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Summary of Rules

These rules are intended to be a rough guide. For more information about rules and interpretations prior to the tournament, please contact us at touchrugby@ajet.net.

  1. Teams shall have six (6) players on the field at any one time. At least one of these six players must be female – if a team cannot field a female player, they must play short. Teams may perform any number of player substitutions in a game, but not within 10 meters of a try line. A specific substitution zone may be enforced at the discretion of the Referee.
  2. A Team is entitled to 6 Touches.
  3. A team’s ball possession may be lost due to the following:
    1. 6 Touches are up.
    2. They rollback the ball more than 1 metre.
    3. They overrun the touch mark and attempt to play the ball forward of the position in which they got touched.
    4. The ball makes contact with the ground during play.
    5. They attempt to kick the ball in any way, except for rollback of the ball and taps at beginning of halves and at penalties.
    6. They pass the ball forward.
    7. A player runs outside of the playing area (over a sideline or goal endline).
    8. A player attempts to pass the ball after they have been touched (Touch Pass).
  4. Ball Rollbacks occur:
    1. when a touch has happened.
    2. when possession changes on the 6th touch.
    3. when possession changes due to ball hitting the ground.
    4. when possession changes due to the half being touched whilst in possession of the ball
    5. when possession changes due to a player running over a sideline.
  5. The player performing a rollback cannot retrieve the ball. The rollback should be performed with the player square to the direction of play (ie. facing forward), and the ball should be placed between the legs, not bounced or rolled around the outside of either leg. The ball should not be rolled back more than a meter.
  6. The player retrieving the ball on a rollback is called the Half. A Half cannot score a goal. If the Half is touched while still in possession of the ball from the rollback, it is a turnover as described above.
  7. Penalties – where the side receiving the benefit of the penalty can start play by a tap, and the side incurring the penalty must retreat 10 meters from the point of the penalty. This is not an exhaustive list, but covers the most common infractions.
    1. Offside – when a defending player has not retreated the distance dictated by the referee at a rollback (7 meters) or penalty (10 meters)
    2. Point Over – when a player is touched with the ball and performs the rollback at a point forward of the position in which they got touched.
    3. Kicking the ball
    4. Forward Pass
    5. Touch Pass – when a player attempts to pass the ball after they have been touched
  8. Players may be sent off the field for misconduct, including any of the following. Note that the team must then play a player short for the remainder of the game and it is possible that said player will forfeit their ability to take the field for the rest of the tournament.
    1. Offensive language
    2. Backchatting the Referee
    3. Fighting or aggressive contact
    4. Bad sporting behavior
    5. Excessive force in making a touch
    6. Tripping
    7. Attacking the head of a player
  9. Defending the goal line – Where the team playing offence (ie. that has possession of the ball) has advanced to a position of 5 meters or less from their attacking goal line, the team playing defense (ie. that does not have possession of the ball) must therefore return to stand on or behind their defensive goal line in order to be onside at the play of ball. However, in trying to defend their goal line, the defending team may not simply wait at the goal line to have the attacking team throw themselves at it time and time again. Starting from the goal line, as soon as the ball is in play, every member of the defensive team must begin moving out from the goal line, and must continue to do so until they reach a point 5 meters from the goal line, or until a touch has been effected, whichever comes first. This movement forward from the line may be at any speed, but it must be continuous. In any case, players should listen to the referee’s instructions and move out at the referee’s direction. Failure to move off the goal line will result in a penalty awarded to the attacking team. This rule gives the attacking team a genuine opportunity to score when play is close to the goal line.
  10. Handicap points will be awarded for tries scored by female or veteran players. To encourage mixed play, we will play with the rule that any try scored by a female player is worth an extra point, for a total of 2 points. This rule will also apply to veteran players – those who are 40 years of age or older. Players who are both female and veteran will not receive more than one bonus point.

NOTE TO REFEREES: Touch is an attacking game of football, therefore if defensive players are offside and attempting to “touch” an attacker, the ruling should be to play the advantage. That is, allow the attacker to run through and score a try rather than to stop play and call a penalty.

NOTE TO CAPTAINS: Please read through the special notes here.