league v union.....

[HH81]

Which is better? League has to be if you want fast pace and tries. Agree?

[bingo70]

Which is better? League has to be if you want fast pace and tries. Agree?

Don't know a huge about league, been to a match once and used to watch a bit of it on the tele when i was younger so i'm happy to be corrected here but league appears to be a simpler version, union i think appears to be more tactical and a lot more about possession and startegy whereas like you say league just appears to be a lot more tries but that doesnt always mean more exciting.

I don't think one is better than the other, i personally find league a bit boring but i can see the attraction and understand why people would prefer it to union.

One thing i would say though is that imo League doesn't have a competion that gets close to the 6 nations for entertainment.

[Steve-O]

Don't know a huge about league, been to a match once and used to watch a bit of it on the tele when i was younger so i'm happy to be corrected here but league appears to be a simpler version, union i think appears to be more tactical and a lot more about possession and startegy whereas like you say league just appears to be a lot more tries but that doesnt always mean more exciting.

I don't think one is better than the other, i personally find league a bit boring but i can see the attraction and understand why people would prefer it to union.

One thing i would say though is that imo League doesn't have a competion that gets close to the 6 nations for entertainment.

Four Nations was decent :agree: Didn't involve Scotland obviously though.

I can't actually make up my mind. Sometimes League is faster and all, but it is also very repetitive at times, i.e. get ball, run, tackle, get ball, run, tackle...etc

I was never a massive rugby fan until I moved over here, and I still wouldn't say it's my favourite sport but I'd say I probably like watching Union very slightly more than League for the most part.

[HH81]

Don't know a huge about league, been to a match once and used to watch a bit of it on the tele when i was younger so i'm happy to be corrected here but league appears to be a simpler version, union i think appears to be more tactical and a lot more about possession and startegy whereas like you say league just appears to be a lot more tries but that doesnt always mean more exciting.

I don't think one is better than the other, i personally find league a bit boring but i can see the attraction and understand why people would prefer it to union.

One thing i would say though is that imo League doesn't have a competion that gets close to the 6 nations for entertainment.
I don't think I have ever heard league been called boring. It's a faster version of rugby and more try's are scored. Let's look more closer.... if you get a pen in league the ball goes to touch, play restart. In union it goes into touch, players walk there. They get towel and dry the ball, players line up, in comes the ball, Refs whistle blows. Not straight lads repeat again. I can guarantee the super league play offs are much better than every 6 yawn nation game. You kick it, no you kick. No thanks.

[Steve-O]

I don't think I have ever heard league been called boring. It's a faster version of rugby and more try's are scored. Let's look more closer.... if you get a pen in league the ball goes to touch, play restart. In union it goes into touch, players walk there. They get towel and dry the ball, players line up, in comes the ball, Refs whistle blows. Not straight lads repeat again. I can guarantee the super league play offs are much better than every 6 yawn nation game. You kick it, no you kick. No thanks.

I think what bingo possibly refers to is what I said - it can be a bit repetitive.

Run 5 metres, tackle, run 5 meters, tackle, run 5 metres, tackle, run 5 metres, tackle...HOOF over to the wing...

Being in NZ I am probably a bit spoiled for what I see of Union though. Watching some of the stuff over here, and then watching a Scotland (or even Northern Hemisphere rugby in it's entirety) is like watching a different sport!

[Danderhall Hibs]

Don't know a huge about league, been to a match once and used to watch a bit of it on the tele when i was younger so i'm happy to be corrected here but league appears to be a simpler version, union i think appears to be more tactical and a lot more about possession and startegy whereas like you say league just appears to be a lot more tries but that doesnt always mean more exciting.

I don't think one is better than the other, i personally find league a bit boring but i can see the attraction and understand why people would prefer it to union.

One thing i would say though is that imo League doesn't have a competion that gets close to the 6 nations for entertainment.

:agree: Decent analysis IMO.

Union for skill and technique, league for a British Bulldogs style game.

