Having lived in the South and played both codes, lastly for Cheltenham RL who was started by Lional Hurst and he has gone on to become Gloucestershire All Golds. Class issues in RU still prevail and still hold back what is an entertaining game although a polar opposite of RL.

Slamming Sam if he is not careful will fall into an abysse of politics and blame and frankly the hyenas are already gathering.

Our World Cup was an amazing spectacle in comparison to what RU has dished up over the past weeks.

In my view RL in this country is fading in comparison the evolutionary Southern Hemisphere and that my friends is laid firmly at the RFL.

We're a minority sport in the UK. That's just how it is, to be right; we don't get much publicity in the mainstream press so it's difficult for us to get all the free publicity in the sport's pages which soccer and union get. I'll blame the RFL for lots of things but I'm not sure how they can counter that.

To be truthful, rugby in general has such a poor number of followers that the majority of folk in the UK don't even know the difference between union and league. Many union 'fans' only go to, or watch, internationals, like us they are miles behind soccer. Daft as it sounds, it may well be that league gets a bit of a boost from the union cup with kids, who don't know the difference, turning up to join our clubs. Most of the the TV followers aren't big union fans anyway, they're just following the hype in the press and general media - let's keep our fingers crossed.

I have been a RL fan for 40 years and love it and find union boring. Having said that, I do feel that we are minnows up to union. Both club competitions are poor. Union gets low gates but so does SL. Super league only really have 4 or 5 clubs that can compete.
I have to concede though that union is a truly world sport - not just the M62. I am sure I heard on the news yesterday that the gates for this union world cup will be above 4 million because so many games were getting full houses in massive stadiums.
I have no resentment to union. If you like it then so be it.
I will stick to our little game of league even though it does feel as though it is slowly dieing and definitely would if it wasn't for sky.

It might be 50 years away but the two codes will eventually merge back into one.

Unfortunately I think it will be one code where RU will take our better innovations (such as VR and Subs) but the RFL will become even more insignificant until it disappears. A bit like doubles boards at darts.

Ahh, proper darts - them were't days....

TBH it was only a matter of time before I read such an article on here, and TBH, it just highlights the jealousy from RL people towards RU.

The RU World Cup was a wonderful spectacle and is now the third biggest sporting competition in the world, after the football world cup and the Olympics. 97% of all tickets available were sold and games even between "emerging nations" were played in front of full houses.

There were shocks (Japan beating South Africa), there was controversy, (Scotland robbed of a win over Australia), humiliation for the first ever hosts to be horsed out at the Pool Stages. We saw massive improvement from the lesser nations, a Southern Hemisphere domination and a statement of intent from the Argentinians and a World Record crowd for a Rugby Union match.

The games were generally all high scoring, there were plenty of tries, hardly a drop goal kicked in anger and free-flowing as it gets as the Southern Hemisphere influence is finally ending the England based penalty fest that Jonny copyrighted in 2003.

It was beamed all over the world (live rugby on Uruguayan tv???) to millions.

All in all, it was the kind of event that RL could only ever dream about. I loved it.

It was won by the right country, playing great rugby and a team of genuine sporting greats.

As opposed to the RLWC with only three countries having any chance whatsoever, topped up with useless nations who get pumped throughout, in front of sply populated stadia in dumps like Whitehaven.

I prefer the game of RL easily, but the RU code is miles ahead of RL and will only grow stronger. Anyone who sees this differently is utterly deluded.

Yes I sadly agree. I genuinely believe that RL is a dead man walking. I take no pleasure in saying this as I love it with all my heart but the restructure of the domestic game in this country convinced me that there cannot possibly be a long-term future for the sport.

Would anyone care to have a doom and gloom-off with me?

People have been predicting the downfall of RL since 1895. I think we've got a while yet.

I'm in the 'let's wait and see' camp....

ME is basically right. the differences are historically and to date, the sheer clout behind the RU movement; and secondly the ability and the resources of those running the respective sports (whlek stalls and Walmart springs to mind for some reason).

The RUWC is indeed huge but for how long has it been? It has been an object lesson in how to get from A to B, Peter Deakin himself would have been proud.

Tbf RL has of late dipped some toes into the same waters, but sadly has neither the personnel, the resources or, critically, the international will to genuinely compete in such events.

