What is a prop?
Each rugby team consists of eight forwards, two of whom are known as props.
These players have traditionally been required to add strength and power to the set piece. Pushing hard in the front row of scrums and lifting at the lineout.
However, as the game has sped up and players have become fitter, props have started to become a presence around the pitch.
Where do they line up?
Props help form the front-row of a scrum, lining up either side of the hooker.
The names for each prop - loosehead and tighthead - derive from the position they take up in the scrum.
When the two front-rows form the scrum, the prop on the left side of the front row - or loosehead - is locked into it by only one opposition player. The tighthead by contrast, puts their head in between two opposition players.
What jersey number do they wear?
Loosehead props traditionally wear number one and tightheads number three.
What do you need to be a good prop?
Strength, power and a willingness to put your body where others wouldn’t. Increasingly, deft hands and a quick turn of pace too.
Who should I keep an eye on at RWC 2025?
England’s Sarah Bern (pictured above in full flow v Italy this year) is the archetypal modern-day prop. A powerful scrummager with the ability to make hard yards, she has the footballing ability of a centre in the loose. Will win a scrum penalty one minute, embark on a lung-busting 60-metre charge upfield the next.
Hope Rogers (pictured at the top of the article scoring against Australia in 2024), the USA’s most-capped women’s player, meanwhile is a more old-school front-row. Arguably the world’s best loosehead, she enjoys nothing more than scrummaging - but also chips in with an impressive amount of tries.
