A touch judge is an official who monitors the

touch-line The touch-line is the line on either side of the playing area of a game of rugby league, rugby union and association football. In many other sports it is called a side-line. The continuation of the touch-line beyond the goal line ending at the ...

in a game of

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

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

touch In physiology, the somatosensory system is the network of neural structures in the brain and body that produce the perception of touch (haptic perception), as well as temperature (thermoception), body position (proprioception), and pain. It is ...

. 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 can 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 the vast majority of community matches do not act as assistant referees and cannot comment on matters of foul play or other technical matters. In

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

es, 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 a number of specific flag and hand signals. These indicate specific breaches of the laws, for example

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 forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridiron ...

, knock on and

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

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 success of a penalty kick or the conversion of a try. Touch judge and referee signals and duties in

are laid out in the laws of the game. 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