How to play

Quick start

Full rules

Your squad

• 23 players: a starting XV and an ordered bench of 8 (B1 to B8).
• Starting XV slots: 2 props, 1 hooker, 2 locks, 3 back row, 1 scrum-half, 1 fly-half, 2 centres, 3 back three.
• Forwards are props, hookers, locks and back row. Backs are everyone else.
• Budget: £150.0m for all 23 players.
• Club limit: a maximum of 3 players from any one club, counted across all 23.
• Player prices range from £4.0m to £12.5m. Prices don't change during the season yet, so you sell a player for what he costs now.

Your bench

• Choose a split of 5:3, 6:2 or 7:1 forwards to backs.
• Every bench must include at least 1 prop and 1 hooker.
• With a 7:1 split, your one back must be a scrum-half or fly-half.
• Bench order matters (see Auto-subs).

When your split can change

You choose your split with your first squad. You can change it freely until your first deadline. After that it's locked, and you can only change it in a round where you play your wildcard.

Captain and vice-captain

• Both must be in your starting XV, and they must be different players.
• Your captain scores double points.

Rounds and deadlines

• The season is split into rounds (weekly match blocks). Each round has a deadline, after which your squad is locked for that round and scored.
• The leaderboard is ranked on total points after transfer hits.

How points are calculated

Every player in a real match scores points like this:

Metres are counted in whole 10s per match, so 47 metres is worth 4 points, not 4.7.

Then your squad's round score is worked out like this:

• Starters score their points in full.
• Captain scores x2 (or the vice-captain, if the captain didn't play).
• Auto-subs (bench players who replace a starter who didn't play) score in full.
• Other bench players score 50%, rounded towards zero.
• Transfer hits (−4 per extra transfer) come off your total.

Worked examples

These players and stat lines are made up to show how the maths works. They are not real players or real stats.

Example 1: "Illustrative Flanker A" (a forward) in your XV

8 tackles, 1 try, 1 ruck turnover, 32 metres carried.

• Appearance 2 + try 15 + tackles 8 + turnover 3 + metres 3 (32m = 3 full 10s) = 31 points.
• If he's your captain: 31 x 2 = 62 points.

Example 2: "Illustrative Fly-half B" (a back) in your XV

3 conversions, 2 penalty goals, 1 try assist, 4 tackles, 18 metres carried.

• Appearance 2 + conversions 6 + penalties 6 + assist 5 + tackles 4 + metres 1 = 24 points.

Example 3: "Illustrative Wing C" (a back) on your bench, not auto-subbed

1 try, 1 line break, 2 tackles, 61 metres carried = 2 + 10 + 3 + 2 + 6 = 23 points.

• On the bench he scores 50%: 23 ÷ 2 = 11.5, rounded towards zero = 11 points.

Example 4: a bench player who gets carded

"Illustrative Prop D" comes on, makes 2 tackles and gets a yellow card: 2 + 2 − 5 = −1.

• On the bench: −1 ÷ 2 = −0.5, rounded towards zero = 0 points. A bigger negative score would still cost you half (for example −7 becomes −3).

Example 5: transfer hit

You have 1 free transfer and make 3. That's 2 extra, so 2 x 4 = −8 points that round.

Captain and bench

• Your captain scores double.
• If your captain didn't play in the round, your vice-captain gets the x2 instead.
• If your captain didn't play and was replaced by an auto-sub, the auto-sub doesn't take over the armband.
• Bench players who aren't used as auto-subs score 50% of their points, rounded towards zero. That includes negative scores, so a bench player who has a shocker can cost you points.

Auto-subs

If one of your starters didn't play in the round, the game looks along your bench in order (B1 first) and brings on the first player who:

• is in the same group (forward for a forward, back for a back),
• played in the round,
• scored more than 0 points, and
• hasn't already been used as an auto-sub.

Starters are checked in slot order. An auto-sub scores full points, as if he'd started. If no bench player qualifies, the starter simply scores 0.

Transfers and wildcards

• First squad: unlimited changes before your first deadline.
• After that: 1 free transfer per round. Unused free transfers roll over, up to a maximum of 5.
• Extra transfers cost −4 points each.
• Transfers count across all 23 players, compared with the squad you had locked at the last deadline. If you sell a player and then bring him back before the deadline, that cancels out.
• Free changes: swapping your captain, reordering your bench, or moving players between your XV and bench is free. Only players coming in or going out count as transfers.
• Wildcard: one per half of the season (rounds 1–10 and rounds 11–20). In a wildcard round, all your transfers are free and don't use your free transfers. It's also the only time you can change your bench split after your first round.
• Emergency transfer: see Injuries.

Ranks and stripes

Your Manager ID card shows a service rank, with its own service stripes, based purely on how long you've been with RugbyGainline (whole months since you signed up). It has nothing to do with points, and it can't be bought.

Each rank has its own service stripes, made up of chevrons, rockers, bars and stars. Ranks 9 and 10 also get a gold card edge.

Founders and Premium

• The whole game is free to play. No payments are taken during the BETA.
• Premium is free while we're in BETA. When paid Premium arrives, it will be optional and cosmetic and will never give a scoring advantage. Two managers with the same squad score exactly the same.
• Founders: our first 500 players become Founders. You earn your Founder place once you've verified your email and saved your first squad. Founders get a numbered Founder seal (#0001–#0500) on their ID card for good, plus a Premium Account free until 30 June 2027. No card is needed and nothing renews.

Injuries

A player shows as Awaiting medical update until a real source confirms the details. We don't guess.

• Doubt: a player who wasn't in his club's matchday 23 last round is marked Doubt: not in last matchday 23 · awaiting medical update.
• Out: a player missing from his club's 23 for 2 or more rounds in a row is marked Out / not in matchday squad, with the number of rounds, and awaiting medical update.
• Confirmed injuries: the injury, severity and expected return round are shown only when they're confirmed by a linked source.
• Confirmed injuries override team sheets: a confirmed, sourced injury shows the player as Out even if he was named in the last 23.
• Byes, and rounds where we don't have the team sheet, don't count against a player.
• If we can't track a player's team sheets, he isn't flagged.
• One-click bench swap: if one of your starters is flagged, you can swap him for your best available bench player in the same group (forward or back), as long as your squad stays valid. The flagged player moves to the bench. No transfer is used, and if he was captain or vice-captain, the armband moves with the slot.
• Free emergency transfer: if a starter in your locked squad has been out for 3 or more rounds in a row, replacing him doesn't count as a transfer. That's a maximum of 1 free emergency transfer per round, and an unused one doesn't carry over to the next round.

FAQ