Put your 15 players on the pitch, draw your phases of play, export a clean image or an animated GIF and share your team in one tap. National heroes, world legends, your club mates — from prop to fullback.
Pick your formation, place your 15 players on a real pitch (in-goal, 22 m and halfway lines, H posts) and add their photo. Walk away with a clean image ready to share.
The rugby tactics board. Place players and opponents, draw passes, runs, kicks and zones, then animate your phase step by step.
TeamBranch reproduces the official structure of a rugby union XV: 8 forwards (the pack), 7 backs (the line), a captain, a tactical formation. Fifteen positions, fifteen calls, from number 1 to number 15.
Draft from the current England squad (Maro Itoje, Henry Pollock, Marcus Smith, Fin Smith, Tom Curry, Ellis Genge, Tommy Freeman), the red-rose immortals (Jonny Wilkinson, Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Jason Robinson, Will Carling), the stars of Premiership Rugby and the Championship, or pick from the All Blacks, Springboks, Wallabies, Pumas, Six Nations rivals. You can also build a side made entirely of mates for the Sunday morning park run.
Pick the team that walks out in Perth on 1 October 2027. Trust Borthwick's current core, blood the new caps, or go all-time. One title in 2003, three finals lost — 2027 is the first proper shot since 2007.
Pick the side that takes le Crunch in Paris, the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield, and the Triple Crown through Wales and Ireland. England's 13 Grand Slams is the championship record. 2003 remains the peak.
Mix the Saracens trophy machine, the Leicester Tigers dynasty, the Northampton Saints 2024 champs, the Bath Rugby revival, the Harlequins attack. Throw in Sale's Curry twins, Exeter's grunt, Gloucester's Shed. The best XV of the league, your call.
Your old man at prop, mate at hooker, brother at scrum-half, sister on the wing. Upload your own photo cards for the club final, the touring side, the stag weekend, or just the post-match in the clubhouse.
From the first Test at Raeburn Place on 27 March 1871 (lost to Scotland by a goal to nil) to the new dawn under Steve Borthwick at Allianz Stadium, the men of the rose have carried the home of the game: 1 World Cup, 13 Grand Slams, the oldest Test rivalry on Earth. On TeamBranch you can replay every generation — or rewrite the finals that got away.
The game was invented at Rugby School in 1823 when, the legend goes, William Webb Ellis "took the ball in his arms and ran". The RFU was founded in 1871 at the Pall Mall restaurant, the first ever rugby Test followed weeks later against Scotland. Then came the quiet amateur century: Wakefield in the 1920s, the 1957 Grand Slam, Bill Beaumont's 1980 Slam (the first since 1957).
The Will Carling era of the early 1990s was Twickenham's awakening. Three Grand Slams in five years (1991, 1992, 1995), the swagger, the brand. England hosted and reached the 1991 World Cup final — lost 12-6 to Australia, Campese stepping the ghost. The drumbeat for 2003 was already starting.
The pain of the 1995 semi (Lomu's four tries, 29-45 in Cape Town) forged a culture. Clive Woodward took over in 1997, dragged English rugby fully professional, hired sports psychologists, vision coaches, kit designers. His team in the early 2000s — Martin Johnson captain, Wilkinson at 10, Dallaglio at 8, Robinson on the wing, Greenwood in the centre — became the most complete rugby team in the world.
Then came Sydney, 22 November 2003. Extra time, scores level at 17-17. Matt Dawson's reverse pass, Martin Johnson's hold, Jonny Wilkinson's drop goal off his right boot. 20-17. The only Northern Hemisphere World Cup. Heroes' welcome at Heathrow, MBEs all round. The hangover lasted four years — 2007 silver to South Africa was a glorious failure built on the same old men.
The post-Woodward years were turbulent. Stuart Lancaster's clean-up after 2011's "dwarf-throwing" tour was undone by a brutal 2015 — England became the first hosts ever eliminated in the pool stage. Eddie Jones arrived in late 2015 and won 24 of his first 25 Tests, the 2016 Grand Slam, the famous 19-7 win over the All Blacks in the 2019 RWC semi. Then lost the final to South Africa, then a slow erosion to 2022.
2024 brought Steve Borthwick, the cerebral former Leicester boss. New game plan, refreshed squad: Itoje captain, twin Smiths competing at 10 (Marcus and Fin), Henry Pollock the back-row sensation, Ben Earl and the Curry twins. Heading to Australia 2027 with the deepest squad since 2003 — and a quiet plan.
A rugby XV runs out with 15 starters and 8 replacements: the pack and the line, the forwards and the backs. Each jersey number maps to a specific role. TeamBranch reproduces this grammar for your lineup, one to fifteen.
