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Play begins with a place kick and is generally continued by a scrum, in which the forwards of each team pack together with their arms across one another's shoulders and their heads down thus locked together. The forwards wheel and push against the opposing forwards, while attempting to hook the ball backward with their feet to one of the backs, called the scrum half. Having received the ball, the scrum half has several options: running the ball until downed or until there is another chance to pass the ball, kicking the ball downfield, or immediately passing the ball to teammates.

If the scrum half chooses to pass the ball, the teammates attempt to advance the ball forward across the opponent's goal line. Once over the line the ball must be touched to the ground to score a try, which is worth 5 points. After scoring a try, a team is entitled to attempt a conversion. In rugby, the conversion kick is taken from anywhere on a line perpendicular to the goal line at the point that the ball was touched down. If the kicked ball passes over the crossbar and between the uprights, the team is awarded 2 additional points for the conversion.

No player or the team with the possession of the ball is permitted to move downfield ahead of the ball, and any other obstruction of a player not carrying the ball is a foul and is penalized. Thus, there can be no interference or blocking. When a ball carrier is downed, that player releases the ball, and play continues.

The game is governed by only two major rules: (1) players may not pass the ball forward, and (2) players may not touch the ball while it is in play if it was last touched behind them (nearer their own goals) by players on their own teams. A minor infringement results in a scrum. In the case of serious infringement, or a foul, the referee, who is the only judge, may award a free kick against the offending team. A goal resulting from this kick scores 3 points. A goal scored from a dropkick (when during play a player drops the ball, lets it rebound off the ground, and kicks it over the crossbar and through the uprights) also counts as 3 points. A mark occurs when a player standing behind that player's own 22 m (24 yd) line catches a ball on the fly from the opponent's kick and says, 'Mark.' The player making the mark may then attempt a free kick.