A try needs legal grounding; a goal needs the right kick.

The ruleset and effective version used here

This page applies the World Rugby Laws of the Game 2026 for standard 15-a-side rugby, especially Laws 5, 6, 8, 12 and 21, together with the digital law amendments effective for new competitions or events starting after 1 July 2026.

World Rugby told leagues already in progress on 1 July to obtain their implementation date from their union. The scoring values did not change in that update, but some no-try in-goal restarts did. Appointed competition regulations and authorised age-grade or format variations can therefore supplement this baseline.

Five ways to score

• Try — 5 points: an attacking player is first to ground the ball legally in the opponents' in-goal.
• Conversion — 2 points: the scoring team converts the kick awarded after a try.
• Penalty try — 7 points: opposing foul play prevents a probable try, or a probable try in a more advantageous position. No conversion follows.
• Penalty goal — 3 points: a goal is kicked from a penalty.
• Dropped goal — 3 points: a player drop-kicks a goal in open play.

These are the values in World Rugby Law 8.1. A successful ordinary try plus conversion totals 7, but the records still show a five-point try and a two-point conversion; that is not the same scoring event as a seven-point penalty try.

Crossing the line is not enough

Law 8.2 requires an attacking player to be first to ground the ball in the opponents' in-goal. World Rugby defines in-goal as including the try line, but not the dead-ball line or touch-in-goal lines. The player's whole body need not cross the line: legal contact between ball and try line can complete the score.

A try can also be scored when a scrum, ruck or maul reaches the try line and an attacker is first to ground the ball. A tackled ball-carrier short of the line may score if momentum carries the player in one continuous movement along the ground into in-goal, or if the player is near the line and immediately reaches out and grounds the ball. “Near” is defined as within one metre.

Possession changes the required action

Law 21.1 provides two ways to ground the ball:

• Holding the ball: touch the ground with it. The law does not add a separate “downward pressure” test when the player is holding the ball.
• Ball loose on the ground: press down on it with one or both hands, one or both arms, or the front of the body from waist to neck.

Merely picking up the ball in in-goal is not grounding under Law 21.2. The player may carry it elsewhere in in-goal and then ground it. Conversely, Law 8.2e allows a player who is in touch or touch-in-goal to ground a loose ball in the opponents' in-goal, provided that player was not holding it.

The restart depends on why the try failed

“No try” does not identify one universal restart. Under the current World Rugby 2026 digital laws:

• If the attacking player carries or plays the ball into in-goal and it is held up, the standard 15-a-side restart is a try-line drop-out (Laws 12.12a and 21.16).
• If the defending team took the ball into its own in-goal and the ball is then held up or made dead, the restart is a five-metre scrum with the attacking team throwing in (Law 19.1, table row 5).
• If there is genuine doubt about which team grounded first, Law 21.17 gives a five-metre scrum, attacking throw-in.
• If an attacker knocks the ball forward in the opponents' in-goal, Law 12.12c gives a try-line drop-out. A knock-forward in the field of play before the line is dealt with at that earlier infringement instead.
• If an attacking ball-carrier grounds while simultaneously on the touch-in-goal or dead-ball boundary, current Law 21.4 makes the ball dead; the restart depends on which team put the ball into in-goal.

This phase matters: “held up,” “doubt about first grounding,” “knock-forward” and “in touch” are different findings with different outcomes.

The kick follows the place of the try

After an ordinary try, Law 8.7 gives the scoring team a conversion attempt. In standard 15-a-side rugby it may be a place-kick or drop-kick. The kick is taken in the field of play on an imaginary line through the place where the try was awarded, parallel to the touchlines. A try nearer the touchline therefore produces a narrower angle.

For a place-kick, the ball may be put directly on the ground, sand, sawdust or an approved kicking tee, and a team-mate may act as a placer. The kicker's other team-mates must remain behind the ball and must not trick opponents into charging early. Breach of these kicker-side requirements disallows the kick under Laws 8.8–8.9.

Sixty seconds of playing time

Under the current global law trial in Law 8.8c, the kicker has 60 seconds of playing time from the award of the try. Replacing a ball that rolls over does not reset the clock. Failure to take the kick in time disallows it.

If the ball falls before the approach begins, the referee permits it to be replaced. If it falls after the approach begins, the kicker may kick it or attempt a dropped goal, and the charge may continue. A ball kicked successfully after rolling away from the original line can still count; if it rolls into touch after the approach begins, the conversion is disallowed (Laws 8.10–8.13).

The team may decline the attempt by relaying “no kick” after the try is awarded (Law 5.8). Declining is a match-clock choice, not a way to convert the try automatically.

