Rugby 101

Rugby rules for beginners: the 10 laws you actually need to know

Rugby's law book is long. You don't need all of it to enjoy your first game. These are the ten laws that come up all the time, explained in plain English, plus what changed in 2026 and how the rules shift in touch, sevens and tens.

By Downtown Rugby · 19 min read · Rugby 101

A Downtown Rugby player in the black and white hooped jersey passing an oval rugby ball backward to a teammate during a floodlit evening game in downtown Las Vegas

The short answerThe core rugby rules for beginners fit on one page. You score a try (5 points) by grounding the ball over the opponents' goal line. You can run forward with the ball, but you can only pass sideways or backward. If you drop or knock the ball forward, play stops for a scrum. Stay onside, behind the ball or behind the offside line at a ruck. Tacklers must tackle below the shoulders (in community rugby, now at the waist or the base of the sternum) and release straight away. At a ruck, stay on your feet and keep your hands off the ball. The referee plays advantage when it helps the team that was wronged, and can show a yellow card (10 minutes off) or a red card for foul play. Learn those ten ideas and you can follow, and play, almost any game.

Key facts at a glance

Scoring: try 5, conversion 2, penalty kick 3, drop goal 3, penalty try 7 (World Rugby)
Passing: sideways or backward only; a forward pass or knock-on gives the other team a scrum
Team size: 15 a side in fifteens, 7 in sevens, 10 in tens (the APR Games format)
Community tackle height: World Rugby approved a lower legal tackle height for community rugby on June 17, 2026, at the waist or the base of the sternum (each union chooses), for seasons starting after July 1, 2026
Cards: a yellow card is 10 minutes in the sin bin; the 20-minute red card, where a replacement can come on after 20 minutes for non-deliberate foul play, became full law from July 1, 2026
In the US: USA Rugby applied several World Rugby law changes "at all levels and all versions" from January 1, 2025, including the 30-second lineout and scrum-half protection at scrums

If you have ever watched a rugby match and wondered why the referee just blew the whistle, you are not alone. Rugby union's official law book, published by World Rugby, runs to 21 laws with dozens of clauses each. Experienced players don't know every line either. What they know is the handful of laws that decide most whistles.

This guide gives you those rugby rules for beginners: the ten laws you will actually meet in your first games, what each one means on the field, and what happens when someone breaks it. It is written for adults who are new to the game, the same people who come to Downtown Rugby's social leagues, summer touch sessions and beginner-friendly squads. If you have not played at all yet, start with our guide on how to start playing rugby as an adult, then come back here.

How does a game of rugby work?

Rugby union is an invasion game played with an oval ball. Two teams try to carry, pass or kick the ball into the opponents' in-goal area and ground it there to score. The team without the ball tries to stop them by tackling, and both teams compete for the ball after every tackle.

A full match is two halves of 40 minutes with 15 players per side. Eight players are forwards (the bigger players who contest scrums, lineouts and rucks) and seven are backs (the faster players who run and pass in space). Sevens and tens use the same basic laws on a full-size field with fewer players, which makes the game faster and more open. The APR Games 2027 in Las Vegas are played as tens: 10-a-side, two 20-minute halves.

The big idea that makes rugby different from American football: there is no blocking and no forward passing. Everyone who is not carrying the ball has to stay behind it to take part. That one rule shapes everything else.

Downtown's take

New players try to learn the laws from a rule book. It's easier the other way round: play a session, notice what the whistle goes for, then read about it. Three or four sessions in, the ten laws below will feel obvious.

What are the 10 rugby laws beginners need to know?

These are not the official law numbers. They are the ten ideas behind most of the referee's decisions in a typical community game, in the order you are likely to meet them.

1. Score a try by grounding the ball

A try is scored when an attacker grounds the ball in the opponents' in-goal area, on or over the goal line. "Grounding" means pressing the ball down with your hands or arms, or with the front of your body from the waist to the neck. Just carrying it over the line is not enough. According to World Rugby's beginner's guide, a try is worth 5 points. The scoring team then gets a conversion kick at the posts for 2 more. A penalty kick at goal and a drop goal are each worth 3. If a team would probably have scored a try but for foul play by the defense, the referee awards a penalty try worth 7, with no conversion.

2. Pass sideways or backward, never forward

You can run forward with the ball as far as you like, and you can kick it forward. But a pass must go sideways or backward relative to the passer. A pass that goes forward is a forward pass (the law book calls it a "throw forward"), and the sanction is a scrum to the other team. An intentional forward pass is a penalty. This is why rugby players run onto the ball at angles from behind the passer: it is the only way to keep moving forward as a team.

