Union or league...why? Pros and cons of each.?

Question

I prefer Union,you can compete for the ball in rucks and mauls not have to give a little tap-back. Lineouts are competitive and so are the scrums.League scrums are a farce.

As for league being a better spectator sport...tosh..look at the relative viewing audiences for the Union and League World cups respectively...no contest.

Answer 1

League all the way! I cant watch Union it bores the h**l out of me. Its not called kick and clap for nothing!

The only reason it gets high attendances at internationals is because most of the prawn sandwich brigade are on business freebies. Its that c**p they have to give the tickets away! The Tykes who were recently promoted were so desperate for fans they were giving away free tickets to the Rhinos fans for the day they were promoted! You wont see that happening for the grand final if Leeds get there!

League is fast paced, thrilling to watch, unpredicatable, each team is capable of beating the other and there is no margin for error.

All union has to offer is money, hence why league players that move to Union only go for the money.

Look at the England RU team that won the world cup - it was like dads army! To win the world cup in league you have to beat the fittest, strongest and most skillful players in the world. Could you really see that England RU team giving the Kangeroos a hammering in either code?

Union has money because it receives the press coverage that league unfairly has never received - that and the fact the tight gets didnt pay their players for over 100 years!

Unions pro's - has money

Unions con's - boring to watch, nobody really knows the rules, kick and clap, played by has beens, too many players on the field, no interest at club level.

Leagues Pro's - fast, skillful, exciting to watch, growing attendances, proper local derbies, all teams capable of beating each other

Leagues Con's - Maurice Lindsey, Dominance by Australia at International level for past 30 years, stupid extra fixtures in SL, lack of media coverage

Answer 2

While I feel that Lily (above) has made some very valid, interesting and accurate points, and has stated an extremely good argument in favour of League, I have to say that personally I much prefer Rugby Union.

I may be a big southern softie but the fact is that, as a player myself who has played both codes (not to any great level I should add!!)  I found League a piece of p**s to play but strangely less fun and just missing that edge I was used to at home in union.

For me Union is a more entertaining game to play and has a lot more variety to the game than league. While I love it Super League, for me it's a game that basically shows what rugby would be like if us backs made all the rules. You only get six tackles, no competition at scrums, no big fella's jumping on you (I think the biggest player is only about 6ft 6), no competition at the break down, no line-outs, you can't strip the ball once a player has ben tackled and on top of all that it only played in spring and summer so it's warmer and the ground is firmer and better for running. Having said all that I have to admit I do love watching Super League and the Leeds Rhino's in particular.  

Rugby Union on the other hand is a more technical game than League which is why it appears alot harder for League players to switch successfully to Union than it is for Union players to adapt to league. Of all the top league players that have come over it's only really Jason Robinson, Matt Rogers and Lote Tuqiri that have successfully played test rugby in both codes, where as some of leagues greatest players have been ex-rugby Union players....I am talking Martin Offiah, Jonathan Davies, Tom Van Vollenhoven, Lewis Jones, Jim Sullivan, Billy Boston etc. Wales in the Rugby League World cup of 1995 had a team made up of 9 ex-union players and only four who were born to league and they made it to the Semi-final which is a lot better than Wales have done in Union.

What I am saying is that League is faster because it is a simpler game to play and while the handling skills and off-loading skills are much better amongst League players, top level Union players have a far better understanding of technical skills, positional skills and lines of running, all they need to improve is their fitness and they are away in league. League players have to learn so much to adapt to union because basically it is a harder sport than League in every sense of the word....in league you get tackled, the tackler gets off, you get up, you keep the ball, you carry on. In union you get tackled, the oppostion pile in, you get rucked, raked, you only get posession if you are skilful enough to turn as you are tackled and present the ball to your team-mates, and then only if they are fast enough to back you up. Once your team-mates get the ball away there is more space for your mates because you have created it by putting your body on the line. In league the defence is spread and fewer men are committed making it easier to defend.

OK I admit League is faster, but more entertaining I would have to definately argue with. No it's Union for me.

Answer 3

league - better to watch

Answer 4

Rugby League - The game flows much quicker and both of the teams get a good possetion of the ball rather than in rugby union were it is one team on the ball the whole time.

although i play rugby union i only play it until i can move up north and try rugby league.

Answer 5

We've just had this one.

More variety in union so it's less repetative when there's a good game but if a team wants to keep the game tight, it can be a dirge.

Answer 6

union all the way.  It a much better sport to compete in, with all the physical action in the rucks, mauls and set plays.  Also I beleive for that very reason it is also the best to watch

Answer 7

League wins hands down, Union is so slow and stop starts all the time. We watched a game at the weekend (instead of league) and it was soooooooooooooo dull. Just when the action starts they stop and kick. I nodded off in my pint.

Answer 8

You seem to have made your mind up already so there wasn't really much point asking was there?

If you want an honest opinion...it's got to be League. This is coming from a nortnern lass, so yes, I will be biased towards union's little brother BUT that doesn't mean I don't see the pro's of Union, it's just that I'm not too blind to see that the Con's outweigh the Pro's by a long, long way.

Rugby League is free flowing, fast moving, exciting, physical, skillful and hard hitting. I defy anyone to tell me that Union players are tougher. It's beyond stupid that people believe Union players are fitter. Not a chance in h**l I'm afraid....there are the odd exception of course, players such as Tevita Vaikona, Robinson and Farell, but if I am not much mistaken they all began their illustrious careers in League. I'm a sports science student and I've tested and evaluated a large group of both rugby union and Rugby League players at degree level, which gained me a 1st class honors degree so I must know what I'm talking about, and the League players on average have a lower percentage of body fat, a higher V02 max, higher levels of anaerobic capacity, lower resting heart rates, far superior recovery times and a higher lactic acid tolerance. All the qualities in short, of an extreemly fit grown man. The physiques are also way better due to a generally mesomorph body type, compared with that of the endomorph or endo/ecto type union players.

As for scrums being a farce, it is a legitimate, advantageous to the attacking team, way to restart the game after an error. League fans can argue that line outs are pointless, how many times do you see the defending side gain possession....NEVER!

World Cup and Television ratings are really not the best way to judge popularity. A wonderful thing called MONEY is what rules the audiences. Union has more, and therfore can pay for more television time....plus, Super League goes into franchise in 2009, so lets see in ten years when the aftermath of the switch to franchise has settled who has a larger TV audience, I'm willing to bet you Union fans will be a h**l of a lot less critical of League then!

I'm afraid that on a scientific, aesthetic and purely entertaining level, League wins hands down. End. Of. Chat.

And whoever is giving any answer that leans towards league a bad answer rating....get a life and stop being so narrow minded!