Rugby
How Long is Regulation Time in a Rugby Match?
Rugby Union is a brutal, physical sport. The duration of a game varies depending on which version is played. These are the time lengths of different rugby matches.
The length of a rugby union match differs among age groups and junior levels (junior school, high school, and junior club rugby), university and college, and professional level rugby. Professional rugby matches are eighty minutes, with two halves of forty minutes separated by a ten-minute halftime break.
Non-professional rugby games last anywhere from twenty to sixty minutes, with varying degrees of time for the halftime break. International, franchise, and professional club rugby is always eighty minutes. The real-time length of a match is longer because of the number of stoppages during the contest.
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Factors Affecting the Length of a Rugby Match
Unlike association football, the clock stops in rugby union for various reasons. During the game, the referee, or Television Match Official (TMO) will call for time to be halted for injuries, foul play, and crowd disturbances. Malfunctioning equipment, such as loss of communication, can cause a delay during the game. Set-piece issues have hampered the game for decades. Reset scrum and lineouts cause delays and dangerous weather can cause a game to be stopped for hours, if not abandoned.
Stoppage Time
The most frequent stoppages arise due to injuries. Rugby is a physical sport, and injuries occur in every match. The officials stop the clock while a player receive medical care. When an injured player has been checked by the medics, the match will continue once the injured player is ready to play or has left the field. Only then will the referee call “time on” to let the game resume.
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The clock is stopped for foul play, crowd trouble, or if a member in the stands needs medical treatment. Matches will be stopped if the playing surface is deemed unsafe or for weather reasons, including snow, frozen fields, lightning, heavy rain, a waterlogged pitch, or excessive mud. The referee will stop time because of floodlight failure during evening games or if the technical equipment for communication between the match officials is faulty.
In rare instances, a game is stopped because of malfunctioning kit, and even the rugby ball. The match concludes when the clock has reached forty minutes for halftime or eighty minutes at the end. However, the referee only blows the final whistle after the final passage of play is over. There is no time limit for the last phase of an attack, which means games often run over the allotted hour-and-a-half.
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Tournament Rugby and Memorable Extra Time Moments
Extra time is only used in knockout matches, including World Cups, national franchise, and club tournament rugby. Additional time is standardised in all competitions, with two ten-minute halves, separated by a five-minute break to switch sides of the field. During this period, players rehydrate and continue medical treatment.
There have been three epic Test matches in Rugby World Cup history where knockout matches have gone to extra time. The 1995 Rugby World Cup final saw South Africa edge New Zealand 15-12 in extra time after Joel Stransky’s late drop goal, deep in the second half of extra time at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
In the 1999 World Cup semifinal at Twickenham, London, Stephen Larkham kicked a 48-metre extra time dropkick to knock South Africa out of the tournament. Four years later, Jonny Wilkinson’s last-gasp extra-time drop-goal saw England defeat Australia 20-17 in Sydney to claim their only world title.
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Sevens Rugby Duration
Sevens rugby is the shortest version of the game. There are seven players per side. A sevens match is fourteen minutes. Each half is seven minutes, with a two-minute interval for halftime. Sevens rugby is played in a tournament format. Once the competition reaches the knockout stages, extra time becomes a factor.
Stoppages for injuries, foul play, weather, crowd trouble, medical treatment, and faulty equipment in Sevens are the same as in rugby union. Sevens games have fewer stoppages than rugby union because fewer players get injured. Sevens rugby is not as physical as union, and there are fewer set pieces. The game is faster, with less contact, so fewer injuries.
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Touch Rugby and Rugby Tens Duration
Touch rugby matches are forty minutes, with two halves of twenty minutes separated by a five-minute halftime break. Unlike other versions of rugby, time is not stopped for injuries. Instead, substitutions are interchanged while the clock runs. Touch rugby knockout matches will proceed to extra time during tournaments.
Rugby tens is twenty minutes, two halves of ten minutes each, with a five-minute halftime break. Some tournaments increase the time of a game for a final. Some rugby tens competitions will have a thirty-minute final with halves of fifteen minutes. Unlike touch rugby, the clock stops for injuries in tens.
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Kaylan Geekie is a sports fanatic. He attended Durban High School before moving to Scotland, where he lived for 15 years. During his time in the United Kingdom, Kaylan graduated with a first-class BA Honours Degree in Sports Journalism at the University of the West of Scotland. Kaylan worked for nine years as the Match-Day Editor of SuperXV.com, reporting on Super Rugby, The Rugby Championship, the 2015 Men's Rugby World Cup and the 2017 British & Irish Lions series for the website.