no. of players

Question
This may fall outside your remit!

I just wanted to know how and when the number of players in a team went down from 15 to 13. Rugby Union has 15, but Rugby League has 13. At some point, when the latter evolved from the former, the number dropped to 13. Any ideas?

Thanks.      CDA,   from the UK.  

Answer
Greetings,

Fifteen men versus thirteen:

Apparently, it was result of the attempt by the RFU to control 損rofessionalism?in the growing sport of rugby that it was feared would change its face in the same way that professionalism had already changed soccer (association football).  Additionally there was the continuing dominance of the working class counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire where the middle class club owners/sponsor routinely paid the players.  Many of these players were miners and could not afford the time off from working to play to play a "gentlemen's game".  It was an ugly scene with that reflected the class conflict common in Britain at this time.  

The RFU coined the term 揳mateurism?in the 1890s to counter the growing trend for professionalism, especially in the north.  Many of the best players and clubs were at that time from the working class communities in the north and where for intents and purposed, professional.

As the 1890s progressed, the RFU continued to broaden its definition of professionalism.  This effectively required the northern teams to play without their best players.  In 1895, the RFU definition of professionalism added two important provisions- games were professional if they played on a pitch where gate money was taken, or a game was played with less than 15 men per side(a concept that the northern teams were pushing to make the game more dynamic).  

After the great divide of 1895 where the Northern Rugby Union (the term "Rugby League" was to come later), two separate types of rugby developed.  During the development of Rugby League, many rule changes to the laws were made to make the sport more attractive to the paying customer.  One of these rules enacted in 1906 was to reduce the teams to thirteen men per side.  The two flankers were taken from the scrum.  This has led to game more based on running that in turn made it more exciting to the spectators.

Again I apologize for this taking so much time.  I hope it was what you were looking for.

Thank you,

Deane Shephard
Stuttgart RFC



I apologize for not answering this in a timely manner.  I am learning a new job in Germany and moving into an apartment.

I should have a response by Friday.

Thank you,

Deane