Rugby points calculator

Rugby point values

Union and sevens are played under World Rugby's laws, so every score is worth the same in both. League has its own laws and lower values.

What each score is and how the kicks are taken is covered in how rugby scoring works. Why the codes differ, and the scores only league has, are in union vs league scoring.

How to add up a rugby score

Multiply each kind of score by what it is worth, then add the results together.

• Union and sevens: points = 5 × tries + 2 × conversions + 3 × penalty goals + 3 × drop goals + 7 × penalty tries.
• League: points = 4 × tries + 2 × conversions + 2 × penalty goals + 1 × field goals, plus 2 × two-point field goals in the NRL.

Count only kicks that went over: a miss adds nothing. A conversion can only follow a try, so a team never has more conversions than tries. In union and sevens a penalty try goes in its own box and never gets a conversion. In league a penalty try is an ordinary try: add it to the tries, and its conversion to the conversions if the kick goes over.

Worked examples

Fewest scores for every total from 1 to 30

Working backwards from a score is how commentators arrive at lines like "two converted tries and a penalty". The calculator above lists the combinations for any total from 1 to 250 (in league, with no more than 3 one-point field goals). It puts the fewest scores first, counting a try and its conversion as one score and each penalty goal or drop goal as one, and breaks ties by the fewest kicks. Here is its top answer for every total from 1 to 30:

For a bigger total, take away 7 points in union (6 in league) at a time until you reach 30 or less, look that total up, then add one converted try for each 7 (or 6) you took away. That always gives the fewest possible scores. For 45 points in union, three 7s take you to 24 (2 converted tries and 2 unconverted tries), so 45 is 5 converted tries and 2 unconverted tries: 7 scores.

Many totals have more than one answer with the same number of scores. In union, 10 points is two unconverted tries or a converted try and a penalty; in league, 8 points is two unconverted tries or a converted try and a penalty goal. Union and sevens cannot reach 1, 2 or 4 points at all, while league can reach every total, because a field goal is worth 1.

Edge cases

• More conversions than tries cannot happen, so the calculator flags it rather than guessing which number is wrong.
• Blank, negative or decimal entries count as 0. A blank box is fine; anything else that is not a whole number gets a "Check" note.
• Sevens uses the same values as 15s, so a sevens score adds up exactly like a union one. The only scoring difference is that every conversion is drop-kicked.
• Bonus points are competition table points, not match points, so they never appear in a score. See rugby bonus points.
• Level scores: in union, a match that ends level is a draw, and extra time is played only when a winner is required, as in a knockout match. In the NRL, scores level after 80 minutes lead to golden point extra time (two 5-minute halves, first score wins), and a regular-season match can still end as a draw after it. See rugby match length.