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 dimensions of rugby union fields can vary up to a maximum size that is larger than the fixed size of American football fields. Rugby union fields are limited to a maximum length of long ( between goal lines) and width of , while American football fields have a fixed length of ( between goal lines) and a width of . The scoring "end zone" in American football has a fixed depth of whilst in Rugby Union the goal area must be between a minimum depth of and a maximum of between the goal line and the dead ball line at