A mark needs the right catch, place and call.

The ruleset used on this page

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game, 2026, using the live English law content current after World Rugby's 1 July 2026 update and checked on 28 August 2026. Law 17 controls the claim and restart; Laws 20, 18, 8 and 6 control the resulting free-kick, touch, scoring and dead-ball consequences.

World Rugby says the July 2026 changes apply to new competitions or events starting after 1 July, while a competition already in progress may use its union's implementation date. Law 17 is the international baseline here, not a promise that every school, age-grade or community competition uses it unchanged.

Every part must be satisfied

World Rugby Law 17.1 makes the tests cumulative:

1. Opponent's kick: the ball must come from an opponent, not a team-mate.
2. Plane of the 22: the kicked ball must have reached the vertical plane of the receiving team's 22-metre line.
3. Direct catch and location: before touching the ground or another player, the ball must be caught with at least one foot on or behind that line, or the catcher must land that way after catching it in the air.
4. Simultaneous call: the catcher must call “mark” as the catch is made.

If one test fails, Law 17 does not stop play. A shouted claim is not a substitute for the referee's whistle.

The ball and the player have separate location tests

The ball must reach the plane of the 22, and the catcher must meet the foot-or-landing test. These are separate questions. A player cannot catch the ball while it is still outside that plane and then step back to create a mark.

A player who jumps from outside the 22 can qualify: Law 17.1(a) looks at the landing after an airborne catch. At least one foot must land on or behind the 22-metre line. A player already standing with one foot on the line also meets the location limb if the other requirements are present.

No bounce and no player touch

“Directly” means the kicked ball is caught before it touches the ground or another player. A bounce, a deflection from either team, or a team-mate's attempted catch removes the mark option. The receiving player may still gather the ball and play normally, but cannot use Law 17 to stop play.

Law 17.2 creates one express exception: contact with a goal post or crossbar does not prevent a mark. That exception does not extend to a touch by any player.

Open-play kicks usually qualify; two restarts do not

Law 17.4 excludes a kick-off and a restart kick after a score. A catcher cannot claim a mark from either, even if the catch, call and position would otherwise be correct.

The current live World Rugby text expressly says a mark can be claimed after a penalty kick at goal or a dropped kick at goal. The normal direct-catch, location and simultaneous-call tests still apply. This is about a live missed penalty-goal or drop-goal attempt, not a conversion: Law 6.9(c) makes the ball dead once a conversion has been attempted.

A valid call stops play; an invalid one does not

When the mark is called correctly, Law 17.3 requires the referee to stop the game immediately and award a free-kick to the team in possession. The catcher does not have a later choice to ignore an accepted mark and run on.

A mark is a voluntary way to stop play, not an infringement by the kicking team, so this is not an advantage decision. If the requirements are absent and the referee does not award the mark, ordinary open-play laws continue to govern the catch, tackle, pass or kick.

The free-kick cannot be taken in in-goal

World Rugby Law 17.7 fixes the starting location:

• Mark within the 22: at the place of the mark, but no closer than five metres from the try line, in line with the place of the mark.
• Mark within in-goal: on the five-metre line, in line with the place of the mark.

Law 20.2 also allows the kick to be taken anywhere behind that mark on a line parallel to the touchlines. If taken from the wrong place, it is retaken.

The catcher normally must restart play

Law 17.5 and Law 20.6 make the mark free-kick unusual: the player who claimed the mark must take it. Under the current live English Law 17.6, a team-mate may take it only if the catcher was injured while claiming the mark and cannot take the kick within one minute.

A mark awards a free-kick, not a penalty

Under Law 20, the kick must be taken without delay with the ball that was in play unless it is defective. The kicker may punt, drop-kick or place-kick, except that a place-kick cannot be used for touch. A tap is legal only when the ball is kicked a visible distance and, if held, clearly leaves the hands.

The kicker's team must remain behind the ball until it is kicked. Once a legal tap has been made, the kicker may play the ball again. The team has no general option to replace this free-kick with a scrum: World Rugby removed the free-kick scrum option from 1 July 2024.

Retreat first, then a charge is possible

Opponents must immediately retreat 10 metres towards their own try line, or to that try line if it is closer. A quick kick does not free nearby opponents to interfere; they must keep retiring until they have covered the distance or an onside team-mate has moved in front of them, as Law 20.12–14 provides.

Unlike at a penalty, opponents may charge once the kicker initiates the movement to take a free-kick. If a fair charge prevents the kick, Law 20.17 restarts with a scrum at the mark and the charging team throws in.

