Well, regardless of it being about RU, I found this an interesting article, which, perhaps can be taken to illustrate the class divide that still exists between the codes. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34222183

Well, regardless of it being about RU, I found this an interesting article, which, perhaps can be taken to illustrate the class divide that still exists between the codes. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34222183

Wales rugby union definitely no class divide, some of my welsh rugby union fans will come along to watch rugby league, my english rugby union fans no chance of watching rugby league. Similar for me I'll watch Wales RU but no chance of watching English RU.

I saw the same article very interesting, It just goes to show that as the article said, public schools are a business producing top players by using scolarships is good for busines they are not concerned about fairness equality just profit. It makes no diference that we have a better game they don't need us & would do everything to stop our sport if they thought we were a threat (I don't think we even register on their radar) Soccer is just lucky that it is so big that no one will challenge them & they dont need the public schools. The RFU will take the best players from anywhere as we should. State schools will never have the funds to have profesional coaches & conditioners it will always be down to enthusiasts parents & clubs. The thing we could do is encouage & help get League playing teachers into schools & have a network to help them. It will take genarations but worth the effort.

The % stats are misleading, as the number of pupils in state school is massively higher than Public school. As an aside, my boss went to Malvern, and at school they had "games" EVERY afternoon. Bit different to a state school.

So there's more chance of you playing union if you go to a school with an established union programme and teachers committed to playing the sport?

Glad we cleared that up.

Private schools offer scholarships to young, talented rugby/cricket players and then have the advantages of better facilities and superior coaching/resources. Private school also have the ability to give children much more time to develop skills as they are not bound by the National Curriculum state school have to follow, which is usually only two hours of PE a week (split evenly between games such as RL and dance/gymnastics etc).
However, most just do not acknowledge RL or football (though Hockey/tennis/athletics are seen as acceptable!)

It amazes me that someone can write that article without mentioning League. The very existence of which is due to English RU being unwilling to accommodate working class northerners.

What's more it cites % of state school England RU players when some of those (and there's only a handful of players per WC squad so its statistically significant) are only there because of RL (Robinson, Burgess).

I guess it's just coincidence then that certain sports like Union are assisted by the media? When a significant proportion of media editors and management also come from that same tiny, privileged, elitist 7% of the population.


The association with the public/independent school sector is what drives a lot of my disdain for professional Union. And why I can't bring myself to support England Union in anything.

I shall be doing all I can to avoid the Union World Cup, but I might watch the occasional Wales game.

Another thread obsessed about Union? It's already had the paranoid speech on the media by Him and it's not even page 2 yet

The public school in Hull (Hymers) didn't play RL until an ex Hull KR coach got a job there as a the PE teacher then they started playing it. I wonder how much of it is lack of opportunity, exposure and coaching/knowledge of staff as much as snobbery and class divide? We didn't have any schools playing RL in Perth until the WARL brought in a high schools programme, now we have Snr schools playing in a comp and scholarships available and are starting to produce NRL players. Resources and strategic planning is needed.

Another post about perceived obsession with RU... Not obsessed pal, just commenting... Have a nice day

Of course you're not obsessed



You have a nice day worrying about Union

If you have a problem... if no one else can help... and if you can find them... maybe you can hire... ......

I mean, seriously, just how does he manage to buy a suit THAT'S TOO FECKING BIG!?!

Look at those trousers, you could house half of the diaspora of Syria in there.

I work with a Welsh RU fan who calls RL "pass the parcel" and has said to me numerous times that "they look like junior RU players they're that small".

Yeah there's certainly some big humans playing Rugby Union but they're odd aren't they, some of them are like circus freaks.

Bean poles and fat blokes, Gorky looking stoopers with two flat feet and zero athletic ability.

Union demands - in the front five at least - very specialised body shapes.

Squat little balls of muscle in the front row who are expected to trundle from ruck to ruck and then work hard in the scrums and lineouts. Freaks of nature in the second row who look more like they should be on an NBA basketball court, specifically designed to generate power in the scrums but with athleticism and good hands for the lineouts.

The closest thing to rugby league players are probably the back-rowers and outside backs, hence the reason that's where most league converts end up.

Part of the reason why they are two very different sports.

You're being too kind!

So he can grow into it?

I went to a private school in Manchester, which unsurprisingly was run by RU enthusiasts, but it never filtered through- most of us were into football and to a lesser degree league. We left school absolutely despising Union- or even rugby as a concept, it wasn't until I was about 22 that I went to watch RL because I was bored one weekend and was hooked.

cool story bro...have you sold the film rights?

The very reason there are two codes of Rugby is because Union is an "upper class"sport, or at least in considers itself one in England.

Christ, thinking back to my away days at Duckinfield, Tyldesly, De La Salle, Birchfield and Oldershaw, if that's upper class than our society's in a right dive.