FlagX International – Could This Be The Introduction to Rugby Your Club Needs in Asia?

We spoke with “sleek sensation” himself Dallen Stanford, who has added to his lengthy list of accolades as a former USA 7s player, globally recognised rugby commentator, Tsunami brand ambassador, and the title of Program Director at FlagX International (also called TagX). So what is this form of non-contact rugby and why are some leading rugby names getting behind its growth and expansion – could Asia be next?

Dallen Stanford, who has been based in the USA for a long period of time after having grown up in South Africa, says of the benefits of FlagX International, “What I love about this game, particularly in North America or anywhere rugby is new or developing, is that it’s a good introduction for new people. In the US at a university campus when new players come to rugby, they get thrown into practice straight away, and they’re now holding tackle bags, they’re trying to learn how to tackle. It’s very confusing and intimidating.

This is a very nice segue into the game where you can learn safely. You can learn how to defend a little bit, and you can learn how to attack, and get the sense of the game.”

Dallen Stanford – FlagX International Program Director @RWC 2023

What Is FlagX International?

TagX / Flag Rugby X according to the game’s own resources, ”is a fun, dynamic, exciting non-contact game supporting Individuals, Rugby Clubs, Academies and Schools globally.”

One of the questions we had for Dallen was if rugby needed another iteration. In Asia, we already have Rugby XVs, 7s, Tens, in contact, Touch rugby, the new T1 rugby rolled out by World Rugby in 2023, and other formats like Rugby 11s trying to enter the fray.

Dallen told us, “FlagX is different, and the goals of the actual game itself are too. I think it can be used as a tool by rugby unions, by rugby clubs and by entrepreneurs.

If somebody wants to introduce the game at a practice, they can choose the size of the field, they can choose how many people they want. But if people come to a tournament, there are 10 people in a team of which there are seven attackers on the field and six defenders. The game is slightly different as there is more space for the attacking team, and the game can be played with flag belts or without. 

We prefer to use the flag belts because it’s a lot clearer when somebody goes for a flag and is holding a flag when making a so-called ‘tackle’, as opposed to, you know, when we’re playing touch I can dive in touch with and touch someone with a fingernail, and then you’re not feeling it, and also you’re not really going to stop anybody with a fingernail in rugby.”

Already there are some pros here, we appreciate the benefits of touch rugby in developing skills but arguably the finger-scratch touches are one of the biggest annoyances. It’s also not as inclusive as other forms of rugby as the standard front rower is not as useful in a game of touch!

Dallen continued, “Introducing the game with a flag belt is a lot easier. It also helps newer players when they have no idea about tackling or technique or anything else, so they learn about having a better body shape to be front-on with a player and to go a little lower for their hips, to be able to grab the flag belts and stuff like that.”

Image Credit: FlagX international

The dynamics of the game are explained well on the website for the sport and across their socials. But Dallen highlighted some key areas of interest in terms of why it could be a beneficial tool for introducing people to the sport and in emerging regions such as Asia.

Every team taking up FlagX International gets a free equipment bag with the cones and equipment already supplied. 

One of the benefits of the game is that kicking is allowed, encouraged and rotates from restarts so all participants get to practice the skill set. 

Image Credit: FlagX international

Dallen said, “So this game is good for practising that. What I tell the players is that it’s a great game just to give it a go. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get it. Give the game like this the practice so you can execute those skills. In a game of contact rugby, you don’t want to be kicking for the first time trying to cross-kick kick and you kick it out and your team loses possession.

The other skill like a grubber or kicking for yourself to get past the defenders or chip kicking over the top of them to try to get the ball back. So all those skills come into play, particularly because they’re only six defenders.”

• The halves are 11 minutes long, so 22 minutes for a full game. 
• Four rectangular fields can fit into a regular rugby field, so one rugby field can have eight FlagX teams playing simultaneously at the same time. 
• Kicking is allowed which is different to touch. “So the three types of kickoffs are allowed; can drop kick the ball and teams can contest the ball, you can grubber from the kickoff, and if you’re brand new to rugby, you can place the ball on the ground and kick it like you would a soccer ball. 
• The kicking in-game is encouraged as it’s meant to advance your attack. “It’s not to kick for touch and not to kick for distance, so this is a lovely skill, I think, which as you’ve seen, is more prevalent in 15s and 7s, particularly kicking for cross kick for somebody who is in space. 
• Like in touch, the team gets six chances to attack and “if a player has their flag pulled, you do need to jog back roughly to where the mark is but we are not pedantic about being on the mark, and you roll the ball through your legs,” explained Dallen.
• If a team scores, a player has ten seconds to score a grubber conversion into the marked cone area – everybody who scores gets to practice a grubber kick.
• The scorer also leaves the field to be subbed to keep player rotations going – so it reduces the influence of a dominant player.
• There are rolling subs like in touch rugby or many social tens tournaments. 
• The idea is that teams could have mixed genders and even age groups or set up specific categories.

Some of the innovations might be familiar to readers from Australia or NZ as the game borrows from variants of formats played there and the game was developed in Australia.

