Sorry to upset anyone but Rugby Union is terrible to watch, can you imaging going to LSV and watching people kick at goal at every opertunity? i'd rather watch Chess!

I couldn't agree more, i'm not big on soccerball, but at least they try and do something and the odd game is quite good.
There is NEVER a good game of yawnion.
The rules and point system contradicts everything that could make it good to watch, it's a rich, toff sport that is too stubborn to change it's draconian ways.
30 fat men is far too many people on a pitch to create anything remotely entertainting, and there are players in each team who's only skill is:
1. Being tall, that's it.
2. Good at kicking, because that's how you win.
3. Being good at pushing (think you need about 8 or 9 of these players)
4. Catching, and being ale to kick into the stands (full back)
All it is, is a rich sport, with all the media and colleges and middle class morons behind it, it can't fail, no matter what it does as it integrated into the middle class societies.

I hate it.

But you've probably guessed that.

Considering they kick at goal so much you would think they could get one over!! Nanyn would be a superstar Hooker in it haha

He's too thin for a Union hooker.

worst sport ever

And it does'nt look as though we are very good at it. Argentina nearly beating us today.

I think you should re phrase your post reading that at international level it is watched by the posh middle classes because they are the only ones who can afford the ridiculous price of the tickets.

Whatever you think of the sport, there is no denying the standard is SHOCKING!!!

Running, passing, etc, and you can sense there is no one at all that has the nous to create any chances, or use any flair.

Disagree with wurzel, it might not be a class thing in the South West, but it certainly is in the Home Counties, and thats why it gets so much media exposure.


Oh, and i hate it too!!!

Sorry Wurzel, your signature still makes me giggle.

Not an upper class sport in the Welsh valleys either. Cousin played at a good standard for years and he's as common as the rest of us

. BTW good luck to Wales against S'Africa tomorrow.

I think its the best signature on rlfans!!! So true as well.

I like the one that I quote that Yed wrote. Of Matty Blythe:

'he's like Kevin Penny on steroids, except he's good too'

Genius.

With Union their issue is the majority of teams play not to lose and not neccessarily to win big either, but to hopefully nick a few drop goals and penalties then pin the other team in their half so they have no chance of kicking goals.

If you saw the game this morning when the argies could only win by scoring a try with 5 minutes left they began to throw the ball about and had England desparatley hanging on. Now the question surley is why where they not doing this for the 75 minutes prior?

Bar the All Blacks, and possibly England and Australia (but only when 20+ up) no team in Union can successfully and at pace pass a ball, hence the reliance on kicking.

I HATE CHESS (each to their own)

So why watch a game where the rules stop the game from being entertaining? Just watch league!
It's like a goal in soccer being worth 2 and a free kick 1. It's easier to get 2 free kicks than 1 goal, so why bother, in union, it's easier to win 2 or 8 penalties than it is to score a try, there's too many people on the pitch to do so.

To be fair the French in the past have also thrown the ball around. But that game this morning was DIRE! England's biggest cheer was when they won a penalty from a scrum near the end, high fives all round. What sort of game is that?

aye, they should reduce drop goals/penalties to just 2 points.

and get rid of the flankers, line outs, introduce 6 tackles and play-the-ball...

I honestly think that the main reason rugby league fans hate rugby union, at the risk of upsetting a few people, just comes down to class, education and the 'North/ South divide'. Both games have skill involved, and its only completely blinkered comments from rugby league hardcore fans that say different. Ask a rugby union fan what they say think about league, they'll tell you they enjoy watching it in the pub on a Friday night but they'd prefer to play union. Ask a rugby league fan the same question and all you get is "Shit Union, kick n clap blah blah blah'.

Rugby Union is a bigger game than rugby league and always will be.

Ahhhh why cant you all just get along.

