Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:27 pm  

Catalancs wrote:

As I said, never a centre.

His dad was a natural.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:44 pm  

The Irish provincial system has been going for years so that's why it's easier to sort now. Even in the amateur days Munster and co were playing New Zealand in tour matches. In terms of crowd figures and what not, there are 4 provinces and it divides the whole of Ireland into 4. The Welsh regions are all in the south and aren't far apart. Cardiff to Newport is about 10 minutes on the train, so to call them regions is a bit stupid. Of course there probably isn't any other way of doing them, but the Welsh are very proud and a lot won't go to the regional games. The move back to Cardiff Arms Park for the Blues meant a lot of the old Cardiff fans would return. A lot of them are very stubborn and won't even acknowledge the name Blues. I read on their forum that a lot of the crowd roll their eyes if somebody starts a chant with that name in it. There's obviously still passion there. The Ospreys sell out LV Cup games at Bridgend no problem and the Blues have sold out the last 2 games at the Arms Park.

There's always talk of a 5th region in the North but I don't know how financially viable that would be. However the Wales U-20's recently got 6,000 at Colwyn Bay so there may well be love up there.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:35 pm  

The WRU would love to break North Wales. I wonder how much they have bunged into that failed North Wales club http://www.gogleddcymru.blogspot.com/

The WRU would love to break North Wales. I wonder how much they have bunged into that failed North Wales club http://www.gogleddcymru.blogspot.com/

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:42 pm  

dids858 wrote: The WRU would love to break North Wales. I wonder how much they have bunged into that failed North Wales club http://www.gogleddcymru.blogspot.com/ They filled it with second-rate Canadians and overseas students studying at Wrexham and Bangor Unis. No wonder they failed to sell the community concept. They seemed to panic once it was confirmed Crusdaders were to enter Super League. Wales -3 looks a cracking bet to me this weekend.

dids858 wrote: The WRU would love to break North Wales. I wonder how much they have bunged into that failed North Wales club http://www.gogleddcymru.blogspot.com/ They filled it with second-rate Canadians and overseas students studying at Wrexham and Bangor Unis. No wonder they failed to sell the community concept. They seemed to panic once it was confirmed Crusdaders were to enter Super League. Wales -3 looks a cracking bet to me this weekend.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:41 pm  

Catalancs wrote:

They filled it with second-rate Canadians and overseas students studying at Wrexham and Bangor Unis. No wonder they failed to sell the community concept. They seemed to panic once it was confirmed Crusdaders were to enter Super League.


Wales -3 looks a cracking bet to me this weekend.

Along with Wales first try this has been a VERY profitable Saturday afternoon's union.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sat Feb 25, 2012 5:59 pm  

Well done England.
You snatched defeat from the jaws of victory
Ben Youngs??????
Why bring him on when he is playing shoite?
Lancaster showed today why he is not our next coach.

On the plus side for a Wales win ... England are useless at scoring tries, and if the only way we can win is by penalties, then I hope England lose every game that they don't get a try.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Feb 26, 2012 10:52 am  

I flicked over 4 times to check England were losing. Not once was there any play whatsoever. Waiting for a penalty kick, scrum, lineout, someone to put the crowd out of their misery.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Feb 26, 2012 11:13 am  

tigertot wrote:

I flicked over 4 times to check England were losing. Not once was there any play whatsoever. Waiting for a penalty kick, scrum, lineout, someone to put the crowd out of their misery.

You're right, it was awful (again).....I was watching with a gang of football fans, who, while not Rugby fans, said they could watch Union, but didn't 'get' Rugby League!!??...

It really is a funny one.....The occasion is no doubt a great one - Great stadium, huge crowd, top atmosphere, yet the product on the pitch is so poor.

Its obviously helps that because the two sides cancel each other out, it leads to matches being close right to the wire, so you often get tight, tension-filled matches but the actual quality of rugby is not good.

Looking at the type of person who goes to Union matches, it seems to me that a good majority are simply there for the 'occasion' and not for the sport, which shows that while their product is dire, their marketing is obviously top-notch, something that Rugby League could learn from.

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Feb 26, 2012 12:47 pm  

You say that but I've had people telling me it was a good game. Now I've only seen the highlights as I was busy yesterday but it just goes to show you how two people watching the same thing can come away with completely opposite conclusions.
A couple of comments on twitter from a friend;
'I really enjoyed the match today. Watched some quality players on both teams @EnglandRugby @WalesRugby'
'it was actually a great game, and a fair result!'

Re: If you must discuss Union, do it here II : Sun Feb 26, 2012 1:08 pm  

Catalancs wrote:

You say that but I've had people telling me it was a good game. Now I've only seen the highlights as I was busy yesterday but it just goes to show you how two people watching the same thing can come away with completely opposite conclusions.
A couple of comments on twitter from a friend;
'I really enjoyed the match today. Watched some quality players on both teams @EnglandRugby @WalesRugby'
'it was actually a great game, and a fair result!'

As with all these things it comes down to perspective, I watched the full 80 minutes of the England Wales game and then the Wakefield Bradford game later. As I am from a Rugby League background, I kind of watched both games with a RL perspective. The 6 Nations game was tense due to the close scoreline, full of grunt in the scrum and the multi phase play and punctuated with penalty kicks as the primary points scoring. I think we have to accept that to the Union purist, this is a great game of rugby

The League game was full of running, creative plays and intelligent attacking kicks. To me, this was a great game of rugby

I think it is fascinating how the rules of Unions are such a great leveller of skills and ambition. If the Welsh and English Union sides had been playing League then Wales would have been the better team by 40 points – better handling and more athleticism nullified by the rules of the game

Rugby Union is a better sport to watch today than it has ever been but it still has some fundamental flaws that restrict entertaining play due to the rules rewarding of negative play. As it continues down its accelerated journey that RL has been on for a century, it will continue to get better