Binding

What binding means

To bind is to grip another player firmly with the arm. The laws define it as grasping the other player's body firmly between the shoulders and the hips, with the whole arm in contact from hand to shoulder. So a hand simply placed on another player is not a bind.

Binding at the scrum

The scrum engagement call is "Crouch, Bind, Set". On "Bind", each prop binds on the opposing prop, and on "Set" the front rows come together (Law 19). Every player in the pack has a set way to bind, and every bind must be kept, in the position it started, for the whole scrum (Law 19).

A scrum that is not properly bound is unstable and more likely to collapse, which is why the referee penalises a player who binds incorrectly.

Binding at the ruck

A player who joins a ruck must bind onto a team-mate or an opponent. The bind must come before, or at the same time as, contact with any other part of the body (Law 15). Players in a ruck must also keep their heads and shoulders no lower than their hips (Law 15).

Smashing into a ruck with the shoulder is not a bind. Charging into a ruck, which includes any contact made without binding, is dangerous play (Law 9).

What the referee does and signals

Failing to bind properly at a scrum or a ruck is a penalty kick to the other team (Laws 15 and 19). The referee's signal for it is shown below.

Referee signal

Common questions