Well a) it's none of your ing business, b) who says I dislike it? c) i understand the sport as equally if not better than than you do.

I catch up as I'm curious as to how the national team are doing. I get frustrated that nothing much has changed re the scrums since I stopped playing, I first played at the age of 12 (we had to play union as well as league back in those days) I know the rules very well & I was a flanker cum inside centre when I was asked to play the odd game in the off season in my older years..

Now, I'll ask you again, why again do you feel the need to comment on what another poster writes if you don't understand what they have said and try to second guess what that poster likes/dislikes? Is it a cry for help, are you feeling suicidal that you need to come up with a response to everything you hate or can't understand??
I suggest you get professional help as you sound like you're on the edge of a breakdown

Not satisfied with your claim to know more about Rugby Union than me, you're now on a freudian trip too?

Let's look at your post again shall we?



So....the BBC paying £40M for "this poop" is what you open with. I have explained that "this poop" attracts 70,000,000 viewers in the UK alone. It is steeped in history with the only changes to the comp being the addition of France and then Italy from the original home nations comp and it induces jingoistic rivalries with some nations considering victory over England more important than winning the whole comp.

Then you continue that you "tried watching it" and that you "fast forwarded" through it, only to stop and actually time a scrum?

I doubt there is a commentator or supporter of Union who doesn't agree with you about the scrum. I too have played Union and not just at schoolboy level either. I do not pretend to know the "dark arts" of the front row union boys, but I suspect that this issue will continue and scrums will continue to be a mess until they "emasculate" them as they have already done in League.

Then you comment on Lancasters habit of reverting to 10 man rugby. I agree, he does seem to struggle past 10 and he plays to his forward strengths and as a result, the game is often a turgid turd of a thing......but if come November this year he's managed to get his team to the RWC Final, nobody will really give a toss. Would you give a flying one if England RL played boring one up footie but actually won something?

Lastly, Dylan Hartley plays Hooker in Union which means he's not there to play footie, but to ad weight to the pack in the loose whilst also being able to throw to his jumpers and hook the ball if required. If you're asking "was he any good" in relation to his match v Wales...he gave away a penalty in the 47th minute and was subbed 9 minutes later...if you were asking because you wanted to know did he bite, punch or gouge anyones eye, the answer is no, he behaved himself. He is a 60+ test veteran player, so whilst I don't watch much union I'd say he's a pretty effective unit given Lancasters preoccupation with his numbers 1 to 8.

So, there you have it my amateur psychiatrist......a response to your original post. The BBC pay what they believe it's worth, the scrums are a fiasco and Hartley played 56 minutes in his 61st test!

I agree to some extent in what you say but if you watch the game it spoils a good day out on the lash.

Sat here laughing at all the 6N teams effectively playing RL today, no doubt these games will be deemed the greatest entertainment in world sport or something

It's been a farce.

It will be, and beyond the group stages of the World Cup it will be too. Only reason yesterday happened was because 3 teams needed to go for it, really go for it. In an ordinary situation there's no chance England would be playing ball like that against France, or even Wales & Ireland either. It was entertainment, but it was an exception rather than the rule.

Well, that's the British for you. They love a good farce!
rlhttps://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/32019463rl
Maybe such figures go some way to explaining why Union gets so much more exposure on the Beeb...who can tell?

You have an attitude (typical of someone from Halifax) that has held the superior form of rugby from even coming close to the inferior code in mass market appeal.
Even though you enjoy the superior game, you and people like you are condemned to watch it in half empty stadiums.
Don't blame others, look at your own backward thinking views on the sport.

Oh dear.
I'm not from Halifax, I blame nobody other than the administrators of RL for the lack of exposure, reach and interest in Rugby League and I would consider myself one the most forward thinking Rugby League fans that I know of.

Rugby Union or Rugby as they like to call it now is a god awful spectacle at times, but the S15 comp this year has average 5 tries a game, the Aviva Premiership saw attendances increase, the New European Cup saw increased attendances, they are negotiating bigger TV deals and the 6 Nations delivered record viewing figures and if that's not enough, their World Cup will be the biggest attended one so far.

On the subject of the Union World Cup good to see the brave English lads leave fortress Twickers for one game...playing the Dentists,Lawyers & Doctors of Uruguay in Manchester!

Indeed.....and on Grand Final Day too. I suspect a bumper weekend for the hoteliers and publicans of Manchester, given that the Etihad Stadium was apparently sold out back in October 2014 and that Old Trafford will be close to rammed.
I wonder what the Police will be charging each event, as it is very unusual for both stadiums to be in use on the same day and the centre of town will be packed both before and after the games.

Interesting article in this weeks email from Running Rugby
rlhttps://www.runningrugby.com/marketing-and-sponsorship/land-rover-looking-for-return-on-eight-figure-rwc-investment/rl

The use of the word "tens" points to this being a minimum of 20,000,000.....that's scary money from just once sponsor. How many discovery's will they need to shift to get a ROI?

I have to confess I watched the last 20 minutes or so of South Africa v Japan expecting the usual bore-fest. Was actually very entertaining (or at least Japan were). They decline two penalty shots at goal in the last 2 minutes to potentially earn a draw (one 10 seconds from the end of normal time) but chose to try to win it. They scored a try a couple of minutes later. I admit to jumping out of my seat. Never thought I'd do that watching RU. Wonders never cease.