"Rugby" on this server
can be interpreted as referring only to rugby union unless explicitly
stated otherwise. A
[www server for rugby league]
is operated by
Although the intense bitterness harboured by union officials towards
league is gradually dissipating (after 100 years!) it is still against
the union rules on amateurism for any rugby union player to be involved
with league.
Australia are the current rugby union world champions, and the
last world cup<--/a-->
encompassed teams from England (the runners up), New Zealand
(the previous champions), Scotland, France, Canada, Ireland, Western Samoa,
Italy, USA, Wales, Japan, Zimbabwe, Fiji, Romania, and Argentina.
The
next world cup<--/a-->
will be held in South Africa in 1995. Qualifying
rounds staged around the world have whittled the 1995 participants
down to England, France, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Italy, Romania,
South Africa, Ivory Coast, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga,
Western Samoa, Canada and Argentina.
The structure of the game in most countries is such that there are
various levels from club rugby at the bottom, through some district
or provincial level, to a national setup with the full national side
at the apex.
One important thing about rugby is that it is not just a game for national
sides and top players. Many countries start kids playing rugby very young,
and there are veterans matches and tournaments around the world for those
who continue to enjoy playing until very late in life. In between there are
clubs for the serious and social players, most clubs running more than one
side to cater for the variations in ambition and ability.
If you don't know of a local club try searching in the country-specific<--/a--> section, or failing that post a query to rec.sport.rugby<--/a-->.
In the US, studs may not contain nails and plastic studs with metal caps
are banned, as are American football boots with female studs, i.e. having
a threaded post that can become exposed.
Many players recommend that the "tight-five" forwards (i.e. front row and
locks) wear particularly sturdy boots with high tops. This is because
they tend to get their toes stood on a lot. Loose forwards
and backs usually prefer lighter weight boots for greater mobility.
The following is based on the numbering scheme for player's jerseys
currently laid down by the I.R.F.B. for International Matches.
It is commonly, though not universally, adopted by other teams.
(Common variations are the interchange of
6 and 7, the interchange of 11 and 14 or a renumbering of the backline
so that the wingers are 13 and 14. The English club Bath omit the no. 13
jersey because one of their players was once killed wearing it. Some
English clubs even use letters instead. Further, an interesting story is told
about a Scotland vs England match at Twickenham in 1926. King George asked the
president of the S.R.U. about the lack of numbers on the Scots
players' backs and was informed, "This is a rugby match, not a cattle sale".)
Anyway, assuming the displayed numbering scheme:
Players 1-8 are forwards (often referred to as the pack);
players 1-5 are sometimes called the tight-five, or
front-five, (players 1-3 are the front-row) and players
6-8 are the loose forwards (or loosies), or backrow.
Players 9-15 are backs.
and we also give a country by country list<--/a-->
including the position names in several non-English languages.
As can be seen there is quite a bit of variation. The IRFB has considered
standardizing the names but has not moved forward with this proposal. It
is worth noting though that the Laws of the Game already define the terms
prop and hooker. One problem with standardizing the names is that the positions
themselves are not completely standard. For example, many teams play left and
right centre rather than inside and outside centre and a few teams even
play left and right flankers.
Of more concern than the variation (which could be considered healthy
cultural diversity) are
some ambiguities and conflicts.
In particular the use of "wing forward" for a flanker is
not recommended (it's also an archaic term for an obsolete position
associated with the old 2-3-2 scrum, popular in NZ in the 1920s) nor is
"breakaway" for the no. 8 (some recognising the term as applying only to
the flankers).
Similarly the use of "halfback" requires caution (it being recognised
as applying only to the no. 9 position in some countries whereas
others consider both the no. 9 and no. 10 to be halfbacks). One should
especially avoid calling the no. 10 just plain halfback, without a
qualifier such as "outside". Possibly the worst abuse is the occasional
use of "lock" in Australia to refer to the no. 8.
(The halfback may put the ball in on either side of the scrum but only
an imbecile would not choose the loosehead side because otherwise
the opposing hooker would be between him and his own hooker.)
The traditional roles of these two players are somewhat different.
Since most of the back play is usually on the open side where there
is more space it is usually the openside flanker's job to be the first to
the breakdown of play and get his hands on any loose ball (or to cause a
breakdown by tackling the ball carrier or otherwise harrying him into
error). Thus, at a scrum where the ball has been won by the opposition,
he will generally break as soon as the ball is out and make a beeline for
the flyhalf who can be frequently seen desperately trying to get a kick
away from underneath the body of the openside diving into the
tackle.
The openside must therefore have very fast acceleration and
be very quick over short distances.
The blindside flanker on the other hand must be
able to stop a blindside move and if the play goes openside he must
then get to the breakdown as quickly as possible where he may be needed
to tidy up after the openside. While he must be fast he doesn't need
to be as fast as the openside and his role is more of a stabilizer
than havoc-wreaker.
1 2 3
6 4 5 7
8
9
10
11 12
13
14
15
A partial list of the individual position names is:
The previous record was held by Didier Camberabero of France who scored
30 points for France against Zimbabwe in the 1987 World Cup. This
feat was equalled by Rob Andrew for England against Canada in a test
on Dec 10 1994. (Andrew scored 6 conversions and 6 penalty goals.)
These two therefore tie for second place.
With thanks to Benjamin Clegg, now at
BENC@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU for many items.