Nah i like Wales, working class union lads and always had a great pedigree of converts.
Scotland and Ireland aren't good enough anyway.
S.A. no chance, horrible lot.

Then whoever is left fight over what is left.

Judging by the rises today the Daily Mail was publishing a load of rubbish again.

FTSE 100 6,298.92 +168.94 (2.76%)
FTSE 250 17,110.28 +314.20 (1.87%)
FTSE All Share 3,456.60 +85.94 (2.55%)

Even ITV shares have gone up 1.72%.

Must be a repeat

I wanted to go to Scotland V USA at Elland Road last week, but the cheapest tickets I could get were £65 each. I didn't go, but I'm pretty sure it sold out. That's in a rugby league city too.

I did attend the exact same fixture in the 2013 RLWC in Salford. Our tickets were £5 and they didn't sell out a much smaller stadium.

Say what you like about RU, but "they" do put on a decent World Cup that captures the imagination, and "we" definitely don't.

I haven't watched any of it on telly - even the game I wanted to go to! - because I'm not really interested in it. I'm from Warrington, so "rugby" means league, but the chip on the shoulder so many have regarding union is long past it's sell by date.

Popularity breeds popularity. ....if tickets are like gold dust everyone wants them. ...
People want to be part of an occasion thats why thousands upon thousand applied for olympics tickets for sports they had most likely never seen in their lives. ...

We struggle to make our games an occasion. ...We once had a format that was getting there. ..with big old Trafford and wembley games....... and then we canned it. .....

The Ashes. ....

And now we have to start from scratch with a team of Welsh men and Scottish men that mean nothing to their countrymen or opposition. ...

Anyway rugby union hate it or hate. ..9 pages on it...and just the one on the greatest NRL grand final in years. ....

Just who goes to a Union match? The domestic games have small attendances and I don't know anyone who is interested in the game?

I see that Burgess has been made the scapegoat by dropping him for the last game...

I'm assuming you live in Warrington which might explain that. If you lived in Leicester, Bath, Bristol, Gloucester, Edinburgh, South Wales, Cork or Dublin you'd probably know someone who is interested in it. In most cases they would have less awareness of rugby league than people in Warrington have of rugby union too.

There has also been tens of thousands of people in attendance at every match in this World Cup too, and the tickets weren't cheap, nor were all the games played in traditional RU areas.

Quote: mark_m "Just who goes to a Union match? The domestic games have small attendances and I don't know anyone who is interested in the game?'" Not correct. The Aviva Premiership has higher average attendances than SL. Leicester, Saracens and Harlequins all have average attendance > 20,000. rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=469 I suspect there will also be more spectators at the Etihad for the England game then for the Magic Weekend on one day. If those want to take on the dominance of RU effectively they need to acknowledge the facts instead of rubbishing them. The fact is that, as a tournament, the RU World Cup has been a massive success so far with packed stadiums across the UK. So for a "crap" game it doesnt do so badly. Whilst the RL community continually pat themselves on the back with "the greatest game" nonsense and sneer jealously at Union.

Quote: mark_m "Just who goes to a Union match? The domestic games have small attendances and I don't know anyone who is interested in the game?'" Not correct. The Aviva Premiership has higher average attendances than SL. Leicester, Saracens and Harlequins all have average attendance > 20,000. rugby.statbunker.com/competition ... omp_id=469 I suspect there will also be more spectators at the Etihad for the England game then for the Magic Weekend on one day. If those want to take on the dominance of RU effectively they need to acknowledge the facts instead of rubbishing them. The fact is that, as a tournament, the RU World Cup has been a massive success so far with packed stadiums across the UK. So for a "crap" game it doesnt do so badly. Whilst the RL community continually pat themselves on the back with "the greatest game" nonsense and sneer jealously at Union.

Lancaster has made 9 changes for the game. Burgess being one.

I don't disagree with you Mark. Skill and athleticism is high, as it is with Gaelic Football, Aussie Rules etc, but that is not enough to get the crowds flocking in.

Playing devils advocate I could point out what I believe are the negatives of league. That being formulaic and predictable, repetitive and tactically simplistic in nature.

Do we really believe that there are millions of RU fans watching that would turn to RL if only they were aware of it and had seen a game?

I believe in one of the games he played Burgess only touched the ball twice.

As for Rugby Union, the game now has a massive advantage with top management from a business point of view & is able to attract the type of sponsors that RL can only dream about. I doubt RL has changed drastically in its efforts in business terms since our game first became a professional sport. On the other hand,& after all the years of under the counter payments, finally coming out of the closet as a professional sport has paid off for RU. Maybe professional marketing from a top level is what we need & to grab back the initiative from sky regarding scheduling of matches so fans can plan their match visits better instead of taking the tv viewing option.