Rugby Union

Rules, etc.

Players allowed per side, until 1877		20
Height of the crossbar		10 feet (3 metres)
Maximum distance between the goal line and the dead ball line		22 metres
Number of players in the scrum (per side)		8
Centre of the front row		Hooker
Other front row forwards		Props
Second row forwards		Locks
Either side of the No. 8, in the back row (formerly known as wing forwards)		Flankers
Puts the ball into a set scrum, and feeds it out to the backs; wears No. 9		Scrum half
Link between the scrum half and backs; marks the opposing scrum half; wears No. 10		Stand–off, fly half, or outside half

History

Playing Positions

No.		Position	No.		Position	No.		Position
1		Loosehead prop	2		Hooker	3		Tighthead prop
4		Number 4 lock	5		Number 5 lock	6		Blindside flanker
7		Number 8	8		Openside flanker	9		Scrum half
10		Fly half	11		Left wing	12		Inside centre
13		Outside centre	14		Right wing	15		Fullback

Up until the dawn of the professional era, Bath RUFC normally had no Number 13. The outside centre wore 14, the right wing 15, and the fullback 16.

Other

Credited with inventing rugby football (at Rugby School, in 1823); the (Union) World Cup trophy is named after him		William Webb Ellis
Home International Championship instituted		1884
France joined, making it the Five Nations tournament		1910
Rugby Union went professional		1995
Italy joined the Five Nations, making it Six		2000

Premiership Rugby

First season			1987–8
Original champions (1987–8, and on 9 more occasions up to and including 2012–13 – more than any other club, up to and including 2015–16)			Leicester Tigers
Number of teams			12
Points for a win			4
Points for a draw			2
Minimum number of tries for a bonus point			4
Maximum losing margin for a losing bonus point			7

Sponsors

1987–97 (brewing company)		Courage
1997–2000 (life assurance group)		Allied Dunbar
2000–5 (insurance group)		Zurich
2005–10 (brewing company)		Guinness
2010–18 (insurance company)		Aviva
2018 to date (one of the world's largest insurance brokers)		Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Players

