Fair catch catch is called a "mark"; see mark (rugby) and mark (Australian football) for more information (however in Australian Rules Football the player is not protected from the opposition team while attempting a mark). Fair catches featured in some extinct forms of football, and they have been abolished in other modern codes. In Rugby league the defensive player attempting to catch the ball cannot be tackled whilst in the air, though the attacking players can contest the ball by attempting to catch it themselves. A player who successfully catches the ball is able to be tackled only once they have landed
Comparison of American football and rugby union the rear of the field. An American football "field" is bordered by "sidelines" and "end lines". A rugby union "pitch" has "touchlines" and "dead-ball lines" respectively. True to its rugby roots, the boundary lines in American football are also out of play (unlike in the majority of other sports where being in contact with the line means that the player or ball is still in-play). In both rugby and American football all the major interior lines run transversely across the playing area. The border between the regular field of play and a scoring zone in both sports is called the