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A team is made up out of 15 players eight forwards numbered 1 to 8, and seven backs, numbered 9 to 15. Depending upon the competition, there may be up to 7 replacements. Each player has a fixed role. By definition, the teams will therefore play the same formation, with only slight variations in use. Rugby therefore is different to for instance soccer with its endless number of 'playing systems' (4-3-3, 3-5-2 etc.) or cricket, where a player may be moved to a completely different position on the field (e.g. from silly mid-on to deep cover point).
A player's tasks are made clear by the number he wears, as this indicates his position (unless he's a substitute or has switched position during the match). This means a player does not get a personal number for his entire career, as you tend to see in most American sports. The IRB has laid down a
numbering scheme for international matches, which is commonly adopted by other teams as well.
The main role of the forwards is to gain and retain possession of the ball. They take part in set pieces of the scrum and the line-out. Generally, forwards are larger than the backs, which makes them stronger but slower. Forwards also have a role in taking the ball forwards, but generally do so by driving into the opposing forwards.
The role of the backs is to move the game forward by running or kicking the ball. The fly-half controls how to do this. The backs tend to score more tries. The backs tend to be smaller than the forwards and as a result more agile and faster, but less strong.
The following diagram locates the various positions in the 15-man team. All members of the starting 15 wear jerseys numbered from 1 to 15 and keyed to their positions (though alternatives exist); these numbers appear on the diagram below. The first eight players, known as forwards or the pack, play in the scrum. The remaining seven players play as the backs.
| Loosehead Prop (1) | | Hooker (2) | | Tighthead Prop (3) |
| Lock (4) | | Lock (5) |
| Blindside Flanker (6) | | Number 8 | | Openside Flanker (7) |
| | Scrum Half (9) |
|
| | Fly Half (10) |
| | | Inside Centre (12) |
| Left Wing (11) | | | | Outside Centre (13) |
| | | | | Right Wing (14) |
| | Fullback (15) |
Alternate names for positions include:
| Front row | Collective term for the props and hooker |
| Second row or Lock Forward | Lock |
| Tight forwards or Tight 5 or Front five | Collective terms for the combined front row and second row |
| Flanker | Wing Forward or Breakaway or Flank or Flank Forward |
| Number 8 | Eightman or Eighthman |
| Loose forwards or Back row or Loosies | Collective terms for the flankers and Number 8 |
| Scrumhalf | Halfback |
| Flyhalf | Outside Half or Out half or Stand-off or First Five-Eighth or or First Five or Halfback |
| Inside centre | Second Five-Eighth or Second Five |
| Outside centre | Centre |
| Midfield | Centres plus Flyhalf |
| Inside backs | Collective term for the Centres, the Flyhalf and the Scrumhalf |
| Three-quarters | Wingers plus Outside Centre (some nations include Inside Centre) |
| Back three or Outside backs | Collective terms for the fullback and wings |
The Fly-Half is alternatively called the "Stand-Off Half", since he is the half-back which stands off from the scrum rather than close to it. In addition, in New Zealand the Fly-Half is referred to as the 1st 5/8, implying a slightly deeper position than 1/2 back and the Inside Centre as the 2nd 5/8 implying a more forward position than 3/4 back. Flankers may also, though this is more historic usage, be referred to as "wing-forwards", or together with the No 8 as "loose-forwards", since they can quickly detach from scrums.
As can be seen there is a lot of variation in the names of the positions. The IRB has standardized the names, yet the alternative names are still as common as ever before. A problem with standardized names is that the positions themselves are not as standard as they might seem. For example, there is a slight difference between left and right centre on the one hand and inside and outside centre on the other. Wingers can be played on the open side and the blind side (also known as strong side and weak side) rather than left and right and you may come across left and right flankers.
Backs
15. Full back
The role of the full back is primarily defensive; In defence, he has to catch the high kicks referred to as "up and unders" or "bombs". Having taken a kick, the full back may counter-attack or punt forwards, so speed and good kicking skills are required. In attack, the full back is often positioned behind the back line and runs into the back line at pace and may act as either a decoy runner or an extra man creating an overlap. The full back is also the last line of defence, so good tackling skills are required.
The wings often act as additional full backs on opposition kicks.
Notable fullbacks include Christian Cullen (New Zealand), JPR Williams (Wales and British Lions), and Matt Burke (Australia).
14. and 11. Wing
The wings act as "finishers" to finish movements by scoring tries. The idea being that the space should be created by the forwards and backs inside the wingers so once they receive the ball they have a clear run to use their speed and agility to score tries. They are often the quickest members of the team and need to able to jink and side step to finish off scoring situations.
Often the winger can be the last line of defence, so they need to be able to make those important tackles when they count.
Notable wings include Jonah Lomu (New Zealand), Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand), David Campese (Australia) and Rory Underwood (England and British Lions).
13. Outside centre
The outside is typically the lighter, more agile of the two centres. They are the "Rapiers" that are given the ball normally via the fly half to make breaks through the opposition backs before offloading to the wingers after drawing the last line of defence. A Centre should be very strong fast and able to pass with pinpoint accuracy under pressure.
Notable outside centres include Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland and British and Irish Lions) and Jeremy Guscott (England and British and Irish Lions)
12. Inside centre
The inside tends to be the larger of the two centres. In defence or attack, the inside centre is always in the thick of the action, drawing the opposition's defence, making the breaks to make the space for the outside centre and dishing out the tackles in defence along with the forwards. Accurate handling and passing skills are a must for any centre.
Some of the skills of the fly-half such as distribution and kicking can be advantageous as the Inside Centre may be expected to act as a fly-half if the normal fly-half is involved in a ruck or maul.
