Rugby union numbering schemes

A rugby union team consists of 15 players plus up to seven replacements (depending on the competition). The starting players are normally numbered from 1 to 15 and the replacements 16 onwards.

Traditionally, however, some clubs, notably Leicester Tigers and Bristol, used alternative schemes consisting of letters, whilst others Bath and Richmond used a scheme with no number 13. Leicester's numbers were from 1 to 15 corresponding A to O with the exception of the openside which who wore H which is the eighth letter of the alphabet. English Guinness Premiership sides have ceased using these numbers/letters to better aid the understanding of those new to the sport.

Nowadays the players are numbered 1 to 15 with 1 being loosehead prop and 15 being the fullback. However, the numbering used to be reversed with 1 being the fullback. This change happened in the 1950s. Rugby league still uses this reverse numbering system.

Other common variations in the numbering are the interchange of 6 and 7 (particularly in South Africa and Argentina) or of 11 and 14.

A peculiar tradition exists with the rugby team of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London which uses a system of ancient Thai numbers, making identification by opposing teams virtually impossible.

There are also regional variations to the way line-ups are listed. Most of the time, the first player mentioned is actually the number 15. The two mainstream styles of listing a line-up are 15–9 then 1–8 and 15–1. However, you may see the centres swapped over and the same is often done to the back row.

ee also

* Rugby shirt
* Rugby union positions