[HH81]

:agree: Decent analysis IMO.

Union for skill and technique, league for a British Bulldogs style game.

Please expand on the skill and technique? Union is mostly kicking and rucks on the ground.

[bingo70]

Please expand on the skill and technique? Union is mostly kicking and rucks on the ground.

There's a huge amount of technique to mauls, rucking, scrumaging and with kicking there's a massive amount of strategy involved, it's not as simple as just kicking it anywhere for the sake of it.

I think your main argument seems to be that because there's more tries it's automatically exciting and more interesting but i just don't see it that way, there's more points scored in basketball than in football doesnt make basketball more entertaining, likewise i don't enjoy rugby union 7's that much as it almost just seems a bit easy to score tries as it happens so often.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Please expand on the skill and technique? Union is mostly kicking and rucks on the ground.

The stuff the top League players can't seem to manage when they move over for more money. Iestyn Harris, Andy Farrell, Henry Paul to name a few.

Obviously Jason Robinson managed it but he was an exception to the rule.

[Danderhall Hibs]

There's a huge amount of technique to mauls, rucking, scrumaging and with kicking there's a massive amount of strategy involved, it's not as simple as just kicking it anywhere for the sake of it.

I think your main argument seems to be that because there's more tries it's automatically exciting and more interesting but i just don't see it that way, there's more points scored in basketball than in football doesnt make basketball more entertaining, likewise i don't enjoy rugby union 7's that much as it almost just seems a bit easy to score tries as it happens so often.

:agree: League fans have a real chip on their shoulder about this - they're desperate to be seen as the better sport but just banging on about it doesn't make it better.

BTW wo didn't prefer the Tennent's 6s to a proper Premier League match?

[HH81]

The stuff the top League players can't seem to manage when they move over for more money. Iestyn Harris, Andy Farrell, Henry Paul to name a few.

Obviously Jason Robinson managed it but he was an exception to the rule.

I have seen a few cross codes games - I saw Keighley play one other year and won both halfs. The Union half was was not great.

Did all them players not play International rugby in Union?

Yes I agree though - Union is better paid but that doesn't make it better :wink:

[Danderhall Hibs]

Did all them players not play International rugby in Union?


They did - and they weren't good enough. I can only think of Jason Robinson that's properly made it. Although I think the guy Ashton might have a League background as well?

[HH81]

:agree: League fans have a real chip on their shoulder about this - they're desperate to be seen as the better sport but just banging on about it doesn't make it better.

BTW wo didn't prefer the Tennent's 6s to a proper Premier League match?

:boo hoo::boo hoo: No need to be seen as the better sport - it is a better sport.

It's amazing how many knock on and forward passes we see in union, refs let it go though. Why? They are sick of blowing that whistle :greengrin

[Danderhall Hibs]

It's amazing how many knock on and forward passes we see in union, refs let it go though. Why? They are sick of blowing that whistle :greengrin

That's all the League infiltrators bringing their bad technique with them. :agree: :greengrin

[Hamish]

League is infinitely superior for spectators these days, but the Union snobbery won't admit it. Much better viewing, better continuity. Passing, power and ability to see angles are also much better than union. Union needs to adopt league scrums perhaps as union scrums are now a joke.

[bingo70]

League is infinitely superior for spectators these days, but the Union snobbery won't admit it. Much better viewing, better continuity. Passing, power and ability to see angles are also much better than union. Union needs to adopt league scrums perhaps as union scrums are now a joke.

It's nothing to do with snobbery, it's just that some people prefer different things, despite what the op is looking for there isn't a right or wrong answer here.

Agree about the scrums but not sure i agree about your other points, you get heavier more powerful forwards than anyone in a rugby league team and the ability to see angles is probably helped by the fact theres only 13 in a team is there not in league so there'll be more space to see the angles? (if there's not 13 in a team i'll look pretty stupid here :greengrin)

[bingo70]

They did - and they weren't good enough. I can only think of Jason Robinson that's properly made it. Although I think the guy Ashton might have a League background as well?