Notable inside centres include Scott Gibbs (Wales and British Lions).
10. Fly-half
The fly-half is probably the most influential player on the pitch. The fly half is the person who makes the key decision during a game such as whether to kick or run the ball. They should be very fast, able to kick with both feet, have brilliant handling skills and operate well under pressure.
Games are rarely won on tries alone, which makes the fly-half the most important player in the side as they are usually the side's kicker, and therefore main points-scorer.
Notable fly-halves include Joel Stransky (South Africa), Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand) and Jonny Wilkinson (England and British and Irish Lions).
9. Scrum-half
Scrum halves form the all-important link between the forwards and the backs. Normally acts as the 'General' for the forwards and is always in the hub of the action. A scrum half is normally quite small but with a high degree of vision and able to react to situations very quickly, pound-for-pound is very strong as he will spend a large percentage of his time up with the forwards and with superb handling skills. A key player in any side.
They put the ball into the scrum and collect it afterwards, they also are allowed to stand further forward than other backs at a line-out to try to catch knock downs from the jumper.
Notable scrum-halves include Gareth Edwards (Wales and British Lions), Rob Howley (Wales and British Lions), George Gregan (Australia), Danie Craven (South Africa) and Joost van der Westhuizen (South Africa).
Forwards
1. Loosehead prop & 3. Tighthead prop
The role of both the loose and tighthead props is to support the hooker in the scrum and to provide effective, dynamic support for the Line-out jumpers. Props are directly involved in the push forward at a scrum, and it is very important that they are strong. Under modern rules non-specialists are not allowed to play as props as they are key to making sure that the scrum does not collapse, which can be very dangerous.
A tight head prop is so called because his head fits between the opposing loosehead prop & hooker packs on the right hand side where as a loose head gets his name because in scrums his head is outside that of the opposing prop on the left hand side of the scrum. The two different positions requires different scrummage techniques.
Notable loosehead props include Jason Leonard (England and British Lions).
Notable tighthead props include Phil Vickery (England and British Lions).
2. Hooker
The hooker uses his feet to 'hook' the ball in the scrum, because of the pressure put on the body by the scrum it is considered to be one of the most dangerous positions to play. They also normally throw the ball in at line-outs, partly because they are normally the shortest of the forwards. When line-outs go wrong the hooker is often made a scapegoat even though the fault may actually lie with the jumpers. Hookers have more in common with back row forwards than props or locks as they have a roving role at line-outs and do not push as much in the scrum as other front row forwards.
Notable hookers include Sean Fitzpatrick (New Zealand) and Keith Wood (Ireland and British and Irish Lions).
4. & 5. Lock
Locks are almost always the tallest players on the team and so are the primary targets at line-outs. At line-outs, locks must jump aggressively to catch the ball and get it to the scrum half or at least get the first touch so that the ball comes down on his own side. They are also responsible for keeping the scrums square and provide the power to shift them forward (This position is referred to as the "engine room"). Second rows are normally tall, very athletic and have an excellent standing jump along with good strength. The second row also make good ball carriers, bashing holes in the defence around the ruck and maul
Notable locks include John Eales (Australia), Martin Johnson (England and British and Irish Lions), Colin Meads (New Zealand) and Malcolm O'Kelly (Ireland and British and Irish Lions).
6. Blindside flanker & 7. Openside flanker
The players with the fewest set responsibilities and therefore the position where the player should have all round attributes, speed strength fitness handling skills amongst other skills. Flankers are always involved in the game, as they are the real ball winners in broken play especially the no. 7.
Flankers can be broken down into open side (occasionally known as strong side), who attaches himself to the scrum on whichever side is furthest from the touchline and blind side (occasionally known as weak side), who attaches himself to the scrum on whichever side is closest to the touchline. The open side is normally smaller, faster and more mobile as he starts play nearer to the potential action and needs to be the first person to arrive, they are the player with the responsibility to mark the other side's fly-half. They do this by quickly closing them down, reducing the time they have to kick or pass. The blindside being larger as he has a more physical role to play at the lineout and may well be used as a jumper.
They do less of the pushing in the scrum, but need to be fast as their task is to break quickly and cover the opposing half-backs if the opponents win the scrum. At one time flankers were allowed to break away from the scrum with the ball, this was known as a back row move. They are the main ball winners
Notable blindsides include Francois Pienaar (South Africa) and Schalk Burger (South Africa).
Notable opensides include Neil Back (England and British Lions), Michael Jones (New Zealand) and Josh Kronfeld (New Zealand).
George Smith (Australia) is a notable flanker who blurs the boundaries between the openside and blindside positions; in the current Australian scheme, he is used as the exclusive ball-poacher among the Wallabies' back-row players.
8. Number eight
The modern number eight has the physical strength of a forward along with the speed and skill of a back. The number eight packs down at the rear of the scrum, controlling the movement and feeding the ball to the scrum-half. A very influential position and is often used to attack with a pickup of the scrum. Normally tall and athletic and used as an option to win the ball in the lineout.
Like flankers they do less of the pushing than locks or props, but need to be quick to cover opposition half-backs. Number eight is the only position that does not have a specific name and is simply referred to as 'number eight'. A number should be a key ball winner in broken play, and occasionally a 'battering rams' at the front of rucks.
Notable number eights include Zinzan Brooke (New Zealand), Dean Richards (England and British Lions), and Imanol Harinordoquy (France).
Some back-row players are versatile enough to play either of the flanker positions or at Number 8; one notable example is Joe van Niekerk (South Africa).
See also
External links
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