Rugby Union Positions
A rugby union team is made up of 15 players: eight forwards, numbered from 1 to 8; and seven backs, numbered from 9 to 15. Depending upon the competition, there may be up to seven replacements. Each player has a fixed role and each teams will therefore play in the same formation, with only slight variations in use. Rugby union is different from other sports such as soccer with its endless number of 'formations' (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).
Overview
Individual players' tasks are made clear by the number they wear, as this indicates their position (unless they are a substitute or have 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 or a squad number as in soccer. 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 Laws of the Game define the terms prop and hooker and clearly state that a 3-2-3 formation must be used at scrums.
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 shirts 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.
Rugby union positions
Loosehead Prop
Hooker
Tighthead Prop
Lock
Lock
Blindside Flanker
Number 8
Openside Flanker
Scrum Half
Fly Half
Inside Centre
Outside Centre
Left Wing
Right Wing
Fullback
Alternate names for positions
Prop: Prop forward
Lock: Second row or lock forward
Flanker: Wing forward or breakaway or flank or flank forward
Number 8: Eightman or eighthman or lock forward
Scrum half: Inside half, half-back or scrummie
Fly half: Outside half, out half, stand-off, first five-eighth, first five, or pivot
Inside centre: Second five-eighth or second five or centre
Outside centre: Centre or Centre Threequarter
Wing: Winger or Wingman or Wing Threequarter
Collective terms for positions
Front row: The props and hooker
Tight forwards or Tight 5 or Front five: The combined front row and second row
Loose forwards or Back row or Loosies:The flankers and the number 8
Half backs: Scrum half and flyhalf
Midfield: Centres plus flyhalf
Inside backs: The inside centre, flyhalf and scrumhalf
Three-quarters:Wingers and centres
Back three: The fullback and the wingers
Outside backs: The outside centre, wings and full back
The fly-half is alternatively called the "stand-off half", since they are the half-back that 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 halfback (the term halfback can cause confusion since some countries use it to refer solely to the scrum half, while other countries apply it to both the scrum half and the fly half) and the inside centre as the 2nd 5/8 implying a more forward position than a 3/4 back. Flankers may also, though this is more historic usage, be referred to as "wing-forwards" (it's also an archaic term for an obsolete position associated with the old 2-3-2 scrum, popular in New Zealand in the 1920s), or together with the No 8 as "loose-forwards", since they can quickly detach from scrums.
In Australia, the second row of the scrum are often referred to as "second row", the position behind them as "lock", the forwards on either side of the lock as "breakaways" (some apply the term to the number eight as well as the flankers), and the fly-half as "five-eighth".
As can be seen there is a lot of variation in the names of the positions. The IRB has standardised the names, yet the alternative names are still as common as ever before. A problem with standardised 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 or closed side) rather than left and right and there are also left and right flankers.
Backs
15. Full back
The role of the full back is primarily defensive; they stand back to cover defensive options as a 'sweeper' behind the main line of defence removed from the other backs. As the last line of defence good tackling skills are required.
They also have 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. Full backs sometimes act as main goalkickers.
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.
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.
They must also be good tacklers, if the other team get past them a big gain or a try is on the cards. They also often act as additional full backs on opposition kicks.
A modern use of the wing is as a link player. They retain all the traditional skills of a wing, but are able to combine these with skills more traditionally associated with half backs. As the play goes through multiple phases the scrum half or fly half may be taken out play, if this occurs the blind side wing can step in to perform a creative role.
13. Outside centre & 12. Inside centre
Centres need to have a strong all-round game: they need to be able to break through opposition lines and pass the ball accurately. When attack turns into defence they need to be strong in the tackle. Usually the two centres are divided into outside centre and inside centre, though sometimes teams play with left and right centres.
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. An outside centre should be very strong, fast and able to pass with pinpoint accuracy under pressure.
The inside centre tends to be the larger of the two centres and the largest back. 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. Some of the skills of the fly-half, such as distribution and kicking, can be advantageous to inside centres, as they may be expected to act as fly-halves if the normal fly-half is involved in a ruck or maul.
