Rugby Rules Trivia
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48 free Rugby Rules trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Rugby union is governed by laws, not rules, and they change every year. World Rugby has rewritten restarts, clear-outs, shot clocks and cards within the last five seasons alone, so even lifelong fans can be caught out by what a referee is now allowed to do. This quiz goes past the basics of points and player counts into the next layer: what happens at a ruck and a maul, who may stand where at a scrum and a lineout, how the sin bin, bunker and red-card trials work, which number wears which shirt, and how the fifteen-a-side laws differ from sevens and rugby league. It suits pub-quiz setters, club players brushing up before the season, and anyone who has ever shouted at a television without quite knowing why the whistle went.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In rugby union, a yellow card sends a player to the sin bin for how many minutes of playing time?
10
10 minutes of playing time, and the sin-bin clock freezes whenever the match clock stops, so a stoppage-filled spell drags the punishment out.
Q 02When foul play stops a near-certain score, what does a rugby union referee award?
A penalty try
A penalty try is worth an automatic seven points: since 2017 no conversion is kicked, the two points are simply added on, and the guilty player must be shown a card as well.
Q 03In fifteen-a-side rugby union, after a try has been converted, who restarts play with a drop kick from halfway?
The team that conceded
The team that conceded kicks off in fifteens, so the side that has just scored usually gets the ball straight back, provided the kick travels the required ten metres.
Q 04Under rugby union's 50:22 law, what does a kick from your own half that bounces into touch in the opposition 22 earn?
The lineout throw-in
The lineout throw-in stays with the kicking side, where any other kick bounced into touch hands it to the opposition; the law arrived in 2021 after a trial in Australia's Super Rugby AU.
Q 05What cadence has the rugby union referee called to engage a scrum since the 2013–14 season?
Crouch, bind, set
Crouch, bind, set followed a one-season trial of 'crouch, touch, set', which had itself replaced the four-word 'crouch, touch, pause, engage'; the props must now grip each other before the hit rather than slam in from a gap.
Q 06Which score did rugby union cut from four points to three in 1948?
The drop goal
The drop goal had been worth more than a try, which stayed at three points until 1971; the try has since been raised twice, to four points and then to five in 1992.
Q 07Which now-routine lineout practice did rugby union's laws once penalise?
Lifting the jumper
Lifting the jumper turned the lineout from an unsupported leap into a choreographed hoist, and the law now obliges the lifters to lower their man safely as soon as the ball is won.
Q 08What follows a rugby union player's second yellow card of a match?
A sending-off
A sending-off follows, because a yellow card is formally a caution as well as a suspension; in sevens the same caution costs only two minutes off the field.
Q 09What may a rugby union team given a penalty do that one given a free kick for a technical offence may not?
Aim at the posts
Aim at the posts is the penalty's privilege; a free kick put into touch also hands the restart to the other side, so it is worth far less than a penalty.
Q 10What is the ruling if wind blows a rugby union kick back after it clears the crossbar?
The score stands
The score stands once the ball has crossed the bar, and a kick that sails higher than the uprights counts too if it would have passed between them had they been taller.
Q 11Catching an opponent's kick cleanly in their own 22, which word does a rugby union player shout to win a free kick?
Mark
Mark, shouted as the catch is made, stops play dead and gives the catcher a free kick from the spot, a relic of the game's oldest laws that American football kept as the 'fair catch'.
Q 12In rugby union, what restarts play when an attacker carries the ball over but is held up and cannot ground it?
A goal-line drop-out
A goal-line drop-out by the defending side took the place of an attacking five-metre scrum, rewarding defences that hold the ball up; World Rugby's 2025 law book renamed it the try line drop-out.
Q 13Once a rugby union ruck has formed over a ball on the ground, what may no arriving player do to win it?
Q 21Which rugby union forward, wearing number 1, has their head on the outside of the scrum when the front rows engage?
Loosehead prop
Loosehead prop is the name because one ear is free on the outside, while the tighthead opposite has their head wedged between two opponents for the whole scrum.
Q 22Which rugby union forward, wearing number 6, packs on the side of the scrum nearer the touchline?