3. Don't knock the ball forward

If you drop the ball and it goes forward off your hands or arms and hits the ground (or another player), that is a knock-on. World Rugby's current law book files it under Law 11, "knock forward or throw forward". The sanction is a scrum to the other team. Deliberately slapping the ball forward, say to stop a pass, is a penalty and can earn a yellow card. Dropping the ball backward is not an offense: anyone can pick it up and play on.

4. Stay onside

Offside is the law that confuses most newcomers, but the basic version is simple. In open play you are offside if you are in front of the teammate who has the ball or who last played it. As World Rugby explains, being offside is not itself an offense. You just can't take part in play until you are back onside. If you do, it's a penalty.

At a ruck or maul, each team gets an offside line running across the field through the hindmost point of the last player in it. Players not in the ruck must stay behind their own line until the ball is out. Most "offside" penalties in community games are defenders creeping past that line too early.

5. Tackle low, then let go

Only the ball carrier can be tackled. A tackle happens when the carrier is held and brought to ground. The tackler must wrap with the arms (no shoulder charges), stay below the legal height, then release the ball carrier immediately and roll away or get up. World Rugby's breakdown guidance is blunt: when the ball carrier's knee touches the ground, "the tackler must release immediately." The tackled player must then place, pass or release the ball straight away, with no second movement.

Tackle height is the biggest rule change for community players this year. On June 17, 2026, World Rugby's Council approved law wording that lowers the legal tackle height in community rugby to the waist or the base of the sternum, with each union choosing which, for seasons that start after July 1, 2026. Elite rugby keeps the shoulder line. Ten unions trialed the lower height over two years, studying more than 150,000 tackles, according to RugbyReferee.net. The ball carrier also "has a responsibility to enter the tackle safely," which means not dropping your head into contact. Check with your league which height it uses.

Safety note: tackling is a contact skill. Learn it slowly, on tackle bags first, under a qualified coach, never from an article or a video alone. The Vegas Knights have a full guide on how to tackle in rugby safely that walks through technique and safe drills.

A safe low rugby tackle at waist height by a Downtown Rugby player in a floodlit community game in Las Vegas — A low tackle at the hips, head to the side. Community rugby's legal tackle height dropped to the waist or the base of the sternum from July 1, 2026.

6. At a ruck: stay on your feet and keep your hands off the ball

A ruck forms when at least one player from each team, on their feet, is in contact over the ball on the ground, usually right after a tackle. Once a ruck forms, the rules change: players must use their feet, not their hands, to win the ball, and the scrum-half picks it up once it's at the back. World Rugby's breakdown dos and don'ts sum it up:

Join from behind. Come in through "the gate," straight from your own side, not from the side of the ruck.
Stay on your feet. No diving in, no lying on the ball.
Hands off. Only a player who got their hands on the ball before the ruck formed may keep handling it.
Drive, don't dive. Bind onto a player and drive. Never target or drop your weight onto an opponent's legs.

The Vegas Blackjacks go deeper in rugby rucking explained, and the Vegas Lions cover the carrier's side of it in the rugby carry.

7. A maul is a ruck that stays standing

A maul forms when the ball carrier is held up, not tackled, and at least one teammate and one opponent bind on, all on their feet. The ball is in someone's hands, so handling is fine. A maul ends when the ball comes out, goes to ground or the maul stops moving and the referee calls for the ball to be used. Mauls are mostly a forwards' weapon from lineouts. The Blackjacks explain how teams drive them in the rolling maul.

8. The scrum restarts play after small mistakes

After a knock-on or forward pass, play restarts with a scrum: eight forwards from each team bind together and push against each other, with the front rows interlocked in the middle. The scrum-half of the team that didn't make the mistake feeds the ball in from the side, down the middle of the tunnel between the two front rows, and the hookers try to win it with their feet. Under a law change USA Rugby applied from January 1, 2025, the defending scrum-half may not go past the center of that tunnel, which gives the attacking scrum-half a little space.

Scrums involve real force on the neck and back. Only trained forwards play in a contested scrum, and many community and social competitions use uncontested scrums (no pushing) when teams don't have enough trained front-row players. If you want to learn to scrum, do it under a qualified coach, starting with body position and binding.

9. The lineout restarts play after the ball goes out

When the ball goes out of play over the sideline ("into touch"), the game restarts with a lineout. Each team lines up its forwards in a single line, the two lines one meter apart, and a player from the team that didn't put the ball out (usually the hooker) throws it in straight down the middle. Jumpers are lifted by teammates to catch it. Since January 1, 2025, USA Rugby requires lineouts to be formed within 30 seconds, and if a throw is not straight at an uncontested lineout, play simply continues. Kick the ball directly out of play from outside your own 22-meter line and the lineout is taken level with where you kicked it, not where it went out.

10. Advantage, penalties and cards

When one team breaks a law, the referee often doesn't stop play straight away. If the other team can gain from playing on, the referee calls advantage and holds out an arm. If nothing useful comes of it, play goes back for the original sanction.

