It counts
A rugby goal still counts if the wind blows it back after crossing
6 min readLast updated
Photo: G-Man · Public domain
The short answer
World Rugby states that a goal stands if the ball crosses the crossbar correctly and wind then blows it back into the field. It does not have to remain behind the posts.
Why it's true
World Rugby Law 8.6 expressly says the score stands if the ball crosses the crossbar and wind blows it back into the field of play. The kick must first have met the requirements for a successful goal. Once that qualifying passage has happened, the later reversal does not undo it.
This is a rule about the completed scoring event, not about where the ball eventually lands. A ball that never gets over the crossbar cannot be rescued by pointing out that the wind was strong. The order matters: successful passage first, return flight afterwards.
By the numbers
2
Points for a conversion
3
Points for a penalty goal
3
Points for a dropped goal
How we know
Law 8 places this weather clause beside the general goal requirements. The ball must be kicked over the crossbar and between the posts without first touching a team-mate or the ground. Reading the provisions together prevents the colourful wind example from swallowing the ordinary conditions that make a goal successful.
The same section addresses kicks above the physical tops of the posts. Such a kick succeeds if it is judged that the ball would have passed between the posts had they been taller. The goal is therefore not limited to a visible enclosed rectangle: its vertical sides effectively continue upwards for this judgement.
Worth remembering
- A completed goal survives a return gust.
- A ball turning back short is still a miss.
- The original scoring attempt determines the points.
In context
A touch on an upright or the crossbar is not itself the same as first touching a team-mate or the ground. The final path still has to satisfy the goal requirements. A ball can strike the frame and go through successfully, while a ball rebounding out without the required passage is not a goal. Frame contact alone does not settle either case.
Television perspective can make a high kick deceptive. A ball above post height must be judged against the imagined upward continuation of the posts, and a wind-return case requires evidence of its earlier passage. Following only the final landing point discards the very part of the flight that determines the score.
For players and spectators, the practical lesson is to separate cause from legal outcome. Weather changes trajectory, distance and difficulty, but it does not replace the scoring geometry. Once officials establish a lawful passage, a return gust does not deduct the points. Before that passage, the kicker still has to beat the same crossbar and posts as on a calm day.
A closer look
Two very different gusts
In the first scenario, a conversion clears the crossbar between the posts and a powerful gust sends it back towards the kicker. That is the case the law protects: the conversion counts for two points. Its unusual return flight may dominate the replay, but the decisive moment came before the ball changed direction.
In the second scenario, the ball climbs towards the goal, stalls in the wind and falls short without crossing correctly. That is a miss. Similar-looking backwards movement does not make the two cases equivalent. Officials must determine whether the successful passage occurred, rather than simply noting that both kicks were blown back.
A third possibility is a ball blown sideways before it reaches the goal. If it passes outside the posts, it fails the ordinary goal test. Wind can explain the miss without creating an exception for it. Law 8.6 preserves a goal already achieved; it does not award one based on the path the ball might have followed in calmer air.
What kind of kick was being attempted?
A successful conversion adds two points after an ordinary try. A successful penalty goal or dropped goal adds three. The wind-return provision does not create a new points category or make every successful goal worth the same amount. Identify the legal scoring attempt first, then apply the ordinary value to a kick that satisfies the goal conditions.
A conversion may be taken as a place-kick or a drop-kick under the ordinary law. A dropped goal in open play needs the proper drop-kick action: the ball is dropped and kicked as it rises from its first bounce. A punt that happens to sail between the posts is not transformed into a dropped goal by accuracy or favourable weather.
The restriction on prior ground contact concerns the ball’s flight after it has been kicked. It does not outlaw the bounce that defines a drop-kick before foot contact. Nor does the rule say that the ball must avoid the ground forever. A ball landing after it has already completed a valid goal is simply the normal conclusion of its flight.
Related facts
Identify whether the successful rugby kick adds two points or three. A rugby union try and conversion are worth seven points together.
A goal kick shows how a particular restart can carry its own direct-scoring permission. You can score directly from a goal kick against the other team.
A throw-in provides a contrasting example of an apparently successful direct goal that does not count. A football throw-in cannot score a goal directly.
Another scoring comparison turns on bat contact and the journey to cricket’s boundary. A boundary six requires the ball to have been struck by the bat.
Key terms
- Goal
- Score stands if ball correctly crosses the bar before wind returns it.
- Crossbar
- Horizontal bar the ball must cross for the goal to stand.
People also ask
Does a goal count if the wind blows it back?
Yes, if the ball first crossed correctly over the crossbar and between the posts. Law 8.6 preserves that score even when the wind then returns the ball to the field.
What if the ball turns back before crossing?
Then the wind-return provision does not award a goal. The kick must actually satisfy the normal scoring requirements; approaching the crossbar or looking likely to clear it is insufficient.
Can a ball above the tops of the posts score?
Yes. It must be judged to have passed between where the posts would extend if taller. Being above the physical post tips is not automatically either a goal or a miss.
Does every kick between the posts earn points?
No. It must be a valid scoring attempt, such as a conversion, penalty goal or dropped goal, and meet the other conditions. An ordinary punt is not a dropped goal.
Must the ball stay behind the posts?
No. Its eventual resting place does not determine whether the qualifying goal passage happened. A later wind-driven return is expressly compatible with a successful goal.