The pack (1 to 8) is about set-piece and contact: scrums, lineouts, mauls, rucks. The backs (9 to 15) are about movement: handling, territory, running lines, finishing. All of it under a captain, who can wear any number.
Each generation has its faces, its system, its rivalries. On TeamBranch you can rebuild these XVs exactly, or change one name and see what happens. What if Lomu hadn't existed in 1995? If Wilkinson hadn't broken? If Tindall had married into the family earlier? Answer in 60 seconds.
It was a moment of clarity in a sea of chaos. The boys had done the hard work. I just had to put my foot through it.Jonny Wilkinson, on the 2003 World Cup-winning drop goal in Sydney, 22 November 2003
Build the XV that runs the 2026 Six Nations and the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Mix the leaders (Itoje, M. Smith, F. Smith, Earl, Curry, Genge) and the new caps (Pollock, Feyi-Waboso, Murley, Cunningham-South). Your starting XV, your bench, your captain.
Jason Robinson at fullback, Jonny Wilkinson at 10, Will Carling at centre, Lawrence Dallaglio at 8, Richard Hill at 6, Martin Johnson captain, Neil Back at 7, Jason Leonard at prop. Build the all-time XV in white, from 1871 to 2026.
Mix the black-and-red Saracens, the green-and-white Tigers, the black-and-gold Saints, the blue-and-white Bath, the multi-colour Harlequins. Throw in Bristol, Sale, Exeter, Gloucester, Newcastle. The best XV of the Prem, your selection.
Step out of the white jersey: Antoine Dupont (FR) at scrum-half, Cheslin Kolbe (RSA) on the wing, Henry Pollock (ENG) at 7, Maro Itoje (ENG) at lock, Siya Kolisi (RSA) captain, Will Jordan (NZ) at 14. The World XV that would make Borthwick reach for the analytics laptop.
What if you wore blue, green or red instead? Build the all-time French XV with Dupont, Penaud, Alldritt; the Irish XV with Doris, Ringrose, the Sheehans; the Welsh dragons with Halfpenny, North, Faletau; the Scottish XV with Finn Russell. Le Crunch, the Old Enemy, the Calcutta Cup — all in one tab.
Pick your county or school: Yorkshire white rose, Cornwall Trelawny's army, Lancashire red rose, Devon, Gloucestershire, Cumbria. Throw in school heritage: Rugby School (where it all started), Eton, Harrow, Sedbergh, Millfield, Wellington. Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, the Bedford Blues.
Women's rugby's gold standard. Holly Aitchison at 10, Abby Dow on the wing, Ellie Kildunne at fullback (Player of the Year), Zoe Aldcroft at 6, Marlie Packer captain, Megan Jones at 13. Four Grand Slams in a row, one defeat in 30+ Tests, RWC 2025 at home in England as favourites after the 31-34 heartbreak in Auckland.
Mike Tindall at 13 (royal in-law, 2003 squad), Princess Anne as RFU patron, Will Carling at captain, Daniel Craig at flanker, James Corden at hooker, Mr Bean on the wing. Or go full fictional: James Bond at fullback, Sherlock at fly-half, Paddington as water carrier. The only XV where the Royal Box gets involved in the team talk.
Upload your own photo cards. Stick your brother at 10, your mate at prop, your cousin on the wing, your dad as captain. The club Saturday XV, the touring side, the team for the stag tour, the Sunday morning park XV. Custom and unlimited.
The Rugby World Cup 2027 kicks off down under from 1 October to 13 November, expanded for the first time to 24 nations. Venues: Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne. England — runners-up in 1991 at home, in 2007 in Paris, in 2019 in Yokohama — is chasing a second title under Steve Borthwick, with the deepest squad since 2003 and the twin Smiths competing for the 10 jersey.
On TeamBranch, build your 2027 XV by scenario: Borthwick's current core, post-Premiership form XV, all-time selection, full Pollock-Itoje back row. Editable in two clicks.
International rugby rotates around a tight circle. Tier 1: the six European nations (England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy) and the four SANZAAR sides (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Argentina). On TeamBranch you can build the XV of any nation: current squads, all-time legends, or your perfect mix.
Premiership Rugby is England's top flight — 10 surviving clubs in 2026 after the collapses of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish in 2022-23. Below it, the Championship keeps the dream alive with Doncaster, Ealing, Coventry, Bedford and friends. Above, the Investec Champions Cup with the URC and Top 14 clubs. On TeamBranch you can build the type-XV of any club, or a competition-wide all-star side.
Every team built on TeamBranch generates a unique link + an Open Graph card with photos, numbers and a red-rose banner. Share it on WhatsApp, X, Insta, challenge your mates, kick off the clubhouse WhatsApp argument.
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