Retiring scrum-half Danny Care has been given special dispensation to wear the number nine shirt in his final game on Sunday, despite being named on the bench.

Starting scrum-half Guy Porter will wear the 21 shirt after Harlequins were granted permission by the Premiership and opponents Exeter to go against convention and league-wide regulations.

It is believed to be the first time that 1-15 numbering has been relaxed for a player since it was standardised across the division more than 20 years ago.

Care announced on Tuesday that Sunday’s match at the Stoop will be his 395th and final appearance for Quins.

No player has made more appearances than the 38-year-old for the club in the professional era.

Care joined Harlequins from Leeds Tykes in 2006 and won two domestic titles during his time with the club.

Top-flight teams are mandated to wear the numbers traditionally associated with their positions.

Leicester and Bristol stopped wearing letters on the back of their shirts in the 1990s, although Tigers shirts have a letter above the club crest in a nod to the tradition.

Bath and Gloucester allow players to display the flag of a nation they have represented in the Test game on their club shirt, although the Cherry and Whites removed the Russian flag from the back of prop Kirill Gotovtsev’s earlier this season to fall in line with other sports and teams that have declined to display it since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.