I think from a league eye, it can often be very frustrating to watch RU because of those differences. The limited tackles in RL make teams take a few more risks and push the boundries a little more whilst in RU it can often be a more gradual attempt to attain dominance. I've enjoyed a few RU games and don't really get in to blaming them for all our ills or thinking it is some kind of conspiracy that they are popular. But I've also watch a lot of games and been incredibly frustrated at what seem huge RL gaps being missed, that some of the more basic skills we take for granted in RL aren't quite there in RU not because of a lack of quality in those players but because different skills are prioritised. For instance, to an RL seeing a player make a break and then look for contact seems ridiculous, it seems a huge waste and terrible play. In RU they need to avoid being isolated and not exploiting the break in the same way is probably the better play.

As I say, im not really trying to get in to criticising RU because they are different and independent games, I can however see how some of those differences can appear very negative to an RL eye.

Saying that, a set piece heavy RU game like we saw last night can be particularly boring. That game was not a good example of RU or sport in general.

As a fan of both codes - I prefer league but both are better than soccer - I can go to a game of rugby league & see pretty clearly just about everything that happens in a game.
When I've been to spectate at a game of union, because so much of the action is at close quarters amongst a melee of players (scrum, ruck, maul, lineout), I've found it much more difficult to see with any certainty exactly what's going on.
On tv I can see much more clearly what's going on in the Union game. I still, however, find many of the refereeing decisions hard to fathom - much more so than in RL - when does someone get penalised for going off their feet at a ruck compared to penalising the attacking player for holding on to the ball? Why did side A get penalised for taking the scrum down or not pushing straight at the scrum? Those are just 2 of many instances where the referees make judgment calls that in my view could easily go the other way.
Generally matters are much clearer cut in RL.

Just one other point that should be of concern - if the experiences at our local club are anything to go by there is and has been for some time a flow of young amateur talent from League to Union, the most common reason mentioned is that they have "done it all in League" by the time they are in mid-teens.

I can certainly see what they mean in an amateur game which you may have played for up to ten years and where the simple structure is quite predictable, "six tackles and a kick" is usually used in a derogatory sense but in many ways its also a truism.

Moving the youth level of amateur RL to summer is going to enable more kids to play both codes and switch between them at will.

Social rugby union does have an edge over amateur RL though, in terms of the atmosphere it's played in. It's a difficult task to convince kids who are used to being looked after in the way local RU clubs do to go to some of the places amateur RL is played and experience the hideous environment of intimidation.

Union is e I have no interest in it what so ever it has nothing in common with RL appart from a common ancestry and the name rugby. Rather watch cricket, and that's saying something.

You're not intelligent enough to watch cricket.

Have you tried darts instead?

When I first came over here a man approached me hearing my accent and I said no I'm not I Irish I'm English lol, oh he said have you been watching the 6 nations wonderful excitement heh? I coach college rugby. I said no my game is Rugby League and I didn't have time to explain why I prefer RL and point out the differences before he went into a tirade against our game as unintelligent ,unattractive and the proof of the pudding one one plays it over here.Now someone must have filled his head with that kind of lucre considering he couldn't differentiate a northern English accent from Irish.I finished up telling him he would get a coaching job in Britain you've no RL Experience.Some of the stuff he came out with must have come from RU propaganda. He did say something that made me think he said RL is too similar to NFL

The England-Aus game hasn't been bad. Australia have been so much better with the ball, but haven't been clinical, both their SHs were 5hite as well I thought, and although their forwards are terrific ball carriers they're awful at the line out, and the scrum in particular. People talk about contested scrums and although I'd like to see contested scrums in RL I'd hate for scrums to be policed like they are in union.

The live text on BBC Sport

"The mighty Courtney Lawes goes off after making 12 tackles, an astonishing number for a second row in just less than an hour"

Astonishing indeed

different game, being a union second row he has to push in the scrums, take line outs, roll with the mauls, contest for the ball on the ground, run with the ball, tackle and be tackled, if he was a league second row he would only have to run with the ball and tackle or be tackled, two different games so cant see what point you are making

rugger union blah blah blah
i personally don't ever try to compare the two sports,as they are totally different despite the fact that they can both be played on the same field and with the same shaped ball....end of

burgess has gone to have a rest from the vigours of the nrl whilst taking in a rugger world cup and owt that goes with it,he will be back refreshed in the nrl and at south sydney as soon as he is bored to death with the inactivity of playing english club rugby......but then again everyone knew that didn't they,even the rugger journalists?

...and earn a lot of money whilst doing so.

...and gain national recognition in a national sport that gets national coverage, back page coverage, not four pages deep inside at the bottom of a column somewhere.

FFS - BBC1 News last month on Saturday mornings at 6.30am didn't even mention the 4 nations competition that they were covering live 30 mins later on BBC2, THATS how important the game is, when a BBC News sports reporter doesn't mention a live game but devotes time in his bulletin to the RU international program which didn't start until the following week !

BUT... BUT... BUT... that's the fault of the BBC which really really hates our game and whose agenda is to deliberately ignore it. The greatest game organises an off-season international afterthought series for the BBC to broadcast, and look how it still treats us? It even insisted on 5am and 6am kick offs. At least Sky treat us with two weeks notice and Thursday Night respect!

In fact, the BBC is also ignoring Sam by not shortlisting him for this years SPOTY award which is absolutely disgraceful and an outrage. Thank fook one of our local MP's Greg Mullholland is taking the BBC to task over this by helping to ensure that all RL Moonies boycott the BBC SPOTY.

That'll show 'em.

I was at the game yesterday, and Lawes had a great game, not just the tackles he did make, but how Australia were forced to go away from him.