Although that everyone seems to think that rugby league is on its uppers, and is struggling to survive against the the threat of rival codes, yet still RU seems to be learning from us, Watching the highlights of a French RU game the other day, I saw the attacking side barge over and be held up. 5 metre scrum, I thought. But no. The commentator said something about the 'new rules', and the defending side did a drop-out just like in league! I was chatting to the sole RU fan in my local, who was an ex-ref , and is pretty genned up about the rules, and he said, yeah, that's right, and they're also bringing in an 40/20 equivalent.
I noticed the drop out rule the other week for a held up in goal. It was a All Black's game against Australia. Wasn't aware of the rule till then . Its a good rule for RU as 5 metre scrums can take forever and you can loose the will to live at times
Although that everyone seems to think that rugby league is on its uppers, and is struggling to survive against the the threat of rival codes, yet still RU seems to be learning from us, Watching the highlights of a French RU game the other day, I saw the attacking side barge over and be held up. 5 metre scrum, I thought. But no. The commentator said something about the 'new rules', and the defending side did a drop-out just like in league! I was chatting to the sole RU fan in my local, who was an ex-ref , and is pretty genned up about the rules, and he said, yeah, that's right, and they're also bringing in an 40/20 equivalent.
They learn from us, can we not take advantage?
its pretty obvious:
1 - Look at how their international game is viewed, watched/attended and marketed / international game as a whole 2 - Participation levels in schools across the country 3 - Participation levels at amateur level across the country
1 - Look at how their international game is viewed, watched/attended and marketed / international game as a whole 2 - Participation levels in schools across the country 3 - Participation levels at amateur level across the country
It’s an interesting perception from the outside looking in.
Not a wholly accurate one though.
A good friend of mine who worked for the RFL for a long time and is now involved with another sport (not RFU) was invited to attend a week long Rugby Union Directorship course and came away of the option the problems in Union are very similar but on a larger scale than those he faced in league.
You only need to look at the level of the recent bail outs during the pandemic to understand the financial issues around the sport.
Outside of the Football world and even thereonly at the top level all soprts have suffered massively over the last couple of years. The pandemic has shown the fault lines in the ecconomics of most sports, for many years now, outside of the football top divisions, sponsorship/tv money and advertising revenues have been falling.
RU for all it likes to potray itself as a successful sport is far from it outside of the Intrnational game is actually not that wildy popular in that does not have a high prifile for the club game on TV really any more so than RL as a general viewing option outside of fans of the sport.
I suspect that a lot of sports (other than football which is the darling of the TV & media companies) are falling victim to competition from other activities especailly among younger people - it would be interesting to see a breakdown of the crowds at RU games and see if they are having the same aging fan base as RL is I suspect hthat would be the case.
I think that's very true, and a lot of the people who might regards themselves as union fans are only really interested in the Six Nations and other internationals, rather than caring that much about Bath or Harlequins. But of course that only points up the weakness of the international game in league,
But the broader point is surely this: I can't be the only person who thinks that rugby union would be a much better sport all round if they played the existing rules but had one or two less players on the pitch. The rules were codified for an amateur game way back when when the forwards were the fat lads who couldn't play football. I'm not saying they should do this, or that I want them too, just that if they did, they would be a greater threat to league than they are now.
Since Union went professional and formed leagues and european cup competition, their game is now not just about International rugby like it was prior to 1995.
You only have to look at their increases in attendances and the resultant expansion of ground capacities in their Premiership.
Even Sale Sharks are after buying the AJ Bell Stadium.
But the broader point is surely this: I can't be the only person who thinks that rugby union would be a much better sport all round if they played the existing rules but had one or two less players on the pitch. The rules were codified for an amateur game way back when when the forwards were the fat lads who couldn't play football. I'm not saying they should do this, or that I want them too, just that if they did, they would be a greater threat to league than they are now.
Undoubtedly. The issue however is that, same with RL, people like different things/styles of the game. There's a big % of RU fans that love seeing the ball kept tight and in the forwards. It's a no brainer to those who watch league (especially the NRL) to suggest dropping a few players to create space, but people like what they like.
Personally, I think we're well past a point of saturation when it comes to men's sports. There is almost an infinite choice of options for people to watch. We talk about "growing the game of RL", but I can't see how that's possible for any sport tbh. Football is top dog and we've all seen that people rarely stop watching it. They may fall out of love with the PL, but a lot then just move down the pyramid to watch non league footy.
Maybe the future is in women's arena? Sadly tho, not only is a absolute dog turd, but it suffers from the same fragmentation we've spoke about above with the men's game.
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