Alan tait and scott gibbs were both successess but they came at a time when union was turning professional and they'd been preofessional players for years at league so had a big advantage over the other players.

Martin Offiah is arguably leagues greatest ever player and was he not a massive flop in rugby union?

[Danderhall Hibs]

League is infinitely superior for spectators these days, but the Union snobbery won't admit it. Much better viewing, better continuity. Passing, power and ability to see angles are also much better than union. Union needs to adopt league scrums perhaps as union scrums are now a joke.

It's not better if you go in person - the TV might make it look better sometimes but if you look further than the guy running into 3 guys you'll see 20 odd guys standing about twiddling their thumbs.


Alan tait and scott gibbs were both successess but they came at a time when union was turning professional and they'd been preofessional players for years at league so had a big advantage over the other players.

Martin Offiah is arguably leagues greatest ever player and was he not a massive flop in rugby union?

Alan Tait, Scott Gibbs and Martin Offiah were all Union players turned League as well though. They learned the technique and that in Union and took it with them to League.

[bingo70]

Alan Tait, Scott Gibbs and Martin Offiah were all Union players turned League as well though. They learned the technique and that in Union and took it with them to League.

fair point

[Steve-O]

Sonny Bill Williams has gone from League to Union and is doing not too shabbily...

[HH81]

So far were at:-

League players can make the grade at Union
Union players less so the other way.

I agree. :thumbsup:

[DaveF]

I don't particualry like Union and all the stoppages. A bit too American Football for me and if they could quicken the game up a bit then it might be more appealing to us uneducated people. Mibbe the fatties in the front row will disagree to upping the pace though :greengrin

Union is certainly an establishment game, whereas League has struggled to ditch the flat caps and whippets image (in England), but out of the two I prefer to watch league for pace, skill and ferocity. Crowd get right into too, unlike the sweetie rustlers who watch Union :wink:

[DaveF]

They did - and they weren't good enough. I can only think of Jason Robinson that's properly made it. Although I think the guy Ashton might have a League background as well?

Chris Ashton learned his trade with Wigan Warriors :agree:

Another success albeit after his playing days, is Shaun Edwards who is doing pretty well for someone in Union.

So plenty of success stories but a good few cross over failures too. Pretty sure a Leeds winger (Smith) left for Union last year and came back to League a few months later as he just wasn't up to it \ didn't enjoy it.

[Sergio sledge]

So far were at:-

League players can make the grade at Union
Union players less so the other way.

I agree. :thumbsup:

Eh?

Much of the current success of Rugby League in the UK was founded on the fact that being a professional sport before Rugby Union allowed them to poach many of the decent union players in the 80's and early 90's. People like Davies, Tuigamala (not poached from union in the UK), Tait, Gibbs and plenty other Welsh players. The reason that there aren't many recent examples is because there tends to be more money in Union than League.

I've enjoyed playing and watching both codes and each code has its good points and bad points. Union players tend to struggle with the physicality and intensity of League and League players tend to struggle with the technicalities and flow of Union. The main advantage that league has over union is the fact that it is played in the summer over here, and consequently is comparable to the super 14 or tri-nations in union in terms of skill levels and speed. Playing over the winter in union damages the perceived skill levels of the players in union and the quality of play on the pitch. In order to compare the two codes, watch some tri-nations union vs four nations league, or super 14 union vs super league.

I personally prefer to play union but watch league, so I don't know what that says about me....:greengrin

[Hamish]

It's nothing to do with snobbery, it's just that some people prefer different things, despite what the op is looking for there isn't a right or wrong answer here.

