Overview
Thirteen players a side. The team with the ball gets six tackles to score before it must hand over possession. There is no contest for the ball after a tackle; the tackled player gets up and plays it with the foot.
This entry is checked against the International Rugby League Laws of the Game 2026, with the governing body's own notes on the laws. Section numbers below are the International Laws'.
Competitions add their own rules on top. The NRL in particular plays with several rules that are not in the International Laws, such as golden point and the two-point field goal. They are gathered in their own section, which is not covered by the verification on this page.
1. The field and the clock
The field is 100 metres between the goal lines and 68 metres wide, with in-goal areas of 6 to 11 metres at each end.
A game is normally 80 minutes (Section 7), in two halves, with a ten-minute interval that may be lengthened or shortened. The referee adds time for stoppages.
The International Laws don't themselves provide a way to break a draw. They note that "in some competitions" an extra period can be played to find a winner.
2. Scoring
| Play | Points |
|---|---|
| Try | 4 |
| Conversion | 2 |
| Penalty goal | 2 |
| Drop goal (field goal) | 1 |
Section 6: "A try shall count four points. A conversion goal or penalty goal shall count two points. A drop goal during play shall count one point."
A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opponents' in-goal, and the goal line itself counts as in-goal. A player may pick the ball up in the in-goal area to ground it nearer the posts, because the conversion is taken in line with where the try was scored.
3. The six-tackle set
Section 11: a team in possession "shall be allowed five successive play-the-balls", and a handover happens after the fifth, at the point of the sixth tackle. That's why teams usually kick on the last tackle.
Zero tackle. When possession changes hands from an accidental breach, such as a knock-on or forward pass, the next tackle is a zero tackle, so the new side gets a full set on top of it. The first tackle after a 20-metre optional kick is also a zero tackle.
4. The play-the-ball
When a player is tackled, defenders release, and the tackled player gets up and plays the ball backwards with the foot:
- The tackled player regains their feet, lifts the ball clear of the ground, faces the opponents' goal line and places it in front of their foremost foot.
- No part of them but their feet may touch the ground when they release it.
- They must make a "genuine attempt to play the ball backwards with the foot".
- One opponent, the marker, may stand directly opposite them. The marker may not kick or heel the ball.
- One player from each team may act as acting halfback, directly behind the play-the-ball.
- Everyone else must retire ten metres from the point where the ball is played, or to their own goal line, or they are out of play.
If the tackled player fails to play the ball correctly, the referee awards a handover. If they accidentally deflect it forward while trying to play it backwards, the opponents get the play-the-ball.
Tackle count restarted ("six again")
This is in the International Laws, not just the NRL. Section 11, law 10(c):
Where a team interferes with the smooth process of the play the ball or where their markers split early to close the play down, the referee will immediately signal that the team in possession has another set of six tackles, except where the tackle is affected within the 40-metre zone from the goal-line of the team in possession, where a penalty will be awarded.
So the defending side's ruck offences near the attacking side's own line bring a penalty, not a fresh set.
5. Passing and handling
- Forward pass: "a throw towards the opponents' dead ball line". Illegal.
- Knock-on: knocking the ball "towards the opponents' dead ball line with hand or arm, while playing at the ball". Illegal.
A knock-on or forward pass gives the other side a scrum, and the next tackle is a zero tackle.
Kicking forward is legal, and the kicker may chase and collect their own kick. A kick isn't a pass.
6. Kicks and restarts
40/20. Kick the ball in general play from inside your own 40-metre zone so that it bounces and then goes into touch between the opponents' 20-metre line and goal line, and your team restarts with a tap: 20 metres in from touch, in line with where the ball went out, and no closer than 10 metres from the goal line.
20/40. Kick from inside your own 20-metre zone so that it bounces and goes into touch between the opponents' 40-metre line and goal line, and your team also restarts with a tap.
Both kicks earn a tap restart, not a scrum feed. The ball must bounce in the field of play first; a kick that goes into touch on the full doesn't count.
20-metre restart. If an attacking player last touched the ball before it went dead over the dead-ball line or into touch-in-goal, the defending side restarts with an optional kick from the centre of its 20-metre line. It can be kicked any way and in any direction.
Goal-line drop-out. If a defending player last touched it, the defending side drops out from the centre of its own goal line.
7. Scrums, contact and discipline
Scrums
Awarded for a knock-on or forward pass, among other things. No more than six players from each team pack down, normally in a 3-2-1 formation, and the non-offending team gets the loose head and the put-in. The ball is fed into the tunnel from the referee's side.
It is permissible for forwards to push once the scrum has been correctly formed.
How hard teams actually contest scrums differs a lot between competitions and levels. The laws permit a genuine push.
Contact
Section 15 lists misconduct. Among other things, a player may not:
- trip, kick or strike another player
- make contact with an opponent's head or neck when tackling or attempting a tackle, "intentionally, recklessly or carelessly"
- drop knees first onto a player on the ground
- use a dangerous throw in a tackle
- use a shoulder charge, meaning contact with the shoulder or tucked upper arm without attempting to tackle or grab with the arms or hands
- obstruct a player who doesn't have the ball
- apply grapples, crushers or "chicken wing" holds, or spear at a ball-carrier's legs
Two players running side by side towards the ball may make shoulder contact; that isn't a shoulder charge.
Discipline and players
- The referee may caution, suspend for ten minutes (the sin bin), or dismiss.
- Internationally, a team names 17 players and may make up to 8 interchanges.
8. NRL competition rules (not checked)
This section is not covered by the verification of this page. These are NRL competition rules, not International Laws. The NRL's public explanation of its current rules sits behind an account login, so it hasn't been checked against an NRL document. Treat it as orientation only.
- Golden point. Drawn regular-season matches go to extra time, and the first score of any kind wins. The International Laws have no golden point.
- Two-point field goal. A field goal from beyond the 40-metre line scores two. In the International Laws every drop goal scores one.
- Fend to the head. The International Laws don't mention the fend, or hand-off, at all. The NRL penalises fends that make contact with the head or face.
- Interchanges and the bunker. The NRL sets its own interchange numbers and video-review process, which have changed several times.
If you play in a local competition, its rules apply, and they may follow the NRL, the International Laws, or neither.
9. League versus union
| League (International Laws) | Union | |
|---|---|---|
| Players | 13 | 15 |
| After a tackle | Play-the-ball, not contested | Ruck, contested |
| Possession | Six tackles, then handover | Kept while you win the contest |
| Try | 4 | 5 |
| Conversion | 2 | 2 |
| Penalty goal | 2 | 3 |
| Drop goal | 1 | 3 |
| Lineouts | None | Yes |
Commonly argued
- A successful 40/20 or 20/40 is a tap restart, not a scrum feed.
- "Six again" is in the International Laws, but inside the attacking team's own 40-metre zone the same offence gives a penalty instead.
- Only one marker is allowed under the International Laws.
- Everyone else retires ten metres, measured from where the ball is played.
- Playing the ball incorrectly is a handover.
- Tripping, head contact and the shoulder charge are misconduct. A shoulder charge means no attempt to use the arms.
- Kicking forward and regathering is legal. Passing forward is not.
- A knock-on only counts if it goes forward.
- Golden point and the two-point field goal are NRL rules, not International Laws.
Where this comes from
The International Rugby League Laws of the Game 2026, with notes on the laws, as published for 2026. Section 8 is the only part of this page that isn't drawn from it.
Where this entry and the laws disagree, the laws win. Tell us.
Spotted a mistake?
Corrections are reviewed by an editor before they publish.