A 50:22 depends on the whole passage, not just where the kick lands.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game for 15-a-side rugby union, digital edition updated 1 July 2026. The controlling provisions are Law 18 (touch and lineout), Law 10 (open-play offside), Law 12 (kick-offs and restarts), Law 17 (mark), Law 20 (penalties and free-kicks), and Law 21 (in-goal), with Law 7 governing advantage.

World Rugby made the 50:22 full law on 1 July 2022; it is no longer merely a trial. The July 2026 amendments apply to new competitions or events starting after 1 July. World Rugby tells competitions already in progress to confirm their implementation date with the relevant union, so an appointed competition's regulations remain important.

Five facts must line up

Officials apply Law 18.8(a) to the passage that ends in touch:

1. Place of kick: the player kicks from their own half.
2. Place of touch: the ball reaches touch in the opponents' 22. World Rugby defines the 22 as including the 22-metre line, but not the try line or touchline.
3. Indirect route: before going into touch, the ball lands in the playing area or touches a player or the referee. A kick that flies straight across the touchline is direct and cannot be a 50:22.
4. How the ball entered the half: the kicking team did not take the ball back into its own half, unless a tackle, ruck or maul then occurred there or an opponent touched the ball there.
5. Type of kick: the kick is not a kick-off or any type of restart kick.

If all five are satisfied, the kicking team throws in at the resulting mark of touch. Law 18.9 prevents a lineout mark being set within five metres of a try line. A 50:22 is a way of allocating a lineout, not a score or an infringement.

The bounce can be before the 22

World Rugby defines a ball as kicked directly into touch when it reaches touch without first landing on the playing area or touching a player or the referee. Law 18.8(a) asks for the opposite: an indirect kick.

Nothing in the current law says the first bounce must be inside the opponents' 22. A kick may bounce outside the 22, roll across the 22-metre line and then reach touch inside the 22. It can still satisfy this part of the 50:22 test. The decisive boundary is where the ball reaches touch, not where it first bounced.

Other laws still apply. For example, contact with a player does not erase a knock-forward, offside or foul-play infringement that occurred during the passage.

How the own-half restriction is reset

A team cannot create an immediate 50:22 by carrying or passing the ball from the opponents' half back into its own half and kicking from there. Under Law 18.8(a), the restriction is lifted if, before the kick, one of these events occurs inside the kicking team's half:

• A tackle.
• A ruck.
• A maul.
• An opponent touches the ball.

Receiving the ball in one's own half from an opponent also avoids the “taken back” problem. By contrast, simply making another pass, pausing, or running sideways in the half is not one of the listed events.

When a direct touch-finder gains ground

Law 18.8(d) governs a direct kick to touch from inside the kicker's own 22 or in-goal. The opposition normally throws in; the question is where.

• Ball not taken back: if the defending team did not take the ball into the 22, the mark is where it reaches touch. The same gain applies if a tackle, ruck or maul occurred in the 22, or an opponent touched the ball there.
• Ball taken back with no listed event: there is no gain in ground. The mark is where the ball reaches touch or in line with where it was kicked, whichever is nearer the kicker's try line.
• Indirect open-play kick: if the ball lands in the playing area before going into touch, the ordinary mark is where it reaches touch and the opposition throws, unless it is a valid 50:22. Penalty kicks use the separate Law 18.8(c) outcome.

A player standing inside the 22 who picks up a ball still outside it, or catches it before it reaches the plane of the 22-metre line, has taken it back. Law 18.7 also says that taking a quick throw inside the 22 when the mark of touch was outside the 22 counts as taking the ball into the 22.

A catcher standing in touch can change who caused touch

Law 18.1 distinguishes the player's position from the ball's position. If a player already in touch catches a ball that has reached the vertical plane above the touchline, the catcher did not take it into touch. If the ball has not reached that plane, the catcher is deemed to have taken it into touch.

That distinction can change the explanation even when the visible outcome looks similar. A defender standing in touch who catches a potential 50:22 before the ball reaches the plane has taken the ball out: the kicker's team receives the throw under the ordinary touch rule, not because the kick completed a 50:22. If the ball had already reached the plane in the opponents' 22, the kick itself put it into touch and the 50:22 tests can be applied.

