Who kicks off after a try in rugby union?
B · Beginner · The fifteens game · 3 of 8The team that conceded the score. It drop-kicks from the centre of the half-way line, and the ball must reach the other team's 10-metre line. If the kick is faulty, the other team usually chooses between a retake and a scrum. After some plays in in-goal, the game restarts instead with a drop-out from the 22-metre line or the try line.
How it works
- Drop kicks: "All kick-offs and restart kicks are drop kicks."
- Where: "on or behind the centre of the half-way line".
- Who: "After a team has scored, their opponents restart play".
- Second half: the opponents of the team that kicked off the match start it.
- Behind the ball: the kicker's team-mates must be behind it. The other team stays on or behind its 10-metre line.
- Ten metres: "The ball must reach the 10-metre line." If not, a retake or a scrum.
- Directly into touch: the other team chooses a retake, a scrum, a lineout or a quick throw.
- Into in-goal: if the other team grounds it at once or it goes dead, a retake or a scrum. If they delay, a try-line drop-out.
- 22-metre drop-out: after a failed penalty goal or dropped goal is made dead in in-goal, and after a kick through in-goal from the field of play.
- Try-line drop-out: when the attacking team takes the ball into in-goal and fails to score, and it is made dead.
- The drop-out: must cross its sanction line, the 22-metre line or the five-metre line.
The glossary has the kick-off, the drop-out, the kicked directly into touch entry, the scrum and the quick throw.
Tricky cases
The kick-off is blown back by the wind after reaching the 10-metre line. Is that a fault?
No. If the ball reaches the 10-metre line, play continues even if it is then blown back.
The kick-off goes straight into touch. What can the receiving team choose?
A retake, a scrum, a lineout or a quick throw.
An attacker is held up over the line. How does play restart?
With a try-line drop-out by the defending team, since the attacking team took the ball into in-goal.
A long penalty attempt misses and a defender touches it down. What is the restart?
A 22-metre drop-out by the defending team.
Why the rule exists
The team that conceded kicks off so that it can try to win the ball back. The 10-metre rule keeps the kick a contest, since a kick that is too short gives the other team the choice. The two kinds of drop-out put the cost of a failed attack on the team that made it.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fifteens | The conceding team kicks off | WR Law 12.4 |
| Sevens | The scoring team kicks off | WR Sevens Law 12.4 |
| Fifteens, faulty kick | Retake or scrum, more options for touch | WR Law 12.5; 12.6; 12.8 |
| Drop-outs | 22-metre or try line, by how the ball went dead | WR Law 12.11; 12.12 |
From the rule book
World Rugby, Laws of the Game: Rugby Union 2026, Law 12. Checked 21 October 2026. Official document: Laws of the Game, Rugby Union 2026 (PDF).