Touch Rugby

Touch Rugby began in the 1960’s as an offshoot of Rugby League (a 13 man variant of rugby played predominantly in New South Wales and Queensland in Australia, the north of England and parts of New Zealand). It is played by a lot of rugby players through the summer as a way of keeping fit in the off-season.

Over the years it has evolved as its own distinctive, exciting game with its own rules, governing bodies and World Cup. It is played in many countries but is dominated by Australia, New Zealand and the traditional rugby playing countries and is administered by the Federation of International Touch. At RMYR we have a unique and strong tie to USA Touch (www.usatouch.org) because RMYR Program Director OJ Hawea is the President of USA Touch and has been a huge reason for the growth of the game in the US overseeing new team formation, player coaching, referee recruitment and national tournament organization. RMYR Assistant Coach Mike Flexman is also the Coach of the local AZ touch team Phoenix Rise (formally known as Tumeke AZ) that holds a number of US National titles over the years for several of the divisions in touch rugby.

How Touch differs from Rugby Union

  1. Like flag football versus tackle football, there is no tackling. However, there are no rip flags like flag football; the game is played with a one handed touch.
  2. A touch field is shorter (70 meters in length versus 100 meters). A touch field is the same width as a rugby field.
  3. The touch ball is slightly smaller and lighter than a union ball. It is thus a bit easier to handle and pass.
  4. Kicking is a big part of union, there is no kicking in touch.
  5. Union has 15 players (or 7 in its 7’s variant), a touch team has only 6 players on the field at any one time.
  6. Union has only 8 substitutions from a squad of 23, touch teams have a squad of 14 players from which unlimited and rolling subs can be made at any time.
  7. In union dotting the ball down on or behind the goal line is called a try and is worth 5 points, in touch dotting the ball down is called a touchdown and is worth only one point.
  8. In union there are other ways to score (conversions, penalties and dropped goals), in touch there is only one way to score (a touchdown).
  9. In union a playing half for U19 players is 35 minutes, in touch the halves are 20 minutes. Time in union is kept by the referee and can be stopped for injury and other important matters, in touch it is kept by an off field official who sounds a hooter and the clock never stops for any reason.
  10. In union there is no restriction on the time a team can keep possession (unless they loose possession through the various ways turnovers occur), in touch the team in possession is limited to 6 touches (like downs in football) and then the ball must go to the opposing team.
  11. Union has more stoppages due to scrums, lineouts, penalty/conversion kicks and injuries, in touch there are virtually no stoppages so the game is more fast paced and requires greater fitness.
  12. In union the plays are more predictable and are fewer in number and because you can kick for territory, there are more options to gain territory, in touch there are a greater number of more complex plays because running and passing are the only ways to advance up the field and score.
  13. Union has 10 distinct playing positions on a team, in touch there are only 3 (two Wings, two Links and two Middles).
  14. Touch uniforms and boots tend to be lighter than union to aid in speed and maneuverability.
  15. The end zone or in goal area in touch is only 5 m versus 10 m in union.
  16. There are different referee signals between touch and union.

 

Some important Touch Rugby rules to know

  1. Games commence with a tap off at half way. The player can just tap any foot on top of the ball or tap it forward.
  2. Defending players must be back 5 meters from where the attacking team commences play. Failure to create this space for the attacking team results in a penalty.
  3. After a touch, the attacking team performs what is called a roll ball. The ball is placed on the ground at the place where the player in possession was touched. The player can either step over the ball once placed on the ground or roll it back no more than 1 m.
  4. The player who next has the ball after a rollball is performed is called the Half (sometimes Dummy Half or Acting Half). This player cannot be touched or score and if so, it results in a turnover. The position is akin to the scrum half in union as the distributor of the ball.
  5. If the ball falls to the ground or the player with the ball goes out of bounds, it results in a turnover.
  6. Penalty offences include: forward pass, late pass (passing the ball AFTER you have been touched), hard touch (e.g.pushing), playing the ball off the mark (i.e. overrunning the point where the player was touched) and defenders not being back 5 m at a rollball (the most common penalty offence).
  7. When a penalty has been awarded the defending team must retreat 10 m from the mark and the count reverts to 0 for the attacking team. The player in possession takes a tap rather than a rollball so there is no dummy half.
  8. A ‘red zone’ of 5 m from the goal line is marked. Any rollball taken on this line defenders must be on or behind their own goal line and must retreat in a direct course back to that line each time they make a touch on an attacking player.
  9. For persistent or serious infringements referees can 1, force a substitution of the offending player – 2, send the player off for time (a 2 minute time out similar to a union yellow card) or 3, send the player for the duration of the game (equivalent to a union red card).
  10. If a defending player touches the ball when passed by an attacking player, the attacking team’s touch count reverts to 0.

A good introduction to Touch Rugby with some good footage on how the game is played and a summary of the rules and playing procedures is found on this video from TFA (Touch Football Australia)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DhpVUCx-Pk&t=127s