A penalty kick, free kick and 40–20/20–40 tap are different restarts.

What each restart means

A penalty kick is awarded for misconduct under Section 15 and wherever another law prescribes a penalty. It begins at a mark given by the referee and may be used to restart short, seek touch or attempt a two-point penalty goal.

A free kick, as defined in the IRL glossary and Section 13.4, is the second kick awarded after a penalty kick enters touch without touching another player. A tap restart, defined in the glossary and Section 9.6, follows a successful 40–20 or 20–40 kick. The preceding event—not the appearance of the player's foot action—selects the law.

When a penalty is awarded

IRL Section 13.1(a) awards a penalty against a player guilty of misconduct, provided stopping for it does not disadvantage the non-offending team. Other sections prescribe penalties for particular offences, including deliberate participation from offside, obstruction and specified restart or scrum breaches.

Not every mistake is a penalty. An accidental knock-on usually produces a scrum or, after the fifth play-the-ball, a handover; other phases have their own outcomes. The sound method is to identify the breach and phase first, then use the sanction attached to that provision—not to treat every whistle as interchangeable.

Where the penalty is taken

Section 13.1 makes the usual mark the place of the offence. Section 13.2 lets the player kick at or behind that mark on a line parallel to touch: moving straight back is allowed, but moving sideways for a better angle is not. A punt or drop kick may deviate slightly from an unpainted mark only if no unfair advantage is gained.

Section 13.1 moves the mark for defined cases. Misconduct in touch comes 10 metres in-field. An offence by a defender in their own in-goal, or by an attacker in the opponents' in-goal, is marked 10 metres into the field opposite the offence. For obstruction after a kick, the listed alternative marks depend on where the ball next bounces, is caught or crosses a boundary, and the referee uses the location giving the non-offending team the greater advantage.

What the team can do with a penalty

Section 13.2 permits a punt, drop kick or place kick. Except for a kick at goal, it may go in any direction and the ball is in play once kicked; the kicker may regather it. That creates three familiar choices:

• Restart short: take a legal kick and regather to resume open play.
• Seek touch: gain territory and, if no other player touches the ball before it enters touch, receive the Section 13.4 free kick.
• Attempt a penalty goal: under Section 6.6(b), use a place kick or drop kick for two points, at the mark or farther back on the same line.

Once the referee has been told that the team will kick at goal, the kicker cannot pretend to do so and deliberately kick elsewhere. The note to Section 6 treats that as misconduct and a penalty to the opposition.

A differential penalty cannot score a goal

The 2026 IRL glossary still defines a differential penalty: it differs from an ordinary penalty only because a goal cannot be scored from it. Section 6 repeats the no-goal restriction, and Section 17 gives the referee a repeated arm signal for the decision.

Do not assume that the word “scrum” automatically means differential. The current Section 13 note says misconduct at a scrum is penalised, and IRL's amendment effective 1 January 2026 expressly makes deliberately locking the ball into a scrum a full penalty. The referee's decision and the provision governing the actual offence control whether a goal is available.

What spectators call a “quick tap”

Players and commentators often call a short, self-regathered penalty a quick tap. In the IRL 2026 definitions it remains a penalty kick; it is not the defined tap restart after a 40–20 or 20–40.

The referee first gives the mark. The kick must satisfy Section 13.2 and the kicker's teammates must be behind the ball. If defenders have not completed their retreat because the kick was taken quickly, the Section 13 note says they are penalised only if they interfere; they may rejoin once the positional advantage gained by not retiring has been lost. A quick restart therefore changes the factual test, not the 10-metre duty.

How the 10-metre requirement works

At a penalty, Section 13.3 requires opponents to retire towards their own goal line until they are at least 10 metres from the mark, or to the goal line when it is closer. They must not interfere with or distract the kicker and may advance after the ball is kicked.

For the free kick after touch, Section 13.4 measures the retreat from the point where the ball entered touch, even though the free-kick mark is 10 metres in-field opposite that point. The law therefore uses two nearby but distinct reference points. Its quick-kick note still limits punishment to a defender who interferes before losing the advantage gained by failing to retire.

