Restarts and touch, the questions that come up
Free passes, free kicks plus why there is no lineout anywhere in minis.
Free to read with no account. They work at a pitch with no signal too.
The answers
Is there a lineout in minis rugby?
No, at any grade from U7 to U12. Touch restarts with a free pass and Regulation 15 keeps it that way all the way through U13. The uncontested lineout arrives at U14 and lifting waits until U15, so a session spent on throwing is a session spent on something the referee will never ask for.
Every grade
What happens when the ball goes into touch?
A free pass 5 metres in from the touchline, level with where it went out, with the other side 7 metres back and nobody running until the pass is made. From U11 you can take a quick throw instead, as long as the same ball hasn't been touched by anybody off the pitch.
U9 and up
What is a free pass?
The way almost everything restarts in minis. The passer holds the ball in both hands, waits for the referee to call "Play", then passes backwards through the air. Nobody on either side moves until the ball has left their hands. One is never marked within 3 metres of a goal line, so both teams have room.
Every grade
How far back does the other team stand?
Three metres at U7 and seven from U8 upwards. It's the referee's job to walk them back, though on a busy match day it's worth your touchline knowing the number so nobody argues about it.
Every grade
What is a free kick and when do we get one?
From U11, free kicks replace free passes for the serious offences: a fend or hand off, foul play, offside, squeeze ball, diving off your feet, pushing in the scrum, a high tackle. Opponents go back 7 metres. Everything else still restarts with a free pass.
U11 and up
How does a half start from U11?
With a drop kick that has to travel 7 metres, rather than the free pass it was up to U10. Fall short and the other side chooses between a re-kick or a scrum on halfway. After a score the side that didn't score chooses whether to kick or receive.
U11 and up
What happens if the ball is grounded over a goal line by accident?
It's the corner nobody knows and it comes up about twice a season. Drop it over your own line with the opposition grounding it and that's a try to them. Ground it yourself and the attacking side gets a free pass 7 metres out. Take it back over your own line yourself then ground it and it's a try against you.
Every grade
Equal Play is not affiliated with the RFU. Regulation 15 is theirs. These answers put it in our own words, so they are a summary rather than the thing itself. It is reissued every summer as well, so read this season's there rather than trusting a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. If a referee on match day says something different to this page, they are right.
Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.
What your grade is allowed to do
The answers above say what the rule is. The rules guides say what a whole grade may do, which is the thing to read in August rather than in a car park.
- What U7 rugby looks like
- What U8 rugby looks like
- What U9 rugby looks like
- What U10 rugby looks like
- What U11 rugby looks like
- What U12 rugby looks like
The other questions
- Tag rugby. Tags, the three second count plus the six tag turnover. U7 and U8 only.
- The tackle. How high, what counts as held plus what the tackler has to do next.
- Ruck and maul. Who may join, what "Use it" means plus where the offside line sits.
- The scrum. Three players at U10, five at U12, nobody pushing at either.
- Kicking. What the boot is allowed to do from U11, plus the U11 rule that looks wrong.
- Match day. The Half Game Rule, rolling subs plus what to do about uneven squads.
- The referee. Who referees, what they can give plus why there is no sin bin.
- Safety and welfare. Head knocks, mouthguards, hard ground plus mixed rugby.
- Running a session. How long, how many helpers plus what to do if you never played.
Every topic in one place is the way in. The app searches the answers themselves, which is what you want when you know what you saw rather than what it is called.