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The positions taken by rugby players and the odd person going to park beside school (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

props

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'the positions taken by rugby players and' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'odd person going to park beside school' is the wordplay.
'odd' indicates alternate letters.
'going to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'park' becomes 'P' (abbreviation as on an automatic car's gear lever).
'beside' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'school' becomes 'S'.
The alternate letters of 'person' are 'pro'.
'pro'+'p'+'s'='PROPS'

'the' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for props that I've seen before include "Forward types" , "Items used on stage" , "Set" , "forwards" , "Buttresses" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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