I'd agree but I think the RFL are doing pretty well with the schools thing in general to be honest.

You're probably right in that a lot might not enjoy playing it, but it gets it into the mind that rugby union is important if the school they are at plays it and takes it seriously. So that public schoolboy might not enjoy playing it while he's at school, he is then more likely to take an interest in the sport later in life. He's certainly more likely to take an interest in it than in a sport which wasn't played, mentioned, discussed or even knew existed while he was at school.

I would agree with the first bit a lot, and the next part a bit!

I'll be honest- I'm an ex-public schoolboy. I know a fair few others, unsurprisingly! And we had to play union. We hated it. And we hate watching it. One or two of us got into League, and a few of the others then did too.

But I guess that might be an atypical case. Certainly in Manchester, all efforts to get us to enjoy union failed miserably! The usual suspects (i.e. the kids from North Cheshire) loved union, the rest of us watched football or cricket, and a few League (although I didn't get into RL until after uni).

oh dear.....the "it's not fair' thread has popped up again

Media is what you make of it.

Go to the popular video sharing site and search for all blacks summer skills 2.....then after watching it type in waratahs summer skills.
One of these is a polished professional marketing piece......the other is a last minute (still professional) pi55 take......

Media...as in TV, Press, Radio is soon going to be overtaken by the web......the RFL need to get in now..

enough b0llox about public schoolboys running the BBC.....who cares......get on the web, get the content right and then get the "coverage" you think the sport deserves......

because they understand their target market......and what they will get audiences for!


because they are the RFL who at best...would have trouble finding their own @rses with both hands.

lol its just so so wrong !! the word 'soccer' makes me cringe, call it what it is FOOTBALL

Im sure I read somewhere that League gets much higher viewing figures on Sky Sports than Union yet as we all know the reverse is true when it comes to actual attendances. So while I doubt we'll be getting the coverage we actually deserve in he national press anytime soon (the World Tiddlywinks Championship gets more column inches) clearly there are people out there who the clubs and the RFL could be doing more to entice through the turnstiles

You can't play sport in long pants

Lot of truth in this. Get the Public schools playing and we just might at sometime in the distant future have a Prime Minister who was once an hooker, as well as being an hooker.

The previous posters are correct - You are wrong.

Repeat after meRugby [/iFootball, [iAssociation [/iFootball, [iNational [/iFootball [iLeague [/i( NFL ), [iAustralian [/iFootball [iLeague [/i( AFL ).

What they play at Anfield and Reebok is Association Football, AKA soccer.

There's a public school competition being arranged

Millions of people in England call Association Football - football.

I love it how based on your opinion, and the opinion of two other posters someone can be "wrong" in calling a game the name millions of other people call it. You might call football soccer, but it doesn't make you right.

It actually makes you a bit of a prat in my eyes, but doesn't mean your wrong either.

Really? That's fantastic.


Yep. I hate public schools with a passion (sorry Urmston Wire ) and I wish they didn't exist, but sadly they do and the more influential people in the country appear to be ex-public schoolboys. The biggest factor in favour of Union and the biggest factor responsible for it's reasonable spread around the world is/has been the public school system. Even if we don't get a Prime Minister who likes League we might get a few business leaders and media owners/editors who do if we get RL played throughout the public schools.

whilst we're at it....how does everyone here pronounce TOMATO

I call it soccer to wind up soccer fans.....but it is most commonly known as Football in the UK AND Europe. The USA, and South Americans (gradually...but they do follow the USA) and pretty much everyone else calls it soccer as there are other codes of football in these countries that are larger.
League is bigger in Aaustralia
Union is bigger in New Zealand
Gridiron (dally messengers favourite sport) in the USA

........I say TO-MAR-TO by the way ...