9. John Smits pants
He may have been formerly the world’s most capped captain – the South African hooker (and occasional prop) led the Springboks 82 times (in a total of 110 Tests) and played in 46 consecutive international matches – but Smit also had one of the more unusual superstitions in rugby throughout his career: the only colour of underwear that he would use on match day would have to be black, believing it would be bad luck to wear any other.
10. Bath Rugby and the omission of number 13
For decades Bath played without a number 13, meaning former outside-centre Jeremy Guscott was not in the normal number for his position. Sadly, the original omission of the 13 shirt dated back to the death of Clifford Walwin, who was kicked in the spleen in a match against Cross Keys on December 27, 1919. Despite undergoing emergency surgery, he died the following day and the interim period which followed saw the shirt removed completely.
11. Touching every corner flag
Before the warm-up I’ll run out and touch every pole. I have to touch all four corner flags,” Joe Cokanasiga told the England Rugby Podcast.
The Fiji-born star said he’s been doing the flag-touching routine since joining London Irish in 2015.
12. Putting the boot in
Henry Slade has developed a reputation among other players for taking 15 minutes to lace his boots and his driven mates round the bend with his obsessive habits.