When defenders may move

At a standard 15-a-side conversion, opponents retire to their try line. Under current Law 8.14, the kicker's approach begins when, after settling, the kicker next steps or lifts a foot—movement in any direction counts. Only then may defenders charge or jump; they cannot be physically supported. They must not shout during the attempt.

If defenders infringe and the kick succeeds, the goal stands. If it misses, the conversion is retaken and the opponents cannot charge; the kicker may repeat the preparations and change the type of kick. If an opponent legally touches the ball and it still goes over, Law 8.17 says the conversion stands.

“Probable” is the decisive threshold

Law 8.3 requires a penalty try when opposing foul play prevents a try that probably would have been scored, or prevents it from being scored in a more advantageous position. It is not necessary to prove certainty, but a mere possibility is not enough; this is a factual judgment for the referee.

The award is made between the posts and is worth 7 points without a conversion. A player guilty of the preventing foul play must be cautioned and shown a yellow card or sent off. A penalty offence near the try line is not automatically a penalty try: the foul play must satisfy the probable-try or more-advantageous-position test.

Declaring the shot commits the team

A penalty goal can be scored only from a penalty. The team must indicate the intention to kick at goal without delay. Words are not essential: the arrival of a tee or sand, or the player making a mark on the ground, also signals the choice. Once indicated, the team must kick at goal. Failure to do so disallows the kick and produces a scrum (Laws 8.18–8.20).

The kick must be taken within 60 seconds of playing time from that indication; the sanction for running out of time is also a disallowed kick and a scrum. Law 8.23 preserves an unusual route: if the team did not declare a shot but drop-kicks the penalty through the posts, the goal still stands.

There is no conversion-style charge

From the start of the penalty kicker's approach until the ball is kicked, opponents must stand still with hands by their sides. They must not shout or intentionally touch the ball to prevent the goal.

If the defence infringes and the kick succeeds, the goal stands with no second penalty. If it misses, Law 8.27 awards the non-offending team a penalty 10 metres in front of the original mark. That outcome differs from a conversion infringement, which can produce a retake without a charge.

The ball must be kicked as it rises

A dropped goal is worth 3 points when a player drop-kicks a goal in open play. World Rugby defines a drop-kick as intentionally dropping the ball and kicking it as it rises from the first bounce. A punt—kicking before the ball reaches the ground—is not a dropped goal.

After a free-kick, including when the team chooses a lineout instead, that team cannot score a dropped goal until the ball next becomes dead or an opponent plays or touches the ball or tackles the ball-carrier. An attempted drop goal before one of those events is deemed unsuccessful and play continues (Law 8.29). This restriction is tied to a free-kick, not to a penalty.

How all kicks at goal are judged

For a conversion, penalty goal or dropped goal, Law 8.4 requires the ball to go over the crossbar and between the posts without first touching the ground or a team-mate. Above the physical posts, officials decide whether the ball would have passed between them if the posts extended higher.

Once the ball has crossed the crossbar correctly, wind blowing it back into the field does not cancel the goal. Contact by an opponent also does not automatically prevent a score: Law 8.17 expressly says a touched conversion still stands if successful, while intentionally touching a penalty attempt to stop it is an offence.

An unsuccessful penalty or dropped-goal attempt that is grounded, made dead by the defence in in-goal or goes dead through in-goal restarts with a 22-metre drop-out under Law 12.11.

The referee may wait or consult

World Rugby Law 7 permits advantage only when the non-offending team has a clear and real tactical or territorial benefit. If an infringement is followed by a try during advantage, the score normally supplies that benefit; if no real advantage develops, the referee returns to the original sanction. A separate foul-play sanction is still dealt with on its own facts.

A TMO is not present at every match. Where the match organiser appoints one, Law 6.15 permits review of grounding, touch or touch-in-goal in the act of grounding, doubt over a goal, an infringement leading to or preventing a try, and foul play. Reviews are governed by the current World Rugby TMO protocol; video availability does not change the underlying scoring tests.

A try after the clock still gets its conversion

Under Law 5.7d, if a try is scored after playing time has expired, the referee still allows the conversion. The half then ends after that attempt; there is no restart simply because the conversion was available.

Where time remains, Law 5.8b creates a different result: if the conversion is attempted or declined before time expires, the referee awards the restart kick. For an attempted conversion, time is taken from the strike on the ball. This is why “the clock showed zero” does not by itself answer whether the match is over.

