Is international Rugby League catching up the other code?

[gingerjon]

1 hour ago, JonM said:

 

I mean obviously the answer is always "no" for any newspaper headline that asks a question. But perhaps worth pointing out that the North America women's 2026 RLWC qualifiers took place this week - USA, Canada & Jamaica all played two internationals. And Poland played Wales Dragonhearts twice this week.

And those are all positive but, compare them to union, and it's dwarfed pretty much every week of the year.

We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to union. We should be doing the best for RL and celebrating that for its own sake.

[corkonian77]

10 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

And those are all positive but, compare them to union, and it's dwarfed pretty much every week of the year.

We shouldn't be comparing ourselves to union. We should be doing the best for RL and celebrating that for its own sake.

One thing is that England Rugby League matches are not priced outside  of most people's pockets. 

The cheapest  Ireland  v Fiji ticket is 60 Euro. 

Edited November 11, 2024 by corkonian77

[gogledd]

2 hours ago, sam4731 said:

Without World Cups to give them 3 guaranteed games every 4 years, we might now be waiting much longer that that to get 10 games played now.

It was a two-year gap between the exit from the pool stages of RLWC 2022 and the next game vs Jamaica in Neath!

[Hanover XIII]

34 minutes ago, corkonian77 said:

One thing is that England Rugby League matches are not priced outside  of most people's pockets. 

The cheapest  Ireland  v Fiji ticket is 60 Euro. 

Perhaps a sign that all is not well in Wales is that plenty of tickets were available for last weekend's game when I looked in the week. `Plenty' is of course relative when they had already sold thousands.

And in answer to the OP we're not catching up and I agree with posters saying we shouldn't compare. The games at international level are light years apart.

We should be more concerned with ensuring what we have is marketed, sold and covered properly so that the lavish praise heaped on Joseph Sua'ail'i this weekend doesn't have to wait until he has switched codes.

[corkonian77]

2 minutes ago, Hanover XIII said:

Perhaps a sign that all is not well in Wales is that plenty of tickets were available for last weekend's game when I looked in the week. `Plenty' is of course relative when they had already sold thousands.

And in answer to the OP we're not catching up and I agree with posters saying we shouldn't compare. The games at international level are light years apart.

We should be more concerned with ensuring what we have is marketed, sold and covered properly so that the lavish praise heaped on Joseph Sua'ail'i this weekend doesn't have to wait until he has switched codes.

Welsh Rugby Union is in deep trouble. 

When Welsh U20  Rugby  Union come to Cork to play  they get severe beatings.  That Championship AT Under 20 level   is mostly  dominated by France, Ireland  and Scotland.  

The Cardiff  stadium is massive  and holds 74k 

 Football  has taken over the imagination  of South Wales.

[OriginalMrC]

This has been discussed in the cross code forum. Any closing of gaps is purely because Rugby Union is in big trouble and has saturated its market. Unless they make their game more entertaining to watch then there is no room for more growth.

In terms of RL the rise of the Pacific nations albeit with heritage players is a massive plus and those countries will only get stronger. In Europe it's much less rosey with Ireland, Scotland and Italy all going backwards, France and Wales not improving, and minor nations being given no funding to improve. 

Oh and we've got a shrunken world cup to look forward to as well  

[Keith989]

3 hours ago, corkonian77 said:

Welsh Rugby Union is in deep trouble. 

When Welsh U20  Rugby  Union come to Cork to play  they get severe beatings.  That Championship AT Under 20 level   is mostly  dominated by France, Ireland  and Scotland.  

The Cardiff  stadium is massive  and holds 74k 

 Football  has taken over the imagination  of South Wales.

Scotland?

[Dunbar]

4 hours ago, Damien said:

Take it up with a moderator. Oh wait

Seems like we have been given licence that League and Union threads are OK on this forum and not banished to the world of Cross Code.

[Ackroman]

The best rugby players in France, Ireland and South Africa play rugby union. Everywhere else in the world (of note), they play rugby league.

Hence if England RU can't beat the Wallabies, then RU in this country is in far worse a state than anyone may have considered.

Edited November 11, 2024 by Ackroman

[sam4731]

2 hours ago, Ackroman said:

The best rugby players in France, Ireland and South Africa play rugby union. Everywhere else in the world (of note), they play rugby league.

Hence if England RU can't beat the Wallabies, then RU in this country is in far worse a state than anyone may have considered.

Wales, Scotland, Italy and potentially NZ? Also that's not including almost every country in the world that you're determining as not of note. I say almost because only a handful of countries play better RL than RU.

[StandOffHalf]

3 hours ago, Ackroman said:

The best rugby players in France, Ireland and South Africa play rugby union. Everywhere else in the world (of note), they play rugby league.

Hence if England RU can't beat the Wallabies, then RU in this country is in far worse a state than anyone may have considered.

Wales, NZ, Samoa, Tonga, Argentina, Italy, Canada, USA, Spain, Scotland.

Edited November 11, 2024 by StandOffHalf

[Hello]

2 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Wales, NZ, Samoa, Tonga, Argentina, Italy, Canada, USA, Spain.