The type of award changes the touch result

Law 18.8(c) gives the throw to the team that kicks a penalty into touch, whether the ball goes directly, bounces first, or reaches touch after hitting an opponent or the referee. The mark is normally where the ball reaches the touchline. This is a penalty-touch outcome, not a 50:22.

There is a narrow exception: when a player legitimately attempts a penalty goal and the ball goes into touch, the non-kicking team throws in. A free-kick does not carry the penalty's right to the throw. If kicked directly to touch, the non-kicking team throws; from outside the 22 there is no gain in ground, while Law 18.8(d) allows the mark where the ball reaches touch for a free-kick awarded inside the kicker's own 22.

Under Law 20, either kick must be taken without delay, move the ball a visible distance, and be taken from the mark or behind it on the permitted line. Opponents must retire 10 metres or to their try line if nearer.

Kick-offs and drop-outs have their own options

Law 12 requires every kick-off and restart kick to be a drop-kick. A kick-off or restart after a score must reach the opponents' 10-metre line unless an opponent plays it first. If it goes directly into touch, the non-kicking team chooses a retake, scrum, lineout or quick throw.

A 22-metre or try-line drop-out must cross its sanction line. If it goes directly into touch, the opposing team again chooses a retake, scrum, lineout or quick throw. If any of these kicks first lands in the field and later goes into touch, play has continued and Law 18 supplies the ordinary touch result; the 50:22 exception remains unavailable because the kick was a restart.

These are options for the non-kicking team, not four automatic restarts from which the referee chooses.

A clean catch inside the 22 can stop play

Under Law 17, a player may claim a mark by directly catching an opponent's kick before it touches the ground or another player, having at least one foot on or behind their own 22-metre line when catching or landing, and calling “mark” simultaneously. The ball must have reached the plane of the 22-metre line.

A valid mark immediately stops play and awards that team a free-kick, taken by the player who claimed it. A mark cannot be claimed from a kick-off or a restart after a score. The current law does permit a claim after a penalty kick at goal or attempted dropped goal if the other requirements are met.

Being ahead of the kicking foot restricts participation

Current Law 10.1 uses the foot kicking the ball to set the offside line. A team-mate in front of that line is offside and must not play the ball, tackle the receiver, prevent the opposition from playing as it wishes, or loiter in a way that affects play.

The 10-metre law is stricter. An offside player must immediately retire behind an onside team-mate or behind the imaginary line 10 metres on that player's side of where the ball lands or is caught. An opponent's catch or touch does not put that player onside; apart from a charge-down, an opponent's action cannot cure this 10-metre position.

The non-offending team may choose a penalty at the infringement or a scrum where the offending team last played the ball. General advantage may be played. Under the July 2026 digital wording and World Rugby Clarification 3-2025, an offside player becomes onside when the ball goes into touch only if the player was complying with Law 10 until that point.

Grounded and kicked dead are different outcomes

Under the July 2026 digital Laws 12 and 21, the decisive question is how the ball entered in-goal and how it became dead:

• Ordinary attacking kick made legally dead inside in-goal: the usual restart is a try-line drop-out.
• Kick from the field runs through touch-in-goal or over the dead-ball line: the defending team may choose a 22-metre drop-out or a scrum where the ball was kicked.
• Unsuccessful penalty goal or dropped-goal attempt becomes dead: the restart is a 22-metre drop-out, not the scrum-back option.
• Kick-off, restart after a score, or drop-out: apply the specific Law 12 outcomes rather than the ordinary open-play rule.

This is one area changed by the July 2026 wording. A competition that began before 1 July may have a different implementation date set by its union.

The ball bounces before the 22

Situation: Blue wins the ball from Red inside Blue's own half. Blue 10 kicks from that half. The ball first bounces five metres outside Red's 22, rolls across the 22-metre line and reaches touch 15 metres from Red's try line.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: Blue throws in where the ball reached touch. The kick was indirect, finished in touch inside Red's 22, and Blue did not take the ball back into its own half. The bounce did not need to be inside the 22.

A pass back defeats the immediate 50:22

Situation: Blue has possession in Red's half, passes back across halfway, and Blue 10 immediately kicks. The ball bounces and goes into touch inside Red's 22.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: no 50:22. Red throws in where the ball reached touch. Blue took the ball back into its own half and no tackle, ruck, maul or Red touch occurred there before the kick.

