The 2023 Rugby World Cup has started, and we have already witnessed France vs. New Zealand, Italy vs. Namibia, Ireland vs. Romania, Australia vs. Georgia, England vs. Argentina, Japan vs. Chile, South Africa vs. Scotland, and Wales vs. Fiji. It’s been full of blood, sweat, and tears; and that’s just from the fans!

If this is your first Rugby World Cup, or at the very least, the first time you’ve seen rugby, then firstly, congratulations and welcome to the club. Secondly, if you have observational skills like the Question, you would have noticed the players’ jerseys; namely the numbers on their backs.

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Just like any team sport that requires players to wear numbers, their number denotes their position. And rugby has some pretty messed up positions. There are 15 (1-15) players in a team, with another 8 (16-23) as reserves, so 23 in total.

So what I’m going to do today, is try and explain what these positions mean and what the player’s job is during the game. Because I’m a New Zealander, I’ll use Kiwi terminology, but I’ll add other names for positions that other countries use as well. Also, the person that gets the honour of wearing the number 8 jersey, has the greatest positional name in rugby, and maybe in all of sport.

The Positional Numbers

1.) Loose-head prop

2.) Hooker

3.) Tight-head prop

4.) Lock (Second row)

5.) Lock (Second row)

6.) Blind-side flanker

7.) Open-side flanker

8.) No. 8

9.) Half back (Scrum half)

10.) First Five (Fly half, First 5/8)

11.) Left wing

12.) Second Five (Inside Centre, Second 5/8)

13.) Centre (Outside Centre)

14.) Right wing

15.) Full back

Job done then, right? Great Caesar’s Ghost, the answer is no!

The team can be divided into two groups: forwards (1-8) and backs (9-15). There is no better way to illustrate the differences between the two groups, than when there is a scrum or a line-out. All of the forwards are packed together into a scrum, or standing in a line behind each other for a line out. The backs on the other hand, will be standing side by side, stretched out across the field when either a scrum or a line out is taking place.

Rugby is a sport where all body types can be used and celebrated. This is because each position needs a specialised player with a particular body type and skills. Traditionally, forwards are larger but slower players, while backs are usually smaller, but faster.

Alright then, what’s special about the positions?

Explaining the Positions:

Front Row (Props and Hooker/Numbers 1-3)

Body type in the community:

This is easy. The best way to describe what body types props and hookers would have, would be a bouncer. You know the type, their arms and legs are the same size; they’re born without a neck; they can bench press a small car; and they won’t take any shit from anybody.

What‘s a prop’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

Their job is to “prop” up the scrum, support the hooker, and add lift to the line-out jumpers.

Informal answer:

Their job is to be a human bulldozer and to take as many defenders down as they can. They are also experts in the dark arts.

What‘s a hooker’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

Their job is to “hook” the ball with their legs during a scrum and to throw the ball in at the line-out.

Informal answer:

Their job is to be an extremely niggly player, that acts like they’re a saint, but they’re actually the devil in disguise. If the referee pulls them up for a penalty, the hooker will deny it; even with 20 m wide screens, showing them committing the crime.

Second Row (Locks/Numbers 4-5)

Body type in the community:

Locks would have the body type of basketball players: tall and muscular. However, the difference here would be instead of bouncing a ball on a court, these people have declared that they would rather suffer cauliflower ears, head trauma, broken bones, or torn ligaments than play basketball.

What‘s a lock’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

A lock’s job is to form the second row in the scrum, receive the ball from the kick-off, and be a primary jumper at the line-out.

Informal answer:

Their job is to have the best shoplifting hands on the field, to be lectured by referees half their size, and to be at the bottom of every ruck and maul.

Loose Forwards (Flankers and No. 8/Numbers 6-8)

Body type in the community:

Do you remember how members of the front row would be described as bouncers? Well if they’re the bouncers, then the loose forwards would be the crazy, tough idiots starting fights in the bar/club or in the line outside.

