Touch decides the throw; forward handling decides the sanction.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game Rugby Union, July 2026, primarily to the standard 15-a-side game. The controlling provisions are Law 11, “Knock forward or throw forward,” and Law 18, “Touch, quick throw and lineout,” read with Laws 7, 8, 12 and 19.

World Rugby states that its July changes apply to new competitions or events starting after 1 July 2026. A league or competition already in progress must use the implementation date set by its union. World Rugby sevens differences are identified below; domestic age-grade, community and authorised trial rules should not be assumed to match this 15s baseline.

First decide which event happened first

Touch and a knock-forward can occur in the same sequence, but the order matters. Under Law 18.1, an unheld ball is in touch when it touches the touchline, touch-in-goal line or anything beyond. A held ball is in touch when the ball or ball-carrier contacts the touchline or ground beyond it. Once touch is recognised, the ball is dead; later handling cannot create a live-ball knock-forward.

If the player loses or hits the ball forward before it reaches touch, Law 11 applies first. The July 2026 sanction expressly lets the non-offending team retain the scrum or opt for a quick throw or lineout if the ball then goes into touch.

Forward travel and a later contact are both required

World Rugby defines forward as towards the opposition's dead-ball line. A knock-forward occurs when a player loses possession and the ball goes forward, hits the ball forward with hand or arm, or has the ball hit hand or arm and go forward. It is completed only if the ball then touches the ground or another player before the original player catches it.

• Clean regather: if the same player catches the ball before either of those contacts, there is no completed knock-forward.
• Wrong body part: a ball travelling forward from the head, chest or leg is not a knock-forward merely because it travelled forward; hand or arm involvement or loss of possession is required.
• Direction: judge forward towards the opponents' dead-ball line, not towards a camera, a touchline or the direction in which the player is facing.

Not every forward rebound is sanctioned

Law 11.5 gives two express play-on cases:

• Charge-down: there is no sanction when a player knocks the ball forward immediately after an opponent kicks it.
• Rip from the carrier: there is no sanction when a player rips or knocks the ball from a ball-carrier and the ball goes forward from the original carrier's hand or arm.

These are narrower than “a defender touched it.” Law 11.2 says a player who, while tackling or attempting to tackle, contacts the ball and knocks it forward commits a knock-forward. Officials therefore identify whose forward direction the ball travelled in and whether the decisive action was the tackler knocking it forward or the ball coming forward from the carrier's possession after a rip.

Scrum, advantage, touch option or try-line drop-out

For an ordinary unintentional knock-forward in the field of play, Laws 11.1 and 19.1 give the non-offending team the scrum throw at the closest permitted point in the scrum zone. The referee may play Law 7 advantage, but the benefit must become clear and real; merely having a chance to recover the loose ball is not enough.

If the ball goes into touch from the knock-forward, the non-offending team may keep that scrum option or choose a quick throw or lineout. Law 18.8 places the lineout where the ball reached the touchline and gives the throw to the opposition of the player who knocked it forward.

There is an important in-goal exception: under Law 12.12(c), an attacking player's knock-forward in the opponents' in-goal restarts with a try-line drop-out in standard 15s. It is not the ordinary midfield scrum outcome.

A deliberate knock-forward is a penalty offence

Law 11.3 prohibits intentionally knocking the ball forward with hand or arm and sets a penalty sanction. Law 11.4 prevents an automatic “deliberate” finding merely because a catch attempt failed: if the player was trying to catch the ball and had a reasonable expectation of gaining possession, the action is not intentional. If the ball was nevertheless knocked forward, the ordinary scrum or advantage outcome still applies.

A yellow card is not automatic for every deliberate knock-forward. Referees assess the circumstances and the effect of the intentional infringement. If the foul play prevented a probable try, Law 8.3 requires a seven-point penalty try and the responsible player must be cautioned and shown a yellow card or sent off.

The plane of touch can change who caused it

Law 18 distinguishes the touchline from the vertical plane above it. A player in the playing area may catch, knock or kick a ball that has reached the plane of touch and keep it alive. A player may also jump and catch the ball before landing in the playing area.

A player already in touch who catches or holds the ball makes it dead. If the ball had reached the plane of touch, that player is not treated as taking it out; if it had not, the player is treated as taking it into touch. A player in touch may knock or kick—but not hold—a ball that has not yet reached the plane and keep play alive. These boundary facts affect the mark and which team throws.