Minor technical offenses (like a knock-on) give a scrum. Bigger ones (offside, not releasing, hands in the ruck, high tackles) give a penalty: the team can kick at goal for 3 points, kick to touch and get the lineout throw, take a scrum, or tap and run. Some offenses give a free kick, which can't be kicked at goal.

For foul play the referee can show a yellow card, which sends the player to the "sin bin" for 10 minutes, or a red card. The newest twist is the 20-minute red card: for foul play that is not deliberate, the player is sent off for the rest of the game, but their team can bring on a replacement after 20 minutes. World Rugby moved it to a global trial in May 2025 and, according to World Rugby Passport, it became full law from July 1, 2026, alongside new community tackle height laws. Deliberate, highly dangerous foul play still earns a permanent red card with no replacement.

Downtown's take

If you remember one thing from this list, make it law 5. Most of the dangerous stuff in rugby happens when tacklers go high or don't let go. Tackle low, wrap, release, get back on your feet. Do that and you'll be a good teammate on night one, whatever else you forget.

Rugby laws at a glance: what happens when you break them

Law	What it means	If you break it
Scoring	Ground the ball in the opponents' in-goal area	No try (e.g. held up: play restarts with a goal-line drop-out)
Forward pass	Passes must go sideways or backward	Scrum to the other team
Knock-on	Don't lose the ball forward off your hands or arms	Scrum (intentional: penalty)
Offside	Stay behind the ball, or your offside line at rucks and mauls	Penalty
Tackle	Only tackle the carrier, below the legal height, then release	Penalty; high or dangerous tackles can bring a card
Tackled player	Place, pass or release the ball immediately	Penalty ("holding on")
Ruck	Join through the gate, stay on your feet, no hands	Penalty
Maul	Players bound and on their feet around a standing carrier	Penalty for collapsing or joining from the side
Scrum	Eight forwards each, fed by the scrum-half down the tunnel	Free kick or penalty, depending on the offense
Lineout	Thrown in straight, formed within 30 seconds	Scrum or lineout to the other team (play on if uncontested)
Foul play	No striking, tripping, dangerous tackles or cheap shots	Penalty plus yellow (10 min), 20-minute red or red card

Two rugby squads, including the Downtown Rugby crew, together on the field after a match with desert hills behind — Match day: two squads together after the final whistle. A real photo from the Downtown Rugby crew.

What changed in rugby's laws in 2026?

Rugby's laws change more often than people think. World Rugby runs "global law trials," usually starting on August 1 in the men's game, then decides which become permanent. The changes beginners are most likely to notice this season:

Lower tackle height in community rugby. Approved June 17, 2026; the waist or the base of the sternum, chosen by each union, for seasons starting after July 1, 2026. Elite rugby keeps the shoulder line.
The 20-minute red card is full law. Approved with three other trials (the "brake foot," elite water-carrier restrictions and the TMO's role) and effective for competitions starting after July 1, 2026.
Try-line drop-outs in more situations. For example, a charge-down that goes dead in-goal now restarts with a try-line drop-out instead of a 22-meter drop-out.
Faster set pieces. In the US since January 1, 2025: lineouts within 30 seconds, conversions within 60 seconds, scrum-half protection at scrums, and players who were part of a ruck or maul may not play an opponent taking the ball from it.

Competitions already underway on July 1 may phase changes in later, so always check with your league or referee before the season. For a roundup of rugby news around the world, see APR's global rugby news page.

Are the rules different in touch, sevens and tens?

The laws above are for full-contact rugby union. The other formats change a few of them:

Touch: no tackling, no rucks, no scrums, no kicking. A touch replaces the tackle, then a quick rollball restarts play, and each team gets six touches to score. Our touch rugby explained guide covers the full rules.
Tag: pulling a tag off a player's belt counts as the tackle, and the carrier must pass quickly. Common with kids and in schools.
Sevens: the same laws as fifteens with 7 players per side, three-player scrums and shorter halves.
Tens: 10 players per side, five-player scrums, faster and more open than fifteens. This is the APR Games format: two 20-minute halves, with rules confirmed when player registration opens.
Rugby league: a separate code with its own laws, including six tackles per set and the play-the-ball. The Vegas Kings explain the differences in rugby union vs rugby league.

Learn the laws, then play them at the APR Games

The APR Games 2027 run Memorial Day weekend, May 29–31, in Las Vegas: 10-a-side rugby, two 20-minute halves, evening kickoffs, with Men's Elite ($10,000 prize pool), Women's Social ($5,000) and Youth divisions. Player entry is $299 and includes a jersey, kit bag, at least three pool games and opening-night access.

Join the APR Games waitlist

What mistakes do beginners make most often?

