The Puzzle below marks the start of the Rugby Union Autumn Internationals.
- There are 15 clues numbered (unsurprisingly) 1 to 15.
- The answer to each clue is the surname of an international Rugby Union player.
- There is no definition in the clues, only the cryptic part.
- Rearrange the numbers, along with their answers, in an order familiar to all the players.
- The initial letters of the answers in the new order will produce a phrase giving more details of where the new number order would be found.
The answers to the clues are:
- First of all known instances (3) Aki (Bundi - Ireland)
- Hawthorn month (3) May (Jonny - England)
- Discordant tones surrounding unknown (6) Sexton (Jonathan - Ireland)
- Earthly resort (7) Hartley (Dylan - England)
- Sound like slippery characters (5) Eales (John - Australia)
- X Factor contestants missing intro, end up with second (7) Edwards (Gareth - Wales)
- Jogged in the road back, consumed by atmosphere (8) Stransky (Joel - South Africa)
- Found in a tar pit in Dallas (7) Tindall (Mike - England)
- Second part of church constructed in reverse (5) Evans (Ieuan - Wales)
- Edit - don't insert all points (8) Townsend (Gregor - Scotland)
- Breaking only limits guns (6) Youngs (Ben - England)
- Half a dozen return following boyfriend (7) Beauxis (Lionel - France)
- Nagger becomes deranged (6) Gregan (George - Australia)
- Stuck into rum again (5) Umaga (Tana - New Zealand)
- Phone used for engagement (4) Ring (Mark - Wales)
Putting these in the order
15 Ring
14 Umaga
13 Gregan
12 Beauxis
11 Youngs
10 Townsend
9 Evans
1 Aki
2 May
3 Sexton
4 Hartley
5 Eales
6 Edwards
8 Tindall
7 Stransky
Spells out RUGBY TEAM SHEETS which is where you will find this number ordering. Teams are listed with the Backs first, in descending order, followed by the forwards, in ascending order, except the back row listed 6, 8 and 7. [Although they are often listed 6,7 and 8 nowadays, we stuck to the traditional method!]