Rugby league vs union scoring

Union and league point values side by side

Union is played under World Rugby's Laws of the Game. Rugby league has its own laws, set by International Rugby League, and values most scores lower. The conversion is the only score worth the same (2 points) in both codes.

Away from scoring, union has 15 players a side and league 13, and both last 80 minutes; see how long a rugby match lasts.

Why is a try worth 5 in union but 4 in league?

Both codes valued a try at 3 points for most of the 20th century, and each raised it on its own. Union's try went up to 4 points in 1971 and to 5 in 1992. League's went up to 4 in 1983 and has stayed there.

So check the year before you add up an old union scoreline. A union try was worth 3 from 1893 until 1971, and in the first points systems it was worth even less: 1 point from 1886 and 2 from 1891.

What changes a match is not the try on its own but how kicks compare with it:

• Union: a penalty goal is worth 3 of a try's 5 points. Three penalty goals (9) beat a converted try (7).
• League: a penalty goal is worth half a try. Three penalty goals (6) only equal a converted try (6), and a field goal is worth a quarter of a try.

So kicking counts for more in union, and tries count for more in league. A team that scores more tries but kicks fewer goals can lose under union values and win the very same match under league values.

One match, scored under both codes

The same 14 plays happen in the same order under both codes. Harbour score 3 tries, 2 conversions and 1 penalty goal. Valley score 2 tries, 2 conversions, 2 penalty goals and a drop goal. Each score column shows Harbour first, then Valley.

The conversions cancel out, since each side converted 2 tries. Under union values, Valley's two penalty goals and drop goal bring 9 points to Harbour's one penalty goal (3). That 6-point kicking edge beats Harbour's extra try (5), and Valley win 23-22. Under league values the same kicks bring Valley 5 points to Harbour's 2, a 3-point edge, which Harbour's extra try (4) outweighs, and Harbour win 18-17.

Real teams would not play the same way in both codes, because a kick is worth less in league. The example keeps every play fixed to show the effect of the point values alone.

How is rugby sevens scored?

With the union values: a try is 5, a conversion 2, a penalty goal or drop goal 3 and a penalty try 7. The one scoring difference is the conversion, which must be a drop kick in sevens; in fifteen-a-side it can be a place kick off a tee or a drop kick. The other differences are around the scoring, not in it: 7 players a side, halves of up to 7 minutes (14 minutes in all) and 2 minutes in the sin bin for a yellow card.

Which scores only exist in rugby league?

• The 8-point try. When the try scorer is fouled in the act of scoring, the try stands (4), the conversion is taken (2) and a penalty kick at goal follows from in front of the posts, for up to 8 points from one move.
• The NRL two-point field goal. Since the 2021 season, a field goal kicked from 40 metres or more out has been worth 2 points in the NRL. Under the international laws every field goal is worth 1.
• A converted penalty try. In league a penalty try is an ordinary 4-point try awarded between the posts, and the conversion is still taken, so it is usually worth 6. In union the penalty try is a flat 7 with no kick.