Every new player gives away the same few penalties. Knowing them in advance saves a lot of whistles:

Holding on. After being tackled, beginners hug the ball. Place it back toward your team straight away.
Not releasing. After making a tackle, beginners hold on to the carrier. Let go as soon as you both hit the ground, then get up.
Offside at the ruck. Defenders drift in front of the last player's feet. Get back behind the hindmost point before you move up.
Hands in the ruck. Reaching in to grab the ball once a ruck has formed is a penalty. Use your feet or leave it to the scrum-half.
Forward passes. Passing to a teammate who is level or ahead. Make your support players run onto the ball from behind you.
Tackling high. Aim low, at the hips and thighs, head to the side. The new community height makes this even more important.

None of these are a big deal in your first sessions. Referees and coaches in social rugby explain decisions, and teammates will help. That's part of The Downtown Way: inclusive, no judgment, and fun first.

How can you learn the rules of rugby in Las Vegas?

The fastest way to learn the laws is to play. Downtown Rugby runs social leagues, summer touch sessions and competitive squads for every level, and beginners are welcome. Here's how to start:

Join The Breakdown. Social league dates, touch sessions and training times go out first in The Breakdown, the free weekly newsletter from American Pro Rugby, which also breaks down one skill every week.
Start with touch. Touch teaches passing, running lines and onside positioning without contact. It's the perfect place to learn laws 1 to 4.
Learn contact under a coach. When you move into contact rugby, learn tackling, rucking and scrummaging from a qualified coach. APR's coaching clinic runs May 28–31, 2027.
Watch with someone who plays. Watching a game with an experienced player is the quickest rules lesson there is. Planning a watch party or a team night out? Our partner Luna Appleton covers where to stay, eat and celebrate in Vegas.

Downtown is one of five founding franchises of American Pro Rugby, alongside the Vegas Kings, the Vegas Knights, the Vegas Blackjacks and the Vegas Lions. You'll find every team on the APR teams page and gear in the APR merch store. APR is backed by partners including Clann13, which makes supplements for athletes.

Downtown's take

Don't wait until you "know the rules" to come along. Nobody did. You'll learn more in one evening session, with teammates telling you where to stand, than in a week of reading. Then stay for the third half and ask all the questions you want.

Frequently asked questions

What are the basic rules of rugby?

Score a try by grounding the ball over the opponents' goal line, pass only sideways or backward, don't knock the ball forward, stay onside, tackle only the ball carrier below the legal height and release them, and stay on your feet without using your hands at a ruck.

How many points is a try in rugby?

A try is worth 5 points in rugby union. A conversion adds 2, a penalty kick or drop goal is worth 3, and a penalty try is worth 7 with no conversion.

Why can't you pass forward in rugby?

The forward pass rule keeps all attacking players behind the ball, so teams have to run and support each other rather than throw it downfield. A forward pass gives the other team a scrum.

What is a knock-on in rugby?

A knock-on happens when a player loses the ball and it goes forward off their hands or arms. The other team gets a scrum. Deliberately knocking the ball forward is a penalty.

What is offside in rugby?

In open play you are offside if you are in front of the teammate who has the ball or last played it. At a ruck or maul you must stay behind the offside line through the hindmost player until the ball is out. Taking part while offside is a penalty.

What is the legal tackle height in community rugby?

World Rugby approved a lower community tackle height on June 17, 2026: the waist or the base of the sternum, with each union choosing which, for seasons starting after July 1, 2026. Elite rugby keeps the shoulder line. Check which height your league uses.

What is the 20-minute red card?

For foul play that is not deliberate, the player is sent off for the rest of the game but their team can bring on a replacement after 20 minutes. It became full law from July 1, 2026. Deliberate, highly dangerous foul play still earns a full red card.

How long is a yellow card in rugby?

A yellow card sends the player to the sin bin for 10 minutes, and their team plays a player short during that time.

Do I need to know all the rules before my first rugby session?

No. Most people learn the laws by playing. Start with touch, ask questions, and learn contact skills under a qualified coach. Downtown Rugby welcomes complete beginners.

Where can I find Downtown Rugby session dates?

Join The Breakdown, American Pro Rugby's free weekly newsletter, which carries Downtown Rugby's social league dates, touch sessions and training times first.

Keep reading

How to start playing rugby as an adult: a beginner's guide Touch rugby explained: rules, tips and how to start How to tackle in rugby safely (Vegas Knights) Rugby rucking explained (Vegas Blackjacks) Rugby union vs rugby league: the differences explained (Vegas Kings) More from Downtown News

Sources

This guide is general information about rugby's laws as of November 2026, not official refereeing guidance, coaching or medical advice. Laws and their start dates vary between unions and competitions: always check with your league. Learn contact skills such as tackling, rucking and scrummaging under a qualified coach. If you have a health condition, check with your doctor before starting a new sport.