RULES NM 7s

BEFORE THE GAME

Player eligibility

1. Players under the age of 18 will only be allowed to play in a senior match if:

• a) On the day of the match, the player is older than:
  • i) For males - 17 years, or
  • ii) For females - 16 years;

AND


• b) The team has submitted to the referee on the day of the match, or the NRF "Team List Manager" before the match:
  • i) A letter of consent from the player's parent(s), and
  • ii) A letter of consent from a medical doctor.

Eligibility limitations

2. No player under the age of 18 will be allowed to play in a front-row position, except in matches governed by the under-19 variations to the Laws of the Game.

3. The maximum number of players under the age of 18 allowed on the pitch for one team at one time is:

• a) 3, in the case of a 15-a-side match;
• b) 2, in the case of a 7-a-side match.

ELIGIBILITY policy is in place effective immediately. It has been developed from discussions amongst many clubs and stakeholders, and is intended to protect the safety of our players, especially junior players.

DURING THE TOURNAMENT

Tournament squads

All teams will be entitled to have the following squads in attendance at NM7s:

Up to 12 players

A club can register more than a team.

Declaration of Squad

The team manager shall be required to submit a squad (max 12 players) for the tournament. The squad including shirt numbers shall be submitted at registration desk no later than 1h before kick-off of the team first game. We nevertheless encourage all the team to submit their team squad to the tournament organization 48h prior to the tournament.

Substitutions

Up to 3 subsitutes can be used during a game. IRB rules will apply for substitution.

Player replacement in case of injury or suspension in team squad at NM7s

• Once the Reserve Squad player takes the field then the player that he replaced may no longer take any further part in the Tournament.
• The replacement player must then stay with that team until the Tournament ends.
• The co-ordination and registering of the tournament replacement players (including timings) shall be through the Tournament Director or his nominee.

These are the normal IRB 7s tournaments rules.
Nevertheless, as we will not be able to provide a specific "reserve player squad", all players that will be attended the NM7s or be present at the pitch will be considered as "reserve player squad".

As we will not have a Tournament Medical Officer, tournament directors (Tim Hool and Jonathan Alexander), the referee coach (Jon Kittilsen) and Turneringsutvalg leder (Vincent Bouchet) must be consulted in order to validate the injury. We nevertheless believe that everybody will not abuse it.

POOL GAMES

Pool Composition will be determined by the Turneringsutvalg.

Points will be awarded for these matches on the following basis.

• Win = 3 points
• Draw = 2 points
• Loss = 1 points
• No show = 0 points

DETERMINING POOL TABLE STANDINGS

Position in the pool competition table shall be determined by competition points as set out above.

If at the conclusion of the pool stage two Teams are equal on competition points for any position in the pool, such position in the pool competition table will be determined on the result of the Match between the two equal Teams. The Team that won that Match shall be deemed to have finished higher in the pool competition table.

If the Match between the two Teams equal on competition points at the end of the pool stage was a draw, then the following process shall be used to determine the placings:

The margin of points scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of points shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table:- if the tie remains unresolved then:

The margin of tries scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches shall be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of tries shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie remains unresolved then:

The Team that has scored the highest number of points in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then;

The Team that has scored the highest number of tries in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie still remains unresolved then:

The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Managers concerned

If at the end of the pool stage more than two Teams are tied on points then the following process shall be used to determine the placings:

The margin of points scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches will be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of points shall be ranked highest in the pool competition table: if the tie remains unresolved then:

The margin of tries scored for and against a Team in all pool Matches will be considered. The Team with the highest positive margin of tries shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table, if the tie remains unresolved then:

The Teams concerned shall be ranked by reference to the number of points scored in all pool Matches. The Team with the highest number of points scored in the pool Matches shall be ranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie remains unresolved then:

The Teams concerned shall be ranked by reference to the number of tries scored in all pool Matches. The Team with the highest number of tries scored in the pool Matches shall beranked higher in the pool competition table: if the tie remains unresolved then:

The tie will be resolved by the toss of a coin between the Team Managers concerned. Following the completion of the pool games, the Group winners and the second placed teams will progress to the Cup and Plate Competition.

The third and fourth placed teams will progress to the Bowl and Shield Competition.

During the Knock-out Competitions, in the event of a Match being drawn at the end of normal time, extra time will be played until a winner is determined. Extra time will be in periods of five minutes. After each period the Teams will change ends without interval. In extra time the Team which scores first will immediately be declared the winner without further play.

The Team that first kicked off will do so again in the first period of extra time, and subsequent kick-offs will alternate between the two sides.

The duration of Matches, other than the final will be seven minutes each half with a two-minute half time interval. The duration of the final will be 10 minutes each half with a two-minute half time interval.

TOSS

The toss to decide who will kick off and to chose ends will take place at half time in the preceding match. The toss shall be conducted by the match referee with the captain of each team in attendance.