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Rugby Union


kiwififer

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Faster, significantly more skillful, and the overall standard is far higher.

If you think back to the whole North-South argument in Union a few years back, the gap in RL is even wider.



I wonder why. I spent a month in Australia a few years back, and whilst it was cricket season (hence why I was there) everyone seemed to like Aussie Rules and dismissed rugby. Always thought it was impressive they have such good rugby teams (both codes) despite the fact it seemed to be considerably less popular than AFL or cricket.
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4 minutes ago, jmothecat said:

 


I wonder why. I spent a month in Australia a few years back, and whilst it was cricket season (hence why I was there) everyone seemed to like Aussie Rules and dismissed rugby. Always thought it was impressive they have such good rugby teams (both codes) despite the fact it seemed to be considerably less popular than AFL or cricket.

Depends where in Oz you were - in Victoria, Aussie Rules is definitely the top dog, even though Melbourne Storm are one of the best in the NRL.

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Surprised so many people thought laidlaw played well. His passing was slow and lacked any accuracy. The fact Seymour barely received a pass was down to the terrible distribution. No doubt laidlaw is a decent kicker and a superb captain (especially at managing refs) but we have a brilliant backline that needs the ball early. Thought Bradbury showed up well and huw Jones is an incredible find especially given how many top notch centres we have. Overall though it was another error strewn performance. May not be a popular view but I've never been that impressed by cotter or the rest of the coaching team. If we hadn't had a very lucky draw in rwc there wouldn't be a lot to show for his time in charge given how good a squad of players he has. Looking forward to toony taking over.

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2 hours ago, BuddieInDundee said:

Never really delved into comparing the two codes in terms of skill level as such, but can appreciate RL can be a decent watch sometimes. In terms of attempting broaden its appeal outside the traditional heartlands, however, it fails pitifully.

Tbf, it seems to be either the sublime or the ridiculous.

Those who recall the chat about the Toronto Wolfpack joining the third tier of English rugby league next season will be interested to know that the United States & Canada have been awarded the Rugby League World Cup 2025 today :lol:!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38042943

That must be Qatar-esque, without the human rights abuses and corruption.

USA have only once previously qualified for RLWC. Canada never have. US rugby league was under suspension until recently due to a dispute about who was the real federation!

Only crowds I can find for rugby league internationals in USA are 800 (USA v Jamaica in 2011) and 1,200 (USA v Japan in 2006). They used to play at Disneyland in Orlando :lol:!

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Tbf, it seems to be either the sublime or the ridiculous.

Those who recall the chat about the Toronto Wolfpack joining the third tier of English rugby league next season will be interested to know that the United States & Canada have been awarded the Rugby League World Cup 2025 today :lol:!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38042943

That must be Qatar-esque, without the human rights abuses and corruption.

USA have only once previously qualified for RLWC. Canada never have. US rugby league was under suspension until recently due to a dispute about who was the real federation!

Only crowds I can find for rugby league internationals in USA are 800 (USA v Jamaica in 2011) and 1,200 (USA v Japan in 2006). They used to play at Disneyland in Orlando :lol:!



What the actual f**k? That's hilarious, akin to China being awarded the Union WC.
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Since the RLWC got revived in 2008 it's just alternated Australia > England > Australia & New Zealand > England but apparently a company called "Moore Sport International" bid for 2021 & 2025 on behalf of USA & Canada, so they gave 2021 to England and 2025 to USA & Canada :huh:.

North America doesn't even appear to have a professional league, and their only domestic crowds I can find are for their Grand Finals - 2,500 (2006)... 2,000 (2007)... 1,300 (2010). Americans will watch anything, but it seems like a real shot in the dark.

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France did host ties in RLWC 2013 - and Four Nations ties when they were the 4th team. South Africa bid unsuccessfully for 2017.

I suppose US is a big market to look for a niche in. 


For union yeah....the Vegas 7s does well....league doesn't seem to have a foothold yet...despite fact it should actually appeal to gridiron fans. I'd defo expect a union rwc to sell out big stadia in us.....league....can't see them selling out college stadia
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The college stadia are quite often bigger than NFL stadia. I don't think it's that barmy an idea... the structure of the RL World Cup means that the minnows are kept apart from the top teams until the knockout stages so it's not like they should be on the end of a load of hammerings.

I doubt they'll be getting 80,000 for each game but I can see them attracting five-figure crowds. The Americans tend to be pretty good at marketing and they have nearly a decade to build interest.


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My take is that RL are trying to get ahead of union in North America and are hoping that by giving them the world cup that will do it for them.

To be fair Union should have got in first the world cup, however the US now have their own Pro league in Union (currently only 6 teams in US but growing to 8 i think next year, and the offer is still on the table to Canada to add teams) and are looking to tie in wit the Southern Kings in Super Rugby.

 

For league I think its either boom or bust, they have to get the right size stadia or it could be a disaster and cost them a fortune, and look dreadfull on TV with thousands of empty seats, or it could tap in to a huge new market

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The only reason the US have not had the RWC yet is they have not put a bid in for one. World Rugby asked them to put a bid in for the 2023 and if they did I reckon they would of been the favourites for it

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Sorry if this has been mentioned already. I don't recall so.

Posters will remember that Georgia and Japan finished third in their Rugby World Cup pools last year and accordingly qualified automatically for RWC 2019. Fiji and Samoa bombed. Some of us questioned whether the IRB would have the "determination" to leave the continental qualifying allocations for the remaining 8 places as they were - rewarding Europe and Asia for their improvement and punishing Oceania for their underperformance - or whether they could bow to pressure from the Pacific Islands, and bump their slots at the expense of the other continents.

Allocations have been announced and unfortunately - IMO - they have gone for the latter. Here are the continental allocations for 2015 and those for 2019, in both cases including the repechage.

RWC 2015
Africa - 1.25
Americas - 2.25
Asia - 1.25
Europe - 2.25
Oceania - 1

RWC 2019
Africa - 1.25
Americas - 2.25
Asia - 0.125 - (down 1.125)
Europe - 1.625 - (down 0.625)
Oceania - 2.75 - (up 1.75
)


Fiji, Samoa and Tonga will also hold entirely separate qualifying from the rest of Oceania with the top 2 qualifying automatically and the other playing-off against Europe 2 them going into the repechage if they lose. Remarkably, it's actually become harder for an Asian team to join Japan in the finals as it was 4yrs before. Exceedingly harsh.

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