“The other team throws” has important exceptions

Law 18.8 supplies the full table. The most common 15-a-side outcomes are:

• Carrier out or indirect kick into touch: the opposition throws where the player or ball reached touch, except for a valid 50:22.
• Valid 50:22: the kicking team throws where the ball reached touch after the eligible indirect kick from its own half into the opponents' 22.
• Penalty kicked to touch: the kicking team throws where the ball reached touch, whether the kick went directly or bounced first. A legitimate penalty-goal attempt that instead goes into touch is a stated exception: the non-kicking team throws.
• Direct open-play kick from outside the kicker's 22: no gain in ground; the non-kicking team throws at the crossing point or in line with the kick, whichever is nearer the kicker's try line.
• Direct kick from inside the kicker's 22: the non-kicking team still throws. Whether the mark gives the kick its gain in ground depends on who took the ball into the 22 and whether a tackle, ruck, maul or opponent's touch occurred there before the kick.
• Knock-forward into touch: the non-offending team may choose the Law 11 scrum or a quick throw or lineout; for the lineout, that team throws where the ball reached touch.

The fast restart has strict conditions

A quick throw is available only to the team that would throw at the lineout and only before a lineout has formed. Under Laws 18.4–18.6:

1. Use the same ball that went into touch.
2. After the ball entered touch, nobody except the thrower or the player who carried it into touch may have touched it.
3. Throw from between the mark of touch and the thrower's own try line, with both feet outside the field of play.
4. Send the ball parallel to or towards the thrower's own try line.
5. Make it reach the five-metre line before it touches the ground or a player.

If the lineout has formed, a different ball is used or an unauthorised person has touched the ball, the quick throw is disallowed and the same team receives the formed lineout. An incorrectly taken quick throw instead gives the opposition a choice of lineout or scrum.

The set piece has numbers, spacing and time limits

In standard 15s, the mark of touch cannot be within five metres of a try line. Each team forms a single line between the five-metre and 15-metre lines, parallel to and half a metre from the mark on its own side. At least two players from each team are required. The throwing team sets the maximum number; unless the throw is taken as soon as the lineout forms, the non-throwing team may use fewer players but not more.

Law 18.12 currently carries a Global Law Trial requiring teams to form within 30 seconds of the mark being made, with a free-kick sanction. World Rugby's July 2026 notice says the newer trials remain in play for another season, so an appointed competition's adoption and timing procedures should still be checked.

A crooked throw is not always stopped

Law 18.23 still requires the ball to be thrown straight along the mark of touch towards a lineout player and to reach the five-metre line before hitting the ground. The current Global Law Trial changes the response to a not-straight throw:

• If the non-throwing team does not lift a team-mate to compete, play continues.
• If the non-throwing team does lift to compete, it is offered a lineout or scrum.
• If it chooses another lineout and that next throw is again not straight, the team that made the original throw receives the scrum.

This is not a general “straight enough” discretion and it is not proof that a crooked throw became legal. It is a specific trial sanction tied to whether the non-throwing team lifted to contest.

Different lineout offences carry different sanctions

Before the throw, early jumping, lifting or supporting is a free-kick offence under Law 18.20; contact with an opponent before the throw is a penalty under Law 18.21. A legal lift may be pre-gripped within the stated limits, but supporters must lower the jumper safely as soon as either team wins the ball. A player must not tackle or bring down an opponent who is still in the air.

Lineout players stay on their own side of the mark until the throw has been made and the ball touches a player or the ground. Non-participants must remain at least 10 metres from the mark on their side, or behind the try line if that is nearer. The lineout does not necessarily end when a jumper catches the ball; Law 18.38 ends it only when the ball or carrier leaves the lineout, enters the five-metre channel, goes beyond 15 metres, the resulting ruck or maul moves completely beyond the mark, or the ball becomes unplayable.

Replay is limited to appointed competitions

The referee remains the judge of fact and law. Where a TMO is appointed, the World Rugby protocol implemented on 1 July 2026 permits live calls for clear and obvious knock-forwards and touch decisions. In a try-scoring review, a knock-forward may be examined within at most the last two rucks or mauls or the last attacking passage, and never farther back than the last restart. The TMO may also help identify the correct scrum or lineout team, mark and restart while the ball is out of play.

That protocol is not universal grassroots procedure. A match without an appointed TMO is decided by the on-field match officials; a broadcast replay alone creates no additional review power.

A bobble is regathered before contact

Situation: Blue 9 loses the ball towards Red's dead-ball line, but catches it again before it touches the ground or any other player.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: play on. The forward loss began the definition, but the required later contact did not occur before the original player caught the ball.

The handling error rolls into touch

Situation: Blue 12 unintentionally knocks the ball forward in the field of play. It then crosses the touchline untouched.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: Red may choose the scrum or opt for a valid quick throw or lineout. If Red chooses the lineout, Red throws where the ball reached touch. The knock-forward occurred before touch, so this is not merely the ordinary carrier-out restart.

