Offside (rugby)
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In rugby football, the offside rule prohibits players from gaining an advantage from being too far forward. The specifics of the rule differ between the two major codes.
[edit] Rugby union
Offside rules in rugby union are particularly complex to the casual observer. Often the only indication that they have been infringed occurs when the referee blows the whistle. This, therefore, is only a basic attempt to explain offside in the context of rugby union.
While in play, when a side is in possession, a player is offside if they are in front of the ball carrier. This means that they cannot receive any passes (even if they then retreat behind the ball carrier to catch the ball), and they cannot receive a kick (because kick receivers must be behind or level with the kicker when the ball is kicked). If offside players do participate in the game, for example by playing the ball or obstructing an opponent (by loitering) then their team will be penalised - in the case of a forward pass, with a scrum; in the case of a kick received offside, a scrum if accidental or a penalty otherwise.
In any other part of play (scrums, rucks, mauls or line-outs), players are offside if they are in front of the off-side line. This is an imaginary line parallel to the goals which runs through the hindmost foot of the hindmost player in the ruck/maul/scrum (but also see the Stellenbosch Laws). Any players joining a ruck/maul or scrum from in front of the off-side line is offside and their team will be penalised.
At a lineout only players in the line (normally 7 per team), a receiver (often the scrum-half) and a thrower (usually the hooker) from each team are allowed within 10 metres of the line. The remaining players must be more than 10 metres away from the line or they will be penalised. They may move closer only to catch a long throw-in, or after the line-out ends, when the ball or a player carrying it leaves the lineout in any direction.
If a player kicks the ball, out of hand, from the dead ball area, players can be in front of the kicker, as long as they do not leave the dead ball area before the ball has been kicked.
[edit] Rugby League
A defending player is offside if he is less than 10m away from the play-the-ball (or, if the play-the-ball is inside his 10m line, closer to it than the try-line is) when the ball is played. He is also offside if, during open play, he is closer to the opposition's try-line than the ball. At a scrum a defending player is offside if he is less than 5m away from the base of the scrum.
An attacking player is offside if he is in front of the ball: if he is in front of a ball which is then kicked, he can be put onside if the kicker subsequently moves ahead of him before the ball is caught. If not, he must stand 10m away from the player who catches the ball (as if he were the acting half-back at a play-the-ball) or be penalised.
