Rugby Rugby Sucks

Status
Not open for further replies.
Agreed CaT and not an approach I intend to pursue.

I don't disagree that rugby may have originated as a public school sport and football as a working class sport, but I think both have long since diverged away from their origins.
 
Rugby League is still a working class sport. 75% of the current superleague teams are all on the M62 Corridor. With the exception of Leeds and Hull all the teams along there are from small towns such as Castleford and Warrington.The price of a ticket for a top side like the Rhino's is around £15 a game and they always get crowds of over 16,000. They have strict salary caps in place to keep the prices down so the game is accessible to all the fans.

When it comes to watching a game I prefer to go upto Headingley and watch the Rhino's instead of going to Elland Road to watch Leeds play. The game is faster and even though the rules are slightly more complex than football it's very easy for a person that is new to the sport to understand what is going on.

When it comes to the actual fans at the stadium, When at a football match it will be around 95% male dominated. When you're at a RL game there's a lot more women and children present. The atmosphere will be just as loud but without any of the tension even though you're probably standing up with a pint in your hands surrounded by fans from the opposing team.

This link contains one of the finest games of rugby in recent years:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/8890169.stm
 
Sport is always a personal/taught preference and personally, I don't really care about any of them. But, having said that, I would prefer to watch rugby, cricket, hockey and netball rather than snooker, darts or bowls - because I understand the rules.

My brothers and I were lucky enough to pass our 11 plus and, so, went to grammar school - where the "chaps" did rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer; girls froze on the hockey pitch or netball court in the winter and played tennis in the summer - other sports, like athletics and swimming were offered up in the summer months as well. Everyone did cross-country running in the winter, which usually involved fording a swollen and frozen river at least once a month!

My family were not toffs - my father was very "working class" and came from a very poor background; my mother had fared a little better on the social echelons but most of that evaporated when she married my father.

My parents were gifted with bright, enquiring minds and a reasonably decent education (by today's standards) which they passed on to their children and an offshoot of that was being exposed to different types of sport.

My eldest brother, like Bro, played rugby at county level and I represented the school in the hockey and netball teams.

None of this points to our "class" origin - merely our ability to adapt, change and, consequently, fit in with our peers
 
As an adjunct - where would FI fit on the social scale?
wink.gif
 
I promise this will be my last post on this subject as it is potentially devisive and that's not my intention, simply expressing an opinion. Anyway, here's a link to the Schools Rugby home page, which carries the tag line "the future of the game is here" http://www.schoolsrugby.co.uk/

I googled the first 5 schools in theirTop 20 Hits Chart (got bored after that), all are either fee paying and/or boarding schools...

Rugby in England (like cricket - but I like cricket so
tongue.gif
) is still elitist, as is tennis (which I don't like 'cos of the hype around British players every Wimbedon - enjoy the sport for heavens sake
givemestrength.gif
). I also stand by my conviction that the rules are unweildy, excessively complicated and don't engender easy access for non-rugby people. Cricket does have similar problems but I can play a form of cricket with my kids in a park on a Sunday afternoon, I can have a kick about with a football, I can't ever think of a time when I heard my kids say "let's pop to the park for a quick game of rugby" and when I lived in Bedfordshire there was a vibrant youth rugby set up.

I would also like to apologise for any Rugby League followers as I know naff all about league and intend to keep it that way. I think I can safely put that down to the North/South divide having lived for the first 30 years in a city where if you went any further south your feet got wet.
 
I
I think I can safely put that down to the North/South divide having lived for the first 30 years in a city where if you went any further south your feet got wet.

Wet feet or frozen balls - always a price to pay
snigger.gif
 
I promise this will be my last post on this subject as it is potentially devisive and that's not my intention, simply expressing an opinion. Anyway, here's a link to the Schools Rugby home page, which carries the tag line "the future of the game is here" http://www.schoolsrugby.co.uk/

Rugby in England (like cricket - but I like cricket so :p) is still elitist, as is tennis (which I don't like 'cos of the hype around British players every Wimbedon - enjoy the sport for heavens sake :givemestrength:). I also stand by my conviction that the rules are unweildy, excessively complicated and don't engender easy access for non-rugby people. Cricket does have similar problems but I can play a form of cricket with my kids in a park on a Sunday afternoon, I can have a kick about with a football, I can't ever think of a time when I heard my kids say "let's pop to the park for a quick game of rugby" and when I lived in Bedfordshire there was a vibrant youth rugby set up.