However I am happy that of late our WC has become a genuine major event, and we have gone for and been rewarded by an event and crowds and coverage that has considerably exceeded expectations. Whether that will be kept up, though, is the question.

It is true we have much the better sport, even though RU has subtly incorporated more attractive RL-style features and will continue to do so, but you can't beat a sense of major event to attract people, and RU are masters at that. It works too - see our smaller-scale WC successes with the same approach.

I don't easily foresee the demise of RL but it is not impossible depending on the Australians view of international sport. But undoubtedly SL clubs have all got financial problems - in the sense that many struggle to pay the salary cap, sure, but I mean more in the sense that not one club is anywhere near being able to pay a NRL size salary cap) and so cannot attract a squad of elite sportsmen. I don't see floods of money coming any time soon, and so it will be difficult for SL clubs to both survive and remain genuien top level sporting clubs unless they can extract significant funds from somewhere other than central funding, which is the key, such as for example that used to acquire and pay the likes of Sam Burgess and before him SBW.

I am not suggesting in any way that RL will die but since the move to a professional game, Rugby Union has moved strides ahead of RL. When there was once a time that the League clubs could attract the top Union players, the shoe is now firmly on the other foot these days.

What I did notice, however, was that the fans were absolutely terrific in the tournament. OK, you still get the "Swing Low" brigade, mainly at "HQ" as they like to call it and Scottish fans are indeed usually the toffee-nosed ones from the Lothian and borders regions but the atmosphere created in the RUWC was tremendous, and a big surprise to this viewer.

The problem for RL is that it is a minority sport, only played (seriously) in four counties on the planet in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Queensland and NSW. In terms of appeal from spectators etc, it sits alongside Hurling and Gaelic Football, both minority sports, as enjoyable as they are.

RU is a worldwide game and as the game evolves (FA called it spot on - the introduction of RL tactics) it is becoming an excellent game to watch. It will continue to grow.

One benefit to English based RL sides however is the frankly awful treatment of Sam Burgess who was the scapegoat from the start. A big part of me thinks the the English Unionites were delighted that their side went out so that they could blame the "convert". (Curiously they never mention the "convert" in Jason Robinson who scored the (ultimately matchwinning) try in the 2003 WC). I am sure that some of our own RL may well be put off given that the media will have them as the sitting ducks for any future "failure".

RL should pretty much drop the word "Rugby" from the name. They are now two completely different sports and as long as the title stays in the name then the comparisons will inevitably follow.

(Ironically, the Grand Final got more than its usual coverage on the BBC this year only because the Union side were playing a "dead rubber" on the other side of Manchester.)

Although the RFU's wheeze in deliberately scheduling an England WC match in Manchester in a pathetic attempt to devalue the GF is probably the perfect illustration of the attitudes that are entrenched in that organisation and the perfect answer to RU trolls who say RL types are paranoid and make it all up. Much is deliberately done to try to harm RL, and even resorting to blaming the miserable failure of their national team on RL converts and coaches. Sam in particular didn't deserve the Unionite bagging he got (especally as they were winning and defending well until they took Sam off).

What is actually quite amusing is that I firmly believe that they deliberately played the game in Manchester so that if they won the tournament they could not have been accused of "only winning because they played every game at Twickenham" like they often say about the Football boys, at Wembley, in 1966.

So whilst they faced Fiji, Australia and Wales at Twickkers, I reckon they arranged to leave their home comforts only to face the group whipping boys.

Just a shame it was all over by then......

There is a "Stigma" surrounding RL and this has to be changed. The reinforcing at every opportunity that RL is a working class sport and generally watched by such an audience is debilitating. Only the other week, a women was speaking on the radio about the economy and I quote said " The working class of the North" as if that is all that makes up a region.

RU already had bases to grow, because RU was a travelling show and embedded through the Empire.

The RFL is entrusted to make the correct strategical and political moves to develop the game with limited finances. Clubs have financial constraints I understand that but RU have been there too.

The RFL and clubs "Together have to be smarter".

To Edit:- Sky could employ a smarter and more technical panel to cover games (Sorry Stevo and the other fella your great guys really )

As a side note ITV were better at covering a Rugby World cup than the sp coverage we got of the BBC.