The Club tile explained: current clubs, past clubs and South African teams

The Club tile is the one players ask about most. It looks simple, but rugby careers aren't: a Springbok might play for a Currie Cup side and a Super Rugby franchise at the same time, move overseas for a few seasons and then come home. This guide explains exactly how the tile works and why.

The rule in one line

• Green: your guess's club is the mystery player's current club, or their last club if they've retired.
• Gold: the mystery player has played for that club, but it isn't their current or last one.
• Grey: they never played there.

The club shown on your guess's tile is always that player's current or last club. So the question the tile answers is: where is the mystery player now, and have they ever been here?

Why the last club, and not the "main" one?

We thought about using the club a player is best known for, like the Bulls for Victor Matfield or the Sharks for John Smit. The problem is that "best known for" is a judgement call, and a tile has to be fair and checkable.

The last club is a fact. For current players it's the team they turn out for this season, which is what most fans know. For retired players it's where their career ended, which is often a surprise: many Springboks finish their careers in Japan, France or England. That surprise is part of the game. A grey Club tile on a guess you were sure about is a clue in itself.

The most appearances rule still matters, but it lives in the second hint. After 7 guesses you can reveal the mystery player's top 3 clubs by appearances, for example "Stormers (118), Sharks (49), Western Province (34)". That's the "best known for" view, as a hint you choose to take.

How we decide the last club

Each player's clubs come from the teams listed in their Wikipedia profile, with the seasons and appearances for each. The last club is the team whose seasons end latest:

• A stint with no end date ("2022–" or "2022–present") means the player is still there, and it beats everything else.
• If two teams end in the same season, a union's Currie Cup side gives way to its own franchise. A player who finished at both the Blue Bulls and the Bulls in the same year counts as a Bulls player.
• After that, the stint that started later wins.

When a player's seasons are missing or wrong, we fix them by hand, so the tile can be trusted.

South African teams: why there are two of almost everything

This is the part that catches people out. Each of the big South African rugby unions fields two different teams:

• a Currie Cup side, which plays the domestic competition
• a franchise, which plays Super Rugby (and now the United Rugby Championship)

Bokdle keeps them apart, because they are different teams with different squads and different seasons. Renames and sponsor names count as the same team.

So if your guess's club is Western Province, the tile is grey for a mystery player who only ever played for the Stormers. That isn't a mistake: the two are different teams in the data. It also works the other way, as a clue. A gold tile on Western Province tells you the answer played Currie Cup rugby in Cape Town at some point, which is usually early in a career.

A few more details:

• The Cats (1998 to 2005), the joint Super Rugby side of the Lions and Free State, are their own team.
• Smaller unions, like the Pumas, Griquas, Leopards and Boland, have one team each.
• Second-string "XV" sides count as their union's Currie Cup side.

Overseas clubs

More Springboks than ever play abroad, and they count too. Toulon, Saracens, Montpellier, Leinster and the big Japanese clubs all appear as last clubs in the data. Each club has one name, so "Stade Toulousain" and "Toulouse" are the same club, as are "Bath Rugby" and "Bath".

Invitation sides like the Barbarians don't count as clubs.

How to use the Club tile well

• A green tile is strong but not decisive. The Stormers, Bulls and Sharks are each the last club of many possible answers. Combine green with the Debut tile to narrow it down.
• A gold tile is a career clue. It tells you the answer passed through that club. For a retired player, gold on a South African franchise often means "started at home, finished abroad".
• An overseas club that comes back green narrows things a lot. Only a few possible answers finished at any one overseas club.
• Mind the union split. If you think the answer is "a Western Province player", try a guess whose last club was the Stormers. That's where most careers end.

Past answers show the range. CJ van der Linde finished at Montpellier and Ricky Januarie at Agen, while Jesse Kriel plays for the Canon Eagles in Japan. Meanwhile Steven Kitshoff and Damian Willemse both have the Stormers as their last club.

For the rest of the tiles, read How to solve Bokdle.