How do they get people to watch rugby union?

Virgin 2.0: How do they get people to watch rugby union?
All the is to union is penalty goals and a bunch of fat blokes dry humping each other. Rugby league clearly has superior athletes and requires skill, toughness and endurance, union only needs strength. There are 60 minutes of action in rugby league match compared to 30 for union.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Jay D
i agree.

Answer by Young One
I enjoy watching rugby union because I play – and enjoy playing – it. I think you look for different things. I am one of the very few who enjoy watching scrum after scrum, because I can appreciate both the incredible effort and mental strain they are under.

But you are right, because of the stoppages and set plays, the running style you enjoy is on show a lot more in league. So are some of the bigger hits (on a more frequent basis) because of a 10m run-up.

Each to their own, but rugby union does it for me.

Answer by Brodie
yeah league is fast paced and can be amazing to watch. Plus you have to ditch the ball after x amount of phases which puts pressure on teams to make ground and go for tries. Yet, i hate the tackling. its not real tackling. its basically a physical game of touch rugby. Both games have their flaws and advantages. I personally prefer union because of the physicality, its not just backs who win the game, you need a mixture of hard hitting forwards and a quick backline. Stopages are really annoying in union though, especially the scrum! and i wish penalties were worth 2 points not 3.

Answer by Charlie
I like both codes but you are being a bit unfair saying that union is all about penalty goals and fat blokes playing the game.
Look at the All Blacks, they play a open running and entertaining brand of rugby so do the Wallabies ( did you watch the last Bledisloe cup match in Hong Kong ? ).
Lots of back line movements from both sides and some spectacular tries scored.
Scrums and line outs are part of the game ( if they didn’t have them it would be another version of league ! )
I agree the rule- makers of the game have made scrums ‘ complicated and time consuming ‘ hopefully their will be an amendment here to speed scrums up – somehow !
Anyway if you are a league fan – that’s fine , I love the game as well but it is different to union — that is the reality.
p/s look at all levels of union — club, provincal, super rugby, Uk club comps, and International rugby — you will see very few ‘ fat blokes ‘ other than the props – they have to be of a certain shape and size for scrummaging purposes — it is a very physical skill required to be a prop ( skinny blokes cant do it ! )

Answer by blm
Easy answer to this question — if your IQ is 80 or higher you prefer Union.

League is a game for knuckleheads. Union is the more nuanced and thinking game, with variety in the methods of attack and the tactical kicking playing a much larger role. More thinking done on the fly. League is the bashers game — perhaps somewhat faster, but less complex, mind-knumbingly repetitive, and on the whole much less interesting. Four charges up the middle, an outside pass after the fourth down, followed by a kick, repeated more or less endlessly. Occasionally someone misses a tackle and the offense manages to score. Effectively a dumbed-down version of real rugby, intended to appeal to the fan who wants to see lots of trys, some big guys shoulder-charging each other at pace, and pretty much nothing else.

If I wanted to see stuff like that, I could just watch gridiron. At least they get to mix things up by varying the running game with some passes. Face it — when League abandoned the competition for the ball because it was deemed too “complex”, (for League fans anyway) they lost the aspect of rugby which makes it the greatest game in the world.

And then there is travesty which League calls a “scrum”. It is physically painful to have to watch while the scrum-half is allowed to roll the ball straight out the back while the forwards don’t either bother to push. What is it about League forwards? Are they just too lazy to push, or are they afraid they might break a nail?

But to to each their own. Like I said, I prefer Union, and think that there good reasons why it is the dominant (and growing) version of the sport worldwide, while League remains a dying regional game.

You are, of course, free to disagree. If League is what you prefer, well so be it. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Answer by Andrew
Yeah union is a much smarter, nuanced, tactical game.

Retards usually don’t understand it so I can see why you find it boring.

Answer by Shaun
both are awesome!
your just a one eye lost sheep.

Answer by robert
league requires much last stamina, in union ur always constantly on the move, running back to ur position b4 the play ends etc. league u get a break every 10 bloody seconds. this is how league goes….

pass, run, get tackled, play the ball
pass, run, get tackled, play the ball
pass, run, get tackled, play the ball
for some odd reason kick on 4th wen there is still 3 people bak?????????????????

and i agree with blm i too am i union player and it is the stand out winner to league towards the form of tactical thinking and actual gameplay, a fly half is constantly talking to his scrum half telling him exactly wat needs to be done, and he is thinking of all these plays at the same time. All within the space of a mall or ruck!!!

Answer by Col
Oh dear sounds if you come from downtown Wigan or Wakefield !! Union is the the more popular and generally a better game than League which is restricted to a small part of the UK and a few other countries . Union currently suffers from complex scrummaging laws which require modification. Hope eventually that League can be re assimiliated into Union for the betterment of the game .