Appointments and Availability
World Rugby understand that due to availability of experienced people, cost of appointment and or other reasons, it may not always be possible or needed to appoint Sideline Officials to every match. It is strongly recommended that the numbers below are appointed to the following levels. Competitions are encouraged to appoint as many Sideline Officials as possible to matches to ensure that the job can be done efficiently and effectively.
It is strongly recommended that where a timing display is available in-venue, that a Timekeeper will be appointed in addition to the below:
No. of Sideline Officials |
Minimum applicable for |
3* / 4 |
Rugby World Cups, Sevens events, Internationals and other top-level events and any other match using Switch or similar application |
2 |
Any other "elite" match not using an application |
1 |
Top level Non-Elite Domestic |
0 |
Everything else |
*depending on availability of officials, the venue being used and any other local factors.
When appointing Sideline Officials, there will always be a Sideline Manager and depending on the number of additional people, the responsibilities of the Sideline Manager will change. The diagram below shows two options for the Sideline Manager responsibilities when there is a team of three. In addition, where an App is being used for Elite Domestic or Cross-border, a minimum of three officials should be appointed.
Division of duties depending on number of Sideline Officials appointed.
For Sevens events, additional people should be appointed to step in to provide rest periods for all team members. Ideally, this would be multiple teams where they can work together and rest together.