langpark

In what sport, anywhere in the world, is it NOT a challenge to attract referees!?

^ agreed. All too often people get over-excited and lose all sense of realism. France has well established leagues already. So if a Spanish team ever did stand out (and have the financial backing to do so) they're lucky to be relatively close to France so they could think about possibly entering a team, as Saluzzo have done. Anything beyond that, is unrealistic. I could understand Sicily and Malta having a joint competition, due to the close proximity and the fact neither one will likely ever have more than 2 teams any time soon.

I'd love to see Spain enter a team in the French Lord Derby Cup! Saluzzo have done so for the last two years. First year - a heavy loss, second year - a very narrow loss. (a bit like the Irish in the Challenge Cup)... I think if they can be competitive, so can a Spanish team, even if they don't get past the first round, would be a great starting point.

Not really enough evidence in there to call it a "comp", but sounds like it's a good start. Good luck to them!

Of course anyone would love to play at Camp Nou. But if they charge by the hour, I can only imagine how much extra this game would cost them to stage! Slightly more than New River Stadium I assume

Thanks, I know that. But there was initially talk of this one being done in home and away format too, but after much discussion, was switched to a one-off in a neutral location. What I like most about that, is that in the event of a match going to extra time (for example, if one team wins 18-10 at home, then loses 18-10 away), one team would have had the home ground advantage for the extra time part as well. Small detail and unlikely to happen, but still.

Usually with the qualifiers, they are in groups of three, so teams each play one home and one away match. I think now, time (and as always, money) is of the essence though, since the winner has to play again in May, so RLEF has just decided to play it as a one-off neutral match.

I'm assuming they do not have an extra set of changing rooms at the venue, hence the big gap between the two matches.... It is unfortunate indeed for those wanting to watch both.

Images of London's ground just before kick off. Looking quite full, but as many have said, that does not mean a lot when the capacity is barely 3k....

Is the ouRLeague site showing this (or any other game) live today? I heard one match a week would be live streamed there, but always have trouble navigating the site when i get there.

Was that the first time an RLIF rep has ever appeared on a mainstream news channel?

I think twitter has a 2-minute limit on videos. Here is the full version.

You're not seriously counting the double-header as a 150,000 crowd are you!?

It's actually 2 years and 9 months away still! This has been a great day and it's certain to be the best World Cup yet!

No, 750k was the stated target for the Men's tournament.