Rugby league tries: four points, grounding and the historical record

A try in thirteen-a-side rugby league is worth four points. A successful conversion adds two more, making a converted try worth six points in total. The try and the conversion are separate scoring events: missing the kick does not cancel the four points already scored. These are the values in the 2026 International Rugby League laws, Section 6.

For an international record book, two distinctions matter: crossing the line is not necessarily scoring a try, and a team’s points total is not its try total.

What counts as a try?

Ordinarily, an attacking player scores by legally grounding the ball in the opponents’ in-goal—the area beyond their goal line. The goal line itself counts as in-goal, so grounding the ball on the line is enough. Simply carrying it across the line is not.

Grounding can take three forms:

• Placing the ball on the ground with one or both hands.
• Pressing down with a hand or arm on a ball already on the ground.
• Dropping onto a ball already on the ground and covering it with the front of the body above the waist and below the neck.

The scorer must not be in touch or touch in-goal, or on or beyond the dead-ball line. A player chasing a kick therefore does not have to pick the ball up before scoring: legal downward pressure can be sufficient. Conversely, picking up a loose ball in in-goal is not itself grounding it. These distinctions come from Sections 1, 2 and 6 of the international laws.

A tackled player may also score when their momentum carries them into in-goal and they ground the ball legally. That sliding finish is expressly allowed; it should not be confused with merely reaching the line without grounding the ball.

Why the position of the try matters

The conversion is taken along an imaginary line running back through the point where the try was awarded, parallel to the touchline. The kicker can choose how far back in the field of play to go, but cannot simply move sideways to take every conversion directly in front of the posts. Usually, the try is awarded where the ball was grounded; for a sliding try, it is where the ball first crossed the goal line.

A penalty try is different. The referee may award one when, in the referee’s or video referee’s opinion, a try would have been scored but for unfair play by the defending team. It is awarded between the posts, regardless of where the offence occurred. It remains a four-point try with a separate conversion opportunity. These award positions and conversion rules are set out in Section 6.

Can you work out the tries from the final score?

Not reliably. Under the international laws, a penalty goal is worth two points and a drop goal, also called a field goal, is worth one. Those kicks can change the total without adding a try.

For example, each of these hypothetical scoring combinations produces 20 points:

Tries	Successful conversions	Penalty goals	Calculation
5	0	0	5 × 4 = 20
4	2	0	16 + 4 = 20
3	3	1	12 + 6 + 2 = 20

Dividing a modern score by four therefore does not recover the try count. Use the match scoresheet or scorer list, and check whether its “goals” column distinguishes conversions from penalty goals.

Historical scores need the values used at the time

The 1972 men’s World Cup final provides a useful check. Australia and Great Britain drew 10–10, a result confirmed by the Rugby Football League’s anniversary account.

The Rugby League Project scoresheet records two tries and two goals for each side. With tries then worth three points, the arithmetic is 2 × 3 + 2 × 2 = 10. Applying today’s four-point value would incorrectly turn each total into 12.

When comparing international try records, keep the scope equally clear: one match, one tournament or a career; men’s or women’s internationals; recognised Tests or a wider touring record. Tournament totals also need the number of matches played beside them. For series research, the Ashes Test results by year provide the match-by-match starting point—not a substitute for the scorer details needed to establish a try tally.