Leeds Rhinos players to have Twitter names on shirts

Leeds Rhinos will become the first Rugby team ever to replace players' surnames with their Twitter usernames on the back of their jerseys.

The club announced the one-off initiative earlier today and the squad will wear the special shirts in Friday's match against Hull FC.

Of the 31-man Rhinos squad, 21 are active on the social media site.

Leeds Rugby Media & PR Manager Phil Daly said: "We are delighted that the RFL have allowed us to bring this initiative forward. Twitter has been fantastic for us as a tool for communicating with our fans and especially so for our players."

This is however not the first time that Twitter handles have been included on a sports shirt.

Earlier this year the NBA released a range of merchandise with players Twitter names while Spanish football side Valencia printed Twitter handles on the front of their jerseys last September while they looked for a new sponsor.