How long is a Rugby World Cup match?
They think it's all over... it's not yet.
It’s often unclear how long a game of rugby union can take.
While the game itself is shorter than football in terms of a match’s length, there are a wide range of factors that affect when a rugby match comes to a close.
It’s not uncommon for a rugby game to end up being upwards of 120 minutes, including half-time, simply due to the amount of stoppages.
RadioTimes.com brings you a full guide to how long Rugby World Cup matches last.
Read more RWC guides and explainers: Rugby World Cup TV coverage | Rugby World Cup fixtures | Rugby World Cup radio coverage | Rugby World Cup presenters and commentators | Who has won most RWC titles?
How long is a Rugby World Cup match?
In short, a rugby match lasts for 80 minutes, split into two halves of 40, with a half-time break of roughly 15 minutes. The actual duration of the game is not often reflected by the time on the clock, though.
In football, when play is stopped for an injury or a VAR deliberation or something else, that time is added up at the end of the game as stoppage time.
In rugby, the clock is simply paused during injuries, substitutions or conversations with the TMO (Television Match Official).
The number of scrums, lineouts, penalties and conversions also affects a match’s length. The time it takes for a kicker to take the kick isn’t included in the game. And each match often has a number of scrum resets or lineout infringements, which may cause a referee to take issue and order resets - leading to further playing time.
When does a rugby match end?
Whereas in football and other sports, where the game ends once the clock reaches a specified time, a rugby match only ends once the ball goes dead after the clock has gone past 80 minutes - or gone 'into the red', as it’s colloquially known.
Theoretically, a game’s duration can last much longer than 80 minutes, if the two sides manage to keep the ball alive.
According to World Rugby, a half ends when the ball becomes dead after time has expired unless:
- A scrum, lineout or restart kick following a try or touchdown, awarded before time expired, has not been completed and the ball has not returned to open play. This includes when the scrum, lineout or restart kick is taken incorrectly.
- The referee awards a free-kick or penalty.
- A penalty is kicked into touch without the ball first being tapped and without the ball touching another player.
- A try has been scored, in which case the referee allows time for the conversion to be taken.
There is extra time in rugby union, but only in games of a knockout nature. If two sides end a game level during the pool stage, that match is counted as a draw and there’s no extra time.
If a quarter, semi, third-place play-off or final finishes with two teams level, however, a 10-minute sudden death occurs - where the first team to score any points is declared the winner.
If the teams fail to score any points during those 10-minutes and the game remains level, then a place-kicking competition begins, similar to a penalty shoot-out in football.
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