You can play onion without being particularly fit. There are PLENTY of people who are RU 'fans' (and I use that term loosely) because of the supposed social status and 'networking' it can provide. Many do not even know the rules, and have to be corrected by a 'thick' RL fan with 2 degrees who is a rocket scientist for a living. That game this morning was DOG EGGS, as have been many many many England games in the past (kick penalties, next to no ties). IF you do watch, how annoyed do you get when you see a scrum set 3 or 4 times because it moved round a few degrees and the scrum half arrised about for ages before passing it?

On the other hand I agree with a few other comments, in South Wales (not the North, many hate it!) it is not a middle class sport. Same in Bristol. It is still a bit middle class in NZ, hence why most NZRL players are Maori or Pacific Islanders, although they are less racists than most places to be fair.

Not true at all, but it's much easier to come out with cliches rather than actually ask, and I mean really ask. I watch both and regularly post on the union board (yes there is one on here). I've lost count of the number of union fans who over the years have posted on RLFans with the sole intention of causing trouble, but I've yet to hear of a rugby league fan trawling union forums trying to pick an internet scrap. There are close-minded zealots in both sports so please don't do the usual thing and lazily trot out the ignorant, Northern, chip on shoulder rugby league fan spiel.
You say 'class, education, North/South divide' as if they are bad things. Are you sure it's wise to come onto a Leigh board and have a go at Northern working class people? I know plenty of people from the lower working classes right through to upper middle classes and I can tell you I've met my fair share of idiots throughout the social spectrum. Some of the kindest, most intelligent people I've met work in factories or clean houses whilst others run their own companies.
What has an education got to do with league or union? Do you honestly think all union fans went to university? Union is a grounded, working class game in and around Bristol and Gloucester. I myself went to university, am a fully qualified English teacher and speak three languages. Should I therefore ditch Wigan for Wasps?
As for the North/South comment, are you aware that there's plenty of rugby league in the South just as there are hundreds of union clubs in the North?
And so what if union is a bigger sport than rugby league? Forget the fact that domestically it's on its in Australia and that many professional and semi-pro clubs in England are bleeding money. Forget the fact that attendances are down this year. Forget the fact that the game in Ireland, Wales and Scotland was in such dire straits that they had to go through a process of slash and burn followed by continual tinkering which has brought us the Celtic/Magners/Pro-12 competition. Forget all that because to a fan of rugby league it doesnt matter. It doesnt matter that the sport is smaller than football, union or cricket. What matters is that they get to watch their sport of choice and support their team.
There's nothing like rugby league fans when it comes to knocking your own sport so the constant sneering in the press and media when it comes to the game is just not necessary.

Any RU fan reading these posts will be laughing their heads off. All written by people who don't understand the game, have never watched it, never tried to understand it. RU players at the top level are as fit and athletic as any you will see in SL as for being fat our league looks like an advert far fat fighters at times.
As for being an upper class sport I am sure the people at Leigh and Tyldesley RU clubs would find that really amusing there are just as many if not more RU clubs in the NW as there are RL clubs.
It is this narrow minded one eyed view that keeps our game where it is a very distant second.

I played RU from age 11 to 18. My younger bro refs the game.

It is an enjoyable game to play but it it is extremely boring to watch if you watch England or any of the other home nations. That is self evident.

Sometimes I have been to the odd game and in my experience local club games do have more passing and less kicking but it still gets tedious very quickly for me.

In this country there are about 10 teams who draw decent crowds the rest rely on player subscriptions.

Why it is so popular with the middle classes astonishes me maybe they are thicker than we thought they were. Ask someone in the South East who claims to be a fan and you will see what I mean.

They would never go to a footie game' for them it is far too common.

I agree with that mate. I played the game to a vaguely successful level which is where it stopped being fun. Having played League before (and only really knowing how to play that code of rugby) I wasn't really cut out for doing a certain job (and only that job) which is attributed to a particular position in Union. When I was younger you could get away with playing off the cuff because it wasn't really that serious. As you progress in years it becomes more structured (which is fine if that's your bag and you're prepared to play the game 'properly') but it wasn't mine.