A touch judge is an official who monitors the

touch-line In sports, out of bounds (or out-of-bounds) refers to being outside the playing boundaries of the field. The legality of going out of bounds (intentionally or not), and the ease of prevention, vary by sport. Sports that use this term include Am ...

in a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

game and raises a flag if the ball (or player carrying it) goes into

touch The somatosensory system, or somatic sensory system is a subset of the sensory nervous system. The main functions of the somatosensory system are the perception of external stimuli, the perception of internal stimuli, and the regulation of bo ...

. Touch judges also stand behind the posts to confirm that a goal has been scored following a penalty kick or conversion of a try. There are two touch judges, one for each touch-line and each holding a different coloured flag.

Rugby union

Rugby union touch judges support the referee by marking 'touch' (identifying when the ball leaves the playing area and comes into contact with something there or when the player carrying the ball steps out of the playing area), indicating successful kicks at goal, and marking offside lines at set piece plays (the scrum and line out). Depending on the relevant national regulations, touch judges can be recognised as 'assistant referees' and have the authority to indicate foul play, support with pre-match protocols, and other roles delegated to them by the referee. In England, touch judges are only recognised as assistant referees when appointed by the RFU or by the relevant Referees' Society. Touch judges in most community matches do not act as assistant referees and cannot comment on foul play or other technical matters. In test matches, it is normal for the referee and assistant referees to be connected by a radio link to aid the communication of all this information. At elite levels of the 'sevens' variation of rugby union, additional in-goal assistant referees exist to support the referee with in-goal decisions.

Rugby league

{{main, Rugby league match officials In

, touch judges can communicate with the referee verbally or through several specific flag and hand signals. These indicate specific breaches of the laws, such as

forward pass In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The legal and widespread use of the forward pass distinguishes grid ...

, knock on and penalty offences, how play should restart and whether the ball was grounded correctly for a try. As in rugby union, touch judges stand behind the posts to confirm the success of a penalty kick or the conversion of a try. Touch judge and referee signals and duties in

are laid out in the game's laws. In some matches, additional officials are used solely to determine whether a try has been correctly grounded. These are known as "in-goal" officials.

External links

Laws of Rugby League

Rugby union

Rugby league

External links

See also