Let me answer the question from a completely ignorant (read: "American") point of view. Union looks like it's the "real" game. The game the way it's supposed to be played. League looks like a "dumbed down" version of the game. Simplified (like it's American or something). I enjoy watching both, when I can, but there seems to be more depth and intracacy to Union than there is to League.
"Depth and intricacy" could easily be seen as "archaic and arcane." There's something to appreciate about union on paper, but I'm not as impressed seeing it played out. I mean damn, why is everything a penalty? Also, I try not to see league through the eyes of an American football fan. If they adopted the six tackles when trying to sell it to North America, then I could see it as being "dumbed down." However, simply trying new ideas to improve their game is no crime.
Wow... talk about bumping an old thread. It depends what you want to see. Rugby league is very focused on running the ball, working the space to create gaps and overlaps to achieve a line break and score a try. With defined tackle limits, non-competitive scrums and non-rolling rucks and mauls the game is much quicker. Along with the lack of lineouts, this also leads to a more limited role for forwards, whose role is reduced to mainly making heavy hitups and tackles. Rugby union is more fluid, and the focus is often on obtaining good field position. With four extra players the field is much more crowded, which makes achieving linebreaks and scoring tries much harder. Additionally, the extra point for goals substantially reduces the need to score tries. Strategic kicking is a much bigger part of the game. With the tactical importance of winning rolling mauls, competitive scrums and lineouts, forwards are expected to be much more versatile. As a generalisation I find that league backs (with the exception of kicking) are required to be more skilful than their rugby counterparts, and vice versa for forwards.
Why is your scrum a big gay cuddle? I can't take seriously a game that calls itself rugby where the scrum is a group hug.
Why do your scrums always end in penalties? Not that I'm denying your point. It is kinda lacking, but the alternative does not make itself too enticing.
Our scrums don't always end in penalties. In fact, it's not that common that they do. Why does your game involve people running into the first big body they find for five tackles then kicking it wide? League is rugby for people who didn't graduate high school.
As a Newcastle boy, despite playing the other code myself I feel I should stick up for our heartland game. It does have some advantages. It is a lot faster, and their backs do tend to be a lot better at running the ball.
It's a shame they rarely show it. The NRL is better for this than Super League, but you can still plot the first several tackles of a set in league easily. Dummy half tosses it to first receiver, who tosses it to a prop. Prop runs into first man he sees. Tackle. Two tacklers try and have sex with prop, who wriggles around. Dummy half tosses it to first receiver, who tosses it to a centre. Centre runs into first man he sees. Tackle. Ground shagging, repeat. Compare this to union, which almost always tries to do something substantive from second phase.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? Come on now- talk about generalising! I can do that too. Forward carries up the ball and gets tackled. Everyone jumps on top of him, and the hard men from each side stamp on any exposed head with their studs, any hard man lying in the ruck will try and find any exposed eye and try to gouge it from the opposition team. Then another forward picks up the ball and runs a metre or two. Repeat of above. Then another forward picks up the ball and runs a metre or two. Repeat of above. Then another forward picks up the ball and runs a metre or two. Repeat of above. Then another forward picks up the ball and runs a metre or two. Repeat of above. Then another forward picks up the ball and runs a metre or two. Repeat of above. Then the commentators get excited about having 6 continuous phases of play ..... woo hoo!
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? That sounds a lot more like rugby league than union.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? I prefer to watch the NRL over say the super 14 and any sort of northen hemisphere rugby Stae of Origin is a truly amazing event having said that i do prefer to watch the All Blacks over any other team in both codes what keeps Rugby ahead of League is the interntional scene there is a need to speed up the game do, which is why the ELV,s are a good thing like the Tri Nations match betewn the ABs and Boks showed last night
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? I have to say, I think the ELVs will do wonders to encourage running rugby. I do think that they need to uncrowd the field still - as unpopular as I know that is.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? because dogpile tactics are so common in league
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? it was a step up from the borefest the northen unions brought down south
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? just have props for scrums and then have then leave the field
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? That's damning with faint praise, considering that no one in the NH cares about summer tours.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? So basically you want rugby league. So why not watch rugby league and leave rugby to the people who enjoy it? It's not like you live in a rugby league graveyard and have no other choice.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? No, I prefer rugby. I just don't like having an unnecessarily large percentage of matches decided by penalties for infringements in the breakdown that often aren't wholly clear, even to players. And I say that as a former referee. Besides, it's hardly turning it into league. When they first came out I was a bit concerned about it weakening the importance of the scrum pack, but from the matches so far that appears to have been unfounded.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? The response to that is for referees to grow some balls and bring out a card every once in a while. This issue is about incompetent refereeing. Almost every IRB directive about refeering gets ignored. Watch players to make sure they go in through the gate? Ignored. Watch players to make sure they feed the ball in straight at the ruck? Ignored. I've seen amateur refs do it, so I know it's possible, and I'm left with the feeling referees are quite simply lazy. Legalising handling in the ruck so you get less penalties is a means to the end of having fewer games decided by kicking rather than making rugby a better sport to watch. For God's sake, if you want more running - even though you'd be going against 175 years of rugby as a forward-based kicking game - then don't legalise a law that effectively makes slowing down the ball legal. There is nothing that the current laws, ENFORCED, couldn't fix better than legalising pulling down the maul (one of the best attacking weapons around) and legalising handling in the ruck. Lastly, if you give free kicks for everything except foul play, pray tell what is the incentive for me not to cheat at every ruck? We've already established that referees are effectively too spineless to pull out the card. We saw this at the weekend when the Boks killed the ball inside the NZ 22 and weren't punished for it.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? no real point to summer tours really, since no one down here really care for the northen unions touring specially this time round with Ab's having to play super 14 in ELVs, the irish and enlish with the old rules and back to the tri-nations with ELVs
Lomu was not a freak of nature and Campese was a overrated and over hyped player .I watched and played both Union and League and IMHO I think Union is better.
Re: Rugby Union or Rugby League, which one do you like more? I think you're being a bit harsh on the referees, and failing to acknowledge some serious problems with the current laws. I don't think the ELVs are perfect but they do make some significant steps to correct the problem that penalties are far too easy to win given their gamechanging nature. Kicking has improved out of sight since the professionalisation of the game, to the point where winning a penalty is essentially free points in many parts of the field. That's just far too big a punishment for a lot of the infringements they're currently given for, which has turned the game into who-can-make-the-least-mistakes-at-the-breakdown. I'm sure the ELVs will need some tweaking, but they're a step in the right direction. And if you're worried about them turning the game into a league clone then you're being paranoid. The IRB stats have indicated that it hasn't changed the number of rucks and mauls, and actually enhanced the use of the scrum as an attacking weapon. It's still a forwards-based kicking game.