Not this again.

Id rather wigan beat keighley in the third round of the challenge cup than England win anything.

Wigan every single time.

Utter garbage.

Exactly. There would be a little column in the corner of the daily mirror, about 6 pages in from the back. International RL fans are extremely deluded. It doesnt make any difference to wigan or SL if england win the thing, or get knocked out in the first round.

When I asked the question a few weeks ago on the saints site it was probably 60-40 to England on here 80-20 England(is that fair)on the Warrington site 90-10 for Warrington,I think that shows to be honest they are just desperate to win on Saturday because they haven't won it for 55 years.On any football site that i have seen and i have seen many it is always 99% for the local team and 1% for England.

Honestly, I'd prefer a Wigan win. I do support England and will be going to quite a few WC games, but for me and from a selfish point of view, I would prefer a Wigan win by a mile. Obviously i'd be chuffed if England won the World Cup, but I pay my money to watch Wigan all season.

England every time.
I was a teacher in Skem when England R U won the World Cup in 2003. Even though, naturally, the kids were mad on soccer, this win really enthused them to play rugby and they kept asking me when the rugby season was due to start. It was obviously the win and not the game that excited them because that final was dreary. England R U haven't really looked back since then and I feel a win for England rugby league would be immense.

But you'll be paying to watch the World Cup games.

I'd probably agree with you if I was Scottish, they really should sort out the eligibility criteria. Having a load of Englishmen and Australians turning out with Scottish colours on will hardly get the nation interested or give your average Scottish kid much incentive to take up rugby league

The americas cup got more air time on sky sports news than the playoffs did. Thats how seriously the rest of the sporting world and SKY takes RL. Seriously sailing!! There were interviews, studio assesment of what was happening and reaction, the playoffs got a couple of trys and a mention of the next game. This is by the company who we bend over for at any chance! Wigan every time. Its good when england play australia dont get me wrong and would love to see england do it.

It would require the second coming at half time for the press to even mention it in other than passing. And I think that is more likley than england winning the world cup to be honest.

club and Country. , but Club before Country.

Wigan.

After macbanana saying he "wasn't fussed" about what the fans thought during the Exiles farces I couldn't care less about the "national" side.

Whilst we have a poorly run international game and an England coach who is about as successful as Michael Jackson's doctor then it has to be Wigan

England without question.

I can understand people selecting Wigan but if England win the World Cup that could have long term benefits for Wigan and all the clubs. The game needs a shot in the arm and that would provide it.

Both would be great though.

Wigan over England for sure.
It would be nice for England do well, but Wigan to win number 20, and do the double is far more important.

I must admit as much as I would love England to win, I must support the club I've watched for years first. I have a feeling that the World Cup, even if England win it would be a one day news story quickly forgotten. No trip to Downing Street or MBE's like other sports I'm afraid.

England winning might actually help RL turn a corner in this country, and long term is way better for the sport than a Wigan win. So not a remotely hard question.

However, if the question was PNG, Fiji etc winning the World Cup or Wigan winning SL, I'd support the nation every time over a club. I care more about the quality of the sport than my club by an absolute mile. The way to increase the quality of the sport is increasing player numbers. Internationals provide that pathway, domestic victories do not.

As a long term fan of Wigan and a long term fan of this great, insular, backwards, frustrating, self-destructive, invigorating sport of ours there can only be one answer.

An interesting question could be..

Would you rather

1. Have England lift the World Cup and we get embarrassed by Warrington at Old Trafford...

Or

2. Wigan beat Warrington with the best display of Rugby this season, and England lose by a drop goal in extra time to Australia in the World Cup Final??!!??

just throwing that out there!

Still England, with club rugby, as all Wire fans know, "there's always next year"

Can't see England winning the WC as we have too little versatility in my opinion, but I would take England winning the WC over a Wigan win tomorrow - only while it's WC year though and on home soil! The sport needs it as many of you already state.
However, a fantastically close and well tempered matchup between two top class sides tomorrow should help bolster the nation too!! :p

England every time.

I find it remarkable that this thread isn't 99% for England. Quite depressing really.

It's just the same as the debate that always crops up in football during WC/European qualifiers, tournaments etc. Most people tend to go for club in that case.

Would be interesting to see if people who follow RL and chose England, also follow football and whether they would choose England also, and if not, why not.

As a fan of another successful club, I find that an embarrassing England performance ends up taking a lot of gloss off Leeds winning the GF in a given season. I'd happily swap one of those GF wins for a meaningful victory for GB/England over the Aussies and Kiwis. At the end of the day it should be in the interests of the clubs to have a strong England but it seldom pans out this way. I think a big problem is this one-club mentality that puts the clubs first at the expense of the bigger picture.

Surely one of the reasons that Wigan were a great team in the 1990s was that many of their players went on to play in a GB side who were able to stand toe to toe with the Aussies (at least more so than we have seen in recent years). In those days Leeds won nothing, but a stronger international competition in which players like Schofield could actually take on the antipodean teams was better for the game IMO (even though the top clubs are better run now).

What's the good in Wigan winning everything now if their players get embarrassed for England? Are local bragging rights worth that much more?

My thoughts exactly. i'm sure if you asked the club v country question on the other boards you'd get a similar spread. it shows how insular our sport is.

Wigan, by a country mile, it would be nice for England to win the WC, but to be honest I can't seem to raise any enthusiasm for the tournament, to me England is a football team, I'd much rather we go back to Great Britain and have a real Ashes series and even then I would always prefer a Wigan win over beating the Aussies or Kiwis.