They think it’s all over… it’s not yet. <\/p>
It\u2019s often unclear how long a game of rugby union can take.<\/p>\n
While the game itself is shorter than football in terms of a match\u2019s length, there are a wide range of factors that affect when a rugby match comes to a close.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not uncommon for a rugby game to end up being upwards of 120 minutes, including half-time, simply due to the amount of stoppages.<\/p>\n
RadioTimes.com<\/a> brings you a full guide to how long Rugby World Cup matches last.<\/p>\n Read more RWC guides and explainers: Rugby World Cup TV coverage<\/a> | Rugby World Cup fixtures<\/a> | Rugby World Cup radio coverage<\/a> | Rugby World Cup presenters and commentators<\/a> |\u00a0Who has won most RWC titles?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n In short, a rugby match lasts for 80 minutes, split into two halves of 40, with a half-time break of roughly 15 minutes. The actual duration of the game is not often reflected by the time on the clock, though.<\/p>\n In football, when play is stopped for an injury or a VAR deliberation or something else, that time is added up at the end of the game as stoppage time.<\/p>\n In rugby, the clock is simply paused during injuries, substitutions or conversations with the TMO (Television Match Official).<\/p>\n The number of scrums, lineouts, penalties and conversions also affects a match\u2019s length. The time it takes for a kicker to take the kick isn\u2019t included in the game. And each match often has a number of scrum resets or lineout infringements, which may cause a referee to take issue and order resets \u2013 leading to further playing time.<\/p>\n Whereas in football and other sports, where the game ends once the clock reaches a specified time, a rugby match only ends once the ball goes dead after the clock has gone past 80 minutes \u2013 or gone \u2018into the red\u2019, as it\u2019s colloquially known.<\/p>\n Theoretically, a game\u2019s duration can last much longer than 80 minutes, if the two sides manage to keep the ball alive.<\/p>\n According to World Rugby, a half ends when the ball becomes dead after time has expired unless:<\/p>\n There is extra time in rugby union, but only in games of a knockout nature. If two sides end a game level during the pool stage, that match is counted as a draw and there\u2019s no extra time.<\/p>\n If a quarter, semi, third-place play-off or final finishes with two teams level, however, a 10-minute sudden death occurs \u2013 where the first team to score any points is declared the winner.<\/p>\n If the teams fail to score any points during those 10-minutes and the game remains level, then a place-kicking competition begins, similar to a penalty shoot-out in football.<\/p> If you\u2019re looking for something else to watch, check out our TV Guide<\/a> or\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/b><\/a>, or visit our Sport<\/a> hub for all the latest news.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310, PLUS a \u00a310 John Lewis and Partners voucher delivered to your home \u2013 subscribe now<\/a>. <\/b>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n They think it’s all over… it’s not yet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":36881,"template":"","categories":[1,7,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/09\/how-long-is-a-rugby-world-cup-match-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"They think it's all over... it's not yet.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/36880"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}How long is a Rugby World Cup match?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
When does a rugby match end?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n
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