Sevens and 10s do not use the 15s kick procedure

World Rugby's 2026 sevens and 10s variations retain the same Law 8 point values but replace important mechanics:

• Conversions must be drop-kicks, not place-kicks.
• Conversions must be taken within 30 seconds of the try award.
• Penalty goals must be taken within 30 seconds of indicating the intention and must be drop-kicks.
• In extra time, the team that scores first wins immediately.

Sevens also replaces the standard held-up outcome with a five-metre scrum, attacking throw-in, under its Law 21 variation. These are World Rugby format variations, not permissions to import a sevens procedure into a 15-a-side match. Domestic age-grade, community and tournament regulations should be checked separately.

The player is in touch, but the ball is loose

Situation: Blue is standing in touch-in-goal and reaches down onto a loose ball lying inside the opponents' in-goal. Blue had not picked up or held the ball first.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: try, if Blue is the first to ground it legally. Laws 8.2e and 21.9 allow a player outside the playing area to ground the ball in in-goal when the player is not holding it. The decisive fact is the absence of possession before the grounding.

The ball-carrier is held up

Situation: in a standard 15-a-side match beginning after 1 July 2026, Blue carries the ball across the opponents' try line but defenders prevent grounding.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: no try; try-line drop-out. The ball crossing the line did not score, and Blue took it into in-goal. In World Rugby sevens, the format-specific Law 21 variation instead gives a five-metre scrum with Blue throwing in.

A defender charges too early

Situation: Red steps over the try line before Blue begins the settled approach. Red's pressure contributes to Blue missing the conversion.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: retake, with Red's team not allowed to charge. If Blue's original kick had succeeded, the two points would stand and there would be no retake. The decisive fact is the defender's movement before the Law 8.14 trigger.

A drop goal follows a free-kick

Situation: Blue taps a free-kick and immediately drop-kicks through the posts before any opponent touches the ball or tackles the carrier and before the ball becomes dead.

World Rugby 2026 ruling: no goal; play continues. Law 8.29 withholds a dropped goal until one of its restoring events occurs. The same kick after an opponent legally touches the ball can score if every other goal requirement is met.

How to rule on a claimed score

1. Name the format and effective regulations. Standard 15s, sevens and 10s have different kick mechanics.
2. Identify the claimed score. Try, conversion, penalty try, penalty goal or dropped goal.
3. For a try, locate the ball and player. Was an attacker first to ground legally in in-goal, and did touch, a knock-forward or another infringement occur first?
4. For preventing foul play, apply probability. Would a try probably have been scored, or scored in a better position?
5. For a kick, check its legal source and method. Conversion after a try, goal from a penalty, or drop-kick in open play.
6. Apply the position, clock and opponent rules. These determine whether the kick counts, is retaken or is disallowed.
7. If there is no score, identify why. The reason determines the scrum, drop-out, lineout, penalty or play-on outcome.
8. Use review only where appointed. The referee and any TMO apply the competition's current protocol.

Six claims that need correction

• “The ball only has to break the plane.” No: a try requires legal grounding.
• “Downward pressure is always required.” No: a player holding the ball grounds it by touching the ground with it; pressing down is the alternative for a loose ball.
• “A try is seven points.” An ordinary try is 5; the conversion is a separate 2-point score. A penalty try is 7 without a kick.
• “Every held-up attack gives the attackers a scrum.” Not in current standard 15s; an attacker taking the ball in and being held up produces a try-line drop-out. Sevens varies this.
• “All rugby union conversions allow 60 seconds and a tee.” Sevens and 10s require a drop-kick within 30 seconds.
• “Any kick through the posts is three points.” A punt in open play is not a dropped goal, and Law 8.29 can bar a drop goal immediately after a free-kick.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game, Law 8: Scoring
• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game, Law 21: In-goal
• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game, Law 12.11–12.12: Drop-outs
• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game: Definitions
• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game, Law 5: Time
• World Rugby — current digital Laws of the Game, Law 6.15–6.16: Television match official
• World Rugby — July 2026 law update and implementation notice
• World Rugby — Laws of the Game Rugby Union 2026, downloadable law book
• World Rugby — 2026 Sevens variations, Law 8: Scoring
• World Rugby — 2026 Sevens variations, Law 21.16: Held up in-goal
• World Rugby — 2026 10s variations, Law 8: Scoring
• World Rugby — Television Match Official Protocol, applicable 1 January 2025

Checked on 28 August 2026 against World Rugby's live English digital laws, the 2026 law book, the July 2026 update and the current format variations. Where the downloadable 2026 PDF still says 22-metre drop-out in Law 21.4, the live digital Law 21 and World Rugby's July update use the newer try-line-drop-out wording for new competitions/events starting after 1 July 2026. Competitions already underway on that date must use the implementation date set by their union or organiser.