What happens after a penalty finds touch

If a penalty kick goes into touch without touching another player, Sections 9.5 and 13.4 award the kicking team a free kick 10 metres in-field, opposite the first point where the ball crossed touch. The ball may be kicked in any direction and manner, and the kicker may pick it up after the kick.

This is the second stage of the penalty-to-touch sequence, not a lineout and not necessarily a tap. The glossary says no goal can be scored from it and no ground is gained if this second kick is kicked into touch on the full. Section 7.3 also extends an expired half so the team receives the benefit of taking this free kick after the penalty has found touch.

Why every penalty kick into touch does not earn a free kick

The no-touch condition matters. Under Section 13.4(b), if the penalty kick touches an opponent in flight and then enters touch, the kicking team instead plays the ball 20 metres in from touch. It is not the free kick awarded for an untouched penalty kick.

How a 40–20 or 20–40 restarts play

A successful 40–20 or 20–40 is a kick in general play that starts inside the kicker's prescribed zone, bounces before crossing touch, and enters touch in the required zone at the other end. Section 9.6 rewards the kicking team with possession and a tap restart rather than the ordinary touch restart.

For a 40–20, Section 9.6(a) locates the restart 20 metres in from touch, level with the first point of entry, but at least 10 metres from the goal line. Section 9.6(b) awards the same named restart for a 20–40 but does not repeat a location. The glossary defines the action: the ball remains in the player's hands while the foot touches it, and it is then in play.

The territorial tap waits for the whistle

The note to Section 9.6 says a 40–20 or 20–40 tap may be taken only when the referee blows the whistle. Before that whistle, the referee gives the defending team a “reasonable time” to get into position and waits until all match officials are ready.

The law states the sequence but not a fixed number of seconds. “Reasonable time” is therefore a match-management judgment, not a countdown a player may calculate independently. This is a central difference from a quickly taken penalty kick.

Breaches can reverse the advantage

If a penalty is taken incorrectly or the kicker's team infringes, Sections 13.1(b) and 13.6 provide a scrum at the penalty mark, subject to the scrum-positioning limits. A teammate in front of the ball when it is kicked is one example. A breach by the opponents produces a further penalty on the line 10 metres beyond the original award, opposite where the breach occurred.

At the free kick, a breach by the kicking team produces a scrum 20 metres in-field, in line with the free-kick award and at least 10 metres from the goal line; the scrum-position choice in Section 13.4(a) then applies. A breach by the opposition produces a penalty on the prescribed line 10 metres beyond the free-kick award. By contrast, the Section 9.6 note says only that an early 40–20/20–40 tap may not be taken before the whistle; it states no separate sanction for that early act.

The restart and discipline are separate decisions

The note to Section 13.1 permits advantage only when the benefit to the non-offending team is readily obvious. Letting play continue does not prevent the offender from being cautioned, temporarily suspended or dismissed later under Section 15.

Further misconduct by the offending team after the first award advances the mark once only by 10 metres towards that team's goal line. Section 13.5 also prohibits deliberate delay, and its note tells the referee to prevent an opponent holding the ball or deliberately throwing or kicking it away. The field restart, the moved mark and any personal discipline answer different questions.

A defender is six metres away when a quick penalty is taken

Situation: Blue takes a legal short penalty immediately. Red 8 is still only six metres from the mark, keeps retreating and makes no attempt to affect the ball carrier. After Blue runs past, Red 8 turns and joins play only when the earlier positional advantage has been lost.

IRL 2026 ruling: do not penalise Red 8 merely for still being inside 10 metres. The Section 13 note makes interference the test after a quick kick. If Red 8 instead blocks, tackles or pressures the carrier while benefiting from that position, award the further penalty prescribed by Section 13.1(b).

A penalty kick clips a defender before touch

Situation: Blue punts a penalty towards touch. Red 5 gets fingertips to the ball in flight, and the ball then crosses the touch line.

IRL 2026 ruling: Blue does not receive a free kick. Section 13.4(b) awards Blue a play-the-ball 20 metres in from touch because an opponent touched the kick before it entered touch. The decisive fact is the touch in flight, not who put the ball over the line. The location-choice sentence that follows in the official PDF is internally inconsistent, as noted above.

