Quote: django "This is definitely true. I remember David (Dai) Young (Wales) and Mark Brooke-Cowden (World cup winning New Zealand player) playing for Leeds in the 80's. Young didn't seem to know what to do with the ball, whilst Brooke-Cowden ran into tackles and came to an immediate stop. - He looked like he would have trouble breaking through a wet paper bag!'"
I seem to remember Dai Young getting reasonably good towards the end of his career at Salford - I may be wrong about that, though.
Union does seem to be producing much fitter athletes than it used to. I suspect you wouldn't have the situation now that you had with Tuigamala, to give one example, who seemed to take a year to get up to the required fitness level (what a player, though, when he did). I reckon there are a fair few outside backs knocking around the RU world that would be a success in RL.