A ruck restores eligibility

Situation: Blue passes back into its own half. A Blue carrier is then tackled and a ruck forms there. Blue 10 kicks indirectly into touch inside Red's 22.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: Blue receives the throw. The ruck in Blue's half satisfies the event specified by Law 18.8(a), so the earlier pass back no longer prevents the 50:22.

A direct kick is not a 50:22

Situation: Blue 10 kicks from between Blue's 22-metre line and halfway, and the ball flies directly into touch inside Red's 22 without landing or touching anyone.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: no 50:22. Because the kick was taken from outside Blue's 22 and went directly into touch, Red throws at the no-gain mark in line with the kick if that is nearer Blue's try line than where the ball crossed.

A penalty touch-finder needs no bounce

Situation: Blue kicks a penalty directly into touch 10 metres from Red's try line without declaring or legitimately attempting a kick at goal.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: Blue throws in where the ball reached touch under Law 18.8(c). The direct flight is legal for this purpose; the result comes from the penalty rule, not the 50:22 rule.

An offside chaser closes on the catcher

Situation: Blue 14 is ahead of Blue 10's kicking foot and within 10 metres of where Red 15 is waiting for the ball. Blue 14 moves towards the receiver instead of retiring.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: Blue 14 has breached Law 10.4(c). Red may choose the penalty at the infringement or a scrum where Blue last played the ball; the referee may allow advantage if Red obtains a clear benefit.

How to rule a kick that reaches touch

1. Name the kick. Open play, penalty, free-kick, kick-off, restart after a score, or drop-out.
2. Fix the kick point. Own half, own 22 or in-goal, or outside the 22.
3. Decide who caused touch. Check the ball's plane and any player already standing in touch.
4. Classify direct or indirect. Did the ball first land in the playing area or touch a player or referee?
5. For a possible 50:22, apply every test. Own-half origin, opposition-22 touch point, indirect route, no unresolved take-back, and no restart.
6. For a direct kick from the 22, apply the separate taken-back test. Decide whether gain in ground is allowed.
7. Check players in front of the kicking foot. Offside can create a penalty-or-scrum choice even if the kick itself was legal.
8. Set the outcome. Mark of touch, team throwing, or the specific restart option.

Six claims to avoid

• “The bounce must be inside the 22.” No. The ball must reach touch there; the earlier bounce may be outside.
• “Any kick from one half to the other side's 22 is a 50:22.” No. Direct kicks, unresolved take-backs and restart kicks fail.
• “A 50:22 is still a trial.” No. World Rugby adopted it into full law from 1 July 2022.
• “Inside your own 22 always gives full gain.” No. A team that takes the ball back without a listed event can lose the territorial gain on a direct kick.
• “A penalty and free-kick have the same touch result.” No. A penalty normally preserves the kicking team's throw; a free-kick does not.
• “The ball going into touch excuses an illegal chase.” Only a player who complied with Law 10 until touch becomes onside on that basis.

Check the appointed rules outside this scope

This is the World Rugby 15-a-side baseline. Sevens, 10s, under-19, Game On and union age-grade variations can alter connected restart or playing provisions. A competition may also specify its implementation date for the July 2026 changes and the permitted use of television review.

Do not carry this page's restart details into another rugby code, such as rugby league. For a live match, the competition regulations and the referee's appointed law framework control.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 18: Touch, quick throw and lineout (current July 2026 text, especially 18.1, 18.7–18.9)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Definitions: 22, 50:22, kicked directly into touch, plane of touch and restart kick
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 7: Advantage (current July 2026 text)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 10: Offside and onside in open play (current July 2026 text)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 12: Kick-off and restart kicks (current July 2026 text)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 17: Mark (current July 2026 text)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 20: Penalty and free-kick (current July 2026 text)
• World Rugby — digital Laws of the Game, Law 21: In-goal (current July 2026 text, especially 21.11)
• World Rugby — July 2026 law updates and competition implementation notice
• World Rugby — Clarification 3-2025, Laws 10 and 18: offside players when the ball goes into touch
• World Rugby — Law changes summary, 1 July 2022: adoption of 50:22 into full law

Checked against World Rugby's live English digital laws as updated 1 July 2026. Those live pages control this explanation where the earlier downloadable 2026 PDF lacks the July wording. World Rugby says competitions already in progress should confirm implementation with their union; competition regulations may also supplement the 15-a-side baseline.