Ruck entry and jackal rules, made clear.

What ruck entry means

Ruck entry is the legal route into the breakdown. At the tackle, arriving players must come from the direction of their own try line before playing the ball. Once a ruck forms, arriving players must be on their feet and join from behind their offside line.

In ordinary language, this is often called entering through the gate. The gate is not a painted box on the grass; it is a practical way to describe coming from the player's own side, behind the relevant back edge of the tackle or ruck, rather than from the side or from the opponent's side.

When hands stop being allowed

A ruck forms when at least one player from each team is on their feet, in physical contact, and over the ball on the ground in the field of play. From that moment, the offside lines are set and the hands-on-ball rule changes.

• Players who arrive after the ruck has formed may not handle the ball in the ruck.
• Possession is normally won by driving over the ball or pushing opponents off it.
• Players in the ruck must stay on their feet and be caught in or bound to the ruck, not just standing alongside it.
• Grounded players must try to move away and cannot play the ball as it emerges.

What a legal jackal is

A jackal is the common name for a player who tries to win the ball at the tackle before a ruck has fully formed. The nickname does not create a separate law. The player is legal only if the tackle and ruck laws allow them to compete.

• They must be on their feet and supporting their own weight.
• They must approach from their own side before playing the ball.
• If they were a tackler who went to ground, they must first release, move or get up, and then compete legally.
• They must get to the ball before a ruck forms, unless they already had legal hands on the ball and stay on their feet.

Hands before the ruck

The important exception is timing. Once a ruck has formed, no player may handle the ball unless they were able to get their hands on it before the ruck formed and remain on their feet. That is why referees focus so closely on the first second after the tackle.

If the jackal player is clearly on the ball before an opponent binds in and creates a ruck, they may be allowed to keep working for possession. If they place hands on the ball only after the ruck has formed, the likely decision is hands in the ruck.

Side entry and sealing off

Side entry happens when a player joins from beside the breakdown or in front of the relevant back edge instead of entering legally from their own side. It can be penalised whether the player is attacking or defending, and whether or not they actually win the ball.

Sealing off is the attacking version fans often notice: a support player dives or folds over the ball, goes off feet, or blocks defenders from contesting. Even if the team in possession keeps the ball, the player has denied a fair contest.

How opponents may remove a jackal

A jackal can be cleaned out, but only legally. The arriving player must enter from their own side, stay on their feet as far as possible, bind or drive safely, and avoid dangerous contact to the head, neck, or lower limbs.

• A legal cleanout targets the player in the contest, not a player lying on the ground away from the ball.
• World Rugby allows a stealer or jackler to be driven backwards, including by the leg, but opponents must not roll, pull, twist, drop weight onto, or target the lower limbs of that player.
• Charging in without binding, diving off feet, or collapsing onto the ball can be penalised.
• Dangerous cleanouts can move beyond a penalty into yellow-card or red-card territory under foul-play law.
• If the jackal player has already won the penalty for holding on, later contact may still be judged separately if it is dangerous.

How officials read it

1. Check whether a legal tackle happened: the ball-carrier was held and brought to ground.
2. Check whether the tackler, tackled player, and assist tacklers released and made the ball available.
3. Identify whether the contest is still a tackle or whether a ruck has formed.
4. For the jackal, check feet, body weight, entry angle, release, and timing.
5. For support players, check whether they entered legally, stayed on feet, and avoided sealing off.
6. For defenders, check whether they came through legally or entered from the side.
7. Decide whether the first clear offence is holding on, not releasing, off feet, side entry, hands in the ruck, or dangerous play.

What fans often miss

• "First player there wins it": being first is not enough. The player still needs legal entry, feet, body weight, and timing.
• "Hands on means penalty": not automatically. Hands can be legal before the ruck forms if the player stays on their feet.
• "A ruck call changes everything by itself": the referee's call helps players, but the law still depends on what has formed on the field.
• "Only defenders enter from the side": attackers can also be penalised for side entry, off feet, or sealing the ball away.
• "The jackaler must survive any cleanout": the jackal position does not permit dangerous cleanouts. Safety and foul-play law still apply.

What the referee usually calls

Common penalties include holding on by the tackled player, not releasing by the tackler, side entry, hands in the ruck, off feet, sealing off, playing the ball on the ground, and dangerous cleanouts. The first material offence usually decides the call, even if several things happen in quick succession.

Referees often use short management calls such as "release," "roll," "ruck," "no hands," "leave it," and "through the gate." Those calls help players adjust, but a clear offence can still be penalised without a warning.

What this page covers

This page explains rugby union breakdown entry and jackal rules under the World Rugby law structure. Competition directives can affect emphasis, especially around tackle height, cleanout safety, and referee management, but the core tests are stable: arrive legally, stay on feet, support your own weight, and know when the ruck has formed.

Source material

• World Rugby Laws of the Game
• World Rugby Passport: Law 14
• World Rugby Passport: Law 15
• World Rugby Passport: Law 9