retired_ecmoore

League >>>> Union.

imo the union team has a highly over-rated opinion of itself.

retired_lina2212

alot down to beauty in my opinion, public love the pretty and Rugby lot are big ugly monsters, not so glamorous and easy to 'sell'

media owns

retired_kevh16

As someone said its because the international rugby and cricket games are at the heart of the game. In football the club game is a lot more important. But when it comes round to a football world cup you generally get a similar attitude to the international team given as you do all the time in rugby/cricket.

Personally some things about the England rugby team and its fans annoy me. Things like the obsession with Dallaglio.

And league is a different game and can be extremely enjoyable. Also league is a working class game and still has lots of respect given to refs. Its just the culture in the game in football.

retired_gozadera2007

By FAR the worst thing about a generic English rugby fan is the use of the word 'HEAVE'...

retired_fefecalifornia

the welsh football team is more important than life itself, i could care less about the welsh rugby team tbh

DebSchiff

I've always thought the "more respect for the ref" thing is down to the fact that the ref is looking out for the safety of the players in a scrum as looking out for rule breaking. When your life may depend on the guy in the middle, you don't call him a ****ing **** when he makes a bad call.

I support Argentina in rugby :cool:

retired_imran_ryd

Biggest load of twaddle ever and gets rolled out on a regular basis. Not many players from "educated" backgrounds in places like Wales yet they still have the same respect as other players. </BLOCKQUOTE>

OK, ignore Wales, but it is true for England especially from my experience in the south east.

hooper75

Welsh rugby is ****.

retired_Nichelle

Thing with football is you see players like Terry and Lampard week in week out acting like fools which make you hate them, moaning at the ref's all the time, attitude towards other players. Then come international week you are meant to support these acts.

Not possible.

Armydog

I don't know a lot about Rugby, but from watching a couple of WC games over the last few days it seems to me that players don't bother arguing or moaning about the ref because:

(a) Rules are more clear cut and there's less room for personal interpretation from the ref

(b) Rugby is a lot slower-paced than footy so the ref is less likely to miss things little things that get on players nerves - ie shirt pulls, hand balls, tight offsides.

On a more general note, there's more to gain in Football through cheating than in Rugby. If a player dives in the box, he might get a penalty. At worst he'll get a yellow card. Diving or fairying around in the middle of a rugby game will probably get you an elbow in the face from one of your own players, never mind the opposition. I think it's just general differences between the two games. In Rugby you expect to get your arse kicked, so you just get on with it. In football players are told to gain an advantage for the team through whatever means are necessary, cheating or not.