play it. The 15s restart then depends on who played the ball into in-goal.

• Attack put it in: under Law 12.12a, a try-line drop-out when the attacker fails to score and the ball becomes legally dead inside in-goal or the attacker carries it off the playing area.
• Defence put it in: under Law 19.1, a scrum in the five-metre scrum zone, in line with where the ball became dead, with the attacking team throwing in.

Not every failed attack has the same restart

The 2026 wording moved some failures near the corner from a 22-metre drop-out to a try-line drop-out, but it did not abolish the 22. Keep these events separate:

• Carrier put into touch-in-goal before scoring: try-line drop-out when the attack took the ball in, under Law 12.12a.
• Open-play kick runs through opponents' in-goal into touch-in-goal or over the dead-ball line: the defenders choose a 22-metre drop-out or a scrum where the ball was kicked, under Law 21.11.
• Unsuccessful penalty goal or dropped-goal attempt is grounded or made dead: 22-metre drop-out under Law 12.11a.
• Defence took or played the ball into its own in-goal and it is then made dead: five-metre scrum, attacking throw-in, under Law 19.1.

Which boundary was touched matters

Under Law 21.4, if an attacker holding the ball grounds it while simultaneously touching the touch-in-goal line, dead-ball line or ground beyond either, the ball is dead and there is no try. The restart follows the attack-in or defence-in distinction.

Law 21.5 covers a different geometry: if the ball-carrier grounds in in-goal while simultaneously touching the touch line or ground beyond it, the ball is in touch in the field of play and the opposition receives the lineout. Contact with an upright corner flag or flag post alone does not make the player or ball dead, unless the ball is grounded against the post.

Padding is not a scoring surface

Since World Rugby's immediate Law 8 amendment of 12 May 2020, grounding the ball only against a goal-post protector does not score; the padding is not an extension of the try line. A try is possible if the ball also legally contacts the actual ground in in-goal.

For an unusual loose object in in-goal, current Law 6.12 tells the referee to judge what would have happened next and award a drop-out, try or touch down at the place of contact. That wording now covers an object as well as a referee or other non-player; players should not assume that touching a displaced flag or other object is automatically a grounding.

Video can answer more than “grounded or not?”

A TMO is available only when the match organiser appoints one. Under World Rugby Laws 6.15–6.16, the officials may use the TMO for grounding in in-goal; touch or touch-in-goal while grounding or making the ball dead; an infringement leading to or preventing a try; and foul play.

The referee therefore may need separate findings on a knock forward, touch, legal grounding and who took the ball into in-goal. The applicable TMO protocol and competition arrangements control the review process; grassroots matches without a TMO are decided by the on-field officials.

A penalty try needs no completed grounding

Law 8.3 allows a penalty try when opposition foul play prevents a probable try from being scored, or from being scored in a more advantageous position. It is worth seven points, no conversion is attempted, and the offending player must be shown a yellow card or sent off. This is a probability judgment about what the foul play prevented, not a finding that the ball was actually grounded.

Held up returns to an attacking scrum

World Rugby sevens does not use the ordinary 15s held-up restart. Its current variation replaces Law 21.16: when a carrier is held up in in-goal and cannot ground or play the ball, play restarts with a five-metre scrum in line with the incident and the attacking team throws in.

This variation is limited to the held-up provision. Other sevens restart variations may also affect a particular route into in-goal, so a sevens ruling should be checked against the complete sevens variations rather than inferred from this 15s page.

Controlled placement without a shove

Situation: Green carries the ball over the try line in one hand and gently touches its underside to the turf while still holding it.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: try, assuming no prior infringement. Law 21.1a requires a held ball to touch the ground; a separate visible downward-pressure motion is not required.

A loose ball under a forearm

Situation: the ball is already on the ground in in-goal. Green arrives first and presses it down with the forearm, without wrapping an arm around it.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: try if Green is an attacking player and no earlier infringement occurred. An arm is one of the body parts expressly allowed by Law 21.1b for pressing down a loose ball.

The attacker is held above the grass

Situation: Green carries the ball into the opponents' in-goal, but defenders keep it off the ground until Green can neither ground nor play it.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: no try and a try-line drop-out under Laws 21.16 and 12.12a. World Rugby sevens ruling: no try, but a five-metre scrum with Green's team throwing in under the sevens replacement for Law 21.16.

The defence took the ball back

Situation: Red passes the ball into its own in-goal. Red's receiver is caught there and held so the ball cannot be grounded or played.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: five-metre scrum in line with where it became dead, Green attacking throw-in. The decisive fact is that Red, the defending team, played the ball into in-goal; Law 19.1 therefore controls instead of the attack-in try-line drop-out.

Both players arrive together

Situation: slow-motion replay clearly shows an attacker and defender press down on the loose ball at the same instant.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: no try. Clarification 1-2022 says the attacker was not first, so the defender's touch takes precedence; the restart depends on which team first put the loose ball into in-goal. If the evidence instead leaves first grounding genuinely undecidable, Law 21.17 gives a five-metre scrum with the attacking team throwing in.

How to rule on the replay

1. Name the ruleset. Confirm 15s or sevens and the competition's implementation date.
2. Check the location. The ball must contact the ground in in-goal, which includes the try line but excludes the touch-in-goal and dead-ball lines.
3. Check for an earlier dead-ball event. Identify touch, touch-in-goal, the dead-ball line or a carried ball leaving the playing area.
4. Apply the grounding action. Was the ball held and touched to ground, or loose and pressed down with a permitted body part?
5. Check the sequence. Decide who grounded first and whether a knock forward, foul play or tackle infringement occurred beforehand.
6. If no try, identify who put the ball in. That normally separates a 15s try-line drop-out from an attacking five-metre scrum.
7. Check special routes. Kicks through in-goal, failed goal attempts, simultaneous grounding and the sevens held-up variation have specific outcomes.

Five claims to avoid

• “The ball crossed the line, so it is a try.” The ball still has to be legally grounded by an attacker first.
• “Every grounding needs downward pressure.” Touching the ground is enough while holding the ball; pressing down applies to a loose ball on the ground.
• “Any loss of control means no try.” The direction of the loss, the knock-forward definition and the later grounding decide the outcome.
• “Held up always means a try-line drop-out.” Defence-in gives an attacking five-metre scrum, and sevens has its own held-up variation.
• “The post pad or corner flag counts as the ground.” Neither is a substitute for legal contact with the ground, subject to Law 6.12 when an object itself interferes in in-goal.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 8 “Scoring” (current July 2026 law assets), especially 8.1–8.3
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 21 “In-goal” (current July 2026 law assets), especially 21.1–21.17
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 11 “Knock forward or throw forward,” 11.1–11.5
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 12 “Kick-off and restart kicks,” 12.11–12.12
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 19 “Scrum,” 19.1 restart table
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, Law 6 “Match officials,” 6.12 and 6.15–6.16
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game, current definitions of holding the ball, in-goal and knock forward
• World Rugby — July 2026 law updates and implementation notice, effective for new competitions/events starting after 1 July 2026
• World Rugby — Clarification 1-2022, simultaneous grounding, doubt and defence-in held-up restarts, with July 2022 addendum
• World Rugby — Sevens variation, replacement Law 21.16 for a ball held up in-goal
• World Rugby — Law 8 post-protector amendment, effective 12 May 2020

Checked against World Rugby's live English law pages and July 2026 implementation notice on 27 August 2026. This page uses the 15-a-side international baseline; World Rugby sevens varies the held-up restart, and unions or match organisers may set implementation dates and authorised competition variations.