Modern rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 numbering schemes normally now have the starting players numbered from 1 to 15, and the replacements numbered 16 onwards, but players have not always been identified by individual labels, nor have the systems used always been the same.

History of the use of numbers on shirts

The first use of numbered shirts was the match between New Zealand and Queensland

Queensland Rugby Union

The Queensland Rugby Union is the governing body for rugby union in Queensland. It is a member and founding union of the Australian Rugby Union.-See also:*Queensland Reds*Australian Rugby Union*The Wallabies*Rugby union in Queensland...

 at Brisbane

Brisbane

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...

, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

 in 1897 in order to allow the spectators to identify the players. In that match New Zealand wore the numbers 1 to 15 starting at fullback, whilst the hosts wore the numbers 16 to 30.

The practice was adopted for various major internationals but no definitive system was adopted. The matter was brought before the IRB

International Rugby Board

The International Rugby Board is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. It was founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board by the unions of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. England refused to join until 1890. The International Rugby Football Board changed its name to the...

 by the English

Rugby Football Union

The Rugby Football Union was founded in 1871 as the governing body for the sport of rugby union, and performed as the international governing body prior to the formation of the International Rugby Board in 1886...

 and Welsh

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 Rugby Unions in 1921 but it was decided that the identification of players by marking their shirts was a matter to be determined by the team themselves. Most teams used numbers but in the 1930s, the Welsh used letters. It should also be remembered that in the early days a "back-row" was truly a back row, with all three of these player packing down with their shoulders driving the second-row (rather that with the flankers driving the props directly as is required today). Therefore in many numbering systems these three players were numbered to reflect that (rather than with the two flankers having consecutive numbers as it is today).
first adopted a numbering system in 1928 for the match against , but dropped it again immediately. Thus when Scotland played that year, King George V

George V

George V was king of the United Kingdom and its dominions from 1910 to 1936.George V or similar terms may also refer to:-People:* George V of Georgia * George V of Imereti * George V of Hanover...

 who attended the game asked why the Scottish players were not numbered, the former president of the Scottish Football Union

Scottish Rugby Union

The Scottish Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. It is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873, as the Scottish Football Union.-History:...

 (as it was then) James Aikman Smith answered This sir is a rugby match not a cattle sale.

By the 1950s, the RFU had produced a booklet called Know the Game in which it is stated that there are no hard and fast rules governing the names of the positions or the numbers worn but it lists the custom in Britain as being 1 for the fullback, to 15 for the lock (now known as the number 8). Rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 still uses this reverse numbering system.

It is for this reason that rugby teams are traditionally published on team lists in newspapers and online in this order; though the numbering system has changed, the order in which the positions are listed has remained the same. However, you may see the centres swapped over, or the flankers listed in reverse order.

By 1950 all the home nations used numbers; England, Scotland and Wales used the system described above, whilst France and Ireland did the reverse using what we would now describe as the modern system. By the 1960/1 season however they had all agreed to use the France/Ireland system, with 1 being loosehead prop and 15 being the fullback.

Exceptional systems

Traditionally, some clubs (notably Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers

Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...

 and Bristol

Bristol Rugby

Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...

) have used alternative schemes consisting of letters, Bath

Bath Rugby

Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...

 and Richmond

Richmond F.C.

Richmond Football Club is a rugby union club from Richmond, London. It is a founding member of the Rugby Football Union, and is one of the oldest football clubs...

 have used a scheme without a number 13 and West Hartlepool RFC hung up their No. 5 jersey in memory of their lock John How who died of a heart condition in a 1994 league match. These unusual systems are shown in the table below. 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 existed with the rugby team of the School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

, University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 which used to use a system of ancient Thai numbers, making identification by opposing teams virtually impossible.

Will Greenwood

Will Greenwood

William John Heaton "Will" Greenwood, MBE is an English former rugby union footballer of the 1990s and 2000s.-Career:...

, who normally plays at inside centre, prefers to wear the number 13 shirt rather than the usual number 12 assigned to this position for superstitious reasons. During the Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 Final of 2003

2003 Rugby World Cup Final

The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final was won by England who defeated Australia 20 to 17. The match went into extra time, in which Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to seal England's win.-Path to the final:...

 he played inside centre wearing number 13 and Mike Tindall

Mike Tindall

Michael James Tindall, MBE is an English rugby player who plays outside centre for Gloucester Rugby and has captained the England team...

 played outside him in the number 12 shirt.

Modern numbering

There is nothing in the Laws of Rugby Union that determine if or how players should be individually identified by marking their clothing. However, since 1967, player numbering has been standardized by the IRB for international matches (1-15, with 1 being loosehead prop and 15 being the fullback, and the replacements numbered from 16 onwards ). English Guinness Premiership

Guinness Premiership

The English Premiership, also currently known as the Aviva Premiership because of the league's sponsorship by Aviva, is a professional league competition for rugby union football clubs in the top division of the English rugby system. There are twelve clubs in the Premiership...

 sides have also adopted this standard numbering system to better aid the understanding of spectators new to the sport, thus Leicester have had to abandon their traditional letter system.

See Rugby union positions

Rugby union positions

In the game rugby union, there are fifteen players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs . Depending upon the competition, there may be up to eight replacement players. Early games consisted primarily of forwards that attacked plus a handful of "tends" that played back in defence...

.

Table of Historical and Traditional Player Identification Schemes

Position	1950's British custom	Standard modern numbering	Without the number 13	Letters – Leicester-style	Letters – Bristol-style
Full back	1	15	16	O	A
Right wing	2	14	15	N	B
Outside centre	3	13	14	M	C
Inside centre	4	12	12	L	D
Left wing	5	11	11	K	E
Fly-half	6	10	10	J	F
Scrum-half	7	9	9	I	G
Loosehead prop	8	1	1	A	H
Hooker	9	2	2	B	I
Tighthead prop	10	3	3	C	J
Lock	11	4	4	D	K
Lock	12	5	5	E	L
Blindside flanker	13	6	6	F	M
Openside flanker	14	7	7	H	N
Number eight	15	8	8	G	O
Replacements	None until 1968	16 onwards	17 onwards	P onwards	P onwards

See also

• Rugby shirt
  Rugby shirt
  A rugby shirt, often referred to as a rugby jersey, is a shirt worn by players of rugby union or rugby league. It usually has short sleeves, though long sleeves are common as well....
  
  
• Rugby union positions
  Rugby union positions
  In the game rugby union, there are fifteen players on each team, comprising eight forwards and seven backs . Depending upon the competition, there may be up to eight replacement players. Early games consisted primarily of forwards that attacked plus a handful of "tends" that played back in defence...