Rugby - 101

The Laws of Rugby

The Basics   -   Scrummaging   -   Line-out   -   Ruck   -   Maul   -   Offside   -   Tackling

Knock-on and Forward Pass   -   Obstruction   -   22-metre Drop Out

5-metre Scrum   -   Mark   -   Sin-Bin

This is one of the methods used to restart play when the ball has gone over a team's dead ball line.

For example, if the attacking team kicks the ball beyond the dead ball line, a member of the defending team can touch it down for a 22-metre drop-out.

The defending team can also ground the ball in their in-goal area for a drop-out if a player on the other side was the last person to touch the ball.

Once the ball has been touched down, a player from the defending team can advance to the 22m line and restart play with a drop kick.

They can kick the ball a short distance forward and try to regain possession, put up a high kick for the forwards to get under or kick the ball as far as possible down the field.

A 22-metre drop-out is not awarded, however, if a member of the defending team has either passed or carried the ball back over the dead ball line before the ball is touched down.

In this case, a five-meter scrum is awarded to the attacking team.