Agree about the scrums but not sure i agree about your other points, you get heavier more powerful forwards than anyone in a rugby league team and the ability to see angles is probably helped by the fact theres only 13 in a team is there not in league so there'll be more space to see the angles? (if there's not 13 in a team i'll look pretty stupid here :greengrin)

Sorry bingo there is still an enormous amount of snobbery in the upper echelons of the Union game, Agree that's its all about preference, but Union has to do something soon to provide more continuity in the game, otherwise people will start drifting away

[Hamish]

[QUOTE=Danderhall Hibs;2736450]It's not better if you go in person - the TV might make it look better sometimes but if you look further than the guy running into 3 guys you'll see 20 odd guys standing about twiddling their thumbs.


Don't agree. I have been at a fair number of League games and it is far better viewing than a typical Union game.

In my opinion of course:greengrin

[DaveF]

It's not better if you go in person - the TV might make it look better sometimes but if you look further than the guy running into 3 guys you'll see 20 odd guys standing about twiddling their thumbs.

As opposed to 10 guys lying on top each other and the ball while the fast blokes twiddle their thumbs :greengrin

[LancashireHibby]

TV doesn't do a great representation of the movement off the ball in league - there was an article in the paper this weekend saying that Chris Ashton's success is down to the constant support play he learnt while growing up playing league and union is 20 years behind league in terms of dummy runners and second phases of attack.

That said, I can appreciate that union has some intricacies that aren't immediately obvious in league but there again the defensive strategies in union were only brought up to date when the home nations brought in the likes of Shaun Edwards, Mike Ford, Joe Lydon, Andy Goodway, Denis Betts et al as specialist defence coaches.

I do agree to a certain extent that Super League these days is a little too much one up rugby, but that goes in line with the pace of the game with the injuries sustained in the collisions being likened only to a car crash according to an article I read the other week. The Championship still has a good balance of speed and passing though and is a superbly well-matched league.

I can watch the odd game of union but there's no way I'd choose it over a game of league.

[Sir David Gray]

How widespread is rugby league on a global scale?

Apart from the north of England, Papua New Guinea (where it is the national sport), Australia and, to a certain extent, France, I don't see that there's much call for it at all.

Even in New Zealand, I don't think it comes anywhere near to being as popular as its union equivalent and here in Scotland it hardly registers as a sport at all.

I actually raised a related point with a South African who was wearing a rugby top a while back.

Not knowing much about either form of the game, I first of all asked him what team's top he had on and he told me that it was a team from back home in South Africa. I then, quite innocently I thought, asked him whether or not it was a rugby league team or a rugby union team and he told me it was a rugby union team as it was "illegal" to play rugby league in South Africa.

Obviously it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek remark but it does suggest that rugby league is not too popular in South Africa, which is a bit of a surprise when you think how big rugby union is in the country.

Personally speaking, I'm not a great fan of any type of rugby but my experience of rugby league is that there seems to be far more tries scored in that than there is in union and that is what most people watch rugby for.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Personally speaking, I'm not a great fan of any type of rugby but my experience of rugby league is that there seems to be far more tries scored in that than there is in union and that is what most people watch rugby for.

There's more goals scored in 5-a-side football than in 11-a-side but there's less folk watch that.

[DaveF]

There's more goals scored in 5-a-side football than in 11-a-side but there's less folk watch that.

Hardly a comparison, but a good try :greengrin

Last time I checked both RU and RL were professional sports whereas 5s at the Pitz wasn't.

Still, the golden oldies 5s games that sky televise over the summer attracts crowds probably bigger than a good number of lower league football and top league rugby games.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Hardly a comparison, but a good try :greengrin

Last time I checked both RU and RL were professional sports whereas 5s at the Pitz wasn't.

Still, the golden oldies 5s games that sky televise over the summer attracts crowds probably bigger than a good number of lower league football and top league rugby games.

Rugby 7s v Rugby Union then? Both pro sports, more trys scored but pisher to watch.

[LancashireHibby]

How widespread is rugby league on a global scale?

Apart from the north of England, Papua New Guinea (where it is the national sport), Australia and, to a certain extent, France, I don't see that there's much call for it at all.

