Welsh Rugby League v Rugby Union

As an outsider he's a question. Why isn't rugby league more popular in Wales. At weekend I was talking to Welsh rugby fans about how they only love running rugby. Rucks, set pieces, mauls can be seen as distractions.

Surely with that in mind its amazing Union and rather League has gripped the Welsh.

Personally I find League really stop start, and just a bit predictable when you can only go through a few phases before you have to kick.
Having said that I really don't think I've watched it enough to get a proper appreciation of it though.

I wouldn't say I find rucks, set pieces and mauls as a distraction as such in Union, just that the way they are used at the moment is just a way of slowing down the game for some sides. I am sure there are ways they can be used/monitored to help provide a much quicker and open game in Union.

red_stag wrote:Rucks, set pieces, mauls can be a distraction. Welsh.

No, they are simply a means to an end, not the end itself.

Rugby started in Wales via public schools. Being paid for sport was anathema, even to hard working men that played it. It was not the nature of the sport, but the philosophy behind it that decided the question. If you wanted it, football was a professional sport, just as popular as rugby and throughout Wales.

RL is a fine game IF YOU LIKE IT.
Not for me, as said earlier, too predictable, with too many teams just going through the phases waiting for a mistake, with guaranteed possession why take risks?
Also I love the power stuff, lineouts, mauls, rucks and scrums. I remember many years ago Pontypool having a scrum on halfway, hooked fine and then WALKED that opposition back almost to the try line!!!

Would it be fair to say that RL isn't more popular simply because "It's LEAGUE, thats why!"

Stag, I can’t remember exactly what we said (I’ve slept since then ) but I may have been misinterepted

It’s not that we don’t want rucks, set pieces, mauls ..etc or that we see them as a distraction,. They’re an integral PART of the game. However, they are not the end in themselves. We would want them used to disrupt defence patterns so that then the ball can be moved and run – forwrd mind you and not laterally as at present

Endless running on it’s own is as bad as endless mauling (the only part of the game were you can be interferring with play and not be offside but that’s for another thread), variety is the key

League just doesn’t seem to have that variety, to me at least. 5 sets of followed by a kick, either a cross-field, grubber or up-n-under. Add that to the fact that they ‘stole’ a load of our best players in the late 80’s and early 90’s and what’s to like ?

red_stag wrote:Would it be fair to say that RL isn't more popular simply because "It's LEAGUE, thats why!"

Quite. Couldn't have put it better myself.

Penfro - good post, for me it is the unpredictable nature of rugby that is so gripping.

Each different facet requires makes different demands of a team, this provided interesting battles between distinct aspects of the teams throughout the game.

For me league lacks these factors which makes union exciting and varied.

But, I'm sure if I had grown up with league I would be singing a different tune!

But how can you have a village team in League? Give or take a bit they're all the same size and shape! At least in union, there's a position for most shapes and sizes you'd find in any village.

I love set pieces. I find the sweeping generalisation that the Welsh do not enjoy set piece play a little insulting if i am to be honest. After all i am from an area famed for its scrummaging.

Staff Jones was my hero as a kid.

Staff was God. I always loved Pricey though

Bobby Windsor is still pure entertainment gold unto this very day even though he spends most of his time in Spain.

Also don't forget my old school chum Iestyn Thomas. We also produced Ceri Jones and Garin Jenkins before he went to Swansea. Like the rest of the world we are struggling on tightheads though.

I like the individual battles in Union

Loosehead vs TH in the scrum
Lock/Backrow vs Lock/Backrow in the lineout
Backrow vs Backrow at the breakdown
etc

Its nice to compare ...RL is just running and kicking - pretty similar to football really, and thats really boring.........

Penfro you didn't say this you just gave me the idea for the article. You said that the romanticism of the Welsh means that they always want to see the ball run more than anything else. And that wins are a little less sweet when its not running rugby. So I thought why League which is far more running rugby is not more popular.

No probs Staggy - remembered the conversation taking place, just couldn't remember what I'd said

Growing up in Wales, Union was part my culture League wasn't and I had no exposure to it. By the time I noticed the other code I was totally absorbed by the Union game. People who don't get Union dont understand that the set piece, tactical kicking etc are as attractive as a line break by the backs!

I find League sooooooooo dull. I've tried but it holds no interest for me. Each to their own.

Welsh people pretty much detest Rugby League.
For decades they bribed away our best players, and I doubt the game will ever be forgiven. Several attempts have been made in South Wales to establish a good team but all have failed miserably. they are apparently having some success in north Wales but largely that is because Welsh rugby union teams have much such little effort there.

I've been fortunate enough to play both. I enjoy the out and out physical confrontation you get in league (even though it ended my career - broken sternum) and I love the flow of union. Don't forget without a ruck there is no flow in union. League just did away with it full stop to keep the ball moving but for me there's nothing like a well drilled pack of forwards clearing out double quick and a fast scrum half whipping the ball out to put the opposition on the back foot. Different games, different attributes, but I guess in Wales there is that history of "going north."

Sounds painful scarlet but I must admit I think outside england, new zealand and aus league has never really been that strong, and even then its only the norht of england. In most other places union is winning.

All the press focuses on is rugby, Wales beat northern Ireland in football last night 2-0. I only just found out by accident when I clicked on football in stead of rugby on the BBC website.
I also found out that Wales lost 3-1 to Scotland, I went on the Welsh national teams BBC606 forum to see what happened and there wasn't a single thread on the game!
No one cares