A qualifying 40/20 or 20/40 returns possession to the kicking team.
Published
The numbers identify two field zones, not the distance travelled. The player must kick in general play from the correct deep zone, the ball must find ordinary touch in the correct downfield zone otherwise than on the full, and the point where it first crosses touch decides the result.
Quick ruling: under International Rugby League (IRL) Section 9.6 for 2026, a 40/20 is kicked from the area bounded by the kicker's own dead-ball line, 40-metre line and touch lines and finds touch between the opponents' 20-metre line and goal line. A 20/40 starts in the equivalent own-20 area and finds touch between the opponents' 40-metre line and goal line. Either success gives the kicking team a tap restart.
Rules basis: IRL 2026 International Laws of the Game with Notes on the Laws, in force from 1 January 2026. Last rules check: 27 August 2026.
Scope
The international running-game law is the baseline
This page applies the IRL 2026 laws for 13-a-side rugby league, principally the glossary and Section 9, Laws 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7. IRL's amendment notice says the 2026 changes took effect on 1 January; Section 9.6 in the compiled 2026 lawbook contains both kicks.
This is not a universal statement for wheelchair rugby league, physical-disability formats, Masters, nines, schools or every domestic competition. Those formats can publish different field dimensions or playing conditions. The verified RFL community variation is identified below; no NRL-specific review or competition procedure is imported into the IRL baseline.
Two tests
The starting and target zones are different
40/20Kick from the own dead-ball-line-to-40m areaFind touch between the opponents' 20m line and goal line
20/40Kick from the own dead-ball-line-to-20m areaFind touch between the opponents' 40m line and goal line
IRL describes each starting area as being “bounded by” the named lines. The law imposes no tackle-number condition: a qualifying kick can be attempted on any tackle while the ball is in general play.
Painted-line calls: Section 9.6 uses “bounded by” for the starting area and “between” for the target. It does not separately say how a ball exactly on a 20m or 40m marking is to be classified. A marginal line call is therefore a match official's factual judgment under the appointed competition's instructions.
General play
The restart kick itself is not a 40/20 or 20/40
The IRL glossary says general play begins after a match has been started or restarted by a place kick, drop-out, penalty kick, free kick, tap restart, play-the-ball or scrum. Section 9.6 requires the qualifying kick to occur in that subsequent general play.
A penalty kick to touch therefore follows the penalty-touch law, not the 40/20 rule. A kick-off, goal-line drop-out, 20-metre restart or other restart is also governed by its own section. Once that restart has put the ball into general play, a later kick can qualify if every Section 9.6 test is met.
Not on the full
The ball must bounce before it becomes touch
IRL defines “on the full” as a ball kicked over a given line without first bouncing. A direct kick over touch cannot qualify even if its start and point of entry are in the correct numbered zones. For a 40/20 or 20/40, the necessary bounce must occur in the field before the ball becomes touch; landing on the touch line already makes the ball touch under Section 9.1.
A mere deflection from a player is not safely treated as the required bounce. Section 9.4 expressly contemplates a ball kicked by, or bouncing off, a player and then going into touch on the full. Officials must apply the touch and accidental-strike provisions to the actual contact rather than award the special restart from the route alone.
Point of entry
Where the ball first crosses touch controls the target
Section 9.3 fixes the point of entry where the ball first crosses the touch or touch-in-goal line. Where the ball later lands or stops outside the field is irrelevant. Section 9.1 also means a ball can cross the vertical plane of touch in flight and remain live if it is legally knocked back by a player who jumped from the field of play.
The special target is ordinary touch between the named transverse line and the opponents' goal line. A ball that instead reaches touch-in-goal or crosses the dead-ball line is governed by the in-goal restart laws, not Section 9.6.
Tap restart
The kicking team must wait for the whistle
Both Section 9.6(a) and 9.6(b) award the kicking team a tap restart. The glossary defines that restart: the player keeps the ball in the hands while touching it with the foot, at which point it is in play. The accompanying note requires the referee to allow the defence a reasonable time to take position, confirm that all match officials are ready, and then blow the whistle. It is not a quick tap taken at the kicker's choice.
For a 40/20, Section 9.6(a) expressly places the tap 20 metres in from touch, in line with the point of entry, but no closer than 10 metres from the goal line.
20/40 placement ambiguity: the 2026 IRL text awards the 20/40 tap in Section 9.6(b) but does not repeat the 40/20 placement sentence. The shared note controls when both taps may be taken, but it does not cure that missing location wording. This page therefore does not present the 40/20 placement as express IRL wording for a 20/40; the appointed competition's instructions and referee administration control that detail.