Yes indeed, and now others coming through like Japan and Georgia who have both had home international crowds over 50,000, and countries like Portugal and Uruguay where there has been significant improvement 

[StandOffHalf]

7 minutes ago, Hello said:

Yes indeed, and now others coming through like Japan and Georgia who have both had home international crowds over 50,000, and countries like Portugal and Uruguay where there has been significant improvement 

Yes, those four as well.

Probably Fiji as well, although there are plenty of sensational Bati players.

Countries where the better/higher standard/elite players tend to play RL:

Oz, PNG, maybe England, maybe Serbia, Norway, Netherlands, Jamaica, Czech Republic, Philippines.

Am I forgetting anywhere obvious?

[corkonian77]

11 minutes ago, Hello said:

Yes indeed, and now others coming through like Japan and Georgia who have both had home international crowds over 50,000, and countries like Portugal and Uruguay where there has been significant improvement 

All the fruit of constant  tours and investment. 

If only Australia  took half  that attitude  at this part of world.  

[Pie tries]

Aus seem to have woken up!

Ashes back - but book the return gig asap. Need Intl governance - with teeth. Need a NH plan. Perhaps a ladder teams playing each other - with increasing heritage player limits the further up you go…

Let’s start with the basis. Get a comp that sticks - and stick with it. Get a four year rolling plan - games knowing in advance - updated annually.

Nothing happens though without Australia…

[Ackroman]

1 hour ago, sam4731 said:

Wales, Scotland, Italy and potentially NZ? Also that's not including almost every country in the world that you're determining as not of note. I say almost because only a handful of countries play better RL than RU.

Of your list which countries play professional RU to a standard except NZ? The Scots are south African, the Welsh in disarray. Italy?? I ask you. Really? The All Blacks are not the best rugby players in NZ. The Kiwis are.

[Ackroman]

1 hour ago, StandOffHalf said:

Wales, NZ, Samoa, Tonga, Argentina, Italy, Canada, USA, Spain, Scotland.

So which of those nations have reached a final? 

NZ, Samoa and Tonga. In RL. The best players are not playing RU.

The rest?? They're not really rugby playing nations are they.

Wales and Scotland.......I conceded. They provide a speedbump for the powerhouse nations. 

[StandOffHalf]

2 minutes ago, Ackroman said:

So which of those nations have reached a final? 

NZ, Samoa and Tonga. In RL. The best players are not playing RU.

The rest?? They're not really rugby playing nations are they.

Wales and Scotland.......I conceded. They provide a speedbump for the powerhouse nations. 

Samoa and Tonga is more RU. RL is played more by heritage players. ABs are the biggest brand in RU, so that's a pretty clear one.

RU is a fringe sport in Spain and USA, but still much bigger-name, higher calibre players.

[Ackroman]

1 hour ago, Hello said:

Yes indeed, and now others coming through like Japan and Georgia who have both had home international crowds over 50,000, and countries like Portugal and Uruguay where there has been significant improvement 

Portugal v Uraguay. The best talent on the planet. If only the size of the crowd made their nations rugby players world class. Give me a break. 

Regardless of code, there are only 3 European nations with world class rugby players of note. 1 African nation, NZ and Aus. 

If you went second tier then maybe Wales, Tonga, Samoa, PnG, Argentina.....

Scotland? Mmm

[17 stone giant]

Once we've got Yorkshire v Lancashire back, county rugby league will be catching up with cricket.

So it's good news all round at the moment.

[Ackroman]

2 minutes ago, StandOffHalf said:

Samoa and Tonga is more RU. RL is played more by heritage players. ABs are the biggest brand in RU, so that's a pretty clear one.

RU is a fringe sport in Spain and USA, but still much bigger-name, higher calibre players.

The trajectory in those 3 nations is very clear. NZ is shifting dramatically.

Did you see the scenes in Samoa when they reached the world cup final?

[StandOffHalf]

4 minutes ago, Ackroman said:

Portugal v Uraguay. The best talent on the planet. If only the size of the crowd made their nations rugby players world class. Give me a break. 

Regardless of code, there are only 3 European nations with world class rugby players of note. 1 African nation, NZ and Aus. 

If you went second tier then maybe Wales, Tonga, Samoa, PnG, Argentina.....

Scotland? Mmm

Argentina beat NZ just recently in NZ, and are in great nick.

[StandOffHalf]

1 minute ago, Ackroman said:

The trajectory in those 3 nations is very clear. NZ is shifting dramatically.

Did you see the scenes in Samoa when they reached the world cup final?

I hope they shift and I agree on the potential there for RL. The scenes were incredible.

[Ackroman]

1 minute ago, StandOffHalf said:

Argentina beat NZ just recently in NZ, and are in great nick.

Does that not say more about the standard of player? Like England not being able to turn over the Wallabies, who feed off NRL scraps?

[StandOffHalf]

Just now, Ackroman said:

Does that not say more about the standard of player? Like England not being able to turn over the Wallabies, who feed off NRL scraps?

It's an NZ team in transition. I'd honestly put it more down to that, and a very well-coached Pumas outfit.