Clarification 2-2021

Clarification in Law by the Designated Members of the Rugby Committee

Request

In the instances where a halfback/scrumhalf (or any player) executes a ‘box kick’, which is, in most circumstances, designed to be a short-range contestable kick, there are almost always a group of players (usually the forwards) who are in front of their teammate who has kicked the ball. These players are offside players.

Synchronised with the kicking action of the halfback/scrumhalf, there is usually an onside team-mate(s) whose role is to run past all his/her team-mates to either contest possession, tackle an opponent who catches the ball, or simply take up a position beyond the place where the ball alights.

Current Law requires the offside players to retire behind an onside team-mate. If there is an onside team-mate(s) who has run forward beyond the offside players, and is now positioned in front of them, the offside players have no action to accomplish. THEY ARE BEHIND AN ONSIDE TEAM-MATE.

Under the old Law (2017), the offside players were required to retire behind the kicker. When the kicker chased his/her own kick, this replicates the current situation (ie. offside players were required to retire behind a player who had advanced forward of them).

CLARIFICATION REQUEST: In the circumstances where a kick travels less than 10m forward, are offside players required to retire any distance, or to a fixed point, IF an onside team-mate has run past them and is now positioned in front of them?

Clarification of the designated members of the Rugby Committee

The onus is on the offside player to move. He or she cannot be put onside by a team-mate moving past them (Law 10.7a specifically excludes players who are offside under Law 10.4c), the offside player must move past an onside team-mate. In other words, under the 10-metre law, they cannot just stand there and wait for an onside team-mate to run past them. In practice, if the offside player starts to retreat and meets an onside team-mate coming the other way before reaching the imaginary 10m line, then they are deemed to be onside again, but they must be moving in the right direction when that happens. Any players off their feet, must also retire as soon as they regain their feet unless they have already been played on-side.

In summary, in the situation you describe: any offside players must make an effort to retire to the onside line and continue to do so until an onside teammate runs past them.