Seven.
Its actually impossible to provide an accurate figure. This is due to the fact that there are so many unaffiliated union and league teams around the world. These include school teams local community teams, workplace teams without including those from junior levels, gender related etc.
The rules for team sizes in both codes are the same world wide as the governing bodies enforce strict regulation to meet conformity In union its 15 players plus substitutes league its 13 plus substitutes on each side
There wasn't a 2009 Rugby World Cup
rugby
The best rugby player in the world of 2012 is.... Dylan Hartley
Generally their is 2 types of rugby. Rugby Union (15 Players) and Rugby League (13 players). The rules differ but they remain very similar sports. Rugby Uniuon is also played on a sevens basis accross the world.
England have the most registered players with 2.5 million
Branny g
The country have 23 players at a world cup.Eleven on the field rest are substitutes.
Rugby Union players. They are better publicised on the world stage. They gain more money from sponsorship deals. Rugby Union is a more popular sport so people are more willing to pay to see them.
World-wide rugby is more popular in terms of number of players and fan bases.
It's hard to say, generally soccer players all need to be very quick, but in rugby some players do little running. Brian Habanna is probably the quickest rugby player in the world and may be quicker than Cristiano Ronaldo when running, however a 20st forward would be slower. The quickest rugby and soccer players may be similar, but the slowest soccer player would be quicker than than slowest rugby player.