10 things you need to know to watch wheelchair rugby: 

1. Wheelchair Rugby is played on a basketball court with up to 12 players on the squad and a maximum of 5 players on the court at any one time. 

2. Teams are made up from both women and men.  

3. A Maximum of 10 points on court per team. All players are classified from 0.5 to 3.5 on a player's points scale. Assessed on the players functionality and mobility. 

4. Wheelchairs – there are two types 1. Defensive Chair has an enlarged pick bar to aid with pinning the opposition 2. Attacking Chair has a small pick bar, which makes the chair shorter and nimbler.

5. Tip Off – the game is commenced by two opposing players competing for the ball via tip off, like basketball. The ball is round like a volleyball with a textured surface to help with grip and is over inflated so that it increases the bounce.

6. A team scores by a player crossing the try line when in control of the ball. Two casters must cross the line for the try to count. 

7. Inbounding – this is how the game is restarted. The player has 10 seconds to inbound the ball, their chair must be fully behind the line.

8. The Team must get the ball out of their half within 12 seconds and bounce or pass the ball every 10 seconds, with a total shot clock time limit of 40 seconds. 

9. Contact is encouraged; however, you cannot spin opponents chair by hitting behind the rear axle or touch the opponent with your body, both results in a penalty. When a player is tipped off his wheels the support staff have 1 minute to get the player back onto their wheels.

10. Sin Bins – 1 minute in the bin – the player can return to court after 1 minute or when the opposition score a try (not a penalty try) - Flagrant Foul – 2 minutes in the bin or three tries.

Other rules you need to know about wheelchair rugby 5’s

Travelling

The player in possession of the ball must bounce the ball or pass to a player every 10 seconds, if they fail to do this then the referee will call travelling. 

Over and back

After the opposition score a try the game is restarted by an inbound from the try line. The player inbounding the ball has 10 seconds to complete a pass and then they have 12 seconds to get out of their half. If you get out of your half and then come back into it, the referee will call OVER AND BACK and possession turned over to the opposition. 

Inbounding - 1m rule

When a player is inbounding the ball there must be a 1m gap from the point of inbounding to 1m inside the court. No player can enter this 1m gap until the ball is under control of a player on court. If any player goes into this 1m gap then the team will be penalised and the other team gains possession. 

Allowing a player on court

The player off court inbounding the ball cannot be impeded coming back on court, as above no player can enter the 1m gap until the pass is complete and a player on court has control of the ball. Once the ball is on court a player on court must allow the inbounder to get fully on court. The wheelchair is deemed to be on court as soon as the back axels of the large wheels are fully on court. 

Contact before the whistle

When the ball is being inbounded no player can make contact with another player and gain an advantage. Gaining an advantage means that not all contact before the whistle will be called, but only if the player making the contact before the whistle has gained an advantage. The referee will give the player one warning and if he does it a second time he will go into the bin for 1 minute. 

Officials

There are two on court referees and 4 table officials running the game. 

Timeouts

Each team gets a set amount of player and coaches timeouts which can be used in the game. The timeout is mainly used when a team is pinned in its own half and can’t get out in the 12 seconds or tactical timeouts to close out a game when leading.