Even in New Zealand, I don't think it comes anywhere near to being as popular as its union equivalent and here in Scotland it hardly registers as a sport at all.
You're forgetting Wales with Crusaders (based in Wrexham) averaging 6,000ish in Super League last season and South Wales Scorpions in Division Two.

New Zealand are actually the reigning World Cup and Four Nations holders, beating the Aussies in their own backyard on both occasions. They have a club side in the Australian NRL and get good crowds for international games, though obviously the All Blacks are a huge brand to compete with. The Kiwis get a little short-changed in that they often get players qualified to play for them who instead align themselves to Australia so that they are eligible to play in State of Origin (New South Wales vs Queensland series which is probably bigger than anything else in the game, even internationals). Some epic games between the two that are well worth having a look at on YouTube!


I actually raised a related point with a South African who was wearing a rugby top a while back.

Not knowing much about either form of the game, I first of all asked him what team's top he had on and he told me that it was a team from back home in South Africa. I then, quite innocently I thought, asked him whether or not it was a rugby league team or a rugby union team and he told me it was a rugby union team as it was "illegal" to play rugby league in South Africa.

Obviously it was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek remark but it does suggest that rugby league is not too popular in South Africa, which is a bit of a surprise when you think how big rugby union is in the country.

I think a lot of that must come from the old colonial influence as even up until the past 10-15 years players got a life ban from the RFU if they were discovered to be even training with a rugby league club, never mind playing in matches!

[Steve-O]

You're forgetting Wales with Crusaders (based in Wrexham) averaging 6,000ish in Super League last season and South Wales Scorpions in Division Two.

New Zealand are actually the reigning World Cup and Four Nations holders, beating the Aussies in their own backyard on both occasions. They have a club side in the Australian NRL and get good crowds for international games, though obviously the All Blacks are a huge brand to compete with. The Kiwis get a little short-changed in that they often get players qualified to play for them who instead align themselves to Australia so that they are eligible to play in State of Origin (New South Wales vs Queensland series which is probably bigger than anything else in the game, even internationals). Some epic games between the two that are well worth having a look at on YouTube!



I think a lot of that must come from the old colonial influence as even up until the past 10-15 years players got a life ban from the RFU if they were discovered to be even training with a rugby league club, never mind playing in matches!

Beat me to it.

Nowhere near as popular as Union, but pretty popular overall.

The Warriors in the NRL regularly get about 20,000 at their games in the NRL and I usually watch the Kiwis games, v Australia in particular.

[LancashireHibby]

Beat me to it.

Nowhere near as popular as Union, but pretty popular overall.

The Warriors in the NRL regularly get about 20,000 at their games in the NRL and I usually watch the Kiwis games, v Australia in particular.

It's barely 10 years ago since the Kiwis were running third behind GB/England so their turnaround has been incredible. Would probably do even better if they still didn't have the odd player choosing to represent the Aussies so that they have a chance of playing in State of Origin.

[Sir David Gray]

Beat me to it.

Nowhere near as popular as Union, but pretty popular overall.

The Warriors in the NRL regularly get about 20,000 at their games in the NRL and I usually watch the Kiwis games, v Australia in particular.

That is what I said...sort of! :greengrin

[HUTCHYHIBBY]

Being in NZ I am probably a bit spoiled for what I see of Union though. Watching some of the stuff over here, and then watching a Scotland (or even Northern Hemisphere rugby in it's entirety) is like watching a different sport!

Without a doubt, The Tri Nations is like a different sport to the 6 Nations, Im nae Rugby expert, but, I pay more attention to it since SKY started covering the Tri Nations, the intensity is fantastic.

[Steve-O]

Without a doubt, The Tri Nations is like a different sport to the 6 Nations, Im nae Rugby expert, but, I pay more attention to it since SKY started covering the Tri Nations, the intensity is fantastic.

Most All Black games from last year in particular was some of the better rugby I've seen. Absolutely minimal hoofs up the park - actually running with the ball, passing and moving whenever possible. And, it worked!

Seeing teams just boot the ball up the park time and time again really puts me off watching.