I watched Australia's 84-0 demolition of Scotland in the Rugby League World Cup last night, in front of a sparse crowd in that hotbed of the sport, Coventry.
Surely the time has come for a two-tier competition in which the lower ranked nations play amongst themselves before one of them joins the three top teams, Australia, New Zealand and England, in the knockout stages. I'm all for spreading and developing the game around the world, but one-sided contests like last night's don't help anyone.
The sport should probably also look at excluding some of the artificial teams that are now turning up to World Cups, representing countries where the game isn't played at professional level and there's little public interest in it (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Jamaica, Greece, Italy and Lebanon), made up of players who hail from Sydney or Salford rather than Sorrento or Skiathos and are the distant descendants of immigrants from them, making them in effect Australia and England "B" sides.
Australia's opening match at Headingley last Saturday night was also sparsely attended, despite Leeds being on the M62 corridor that runs through rugby league's heartlands. The postponement of the competition because of Covid and rising inflation have both pushed up costs, just as the disposable income of fans has dipped, and the price of tickets is now likely to be beyond the pockets of many diehards, let alone the casual spectator outside the areas where the game has traditionally been played who might otherwise have been prepared to pay for one as a one-off experience.
I've never seen a Rugby League match, always thought I'd get to Castleford once to experience the Jungle, and would have gone to the Greek match at Doncaster match last week but it looked so complicated to order tickets online and just turning up didn't seem to be an option.
ReplyDeleteDare I be provocative and say that League isn't proper rugby 🏉.
ReplyDeleteThat ought to ruffle a few feathers and spark a north v south debate. 🙂
Each to their own, Paul. I know a few southern Union fans who've attended League matches when they've been visiting the North for work or other reasons, including ones in this World Cup, and enjoyed the experience. Since Union became an openly professional game in the mid nineties, it has also picked up some techniques, rules and players from League, all of which have affected how it's now played.
DeleteShould we start with how racism in Rugby Union contributed to the creation of Rugby League?
DeleteHi Matt, apologies for not getting back to you sooner, on this. There’s obviously some fascinating social history behind the emergence of the two codes within rugby football, similar to the “Gentlemen” and “Players” – amateur/professional situation that existed in English County Cricket, until relatively recent times.
ReplyDeleteSomeone I used to know, who is sadly long dead now, remembered this divide existing at Kent County Cricket Club, as late as the 1960’s. The professional players were looked down on by the amateur (non-salaried) gentlemen .
I find rugby union unwatchable on TV, but I did watch David Campese and the touring Aussies thrash Cambridge University in '88, and the local Cambridge (3rd tier) team produced a much more athletic running style of game when I saw them the once (Adnams Bitter in hand).
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