That was a fantastic game between Lions and SA as was the 1st test. Can't wait for the 3rd test.


Union is slowly killing RL and unfortunately its due to the way SL is alienating the hard core support.

I have played both codes. Union is the better game to play cos you can express yourself more whereas in League the only room to manouvre is the room you make for yourself and then you get battered. There's no place to hide. But Union is a very good game to watch now mainly due to the influnce of RL...ie: Shaun Edwards, Joe Lydon etc...

Rugby League days are numbered unless they listen to the hardcore support in the North.


You love me really :O)

hmm, lets see, who would i rather watch


shane tronc destroying defences, or the little fat chap with the long hair from wales?

Have played both codes myself and yes i would rather play Union as there are more openings at amature level, there isnt as much kicking and there are plenty of tries but when it comes to watching it League wins everytime but if the RFL keeps trying to gets teams from all corners of Europe to join our leagues, we'll soon find tendences dropping and then Sky will bin it off start making Union even bigger

I don't think Union is killing league, as a spectacle its starting to catch up (and in some cases be better than) league.

I think the RFL's current policys are killing league (certainly outside of SL).

Whilst the game wants to expand I feel the arrogant way that it has gone about it (and the total disrespect it has shown its clubs and supporters outside SL) has only fuelled the notion that Lewis and co are chasing RU's areas and are obsessive of expanding.

The RFL need to retain support to expand and build the game strongly, I don't think its doing this , this current (part time ? ) RFL governing body does seem to be one of "lets do what we think a minority TV channel wants us to do" rather than be a proper leader and progressor of the sport.

Two differnent games, neither will destroy the other. Both are actually expanding and attendanaces are growing. No debate really!

dont kno how i have managed to put my reply in the other post above

Union is bloody awful, lions my ar[is[/ie half of them would struggle in the championship.

Should n`t this be O/T...

Get this. On Radio 5 this morning two areas that thr RFU are looking at, to make the game more open and faster are reducing the players on the field to thirteen and getting rid of "line outs". A while ago ( and I know I have said it before) there was an article in the Guardian sport section that was a vision (a fictiscious one all the same) that one day there would only one code which was just called "Rugby". Its coming And I hope it takes over from tat round ball rubish.

I actually watched the Second Test in Walkabout in Leicester...not sure how I managed to get out of there alive with every possible incident being met with "it's nowhere near as good as league, this"

I've said this before, if Rupert wants it then Rupert will get it.

Personally I dont think it would be a bad thing either. 13 men, 1 for a drop, 2 for a kick, 5 for a try - I might even be tempted to keep line outs rather than a non contested scrum.

Union is a crap game run by people who will do ANYTHING to destroy Rugby League. The problem is that the RFL, ARL, NRL and the Clubs have been run for decades by people who only care about themselves rather than the game as a whole. If Rugby League ever joined with Union I would simply walk away from it all. I was banned from playing Union. I know many others who had their Photos and records changed when they moved to League even at amateur level. Even today apparently in Europe certain people in Union are trying to stop people from playing the game in Serbia, Norway etc.
Rugby League should be strong enough to be a seperate sport as there is no need to merge. If Clubs were run properly then our game would be in a better position. If the RFL didnt have different rules for different Clubs then maybe people would be more likely to be interested-Gateshead have 4 Quota places whilst Leigh have 1. Leigh could get relegated in part due to the RFL giving Gateshead a big advantage over Leigh.

1 Place but no player , both refused visa's

Very narrow minded mate, the entire lions backline cud more than carry themself in at the very least the championship, and brian o'driscoll is as good as any centre in super league.

Although I am risking my sanity having read the first post on this thread, because I too have played both codes, I do agree with practically all of that original post.

Interesting note:

a London uni mate of mine came to Weymouth this weekend. He doesn't watch, or understand, either code.

First he watched the mighty Exeter Centurions beat South Dorset Giants in the South West RL Cup Semi on a local council field (Exeter won 56-14). Then he watched the 'best' two Union teams do battle in a game which was decided by the last kick.

His verdict? League is fast, open, great to watch. Union is technical, dull, obscured by piles of bodies and endless kicking.

I ended up in the very odd position of defending union.

I coach both. League is fantastic, the technical skill level is very high and the tactical coaching demands are extremely complex. Union requires much less individual skill, is slower, demands less fitness, and gives rise to far more dull and static games.

Union is no more a threat to RL now than it has ever been.

Well when i first started watching AND playing RL over 50 years ago I had no doubt which was the best of the two codes. Nobody did even those in the Valleys for example.

Any Rugby fan knows which is the best to play and the best to watch.

Difference is since TV money came into rugby one code has encouraged the grass roots and one hasn,t.

You have to ask the question. Why do Sale for example draw 5 figure crowds and Salford not ? Why can you turn up on the day and without a ticket pay to watch GB v Oz in the RL world cup final(I wish lol.) and try to pay on the gate at England v Argentina at raa raa and be turned away cos you haven,t got a ticket.

Corporate money and influence, mostly. From my experience in development areas, people who get the chance to see and play RL first hand generally find it more interesting that union from both perspectives. Not everyone, of course, but you only have to look at the experience in northern England and Oz where both codes have an equal crack and history. Sale get 5 figure crowds because they are the only top-level rah-rah club in the north west. The next one along is Sedgely Park. On any given average weekend, the numbers watching pro union in the catchment areas where there is pro league are pitifully small in comparison (Leeds Tykes, Sale Sharks)

Alll true of course but I still think the RFL need to spend TV money on clubs outside falling crowd Non Relegation league AND not just Championsip clubs.