Failed attempt
A miss does not produce one automatic outcome
Ball remains in play: play continues under the ordinary laws.
Ball is caught or legally played: the resulting phase continues; the intended target does not create an entitlement.
Kick goes into touch on the full from the field of play: Section 9.4 gives a handover where contact with the ball was made, adjusted so it is no nearer than 20 metres to touch or 10 metres to a goal line.
Kick goes into touch on the full from the kicker's own in-goal: this is the specific Section 8.4(e) exception and produces a goal-line drop-out, not the ordinary ball-back handover.
Ball bounces into ordinary touch outside the target, or the kick began outside the starting zone: there is no special tap; the ordinary Section 9.7 play-the-ball touch restart applies.
Own in-goal
The starting zone reaches back to the dead-ball line
Section 9.6 describes the own-40 and own-20 areas as bounded by the team's dead-ball line as well as the touch and metre lines. On the printed wording, a general-play kick taken in the kicker's own in-goal is not excluded merely because of that position.
The route still matters. If that in-goal kick goes straight into touch on the full, Section 8.4(e) expressly requires a goal-line drop-out. If it bounces in the field and then reaches the relevant ordinary-touch target, Section 9.6 supplies the special result.
Worked rulings
Four cases under IRL 2026
40/20 awarded: a player kicks in general play 35 metres from their own goal line. The ball bounces in the field and first crosses touch 15 metres from the opponents' goal line. Both zones and the not-on-the-full test are satisfied, so the kicking team receives the Section 9.6(a) tap.
Correct route, wrong flight: the same kick crosses touch directly without bouncing. It is on the full, so no 40/20 is awarded; Section 9.4's ball-back handover applies.
20/40 falls short: a player kicks from 15 metres out, the ball bounces, then enters touch on the opponents' side of halfway but before reaching their 40-metre line. The starting test passes but the target test fails, so Section 9.7's ordinary touch restart applies.
In-goal exception: a defender kicks from their own in-goal and the ball goes straight into ordinary touch. Even if its point of entry would have been inside a numbered target, Section 8.4(e) makes the result a goal-line drop-out because the kick went on the full from in-goal.
These are explanatory hypotheticals, not purported IRL casebook rulings.
Officials
The touch judge decides the boundary facts
Section 16 makes the referee the judge of fact except for touch and touch-in-goal matters. The referee may consult either touch judge and must accept an official touch judge's decision on touch. In practice, the officials combine the kicker's position, the flight and bounce, and the marked point of entry to decide Section 9.6.
The IRL baseline does not establish a universal video-review process for this call. Whether footage or a captain's challenge can be used is a separate competition-protocol question, so viewers should not assume that a televised review system applies to every match.
RFL variation
Many 2026 community matches omit the 40/20
The Rugby Football League's Community Game Rules and Fees Chart 2026 lists “All except 40/20” for male U12–U19, male Open Age Tier 4, female U12 through Open Age, and the listed education categories. For National Conference League Tier 3 it gives the same exception unless touch judges are appointed.
The chart excludes the 40/20 by name; it does not list the 20/40 as excluded. On the face of that chart, the two kicks cannot be treated as an inseparable package in those RFL formats. Festival rules and any competition directions still need checking for the actual fixture.
Decision path
Six questions settle the call
Which governing body, competition and effective playing conditions apply?
Was this kick taken in general play rather than as the restart itself?
Was the kick point within the law's own-40 area for a 40/20 or own-20 area for a 20/40?
Did the ball bounce before becoming ordinary touch?
Where did it first cross touch: between the opponents' 20m and goal line, or between their 40m and goal line?
If every test passes, award the kicking team the whistle-controlled tap; otherwise apply the ordinary law for the way the ball left or remained in play.
Common errors
What the rule does not say
“The numbers are the distance of the kick”: they identify starting and target zones.
“Any kick from behind halfway can be a 40/20”: the IRL starting boundary is the kicker's own 40-metre line.
“It can fly directly into touch”: no; Section 9.6 requires touch otherwise than on the full.
“A 20/40 is a 20-metre restart”: no; it is a general-play kick with its own Section 9.6 reward.
“The team may tap immediately”: no; the shared note requires the referee's whistle after reasonable positioning time.
“Every match uses both kicks”: no; the RFL 2026 community chart is a current example of a format that removes the 40/20 while not naming the 20/40 as an exception.
Source note: the page was checked against the IRL's compiled 2026 lawbook, the IRL amendment notice effective 1 January 2026, and the RFL's 2026 community chart. Competition regulations can supplement that baseline. The IRL text's unrepeated 20/40 tap-location wording and its exact boundary-line treatment are identified above rather than resolved by assumption.
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