Rugby union restarts decide how the ball comes back into play after the start of a half, a score, or an in-goal outcome. The law is practical: identify why play stopped, confirm the restart mark, then check the kick type, player positions, distance, touch, and in-goal result.
A restart is the law-defined way to put the ball back into play after a fixed event. Kick-offs start a half or period of extra-time. Halfway restarts also follow a score. Drop-outs restart play after specific in-goal situations.
These kicks are not ordinary open-play kicks. The mark, method, distance, and available sanctions are set by the restart law, so a mistake can give the non-kicking team options even before normal play has really begun.
All kick-offs and restart kicks are drop kicks. A drop kick means the player drops the ball from the hands and kicks it as it rebounds from the ground. A punt, place-kick, tap, or kick from the wrong mark is not a valid restart method.
A halfway restart must travel to the opponents' 10-metre line. It does not have to be kicked deep; short contestable restarts are legal if the ball reaches the required line and the chasing players start onside.
If the ball reaches the 10-metre line and is then blown back by wind, play continues. If an opponent plays the ball before it reaches the 10-metre line, play also continues because the receiving team has accepted the contest.
If a kick-off is taken with the wrong kick type, from the wrong place, or without reaching the 10-metre line, the non-kicking team usually chooses between a retake and a scrum. If the kicking team's players are in front of the ball, the restart can also be brought back for a scrum.
Officials may still play advantage where the law allows and the non-kicking team clearly benefits. In practice, many restart errors are obvious technical faults, so referees often stop play and offer the listed option.
A kick-off or restart after a score must not go directly into touch. If it does, the non-kicking team chooses the result: the kick can be retaken, or play can restart with a scrum, lineout, or quick throw.
If the touch option is chosen after a halfway restart, the throw is where the ball reaches touch or on the halfway line, whichever is nearer to the kicker's try line. This is why a restart that sails straight out near the receiving team's 22 is not simply a lineout at that far point.
If a halfway restart is kicked into the opponents' in-goal without touching any player, and an opponent grounds it without delay or it goes dead through in-goal, the non-kicking team may choose a retake or a scrum.
If the defender delays before making the ball dead, the restart is treated as accepted. The game then restarts according to the in-goal outcome, commonly with a try-line drop-out under the current World Rugby law structure.
A 22-metre drop-out is used after certain defending in-goal outcomes. Common examples include an unsuccessful penalty goal or dropped-goal attempt being grounded or made dead by the defending team, or an attacking team kicking the ball through in-goal from the field of play and the ball going dead.
For a kick through in-goal from open play, the defending team may instead have a scrum where the ball was kicked. That choice is important because a team under pressure may prefer possession at the scrum to a drop-out from its own 22.
A try-line drop-out is taken on or behind the defending team's try line. It is used when the attacking team puts or carries the ball into in-goal, fails to score, and the ball becomes legally dead there, or when the attacking ball-carrier carries it off the field of play.
Drop-outs are also drop kicks. A 22-metre drop-out is taken on or behind the defending team's 22-metre line and must cross the 22-metre line. A try-line drop-out is taken on or behind the defending team's try line and must cross the five-metre line.
If a drop-out does not cross its sanction line, the non-kicking team can choose a retake or a scrum. If it goes directly into touch, the opposing team can choose a retake, scrum on the sanction line in line with the kick, lineout, or quick throw.
At a halfway restart, the kicking team's players must start behind the ball and the opposition must be on or behind the 10-metre line. At a drop-out, opponents must not advance in front of the sanction line before the ball is kicked.
Team-mates of the drop-out kicker must also be behind the ball when it is kicked. Players who are in front can avoid sanction only by retiring and not interfering until put onside by a team-mate's actions.