Scoring, Points And Fantasy Leaderboards – FlagX International

Image Credit: FlagX international

There are different scoring areas in TagX/FlagX international – blue cones go to the middle of the scoring areas (four meters wide by two meters rectangle) and in the corners areas are 2×2 meters red squares – you count the number of tries being scored, but there are X points. 

“So if I run through, I’ve got a choice to score for maximum points in the big blue rectangle in the middle. The next best place to score is at the edges. Where you score and what sort of conversion you kick increases your score.”

There is also a fantasy leaderboard, so after the game itself, the data is input via the phone (the referee inputs all the scores) so there is an individual and team ranking which is open for all to see which creates an extra bit of competition.

“It’s quite nice for that younger generation to see their country listed, their club, their name, and their team listed globally. So it’s got that element in the backend. I think it is quite cool. So you can compare somebody in Japan with South Africa or New Zealand.”

Tournaments can also offer bonus-type points, for example, a team needs to score one try in the middle of the blue area, score in the far right-hand side, and they need to kick a middle conversion – if a team does this they get an extra 25 fantasy points. “It kind of helps people think and your coach or manager might say, let’s go for those x points. Teams don’t have to do it, but if they do, they get on the leaderboard.”

Financial Benefits and Incentives of FlagX

One of the aspects of FlagX International is the fundraising considerations. Clubs, Unions, or individuals can host tournaments and use it as a means to generate much-needed income for the development of rugby.

“It can be used to grow the game, which is great. A new rugby team for example, goes through the process of me having an online call or Zoom with them, to engage with them anywhere in the world and we train two of their players on how the game works, or it could be their staff members to serve as officials too. Once I’ve trained them, I send them a free equipment bag, so they get a US $500 equipment bag with balls, cones, flags, belts, and enough for 40 people to play.”

Once a club has the knowledge and the equipment, they could host tournaments. “If that team wants to use it as a fundraiser, this is where it gets exciting. They could get any number of players to pay whatever they say to play in a rugby tournament. A tournament for four teams can take place in only three hours, where each team plays each other twice.”

The short time frame means it could be held during the week, or split over an hour and a half twice in a week. 

“There’s no upfront cost. They have their own fields. We’ve obviously provided the equipment and the experience and how to train their two referees to officiate a tournament. And a percentage would be paid to FlagX.” (20 per cent was mentioned).

“They do whatever they want with the rest of the money raised – pay the referees, or the money goes straight back to the club to pay a coach. So it’s a good funding tool to keep a club going.”

Dallen said in Australia the sport increased the number of contact players at clubs who started with TagX as non contact players would come to a ground to play and take up the contact side of rugby after understanding the basics of the game.

“I love the model because everybody in the ecosystem is getting looked after. So it’s a win-win, for everybody involved. When I first heard about it, I was like, why would I do this? I could just play touch for free at my club, but that’s not going to sustain anybody. It’s not going to bring new people in. It’s just going to be the same. Going to be the same people playing touch every week.”

On the potential for Asia, Dallen added, “It’ll be very cool to have teams, in Japan playing, in China, Hong Kong, etc. It’s already growing in some countries and it’s about getting the word out there because it is a newer game. We’re gonna be launching properly next year in Hawaii, and doing big events here in North America and we are looking at other markets.”

He wanted to make clear the game is not intended to take away from any other games but that it’s an add-on. “We are giving the power back to a rugby club, but an entrepreneur could run this too. They could take a small percentage of the proceeds for their time, energy and effort, but they could run this at multiple clubs as well. So there are different ways that this game can spread.”

Perry Baker is On Board – FlagX International Ambassador 

Perry Baker, Dallen Stanford, Todd Clever

Since the time of the interview with Dallen, we already knew that USA 7s legend Perry ‘Speedstick” Baker was likely going to be announcing his retirement from the professional game, which he confirmed in October 2024. One of the areas Baker is now investing his time and energy in is TagX International. 

He is not alone, as former USA 7s Men’s Head Coach Mike Friday has been an outspoken supporter of the game and has used it in USA Sevens camps to build players’ skills and generate internal competition with tournaments.

Dallen explained Perry Baker’s involvement in TaxG is a goal to grow the sport and he is already actively involved.

“Perry is our ambassador but also he’s running the game himself in San Diego. This is one of the options he’s working on. Perry feels like him growing up here in North America, and not knowing about rugby at a younger age, he wished there was a game like this where he could try it out safely, in an easy way. When he was playing American Football, his football coach wouldn’t allow him to play rugby initially.  His second Football coach said, yes, go play rugby because he recognised the skills translated nicely.”

Of Mike Friday, Dallen added that “He loves this as a coaching tool because it’s a fun game to play, teaches good skills and is competitive – even though he’s moved on from the role as USA Sevens Head Coach, he’s still an advocate for FlagX.”

In conclusion, Dallen added of the potential in the USA and elsewhere for the game, “There’s no barrier to entry, so the model and formula is still the same.

We’ve only got going in 2024 and we are working on official launches in 2025 & in the US we’re connecting with the Collegiate rugby programs. We know it’s a perfect game for getting people involved and its non-contact, and that’s where FlagX can fill that void.”

You can find out more on the FlagX International Facebook, Website, or contact this email.

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