Venezuelan–born French full back (and wing), 93 caps 1980–91 – then a world record		Serge Blanco
Australia's all–time leading try–scorer: 64 in 101 matches, 1982–96 – more than any other player except Daisuke Ohata of Japan (69)		David Campese
England captain 1988–96: three Grand Slams (1991/92/95), World Cup final 1991; sacked after describing the General Committee of the Rugby Football Union as "57 old farts"		Will Carling
New Zealand fly–half, 2003–15: vied with Jonny Wilkinson to be the leading all–time international points scorer, but comfortably claimed the record after Wilkinson's retirement; Man of the Match in the 2015 World Cup Final (scoring 19 points in a 34–17 win over Australia); BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, 2015		Dan Carter
New Zealand player, nicknamed 'The Boot' – scored 207 points in 31 Test matches, 1956–64		Don Clarke
Controversially denied a try for England in the 2007 World Cup final		Mark Cueto
Captain of Wales's Grand Slam winning team in 1971, and of the first and only Lions team (up to and including 2017) to win a Test series in New Zealand – also in 1971		John Dawes
Captain of Wales, 78 appearances and 33 tries, 1987–98		Ieuan Evans
Passed Jonny Wilkinson's total to become England's leading points scorer, during the 2023 World Cup		Owen Farrell
Scored all of England's points in a 27–10 victory over Argentina in the 2023 World Cup (6 penalties from 6 attempts, and 3 drop goals before half–time)		George Ford
Scotland's most–capped player (passed Chris Paterson's 109 in his last international, in 2017)		Ross Ford
World record points scorer in a first–class career – 7,337 for Nottingham, Leicester, England, Lions, Nottinghamshire, 1971–89		William 'Dusty' Hare
Played 61 Tests for Scotland, 1986–95 – 20 as captain; captain of the 1994 Lions; his younger brother Scott made his debut in the same match as him (v. France in 1986) and went on to win 64 caps		Gavin Hastings
77 caps for Wales, 1991–2003; first player to score 1,000 points in Tests; world record for number of international points scored overtaken by Jonny Wilkinson in 2008		Neil Jenkins
Wales captain: overtook Richie McCaw's record as the world's most–capped player, in 2020; named as Lions captain for the 2021 tour of South Africa; retired from the international game in 2023, with 158 caps for Wales and 12 for the Lions		Alun Wyn Jones
Captain of the victorious British Lions in South Africa, 1997, and of England's World Cup winning side 2003		Martin Johnson
South Africa's first black captain (2018): led them to victory in the 2019 World Cup		Siya Kolisi
English prop forward, 1990–2004: 114 caps for England, 5 for the Lions; the first England player (still the only one, in 2020), and the first forward, to win 100 caps; the world's most–capped player, until overtaken by Australia's George Gregan in 2006		Jason Leonard
Scored four tries against England in the semi–final of the 1995 World Cup		Jonah Lomu
Australian fly half, 72 caps (1984–95); record of 911 international points broken by Neil Jenkins		Michael Lynagh
Irish lock, played a record 63 times for Ireland and 17 times for the British Lions, 1962–75; captain in South Africa 1974, when the infamous "99" call (a signal for all 15 players to start fighting) was introduced		Willie John McBride
All Blacks captain, 2006–15 (including the 2011 World Cup champions): overtook Brian O'Driscoll's record as the world's most–capped player, in 2015, but lost it to Alun Wyn Jones in 2020 (last cap 2015, final total 148)		Richie McCaw
England's most–capped hooker; most consecutive England caps		Brian Moore
Russian prince who won four caps for England, 1936 – scoring two tries in their first victory over New Zealand – killed in WWII while training as a pilot officer		Alexander Obolensky
Ireland's most–capped player: 141 appearances, 1999–2014, including 84 as captain		Brian O'Driscoll
Captain of the South Africa team, surprise winners of the 1995 World Cup		Francois Pienaar
Scotland's record points scorer (as of 2021 – total 809), and most caps on his retirement in 2011 (passed by Ross Ford in 2017)		Chris Paterson
Scored England's only try in the 2003 World Cup Final victory over Australia		Jason Robinson
Capped for both England and New Zealand in the 1980s		Jamie Salmon
Last to gain full caps for England at both rugby (1 cap 1956) and cricket (50 Tests, last 1972); also captained the cricket team in 25 Tests, 1963–6		M. J. K. (Mike) Smith
Scored a record seven tries in the 2018 Six Nations, as Ireland won the Grand Slam		Jacob Stockdale
Made the longest successful penalty kick in an international (210ft 8½", 64.224 metres), for Wales v. Scotland in 1986		Paul Thorburn
England's leading try–scorer (49, 1984–96; also 1 for the Lions); RAF pilot		Rory Underwood
Scotland lock forward (61 caps, 1990–2000): died of motor neurone disease in 2022, aged 52 (having been diagnosed in 2016); a trophy was inaugurated in 2018, in his name, to raise awareness of the disease, to be presented to the winners of the annual (Six Nations) match between Scotland and Wales		Doddie Weir
Passed Neil Jenkins's total to become the leading points scorer in international rugby union, March 2008 (but see Dan Carter); retired in 2011 as England's highest ever points scorer, with 1179 (plus 67 for the Lions); record surpassed by Owen Farrell in 2023		Jonny Wilkinson
Wales's all–time leading try–scorer: 58 in 87 matches, 2000–11; also scored 2 for the Lions, making a total of 60 in all internationals – more than any other player except Daisuke Ohata of Japan (69) and David Campese of Australia (64)		Shane Williams
Harlequins wing at the centre of the Bloodgate scandal, 2009		Tom Williams

Coaches

England National Coaches (since 1997)

1997–2004		Clive Woodward	2004–6		Andy Robinson	2006–8		Brian Ashton
2008–11		Martin Johnson	2011–15		Stuart Lancaster	2015–22		Eddie Jones
2022–		Steve Borthwick

Coached England for one month in 2008, before Johnson took up his post

Rob Andrew

Country that Eddie Jones coached to and at the 2015 World Cup		Japan
Club that Steve Borthwick coached immediately prior to taking up the England job		Leicester Tigers

Other

Born Leeds; 32 caps for Scotland, toured with the Lions in 1974 and 1977; coached Scotland 1988–2003 and 1999–2003; coached the Lions in 1989, 1993, 1997, 2009; also coached Northampton and was Director of Rugby at Wasps; knighted 2010		Ian McGeechan
Harlequins coach, banned for 3 years for his part in the Bloodgate scandal, 2009		Dean Richards
Coach of Bath RUFC during their 'golden era' (1978–94); went on to coach England 1995–7. Died in 2024, aged 87		Jack Rowell

Internationals

Trophy for matches between Australia and New Zealand		Bledisloe Cup
Trophy for matches between England and Scotland (made from rupees)		Calcutta Cup
Trophy for matches between England and New Zealand (since 2008)		Hillary Shield
England's opponents when Erica Roe streaked (1982)		Australia
Beaten 110–0 by England in 1998		Holland
Winners of the inaugural Six Nations tournament (2000)		England

World Cups

Year		Hosts		Winners
1987		Australia and New Zealand		New Zealand
1991		England (played in all of the Five Nations)		Australia
1995		South Africa		South Africa
1999		Wales (played in all of the Five Nations)		Australia
2003		Australia		England
2007		France		South Africa
2011		New Zealand		New Zealand
2015		England (6 matches were played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)		New Zealand
2019		Japan		South Africa
2023		France

European Champions' Cup

This competition was first contested in the 1995–6 season. Until 2014 it was known for sponsorship reasons as the Heineken Cup, and similarly, since 2018 it's been known as the Heineken Champions' Cup. The following table lists past winners in the order that they first won it.

