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Have hacked my way through this one - thanks to those who provided help. One thing remains - why is Rugby in the title? I cannot see any connection with game? Is it something to do with the School? Thanks

I could be wrong, but as far as I can tell it's that there's a line on a rugby field with a name which is relevant for one of the thematic lines

Thanks SmellyHarry
You are correct. It is is the 22 which is relevant (in their last game my beloved native Wales entered the South African 22 twice in 80 minutes and bungled it on each occasion).

Interesting crossword, with some quite chewy clues. Nice one, Mountain Ledges — is that a new setter? Great first puzzle if so.

Like others, I struggled to click the parsing of 36a and 6d even after guessing how they must work, so thank you to those who helped explain those :-) I am still struggling to parse 7d and 8d, even after reading darla@50 — that’s exactly what I’d guessed, and I just can’t spot a word that truncates to that! And it’s the middle two words of 8d I don’t get. If anyone can give me a little final nudge it will help. Oh, and I still don’t see how the title fits even after googling numerous rugby pitch diagrams after earlier comments — can someone drop a less subtle hint that a non-sports person may be able to look up?! Thx

7d The abbreviated word is musical
8d If you know the correction, you can work out what 'last' was originally; then remove the outer letters.
Both are examples of find-the-answer-then-work-out-the-wordplay, which for me is not the way crosswords should work.
As for the title, I'm like you.

One of the lines on a rugby pitch is the 22 which is also a relevant thematic “line”

Thanks mack, I’d just ringed the wrong letter in 8d after working out what had to change! 7d, that’s meaning 17 in BRB? Yes, I see it now, but boy that’s quite a stretch… And thanks candledave, I was looking up whether the lines had particular names or what-have-you and didn’t think just about the number: another pretty thin link I think, but hey it’s just the title I suppose. Apart from the few clues that needed back-working I enjoyed most of the puzzle so I shan’t complain. Thanks all!

Catching up on this and still lost on 4a and 39a even after reading the generous nudges here. Twice!

4a: Have a few letters - suspect there's a clash at the end - but can't even find a word that fits. My letters seem correct from posts here.

39a: Have a couple of letters including the first.

Any more nudges very welcome - not seeking to exceed the proper guidelines of the forum.

Have a pretty good idea of the theme, but not sure that's a help for these two.

Many thanks!

Yes there is a clash in the last letter of 4a. Definition is last two words. Flowers are not botanical as is common in these. One of them I had not heard of but is in the UK. Both go inside a word for large part. 39 a word I did not know. Definition is first two words. A word for upon + “head of engineer” inside a four letter word for uniform.

Thank you, Darla. Just enough to get me there!