Changes to our rules on subbing for other teams

For a long time, ITRA’s official rules have said that players shouldn’t play for more than one team in the same league on the same night.

In reality, anyone who has spent time around our venues will know that players regularly help other teams out when they’re short. In most cases, that’s exactly what we want to encourage: people helping each other, games going ahead, and fewer forfeits.

We also asked players about this over the summer as part of our consultation on stronger players in social leagues. The feedback was fairly clear: most people are comfortable with teams bringing in subs when they genuinely need them, but not with teams bringing in stronger players simply to improve their chances of winning.

So, we’re updating the rules to reflect how our leagues already work at their best.

Players can now help more than one team

Subject to a few important restrictions, a player can now officially play for more than one team on the same night when they’re helping a team that is short of players.

That can include playing for two teams in the same league, playing in separate leagues at the same venue, or playing at different ITRA venues on the same night.

The player must still be eligible for every league and team they play for.

They must also be registered on Spawtz for the team they’re helping before they take the field. Being registered for another team or league does not automatically make someone eligible, and all normal player eligibility and quota rules continue to apply.

The aim is to avoid forfeits — not to strengthen teams

This change is designed to help teams deal with occasional player shortages and keep scheduled games going.

It is not intended to allow teams to “stack” their side, regularly bring in stronger players, or use ringers to gain a competitive advantage.

If we have concerns about how the rule is being used, we’ll look at the circumstances involved, including the level of the player, the players otherwise available to the team, and how regularly the player is being used as a ringer.

Ringers are not permitted on finals night unless they were registered for that team before the second-last week of the league.

Teams are still expected to register and maintain a squad large enough to fulfil their fixtures, and we won’t arrange or alter fixture times simply to allow players to regularly play for multiple teams.

Some players cannot act as ringers

Players who have represented Ireland in tag rugby, or played in an Open division at the National Tag Championships, in either the current or previous calendar year cannot act as a ringer for a second team in the same league on the same night.

The intention is to avoid teams repeatedly coming up against some of the strongest players in a league through the use of ringers.

We’re also taking a broader look at the participation of Premiership-level players in social leagues, and we expect to introduce further changes in this area for 2027.

Some leagues have additional restrictions

Different rules apply in some of our higher-level leagues:

• Mixed Premiership: players are limited to one team per season.

• Men’s Premiership: players are limited to one team per season.

• Women’s Premiership: players are limited to one team per season.

• Irishtown Tuesday Division 1: international players may not act as a ringer for another team, but other eligible players may do so.

• Drumcondra Wednesday Division 1: players are limited to one team in the division on any given night.

These restrictions take precedence over the general ringer rule.

Social leagues can still use common sense

In standard social leagues, captains can agree to relax the ringer rules where both teams are happy to do so.

In many of our venues, captains already work together openly in group chats to help each other field teams. We see that as a sign of a positive league community, and we’re very happy for it to continue.

Where captains agree to relax the normal rules, the referee should be informed before kick-off.

Captains remain responsible

Captains and Vice-Captains are responsible for making sure any ringer they use is properly registered and eligible to play.

Where a ringer is ineligible, or where the rule is being used primarily to gain a competitive advantage rather than deal with a genuine player shortage, the usual player eligibility penalties may apply, including forfeiture of the match.

The principle behind the change is straightforward: we want to make it easier for teams to help each other get games played, without turning ringers into a way of making a team stronger.

You can review the full rules at tagrugby.ie/terms-conditions.