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 etc. Rugby union pitches have only two further solid lines called the 22 metre lines. They are so called because they are marked from the goal lines. This unusual distance exists because rugby changed from Imperial units to Metric units in 1977; the line had previously been a 25-yard-line. The metric equivalent of 25 yards is 22.86 metres which should round to 23 metres; some sources argue that the reason for rounding down to 22 was to further restrict players within the 1968 25-yard line kicking law; a rule that had been introduced to encourage more running play. In rugby,