Wow. www.economist.com/news/britain/2 ... rsc=dg%7Ca

Wow. www.economist.com/news/britain/2 ... rsc=dg%7Ca

blithering waffle, its no better than many posts on here.

THey also seem to ignore the fact that the "North" of England has 33million people in it, the large conurbation in the UK.

Fairly good article that. More politics than rugby, but then it's a political mag, not a rugby one.

Sadfish: I'd be interested where you've drawn the line to find the population of the north to be 33m. Must be Watford rather than Watford Gap!

Watford to the Scottish borders is north isnt it?

Which Watford?

Can't argue with much of that to be honest.

RL's problem (and RU's strength) will always be the relative availability of sponsorship pounds where the games are at their respective strongest.

good article. i read the comment by cutters below the article and i fell off my chair laughing

Nothing really to disagree with there. Mostly politics, and mostly accurate. It is really important that we as a game don't allow the short-term success of the World Cup to blind us to the really quite disastrous long-term developments in the domestic game. What is happening in terms of player participation, sponsorship, league structure and London Broncos is rather more important for the future health of the game than the World Cup, and all of those issues are heading in the wrong direction.

That just made my morning!!!

Why? What's your experience of the view and experience those in the south-west have of rugby league?

I have family in the South West and pay regular visits. Plenty of comprehensive schools run rugby league teams and tournaments. The game is played by a wide variety of people in the area, as is union (but obviously to a greater extent). To suggest that either code is played only by "toffs and wimps" in the area is laughable, and patently wrong.

Whats your experience?

A bit with the new Gloucester team as they set up and coming across the south-west teams in RLC playoffs.

Cutters refers to RU being a sport played by manual workers in the southwest....nothing laughable about that. Then he says he's come across public schools playing league but not comprehensives, and that's created his view of the game. If that's what he's come across.....it's not funny, just what he's come across

The comments section of The Economist online is running red hot with reactions to this article.

Mmmmhhh - some of the comments seem a bit familiar Jean!?!?

Cutters comment was that in his view Rugby League was a game for toffs and for wimps.

If you can't see what is laughable about it, then you are watching the wrong sport.