What makes a maul?
A maul is a contest for a ball that is held off the ground. It needs a ball carrier and at least one player from each team, bound together and on their feet (Law 16.2). A ball carrier held only by an opponent is not a maul. At least one of the ball carrier's team-mates must be bound on too. It can only happen in the field of play, and once formed it must move towards a try line (Laws 16.1 and 16.3). A maul can form in open play or straight from a lineout.
How do you join a maul?
- Join from an onside position and bind onto the hindmost player, the one nearest your own try line (Law 16.7). This applies to attackers and defenders alike.
- A bind means gripping the other player's body between the shoulders and the hips with the whole arm, from hand to shoulder.
- Keep your head and shoulders no lower than your hips (Law 16.7).
- If you are not joining, retire behind your offside line straight away. Players who leave the maul must also retire behind it, and they may join again (Laws 16.5 and 16.6).
Where is the offside line at a maul?
Each team's offside line runs parallel to the try line through the foot of the maul player that is nearest that team's own try line. If that foot is on or behind the try line, the try line is the offside line (Law 16.4). When a maul forms at the mark of touch during a lineout, a player taking part in the lineout who does not join it must retire to the offside line, which is the hindmost foot of their own team in the maul (Law 18.33).
What is illegal in a maul?
| Offence | Law | Referee gives |
|---|---|---|
| Joining from an offside position | 16.5 and 16.7 | Penalty |
| Joining anywhere except on the hindmost player | 16.7 | Penalty |
| Joining with head and shoulders lower than the hips | 16.7 | Free-kick |
| Charging into the maul without binding | 9.20 | Penalty |
| Being alongside the maul instead of caught in or bound to it | 16.10 | Penalty |
| Ball carrier sliding or moving backwards in the maul | 16.10 | Penalty |
| A long-arm transfer of the ball to another player | 16.2 | Penalty |
| Intentionally collapsing the maul or jumping on top of it | 16.11 | Penalty |
| Pulling or dragging an opponent out of the maul | 16.11 | Penalty |
| Intentionally preventing an opponent from tackling the ball carrier | 9.3 | Penalty |
A penalty gives the other team the option of a kick at goal. A free-kick does not (Laws 8.18 and 8.29).
Swinging, dragging and obstruction
World Rugby's current guidance on the maul changes no law. It spells out what referees look for.
- Swinging round the side. Players must join by binding onto the hindmost player, not by forming a chain of two or more players and swinging up or round the side of the maul. Players bound on the outside must not swing round the lifter to end up on the attacking team's side without contesting the ball or the space around it.
- Dragging. A player bound on the outside may keep pushing, or contest the ball with their other arm, but must not be in a position to pull or drag the maul. A player who comes unbound or can no longer push must leave the maul.
- Obstruction at the lineout. Lifters bringing the jumper down must not step in front of the jumper. Opponents need access to tackle or drive on the ball carrier, or it is obstruction (Law 9.3).
- Passing the ball back. The ball can be moved backwards hand to hand once the maul has formed. World Rugby's guidance says a team that wants to keep it at the back as more players join should pass it back to the hindmost player. A player who rips the ball from the ball carrier must stay in contact with that player until they have transferred it, and there can be no long-arm transfer to another player (Law 16.2). A long-arm or sideways transfer, where the ball is handed back to a team-mate further back in the maul with other players in front, creates an obstruction.
What does "use it" mean at a maul?
A maul has to keep moving towards a try line. If it stops for more than five seconds but the ball is being moved and the referee can see it, the referee tells the team to use it (Law 16.14). A stopped maul may start moving again if it does so within five seconds. If it stops a second time, and the ball is being moved and the referee can see it, the referee calls "use it" (Law 16.15). The team must then use the ball within a reasonable time. If the ball is available and not played within five seconds of the call, the maul ends with a scrum (Law 16.17).
How does a maul end?
A maul ends and play continues when the ball or ball carrier leaves it, the ball is on the ground, or the ball is on or over the try line (Law 16.16). It ends unsuccessfully, with a scrum, when (Law 16.17):
- The ball becomes unplayable.
- The maul collapses, and it was not foul play.
- The maul does not move towards a try line for longer than five seconds and the ball does not come out.
- The ball carrier goes to ground and the ball is not immediately available.
- The ball is available, the referee has called "use it", and the ball is not played within five seconds of the call.
The scrum goes to the team that did not have the ball at the start of the maul, or, if the referee cannot decide, to the team last moving forward before it stopped (Law 19.1). The exception is a maul formed immediately after a player directly caught an opponent's kick in open play. Then the catcher's team gets the scrum (Law 16.19).
What happens when a maul goes to ground?
The ball carrier may go to ground if they make the ball available immediately (Law 16.8), and every other player must try to stay on their feet (Law 16.9). Once the ball is on the ground, the maul is over and play continues. If the ball is not immediately available, or the maul collapses without foul play, it is a scrum. Collapsing it on purpose is a penalty (Laws 16.11 and 9.20).
Two more situations to know
- The defending team walks away. If every player from the team without the ball intentionally leaves the maul, the maul continues. The first of them to rejoin must bind onto the frontmost player of the team with the ball (Laws 16.12 and 16.13).
- The player playing the ball away. Under a global law trial, a player who is or was part of the maul may not play an opponent who is within one metre of it and trying to play the ball away (Law 16.18). World Rugby is still testing this rule before deciding on it.
Does the maul law change for sevens or junior rugby?
World Rugby's published variations for sevens, tens, under-19 and Game On rugby do not change Law 16. Unions may set their own age-grade law variations, which coaches must follow, so check with your union for junior rugby. Law updates can also take effect at different times for different competitions. If your league is mid-season, check with your union when a change applies.