Staying behind the kicker remains as basic but important as ever

Eagle-eyed viewers of live matches as well as those watching television may have noticed the odd player in front of the kicker when he starts each half of rugby, or at restarts on the 22m line.

Actually, this seems to be happening a bit more often than at the odd time.

Players of the kicker's team who are in front of him can get quite an advantage from this off-side infringement, as they are often the ones who put the catcher under immense pressure.

Or, they run past the receiver and gleefully collect any ball dropped backwards by the catcher, and because this is general play they are not offside at that point.

All kick-offs and restarts are taken with a drop kick these days, unlike in the past when kick-offs were taken by a place kick.

Allowance can be made in junior grades where the skill of drop kicking the ball is still in the learning phase.

Kick-offs must be taken either at or behind the centre of the halfway line, otherwise the opponents get the option of having the kick re-taken or, more likely, a scrum at halfway with their team putting the ball in.

When kick-offs are taken, all of the team must be behind the kicker, with the sanction a halfway scrum if they're not, and all of the receiving team must be either on or behind the 10m line.

In a school game I refereed this week, a team tried to take a quick kick-off before the opponents had reached the ten metre line, thinking they could take advantage of the opponents' disorganisation.

Quick kick-offs are not allowed – the kicker must wait until the opponents have reached the 10m line.

In this situation, the kick has to be re-taken. However, they can kick the ball in any forwards direction by switching the side they kick towards.

The ball must reach the 10m line, otherwise the opponents have the option of a re-kick or a scrum on halfway.

Again, most choose the latter option for obvious reasons.

If the ball reaches the 10m line but is blown back towards the halfway, play continues as it initially travelled far enough.

Should an opponent play the ball before it reaches the 10m line, then play also continues as they have elected to carry on, rather than take one of the two options.

If the ball is kicked directly into touch on the full, then the opponents have one of four options.

They can ask for the kick to be re-taken, or take the scrum on the centre of halfway.

They could also choose to take the lineout, which would be on the half-way line as the ball has been kicked out on the full outside of the 22m line.

The last option is to take a quick throw-in, which can be taken anywhere behind the halfway line.

More interesting choices also come into play if the ball is kicked into the opponents' in-goal area or over the dead-ball line without being touched.

If the ball is grounded immediately in the in-goal by a defender, then they have the option between receiving the kick again or a scrum on halfway.

This option also applies to kicks that go over the dead-ball or touch-in-goal lines.

However, if the opponents delay by as much as a second or two before forcing the ball in-goal, then they are deemed to have elected to play on and the decision would be a drop-out on the 22m line.

For a restart kick following a touch-down in-goal by the defenders, many of the sanctions are the same as for kick-offs but with a few important differences.

The drop kick can be taken anywhere on or behind the 22m line, otherwise a scrum is awarded to the non-kicking team.

The ball must also cross the 22m line, otherwise the option of a re-kick or scrum results, although a referee may play advantage from this infringement.

If the ball goes directly into touch, then the same four options exist for the opposing team, with the resulting lineout taken where the ball went out.

At a drop-out restart, the opponents can attempt to charge down the kick but cannot charge over the 22m line before the ball is kicked, otherwise a free kick is awarded.

To avoid a charge-down, most restarts are taken behind the 22m line. Neither team is permitted to delay the kick.

For the kicking team this could be used as a tactic to slow the game down, if they are just ahead on the scoreboard nearing the end.

Quick restarts are allowed for a 22m drop-out kick and this can be a bit challenging for referees, as a lot of players may be offside when this happens.

Players of the kicker's team who are in front of the kicker must not advance until they have been put on-side by the kicker or by someone who has come from behind the kicker.

What you sometimes see is the opponents trying to delay the quick kick by interfering with the ball or the kicker.

If this happens the sanction is a penalty kick, which can be taken anywhere on the 22m line.

There is one other interesting scenario that can happen at a kick-off, one that occurred locally earlier this season in gale-force winds.

If the ball is kicked and then blows backwards into the kicking team's own in-goal and is made dead by a defending player, then the non-kicking team is awarded a 5m scrum.

But, in the meantime, keep an eye out for those players who are getting ahead of themselves at kick-offs.