=#0000BFDo you still regret your decision to not prove yourself against the greatest ever club rugby side - Wigan - in the 1996 cross-code challenge? Yours in sport, [iJohn Marchant, England[/i No, I don't and I never will. My reasoning is that we were never going to beat Wigan at rugby league and, if Bath played properly in union, Wigan's forwards wouldn't have been able to walk off the pitch, because they didn't know how to scrum. I didn't disapprove of the concept or what happened because the games helped break down barriers, but I didn't need to play in them. It may sound a tad arrogant but I felt I didn't have to prove myself at rugby league, and even if I had felt that way I certainly couldn't do that playing for a rugby union side against one of the best sides in the world - Wigan had an unbelievable side with unbelievable stars. Jonathan Davies has told me before - and I respect his view - that I would have enjoyed rugby league, and for me that's good enough. I don't regret not playing and I don't regret not going to rugby league, but I do like watching rugby league. news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8410924.stm

=#0000BFDo you still regret your decision to not prove yourself against the greatest ever club rugby side - Wigan - in the 1996 cross-code challenge? Yours in sport, [iJohn Marchant, England[/i No, I don't and I never will. My reasoning is that we were never going to beat Wigan at rugby league and, if Bath played properly in union, Wigan's forwards wouldn't have been able to walk off the pitch, because they didn't know how to scrum. I didn't disapprove of the concept or what happened because the games helped break down barriers, but I didn't need to play in them. It may sound a tad arrogant but I felt I didn't have to prove myself at rugby league, and even if I had felt that way I certainly couldn't do that playing for a rugby union side against one of the best sides in the world - Wigan had an unbelievable side with unbelievable stars. Jonathan Davies has told me before - and I respect his view - that I would have enjoyed rugby league, and for me that's good enough. I don't regret not playing and I don't regret not going to rugby league, but I do like watching rugby league. news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8410924.stm

It does sound arrogant, but I agree with the basis of his comments

I can't see why he didn't want to accept the challenge or taste the experience.

I think he's happy to be branded arrogant opposed to accepting that he was frightened to death.

Are DVD's still availiable. If so does anybody have a source. Would be interesting to watch again as i have not seen since.

I've seen the games on a generic video hosting website.

Shaun Edwards missed the game for the same reasons. In many ways the game was a pointless exercise but both games made a good spectacle. As he said, their forwards took it easy on us in the union game. They could have turned it into a ruck and maulathon but they tried to make it an open game which kept us involved.

We had a 40 year old graeme west and inga playing in the forwards. It was the best game Shem tatupu played for us though.

Exactly the reason he didn't play imo.

As for his comments about Bath not playing 'proper Rugby Union' against us at Twickers I wouldn't have liked to have sat through the first 60mins if they'd have played anymore boring! To be fair though we had to take our fair share of blame for that as we went and tried to actually play Union instead of running them ragged League style. We realised after 60 mins it just wasn't working trying to play the Yawnion way and started to throw the ball around leading to 3 of the best trys Twickers as ever or will ever see



I was only talking about that game with my girlfriend the other day whilst watching top gear. They had a range rover on with a champagne fridge built in and it reminded me of the pre match picnics the Bath and Wiganers had.............they were having cucumber sandwiches, strawberries and champagne out of the back of the range rovers whilst the Wiganers were having cans of Skol and pork pies out of carrier bags

Of course it was boring. It was a union game 13 years ago when open rugby and professional levels of fitness weren't an option. In fairness to Bath, they did try and play an open game. The league game was ridiculous though. They couldn't even tick Robinson, never mind about tackle him. Robinson's performance in both games and the sevens, proved to be quite costly for the game of league.

That being said, we had already nicked Inga, Quinnell, Tatupu, Davies, Deveroux, Bentley, Bateman, Gibbs, Koloto, Offiah.......................................

It's hearing people talk about things like this that makes me think I'd started supporting Wigan at the wrong time

Boston, Sullivan...

Marking Inga was his real reason not to play..the guys a bitch

You can say that about Shem Tatupu again,

Anyway still say Guscott was a coward though

I'll see your Boston and Sullivan and raise you John Gallagher & that Namibian fella.

Andre Stoop?

That's the fella. I always get him mixed up with the NZ sprinter, Gary Henley-Smith.

Aye. It does rhyme doesn't it

It's what happens when you get to your mid thirties

Still clinging on to them?

All the way to 40

I actually rated him and was sad to see him go, took some time to settle in but started to play pretty well at the back once he got his confidence, which was clearly shot after a poor start.

Remember him having a cracking game vs London at "The Stoop" coincidentally.

Guscott may have thought he had good reasons for what he did, much as Long may have thought he had good reasons for abandoning England in Aus a couple of years ago. But in both cases, they should have looked beyond the end of their immediate personal interest and tried to see how it would look.

Whatever either of them says, it's left them open to all kinds of semi-justified criticism: Guscott's career has never been taken seriously by RL fans ever since - his no-show that day was seen as typical of a man who only liked playing against non-tackling opposition, and cowardice because he didn't want the world to realise that he was actually nothing like one of the best threequarters in Britain. In Long's case, it was seen as yet another gross misjudgement by someone who'd achieved what I once thought would be impossible - indulge in off-field antics so tasteless that they came to overshadow his on-field talent.

In both cases, they'd have done better to turn up and go through the motions. That way, there wouldn't have been questionmarks agaisnt them for the rest of their careers.

Despite the advent of open professionalism and the like in union little has changed in thirteen years.

In what way has little changed?

It was a response to Pemps' comment that thirteen years ago union was boring.

However I should point out that the game has changed somewhat since the cross code games.
With open professionalism has come the need to win at all costs thus collecting the all important prize money and sponsorship that gopes with success.
This has led to ever increasingly guarded, defensive and negative tactics from coaches. Look at the last two rugby union world cup finals for two prime examples.

Guscott didn't play as he didn't want his looks destroyed. He knows full well that getting tackled in RL is much more serious than what goes for tackling in Union.

Guscott wanted a TV presenters job pure and simple.