The foot was already on the touchline

Situation: Blue is standing on the touchline and catches a ball that has not yet reached the plane of touch.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: Blue took the ball into touch under Law 18.1(b)(ii), so Red throws from where Blue was standing, subject to the other Law 18.8 exceptions. The decisive fact is that the ball had not reached the plane before a player already in touch held it.

A catch attempt was realistic but failed

Situation: Red 13 reaches with both hands for an intercept that is within realistic catching distance. The ball strikes a hand, travels towards Blue's dead-ball line and hits the ground.

World Rugby July 2026 ruling: accidental knock-forward and scrum to Blue, unless Blue gains advantage. Under Law 11.4, the reasonable prospect of possession prevents the act being classified as intentional; it does not erase the completed knock-forward.

The defence does not lift at a crooked throw

Situation: Blue's lineout throw is not straight, but Red keeps every player on the ground and makes no lift.

World Rugby 2026 Global Law Trial ruling: play continues under Law 18.23(a). If Red had lifted a team-mate to compete, Red would instead be offered a lineout or scrum. The decisive trial fact is the lift, not a referee conclusion that the throw was sufficiently straight.

The attacker spills the ball in in-goal

Situation: Blue carries into Red's in-goal and loses the ball forward before grounding it.

World Rugby 15s, July 2026 ruling: try-line drop-out to Red under Law 12.12(c), not the usual knock-forward scrum. The location in the opponents' in-goal triggers the specific restart.

How to analyse the sequence

1. Freeze the first event. Did the ball become dead in touch, or did forward handling occur first?
2. For touch, identify the boundary fact. Was the ball held, had it reached the plane, and was the player already in touch?
3. For a possible knock-forward, identify the player and direction. Did possession, hand or arm send the ball towards that player's opponents' dead-ball line?
4. Check completion and exceptions. Did the original player catch it first; was it an immediate charge-down; or did it come forward from the carrier after a rip?
5. Classify intent. A realistic failed catch is not intentional; a deliberate bat forward is a penalty offence.
6. Apply location and advantage. Field of play, touch and opponents' in-goal do not have the same options.
7. If restarting from touch, determine the throwing team and mark. Test penalty, 50:22, direct-kick, own-22 and quick-throw conditions before defaulting to “opposition throw.”

World Rugby sevens changes the lineout clock and 50:22

The July 2026 World Rugby sevens variation deletes the 50:22 row from Law 18.8, so an indirect kick into touch does not transfer the throw to the kicking team on that basis. Sevens also replaces the 30-second formation provision: teams must form the lineout within 15 seconds of the assistant referee or touch judge indicating the mark, with a free-kick sanction.

Those are World Rugby sevens rules, not general permission for every short-format, age-grade or community competition to use the same procedure. The organiser's published variations control.

Six claims to avoid

• “Any forward bounce is a knock-forward.” The definition requires loss of possession or hand/arm involvement and a specified later contact.
• “The ball crossed a painted line ahead of the player.” Field markings and camera angle do not replace the law's directional test.
• “Every defensive touch forward is a deliberate knock.” A realistic attempt to catch is not intentional, although an accidental knock-forward may remain.
• “Touch always gives the throw to the opposition.” Penalty touch-finders and valid 50:22s are major exceptions in 15s.
• “Every not-straight lineout is stopped.” The current Global Law Trial says play continues when the non-throwing team does not lift to compete.
• “A knock-forward in in-goal is always a scrum.” In standard 15s, an attacking knock-forward in the opponents' in-goal produces a try-line drop-out.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 11 “Knock forward or throw forward,” 11.1–11.7 (July 2026 law assets)
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 18 “Touch, quick throw and lineout,” especially 18.1–18.12 and 18.19–18.38
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game definitions: Forward, Knock forward, Lineout, Mark of touch, Plane of touch and Quick-throw
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game Rugby Union, July 2026, Laws 11, 12, 18 and 19
• World Rugby — 2026-07 law updates and implementation notice, effective for new competitions/events starting after 1 July 2026
• World Rugby — Global Law Trials effective for new competitions/leagues after 1 January 2025: lineout formation time and not-straight sanction
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 7 “Advantage,” especially 7.1–7.2
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 8.3: penalty try and card consequence
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 12.12(c): attacking knock-forward in opponents' in-goal
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 19.1: scrum location and team throwing in
• World Rugby — TMO Protocol, implementation 1 July 2026: Law 11 and Law 18 review scope
• World Rugby — sevens variation, Law 18.8 and 18.12: no 50:22 and 15-second lineout formation

Checked on 28 August 2026 against World Rugby's live English laws, July 2026 law book and implementation notice, the continuing lineout Global Law Trials, the TMO Protocol effective 1 July 2026, and the current sevens Law 18 variation. This page uses the World Rugby 15-a-side baseline; a union controls mid-competition implementation, and authorised domestic, age-grade or competition variations may supplement it.