Size differences in scrum-halves across the Premiership, PRO14 and Top14
Scrum-half is one of the positions in a XV that has certain stereotypes and traits. There is a notion of what a player in this position should look like compared to others where there is more diversity. Across the backline, there can be an astonishing gulf in height and weight between two opposing players of the same position.
While that is less common with those wearing the No9 shirt, there are indeed differences.
Comparing the height and weight of players in Europe’s top three leagues, the Top 14, the Gallagher Premiership and the Guinness Pro14, helps in providing a clear-eyed summary of these differences.
The best round of fixtures to compare each league was probably the first weekend in January, which was sufficiently spaced between the Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations, before European fixtures and before the COVID-19 pandemic suspended all play.
As it turns out, this hiatus midway through the season has meant some players have already left their clubs ahead of the new Top 14 season, or the resumption of the Premiership and Pro14. The majority of the players are still with the same clubs, and their statistics have been taken from their club’s website.
Across the three leagues, the average height of scrum-halves barely wavers. Both the French and English leagues’ players were an average height of 1.76m (5ft 9ins), while the players in the Pro14 were 1.77m (5ft 10ins).
Scrum-halves are traditionally the smallest players on the field, although there are exceptions, so these heights are not that surprising, neither is the fact that there is little differentiation between the leagues.
This is a position where the height of a player is critical with regards to the speed at which the ball is delivered from the floor. Consequently, there were only five players who were 1.8m or over across all three leagues, which demonstrates the predilection in the game to opt for shorter players, and why therefore there is a lot of similarity in approach.
There is, however, some contrast when looking at the weight of scrum-halves, which can essentially be boiled down to France versus ‘the rest’.
No9s in the Top14 were 79kgs (12st 6lbs) on average, compared to the Premiership and the Pro14, which were both 5kgs heavier on average at 84kgs (13st 3lbs).
This is a sizeable distinction between France and the other leagues, which comprise six different rugby-playing countries, but it is one that adheres to the Gallic custom in this position.
As packs have grown in size progressively over the years, so have scrum-halves, allowing them to remain competitive and pose a threat around the breakdown. Both the Premiership and Pro14 are littered with players that seek to cause trouble around the fringes of the ruck. Conor Murray, the tallest and heaviest scrum-half in Europe on this weekend, is particularly dangerous, and his haul of 14 Test tries for Ireland bears testament to his strength despite usually being surrounded by forwards.
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Murray is an exceptionally big scrum-half, but there were others in England and the Pro14 comparable to him in size. Similarly, there were many other players who are equally as potent on account of their pace. Names like Danny Care, Dan Robson and Harry Randall in the Premiership and George Horne and Tomos Williams in the Pro14 are just some examples of players who are as threatening as Murray, but in different ways.
French culture has always had a different view of the role of the scrum-half to England and indeed the rest of the world. The moniker ‘The Little General’ is often given to French scrum-halves for a reason; they are tacticians, possibly more so than the fly-half.
A place-kicking scrum-half is as common as a fly-half in France, where it is virtually unheard of in England. Likewise, many No9s in France are equally adept in the No10 shirt as well. Dimitri Yachvili, Morgan Parra and Maxime Machenaud are all France’s most capped scrum-halves this century and all suit this model of what is required from that position.
This is not to say that scrum-halves are not one of the primary tacticians and distributors in a team elsewhere in the world, but there is a greater requirement that players bring more to the table individually.
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Given the French approach to this position, it is not that strange therefore that their players are that much lighter than those in the rest of Europe. The heaviest and tallest player in the league during this gameweek was former All Black Tawera Kerr-Barlow at 1.87m (6ft 2ins) and 91kgs (14st 5lbs), who is obviously from another rugby culture. After the Kiwi, the next heaviest player was Lyon’s one-cap Frenchman Jonathan Pélissié, a whole seven kgs lighter.
France’s incumbent ‘demi de mêlée’ Antoine Dupont is of course different from the stereotypical No9 in his country, but it may well be his dynamic and countercultural approach that is helping rescue France from the doldrums. The Toulouse man is clearly different from his national rival, Toulon’s Baptiste Serin, who is much more akin to the ideal of a French No9.