10. Fly-half
Fly half is short for flying half back because they take the ball on the run. They are probably the most influential players on the pitch. The fly half is the person who makes key decisions during a game such as whether to kick for space, move the ball wide or run with the ball themselves. 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.
9. Scrum-half
Scrum halves form the all-important link between the forwards and the backs. They normally act as the 'General' for the forwards and are always at the centre of the action. A scrum half is normally relatively small but with a high degree of vision, the ability to react to situations very quickly, and good handling skills.
They are often the first tackler in defence and are behind every scrum, maul or ruck to get the ball out and maintain movement. 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.
It is also not unusual to have talkative scrum-halves in competitive situations. Though technically illegal, most scrum-halves will subtly alert the referee to fouls and infringments commited by the opposing team.
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 jumpers in the line-out. Props are provide the main power in the push forward in the scrum, and it is for this reason that they need to be exceptionally 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 tighthead prop is so called because they pack down on the right-hand side of the scrum and so their head fits between the opposing loosehead prop and hooker. In contrast, the loosehead prop packs down on the left-hand side where their head is outside that of the opposing tighthead prop. Although it may look to the neutral observer that the two positions are quite similar (and some players have the ability to play on both sides of the scrum), the technical challenges of each are quite different.
The laws of the game require the tighthead prop to bind with his right arm outside the left upper arm of his opposing loosehead prop and similarly they restrict what the loosehead prop can do with his left arm. Although the scrum half may put the ball in on either side of the scrum, he is unlikely to choose the tighthead side because otherwise the opposing hooker would be between him and his own hooker. Hence, the laws implicitly require the loosehead prop to be on the left side of the scrum.
Props are also in the position of being able to direct the movement of the scrum in moving side to side to prevent the other teams scrum from "wheeling" the set scrum and forcing another "put in" from the opposing side
2. Hooker
The hooker uses their 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, but more usually beacuse they are the most skillfull 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.
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 their own side.
The two locks stick their heads between the two props and the hooker in the scrums. They are also responsible for keeping the scrum square and provide the power to shift it forward. (This position is referred to as the "engine room".)
Locks are normally tall, very athletic and have an excellent standing jump along with good strength. They also make good ball carriers, bashing holes in the defence around the ruck and maul.
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, and handling skills. Flankers are always involved in the game, as they are the real ball winners in broken play, especially the no. 7.
Flankers do less pushing in the scrum than the tight five, 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.
Flankers can be broken down into opensides (occasionally known as strong side), who attach themselves to the scrum on whichever side is further from the touchline and blindsides (occasionally known as weak side or closed side), who attach themselves to the scrum on whichever side is closer to the touchline.
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 their hands on any loose ball (or to cause a breakdown by tackling the ball carrier or otherwise harrying him into error). At a scrum where the ball has been won by the opposition they have the best view of when the ball is out. As soon as this happens they will generally break and quickly close them down, reducing the time they have to kick or pass. The openside is normally smaller, faster and more mobile as they start play nearer to the potential action and needs to be the first person to arrive at the breakdown.
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. They are generally larger as they have a more physical role to play at the line-out and may well be used as a jumper.
Flankers are not always divided into opensides and blindsides: French teams tend not to make a distinction between the two roles, and usually play left and right rather than open and blind. Nor do shirt numbers necessarily denote which role a flanker plays. South African teams tend to play the faster, more agile 'fetcher' in the six shirt, while the larger flanker wears seven.
8. Number eight
Number eight is the only position that does not have a specific name and is simply referred to as '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. The number 8 is the position where the ball enters the backline from the scrum and hence both fly half and inside centre take their role from the number 8 who as the last player in the scrum can elect to pick and run with the ball like a back. No other forward player from a scrum can legally do this. As a result the number 8 has the opportunities as a back to run from set plays.
Normally tall and athletic and used as an option to win the ball from the back of the lineout. Like flankers they do less of the pushing than locks or props, but need to be quick to cover opposition half-backs. A number eight should be a key ball winner in broken play, and occasionally a 'battering rams' at the front of rucks.