What‘s a loose forward’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

A loose forward has several jobs like being a secondary jumper at the line-out, supporting the ball carrier around the ruck, giving protection at the breakdown, and searching for the ball.

Informal answer:

There have been many epic quests throughout pop culture, like Frodo and Sam’s mission to destroy the One Ring at Mt. Doom, Thanos collecting the Infinity Stones, Ahab’s obsession with Moby Dick, Darkseid searching for the Anti-Life Equation, Ang to master bending of all four elements, and Andy Stitzer’s quest to lose his virginity.

But they all pale in comparison to a loose forward’s mission to hunt and find the rugby ball. They are lunatics, running around searching for the ball during tackles and breakdowns. They are either off their medication or need to be on some, because they are single-minded in their conviction to find and secure the ball for their team.

Half back (Number 9)

Body type in the community:

Picture any group of people working in sales with various body sizes. The half back would be the smallest of them; toned, small, quick, and very talkative.

What‘s a half back’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

Like a hooker, the half back is a singular specialised player. Their job is to be the link between the forwards and the backs; to feed the ball into the scrum; to receive the ball from the line-out; and to gather the ball at breakdowns, to either pass or kick it.

Informal answer:

The half back’s job is to yell at everybody and to tell them where they need to be. Half backs are also well versed in rugby laws since they are always telling the referee what to do. They love pointing out the illegal things the opposition is doing to the referee, as well as convincing the referee that the illegal things their own team is doing are perfectly legal.

Inside Backs (First Five, Second Five, and Centre/Numbers 10, 12, 13)

Body type in the community:

These players are usually attractive, decisive, fast, and agile. You’ll see them at the gym working out and looking fabulous. They are the ones posing during photo shoots for underwear adverts.

What‘s a First Five’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

When the First Five receives the ball, they will either run, pass, or kick it. If they kick the ball, they need to decide if they are kicking for territory, forcing the other team to kick the ball out, forcing the other team to make a mistake, or setting up a scoring situation. They are usually the player that kicks the goals.

Informal answer:

Their job is to crush the opposition by doing three things: kicking penalty goals and conversions from anywhere on the field, landing drop goals, and forcing the opposition back 50-80 m through territory kicks. If a First Five is constantly doing this in a game, it is soul-destroying for the other team.

What‘s a Second Five and Centre’s job in a rugby game?

Formal answer:

Their job is to support the First Five, create line breaks, kick for territory, supply cover defence, and to follow set pieces.

Informal answer:

When done correctly, the deadly partnership of the Second Five and Centre can bust open teams; but also crazy enough to act like loose forwards at the breakdown. Their job is to make the game a living hell for the opposition’s back line. They’re very clever, fast, and dangerous; but still look like a model as they do it.

Outside Backs (Wingers and Full back/Numbers 11, 14, 15)

Body type in the community:

These players will look like inside backs, except for one difference; their speed. These players are generally the fastest on the field, so look for people who like working out, but also sprinting. Outside backs are also great dancers, because of the work they do to evade being tackled.

Formal answer:

These players need to be able to catch the high ball, but also chase it. They need to be strong enough to fend off tacklers, but also to tackle around the waist and legs. Outside backs are try-scoring machines because of their speed.

Informal answer:

These players love to humiliate teams by evading tackles, applying the side step, outrunning or chasing someone down, producing try-saving tackles, but mainly by scoring a huge amount of tries.

What’s your favourite or least favourite rugby position? As always, please let me know.

I hope these blogs are coherent enough for you to be interested in the Rugby World Cup. If it has, I’ll congratulate myself with some Salt and Vinegar chips. If not, I’ll schedule a meeting with the writing team.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. I’m also on Twitter and Mastodon, where I post about things that I think are quite cool. Maybe.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch some Rugby World Cup games, and I’ll see you next week for our next stop on the Tour of the Solar System. Good times.

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