Like all positions, this is one that has been subject to change over the years; these figures may have been even lower in the past, as there has been a new breed of scrum-half since the 2000s, spearheaded by the likes of the All Blacks’ Byron Kelleher and Wales’ Mike Phillips, with the Welshman almost serving as another loose forward at times.
But this division between France and the other leagues assists in showing the different ways in which scrum-halves are used, and illuminates the cultural differences that exist.
Top14
Agen
Paul Abadie- 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 88kgs (13st 12lbs)
Lyon
Jonathan Pélissié- 1.79m (5ft 11ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Racing 92
Teddy Iribaren- 1.7m (5ft 7ins)/ 70kgs (11st)
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Greig Laidlaw- 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 78kgs (12st 4lbs)
Bordeaux-Begles
Yann Lesgourgues- 1.77m (5ft 10ins)/ 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Bayonne
Guillaume Rouet- 1.68m (5ft 6ins)/ 74kgs (11st 9lbs)
Montpellier
Enzo Sanga- 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 75kgs (11st 11lbs)
Brive
Julien Blanc- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 77kgs (12st 2lbs)
Pau
Samuel Marques- 1.74m (5ft 9ins)/ 76kgs (12st)
La Rochelle
Tawera Kerr-Barlow- 1.87m (6ft 2ins)/ 91kgs (14st 5lbs)
Toulon
Baptiste Serin- 1.8m (5ft 11ins)/ 76kgs (12st)
Castres
Jeremy Fernandez- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 78kgs (12st 4lbs)
Stade Francais
James Hall- 1.73m (5ft 8ins)/ 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Toulouse
Sébastien Bezy- 1.74m (5ft 9ins)/ 77kgs (12st 2lbs)
Average: 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 79kgs (12st 6lbs)
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Gallagher Premiership
Sale Sharks
Will Cliff- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Harlequins
Danny Care- 1.73m (5ft 8ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Saracens
Richard Wigglesworth- 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 86kgs (13st 8lbs)
Worcester Warriors
Michael Heaney- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 80kgs (12st 8lbs)
Gloucester
Willi Heinz- 1.8m (5ft 11ins)/ 89kgs (14st)
Bath
Chris Cook- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 92kgs (14st 7lbs)
Leicester Tigers
Ben Youngs- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 88kgs (13st 12lbs)
Bristol Bears
Harry Randall- 1.73m (5ft 8ins)/ 72kgs (11st 5lbs)
Wasps
Dan Robson- 1.73m (5ft 8ins) / 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Northampton Saints
Cobus Reinach- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
London Irish
Ben Meehan- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Exeter Chiefs
Nic White- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Average: 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Guinness Pro14
Ulster
John Cooney- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 87kgs (13st 10lbs)
Munster
Conor Murray- 1.88m (6ft 2ins)/ 93kgs (14st 9lbs)
Cardiff Blues
Tomos Williams- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 77kgs (12st 2lbs)
Scarlets
Gareth Davies- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 88kgs (13st 12lbs)
Edinburgh
Henry Pyrgos- 1.78m (5ft 10ins)/ 83kgs (13st 1lbs)
Southern Kings
Stefan Ungerer- 1.84m (6ft)/ 90kgs (14st 2lbs)
Leinster
Luke McGrath- 1.74m (5ft 9ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Connacht
Caolin Blade- 1.7m (5ft 7ins)/ 80kgs (12st 8lbs)
Zebre
Josh Renton- 1.74m (5ft 9ins)/ 82kgs (12st 13lbs)
Cheetahs
Tian Meyer- 1.77m (5ft 10ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Dragons
Rhodri Williams- 1.76m (5ft 9ins)/ 81kgs (12st 11lbs)
Ospreys
Aled Davies- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 86kgs (13st 8lbs)
Benetton Treviso
Dewaldt Duvenage- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 79kgs (12st 6lbs)
Glasgow Warriors
George Horne- 1.75m (5ft 9ins)/ 79kgs (12st 6lbs)
Average: 1.77m (5ft 10ins)/ 84kgs (13st 3lbs)
Comments on RugbyPass
Those are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
133 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
8 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
8 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
133 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
133 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
133 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
8 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
8 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to comments