FB - all discussion is, potentially, devisive, but that doesn't mean we all fall out - otherwise where would democracy be?

I applaud "elitism" - whether it be on the sports-field or in the classroom - we have had years of everyone should have the same opportunities without any regard as to whether they have the ability. Yes, everyone should be offered the same opportunities, but please don't bend the rules to ensure they get them - the brightest kids should be in University; the most talented on the sports field.

And if your kids don't fancy an improvised game of rugby - maybe they see their father's dislike of the game!
 
I applaud "elitism" - whether it be on the sports-field or in the classroom - we have had years of everyone should have the same opportunities without any regard as to whether they have the ability. Yes, everyone should be offered the same opportunities, but please don't bend the rules to ensure they get them - the brightest kids should be in University; the most talented on the sports field.!

I think there are two concepts mixed here - elitism is where only a select few have the chance to play the game regardless of ability, possibly best illustrated by F1 where considerable funding (and the needs for sponsorship) could limit the opportunity to only the rich. Some people could have been fantastic drivers but it was never a possibility to them. Is Yamamoto funded by his dad to some extent?

What you are talking about Jenov is some meritocracy, where those who are best at the sport do it, and I agree that this is not necessarily a bad thing as long as others can still participate at a lower level(ability) if they want.

Sorry to be pedantic but I really dislike the idea of elitism where some are simply born with a chance that would be better taken by others. That said I enjoy watching rugby (or internationals at least).
 
FB - all discussion is, potentially, devisive, but that doesn't mean we all fall out - otherwise where would democracy be?

I applaud "elitism" - whether it be on the sports-field or in the classroom - we have had years of everyone should have the same opportunities without any regard as to whether they have the ability. Yes, everyone should be offered the same opportunities, but please don't bend the rules to ensure they get them - the brightest kids should be in University; the most talented on the sports field.

And if your kids don't fancy an improvised game of rugby - maybe they see their father's dislike of the game!

One of the most elitist sports is F1 and Motorsport in general.


Footballers may come from a poor background but can get noticed and many of the Brazillian greats grew up in the Favela's. In contrast, Senna was the son of a wealthy landowner and Barrichello's uncle owned an F3 team so even though they had talent they also had the opportunity to take part.


There could many drivers in the junior leagues who could beat the likes of Vettel and Hamilton but they don't have the money to progress further.

Football is popular because anyone can play, RL not quite as popular but you do see a lot of people kicking and passing a ball around in the parks up here. Most parks in Leeds also have a cricket pitch marked out but It's very rare that you see anyone playing on them, with the exception of the parks in the more multi-cultural areas.
 
I think there are two concepts mixed here - elitism is where only a select few have the chance to play the game regardless of ability, possibly best illustrated by F1 where considerable funding (and the needs for sponsorship) could limit the opportunity to only the rich. Some people could have been fantastic drivers but it was never a possibility to them. Is Yamamoto funded by his dad to some extent?

What you are talking about Jenov is some meritocracy, where those who are best at the sport do it, and I agree that this is not necessarily a bad thing as long as others can still participate at a lower level(ability) if they want.

Sorry to be pedantic but I really dislike the idea of elitism where some are simply born with a chance that would be better taken by others. That said I enjoy watching rugby (or internationals at least).
My dictionary describes the elite as "the best, most skilled or most privileged members of a social group" - sadly, modern interpretation of the word has emphasised the "most privileged" and forgotten the other two qualities - I haven't. The select few to whom you refer are the ones that can do, surely?
 
One of the most elitist sports is F1 and Motorsport in general.

Money can't buy talent, it can help to advance it though.


Footballers may come from a poor background but can get noticed and many of the Brazillian greats grew up in the Favela's. In contrast, Senna was the son of a wealthy landowner and Barrichello's uncle owned an F3 team so even though they had talent they also had the opportunity to take part.

Can't argue with that however.....


There could many drivers in the junior leagues who could beat the likes of Vettel and Hamilton but they don't have the money to progress further.

There could be, however isn't it well documented that Hamilton Snr took on a few jobs to bankroll his son's racing career as his talent shone through before being picked up by McLaren - Not bad for a 2nd(ry school pupil) - that's hardly elitist.

Back on topic - I bloody love Rugger, what, what, bang on!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom