Defensive retreat is one of the foundation systems in touch. It has two phases — getting back onside after a touch, then advancing forward to pressure the next play. Both halves of the cycle have to work or the defense leaks.
System
Defensive Retreat
Phase one: the retreat
After a touch, defenders must retreat 7 meters or to the try line if they are closer than 7 meters. The first job after every touch is to get onside. A defender who stays too close creates penalties, opens space, and breaks the team's defensive line.
The retreat should be fast, organized, and connected. Players should not drift as individuals. The defensive line needs to recover together, communicate, and reset spacing before moving forward again.
Near the try line the 7-meter rule becomes especially important. If the touch happens inside 7 meters, defenders retreat to the try line. This gives the attacking team space and makes communication even more important.
Phase two: the advance
Once the line is back the full 7 meters and onside, the defense advances. We play man-to-man — each defender is responsible for an opposing attacker, and they advance toward their man together.
The defender directly opposite the ball runs in fastest. As they accelerate in to make the tag they call "ball" — that call identifies them as the chaser and tells the rest of the line who is making the contact. The defenders to either side advance more slowly because their man isn't carrying. The shape this produces is roughly a V with the ball-chaser at the point, but the V is a description, not the target — no one is trying to form a V, it just falls out of "the player opposite the ball runs in fastest."
If the ball moves laterally — through a pass or a dummy-half scoop — the chaser changes. Whoever is now opposite the new ball carrier becomes the new chaser and accelerates in calling "ball." Every defender keeps advancing forward through this; nobody stops because the chaser changed.
Switching covers
Defenders don't want to overlap. If two defenders end up tracking the same attacker, one of them switches to cover an attacker the other was on. Switches are fine and happen often — the rule is no overlap, not "stay on your original man at all costs."
Common failure modes
Slow retreat that never reaches the full 7m so the line never resets. Two defenders chasing the same ball carrier when one of them should have switched onto someone else. The defender opposite the ball not committing — going in half-speed leaves the carrier with too much time. Silent defense — if no one calls "ball," two defenders may both push or neither may, both of which break the man-to-man shape.