	1996, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2021		Toulouse
	1997		Brive
	1998		Bath
	1999		Ulster
	2000		Northampton Saints
	2001, 2002		Leicester Tigers
	2004, 2007		London Wasps
	2006, 2008		Munster
	2009, 2011, 2012, 2018		Leinster
	2013, 2014, 2015		Toulon
	2016, 2017, 2019		Saracens
	2020		Exeter Chiefs
	2022, 2023		La Rochelle

Clubs

Formed in 1890 as a result of a meeting at the Alexandra Hotel, Bradford; spiritual home (until c. 1970) was the Esplanade Hotel, Penarth, Glamorgan		Barbarians
Recreation Ground: home of		Bath
Founded in 2003 by the merger of Bridgend and Pontypridd; folded in 2004		Celtic Warriors
The only team to have won all of the top four divisions in English rugby: promoted to the Premiership in 2010, champions in 2017, and both Premiership and European champions in 2020; also topped the Premiership table in 2018 and 2019, but lost the play–off final on both occasions – both to Saracens		Exeter Chiefs
Plays home games at Sandy Park, purpose–built in 2006
Kingsholm: home of		Gloucester
Play home games at The Stoop; Will Carling's club, and Brian Moore's; involved in the "Bloodgate" scandal of 2009 – coach Dean Richards, player Tom Williams		Harlequins
Home ground Welford Road; nickname The Tigers		Leicester
Play home games at Reading's Madejski Stadium		London Irish
Birmingham's biggest Rugby Union club		Moseley
Wales's oldest club, founded in 1871; nicknamed The Welsh All Blacks; plays home games at The Gnoll (see Ospreys)		Neath
Nicknamed The Saints; home ground Franklin's Gardens		Northampton
Monmouthshire club that provided the formidable front row of the Welsh national team, in the 1970s: Charlie Faulkner (loose head prop), Bobby Windsor (hooker) and Graham Price (tight head prop) – as celebrated in song by Max Boyce; also known as 'the Viet Gwent'		Pontypool
Share the A. J. Bell Stadium (previously Salford City Stadium) with Salford Red Devils RLFC (previously Salford Reds); previously (2003–12) played home games at Edgeley Park, Stockport		Sale Sharks
Play home games at Allianz Park, part of the Barnet Copthall leisure complex in Hendon, North London; previously (1997–2013) played at Vicarage Road, Watford		Saracens
Based at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, since 2014 (after buying it outright); based in Sudbury, Middlesex, 1923–97; first English champions of the professional era (1996–7); played at Loftus Road, home of Queens Park Rangers FC (1997–2002); Adams Park, home of Wycombe Wanderers FC (2002–14); included the word London in their name, 1999–2014		Wasps

Wales

Following the move to professionalism in 2003, the Welsh Rugby Union created five regional clubs, which are 'fed' by the traditional Welsh rugby clubs. The number was reduced to four in 2004 when one of the five went bankrupt (see below).

Based in Llanelli; dropped "Llanelli" from its name in 2008		Scarlets
Shares the Liberty Stadium with Swansea City FC; dropped "Neath" and "Swansea" from its name in 2005		Ospreys
Owned by Bridgend and Pontypridd RFCs; went bankrupt in 2004		Celtic Warriors
Based at Cardiff Arms Park		Cardiff Blues
Based in Newport, Gwent; dropped "Newport Gwent" from its name in 2017		Dragons

Other

Brumbies play home games in

Canberra

Nicknames

Argentina			Pumas
Australia			Wallabies
Japan	Originally		Cherry Blossoms
	More recently		Brave Blossoms
New Zealand			All Blacks
South Africa			Springboks
USA			Eagles

Other

Won the county Championship seven times in eight years, 1958 – 65		Warwickshire
Watsonians RUFC: based in		Edinburgh
Ireland's home of international Rugby Union matches (closed for renovation, 2007–9)		Lansdowne Road
Ireland's largest stadium, used during the renovation of Lansdowne Road		Croke Park
The home of 7–a–side rugby (town in the Scottish borders)		Melrose
Sponsors of Europe's most prestigious international club competition, from its inauguration in 1995 until 2013 (Dutch brewer)		Heineken

Colours of the socks worn by the Barbarians

Each player wears his own club socks

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24