A clearance does not get penalty-kick privileges

If the mark free-kick is kicked directly into touch from within the 22, Law 18.8(d) puts the mark of touch where the ball reaches the touchline, but the non-kicking team throws in. That is the important practical difference from a penalty kicked to touch.

The award is not a penalty-goal opportunity. Law 8.29 also prevents the team awarded a free-kick from scoring a dropped goal until the ball next becomes dead or an opponent plays or touches the ball, or tackles the ball-carrier.

Game On can exclude an additional attacking kick

World Rugby's optional Game On community variation replaces Law 17.4 so that a mark is also unavailable from “an attacking kick from within the 22m”. Read in playing context, that means a kick by the attacking team from within the receiving team's 22, but the short variation page does not further define the phrase.

Game On variations are aimed at lower-level community rugby and may be selected individually by unions or regions. They are not the standard elite or international rule. Players should check the appointed competition regulations rather than assume the extra exclusion—or a particular local interpretation of it—applies.

The catcher jumps from outside the 22

Situation: White kicks in open play. Blue jumps from just outside Blue's 22, catches the ball after it has crossed the plane of the line, calls “mark” during the catch and lands with one foot on the 22-metre line.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: mark. Law 17.1(a) permits the location test to be met on landing after an airborne catch; one foot on the line is enough.

A team-mate brushes the ball first

Situation: White's high kick enters Blue's 22, glances from Blue 11's fingertips and is then caught cleanly by Blue 15, who immediately calls “mark”.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: no mark. The ball touched another player before the catch, so the direct-catch requirement in Law 17.1(b) fails. Play continues unless another law produces a stoppage.

A missed penalty hits the upright

Situation: White attempts a penalty goal. The ball strikes an upright and Blue catches it in Blue's in-goal while calling “mark”.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: mark, assuming the catch is direct. Law 17.2 preserves the claim after post or crossbar contact, and the live Law 17.4 permits a claim after a penalty kick at goal. The free-kick is moved to the five-metre line in line with the catch.

The call comes after the catch

Situation: Blue catches an eligible kick inside the 22, takes two steps and then calls “mark” as a chaser approaches.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: no mark. Law 17.1(c) requires the call to be simultaneous with the catch; a later tactical claim cannot make the earlier catch a mark.

How to judge a mark replay

1. Name the kick. Opponent's kick, and not a kick-off or restart after a score?
2. Track the ball. Did it reach the plane of the 22 without touching the ground or another player?
3. Freeze the catch or landing. Was at least one foot on or behind the receiving team's 22-metre line?
4. Hear the claim. Was “mark” called simultaneously?
5. Check the variation. Has the organizer adopted Game On's extra attacking-kick exclusion?
6. Set the free-kick. At the mark, adjusted to the five-metre line when Law 17.7 requires, then apply Law 20.

What the law does not say

• “Every clean catch in the 22 is a mark.” The opponent's kick, plane, direct-catch and simultaneous-call tests all matter.
• “Both feet must be inside the 22.” Law 17.1 requires at least one foot on or behind the line.
• “The jump must start inside the 22.” The law expressly permits the location test to be met on landing.
• “Any deflection is fatal.” A player touch is fatal, but Law 17.2 preserves a catch after the ball hits a post or crossbar.
• “A mark still gives a scrum choice.” That option disappeared from free-kicks on 1 July 2024.
• “The kicking team throws in after clearing to touch.” From this free-kick, Law 18 gives the throw to the non-kicking team.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 17 “Mark” (English, checked 28 August 2026)
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 20 “Penalty and free-kick” (English, checked 28 August 2026)
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 18.8 “Touch, quick throw and lineout” (English, checked 28 August 2026)
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 8.29 “Scoring” (English, checked 28 August 2026)
• World Rugby — live Laws of the Game, Law 6.9 “The ball becomes dead” (English, checked 28 August 2026)
• World Rugby — Game On variation, Law 17.4 “Mark” (2026 law content)
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game Rugby Union 2026, Laws 6, 8, 17, 18 and 20 and Game On variations
• World Rugby — July 2026 law update and competition implementation notice
• World Rugby — law changes effective 1 July 2024, removal of the free-kick scrum option and consequential Law 17.6 change

Checked against World Rugby's live English law pages and 2026 downloadable law book on 28 August 2026. The live Law 17.6 and the PDF differ on when a team-mate may take the mark free-kick; this page follows and discloses the live wording. Game On and local competition regulations may supplement the standard law.