The hooter sounds before a penalty reaches touch

Situation: time expires while Blue's penalty punt is in flight; it then enters touch without touching another player.

IRL 2026 ruling: Blue still receives and takes the free kick. Section 7.3 extends the half to give the non-offending team the second kick allowed by Section 13. After that kick, the half ends when the ball next goes out of play or a tackle is effected, unless another penalty extends time again.

A legal 40–20 is followed by an early tap

Situation: Blue's general-play kick begins inside its own 40-metre zone, bounces, and enters touch between Red's 20-metre line and goal line. Blue places a player at the restart mark and taps before the whistle.

IRL 2026 ruling: Blue earned the Section 9.6 tap restart, but the early action cannot bring the ball into play because the law says the tap may be taken only on the referee's whistle. The referee first allows reasonable defensive setup time and confirms that all match officials are ready. Section 9.6 does not state a separate penalty or turnover for the premature action.

How to identify the correct restart

1. Name the original event. Was there an offence, a penalty kicked to touch, or a qualifying 40–20/20–40?
2. Find the controlling section. Use the offence's sanction, Section 13.4 for penalty-to-touch, or Section 9.6 for the territorial kick.
3. Check intervening contact. An opponent touching a penalty kick before touch changes the free kick to a play-the-ball.
4. Set the correct mark. Apply the ordinary mark and any touch, in-goal, obstruction or minimum-distance adjustment.
5. Position both teams. Kicker's teammates stay behind the ball; defenders satisfy the applicable retreat rule.
6. Check authorisation. A 40–20/20–40 tap waits for the whistle; a penalty begins only after the referee gives the mark.
7. Separate advantage and discipline. Playing advantage does not erase later personal action, and further misconduct may advance the mark.

Six claims the IRL law does not support

• “Free kick means penalty.” In the IRL glossary, it is the second kick after an untouched penalty kick enters touch.
• “A short penalty is a tap restart.” It remains a penalty kick; the defined tap restart follows a successful 40–20 or 20–40.
• “A defender inside 10 metres is always penalised.” After a quick penalty or free kick, Section 13 asks whether that player interferes before losing the positional advantage.
• “Any contact before touch still gives the free kick.” Contact with an opponent in flight triggers Section 13.4(b)'s play-the-ball outcome.
• “A 40–20 tap must be instant.” The referee first allows reasonable setup time and then whistles.
• “Penalty to touch produces a lineout.” Under IRL laws it produces a free kick, not rugby union's lineout.

The 2026 World Cup is a confirmed exception

This page's controlling source is IRL's 2026 international law book for the running game. IRL said those amendments took effect on 1 January 2026, but it also publishes separate wheelchair and physical-disability rules.

For the men's and women's IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026, IRL announced on 29 April 2026 that the tournament will instead adopt the 2026 NRL and NRLW Premiership Rules and Interpretations. That decision includes NRL/NRLW match technology and competition procedures. Do not use this page's IRL-baseline procedural detail as proof of a World Cup, NRL, NRLW, domestic, community or age-grade ruling without checking the rules appointed for that match.

Governing-body sources and effective versions

• International Rugby League — 2026 International Laws of the Game with Notes on the Laws — Section 2 glossary; Section 6.6 and notes on goals; Section 7.3 on expired time; Section 9.3, 9.5 and 9.6 on touch and tap restarts; Section 13.1–13.6 on penalties and free kicks; Section 15 on misconduct; Section 17 on signals.
• International Rugby League — “Amendments to International Laws 2026,” 9 January 2026 — records implementation from 1 January 2026 and the full-penalty change for deliberately locking the ball in a scrum.
• International Rugby League — Laws of the Game hub, accessed 27 August 2026 — current law-book download and separate modified-format law documents.
• International Rugby League — “IRL Rugby League World Cup 2026 rules confirmed,” 29 April 2026 — confirms the men's and women's tournament will use 2026 NRL/NRLW Premiership Rules and Interpretations.

Checked 27 August 2026 against the current IRL 2026 PDF, its effective-date announcement and the later World Cup rules notice. This page leaves the PDF's Section 13.4(b) play-the-ball/scrum wording conflict and Section 9.6(b) 20–40 location omission visible rather than silently resolving them. Competition instructions may supplement the baseline.