Go to Law exam
1 The ground
- The playing surface must be safe.
- The permitted surface types are grass, sand, clay, snow or artificial turf (conforming to World Rugby Regulation 22).
- The dimensions of the playing area shown in the ground diagram.
- The playing area is rectangular in shape.
- Any variations to these dimensions must be approved by the relevant union for domestic competitions or World Rugby for international matches.
- Where the length of the field of play is less than 100 metres, the distance between the 10-metre lines and 22-metre lines is reduced accordingly.
- Where the width of the playing area is less than 70 metres, the distance between the 15-metre lines is reduced accordingly.
- The perimeter area should not be less than five metres wide where practicable.
- There are solid lines configured as shown in the ground diagram. The solid lines are on:
- The dead-ball lines and touch-in-goal lines.
- The goal lines.
- The 22-metre lines.
- The half-way line.
- The touchlines.
- There are dash lines configured as shown in the ground diagram. Each dash within a dash line is five metres in length. There are dash lines:
- Five metres from, and parallel to each touchline.
- 15 metres from, and parallel to, each touchline.
- 10 metres from, and parallel to, each side of the half-way line.
- Five metres from, and parallel to, each goal line.
- There is one line 0.5 metres long that intersects the centre of the half-way line.
- When padding is attached to the goal posts the distance from the goal line to the external edge of the padding must not exceed 0.3 metres.
- There are 14 flag posts with flags, each with a minimum height of 1.2 metres.
- One flag post is positioned at each intersection of the touch-in-goal lines and the goal lines and one at each intersection of the touch-in-goal lines and the dead-ball lines (eight flag posts in total).
- One flag post is positioned in line with the 22-metre line and the half-way line on each side of the pitch, two metres outside the touchlines and within the playing enclosure (six flag posts in total).
- Teams must inform the referee of any objections before the match starts.
- The referee will attempt to resolve the issues and will not start a match if any part of the ground is considered to be unsafe.
The ground
| Dimensions | Field of play length | In-goal length | Width |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum (metres) | 100 | 22 | 70 |
| Minimum (metres) | 94 | 6 | 68 |
Lines
Goal posts and crossbar
Goal posts
Flag posts
Objections to the ground