Blindside flanker
Blindside flanker guards the narrow side and tends to be the bigger of the two flankers; South African teams swap the shirts, so their blindside wears 7 and their openside 6.
Q 23Rugby union's shirt numbers, standardised for internationals in 1967, give 15 to which position?
Full-back
Handle it
Handle it is banned the instant the ruck forms, which is why the 'jackal' must get his hands on the ball before an opponent arrives and then stay on his feet.
Q 14Which two words does a rugby union referee call to start a five-second countdown for the ball to leave a ruck?
Use it
Use it gives the team five seconds to play the ball away; dawdle and the referee stops the game and gives the put-in to the opposition, so no side can sit on the ball to kill time.
Q 15When a rugby union maul stops moving forward and the ball is unplayable, which side gets the scrum feed?
Team not in possession
Team not in possession gets the put-in, the rule that makes a stalled maul a turnover, so a defence that can only hold a drive still, not sack it, is happy to wait.
Q 16What nickname do referees give a rugby union maul whose ball carrier is no longer bound to the players shielding him?
Truck and trailer
Truck and trailer describes the drive with the ball carrier towed behind it, and if he is not actually bound to the 'truck' the referee penalises obstruction.
Q 17When a contested rugby union lineout is not straight, what does the non-throwing side get to choose between?
Scrum or retaken throw
Scrum or retaken throw, with the scrum set 15 metres infield; the choice belongs to the non-throwing side because the crooked delivery robbed them of a fair jump.
Q 18Before a rugby union lineout has formed, what may a player take from the touchline to restart play at once?
A quick throw-in
A quick throw-in, and since the 2008 law trials it may go straight or backwards, which is why a winger fielding a kick near touch will whip it back in before the forwards arrive.
Q 19At a rugby union scrum, which players are exempt from the five-metre offside line that every other back must respect?
The two number nines
The two number nines may stand at the scrum itself, one feeding and one shadowing, a concession made permanent after the 2008 trial laws pushed everyone else back.
Q 20What restarts play after an accidental knock-on in rugby union?
A scrum to the opposition
A scrum to the opposition is the price of fumbling the ball forward off hand or arm, but do it on purpose and the sanction rises to a penalty; the 2025 law book renamed the offence a knock forward.
Full-back wears 15 as the last line of defence; until the 1960-61 season three of the four home unions numbered the other way round and gave the same player the 1 shirt.
Q 24What happens when a rugby union ball-carrier brushes the corner flag?
Play continues
Play continues, so a winger can clip the flag and still score; until the trial laws of 2008 the corner post counted as touch-in-goal and ruled the try out.
Q 25The two assistant referees who run the sidelines in rugby union were formerly known by what name?
Touch judges
Touch judges became assistant referees once qualified referees took over the role at professional level, reporting foul play and offside as well as flagging the ball out and judging kicks at goal.
Q 26In rugby union, what do the letters TMO stand for, a role whose remit has grown to foul play, knock-ons and offside?
Television Match Official
Television Match Official, a role that began by answering only one question, whether the ball was grounded in-goal, and from July 2026 is a formal part of the officiating team in law.
Q 27Under elite rugby union's 20-minute red card, what happens once the 20 minutes are up?
A replacement comes on
A replacement comes on, but the offender himself never returns, and deliberate or highly dangerous foul play still draws a full red card; from 1 July 2026 the replacement red card is full law in the elite game.
Q 28Which technique, twisting a player off his feet at the tackle area, did World Rugby outlaw from July 2024?
Crocodile roll
Crocodile roll, named for the way the jackaller is spun to the ground by the torso, now costs a penalty because the twist was causing serious leg injuries.
Q 29Since July 2024, what no longer puts an offside rugby union chaser onside after a teammate's kick?
An opponent running five metres
An opponent running five metres, or passing, used to play the whole chasing line onside, a loophole that rewarded loitering and fuelled endless kick tennis until the law was rewritten.
Q 30From July 2024, which option did World Rugby remove for a rugby union team awarded a free kick?
Choosing a scrum
Choosing a scrum is gone under Law 20.3, so a free kick must now be tapped or kicked, a change aimed at cutting the dead time that set pieces eat up.