Before the historic split between union and league 120 years ago, all things rugby was managed by one organisation. Maybe before too long, the same can happen again.
Today, just about anything with the word ‘rugby’ is administrated by World Rugby, formerly known as International Rugby Board.
Rugby union has flourished, boosted by greats like the late Jonah Lomu, the Michael Jordan of rugby. His persona is flanked by the all conquering, awe-inspiring All Blacks.
The sport’s popularity is also boosted by the mysterious and fearsome Springboks, dynamic and exciting Wallabies, upstart teams from Argentina and Japan. They are supported and propelled by the culture, traditions, economic power and influence of the home nations.
One of rugby’s greatest celebrations is the entry of the game as an Olympic sport this year. Even the richest contact team sport in the world, American football, cannot achieve this status.
As such, rugby is well on its way to becoming a mainstream game across the world.
However, that sport is actually not the real rugby union. Rather it is a variation called sevens, a very different game to the original 15-person game. But the variations do not end there.
There’s also 10s rugby, spawned in Malaysia during the era of flower power. The 10s game is an great spectacle as it forces teams to blend power, pace and space – like a hybrid of sevens and traditional rugby.
The other major format is the original variation that delivers a similar blend as 10s – the 13-person game, rugby league. The main difference here is that the people who created and operate league divorced from rugby union in 1895.
They did so for noble reasons, maintaining this nobility and a fierce independence, ensuring the welfare of any player who wishes to join their game, while listening and caring for the needs of clubs and their stakeholders.
These principles, were finally adopted by rugby union exactly one hundred years after the 1895 divorce, when they embraced professionalism. Twenty years on, rugby union has caught up and gone global.
Whereas the separation between the ‘two rugbies’ may have made sense through past generations, it is becoming less relevant as we reach the next.
League is a great game on its own and should experience international growth. In my opinion it deserves more international attention than sevens. League is easy to learn, play and watch, while losing none of the power and team work needed to make it work. But to achieve international growth, it requires a global organisation with the resources, network and recognition of an organisation like World Rugby.
A merger does not mean World Rugby and their nation bodies arbritrarily takes over league. For example, Australian rugby, could be managed by the NRL. But this will only work if administrations, coaches, players and fans from the ‘two rugbies’ stop trying to dismiss and destroy each other. There needs to be dialogue, negotiation and reconciliation.
While it is unfathomable that a merger would happen in this generation, more incredulous things have happened given enough time and opportunity. Examples include China’s entry to global trade, the end of the Cold War, peace in Northern Ireland and the reunion of The Eagles.
Though I’m not holding my breath, I believe if every other rugby formats can co-exist under one administration, I think a merger with the 13-man code is inevitable.
Jaeger
Roar Rookie
Start with the money RobC. Read a thread that suggested combined codes would top $1B in revenue. At any rate, next step is a schedule and way to rationalise the teams. Here it is... https://www.theroar.com.au/2020/05/05/what-would-a-combined-rugby-league-and-union-broadcast-package-be-worth/
Down Under Wonder
Guest
The way to start the process of a re-merger of the two rugby codes is to make the scrum relevant in league once more by adding two extra players to a league team. Then, you would slowly make changes to the league game to bring it closer to union but always retain the play-the-ball rule instead of the confusing ruck-and-maul union approach. Lineouts would be good for the new ("rugby") game. Make the 6-tackle rule into 10 instead (an average of 6-tackles and 13 out of 14 ball retention outcomes in rugby union). Change the points scored to 5 for a try (with 3 for a conversion goal, so 8 points in total for a converted try). Instead of 3 points for a penalty kick make it 2 instead (spectators come to see tries scored not goals - goals are for Aussie Rules and Soccer). And finally 1 point for a field goal instead of 3 as is the case for union, just to easily separate a drawn outcome. Also, make the league pitch the same as for union (extra 2 metres wide and longer in-goal area). The powerful league club scene would generate enormous player depth, enabling the Kangaroos & Wallabies to be the dominant rugby nation in as little as a decade, and more importantly, it would be strongly funded under an truly international context. The state-of-origins would now become Australia-wide, but more importantly the weak Super-Rugby competition would only operate on a proper representative basis (selection based on true merit from the underlying Australia-wide club competition). At the moment, AFL generates more revenue than rugby union, rugby league and soccer combined but that would change once rugby and soccer start to dominate the world rankings. You see, it's not that hard to fix flawed design concepts and make a unified code longer lasting and far more entertaining than either code trying to operate independently, especially so, from a historical notion of professionalism and elitism, both aspects being no longer that relevant in this century.
Darren
Guest
Totally true. It is inevitable. Just like the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. But a generation will have to grow up without the hatred and prejudice first.
Chris
Guest
Agree.
Chris
Guest
She always thought Rugby Union's peak (not just on results) was more like 1979 (Bledisloe Cup win) -1984 then 1989-1995 with the Lions touring to the RWC 1995 and last year of amateurism, then 1996-2004 ?.
Billy Button
Guest
That's not quite true. If you played union and then went to play league for money you couldn't come back to union. I played both games with people who had only played one or the other up to high school level, the league boys weren't banned from playing union, in fact some friends played both throughout school. BTW I only came across this blog now as I'm worried union as I know it as an amateur sport is nearly done and it'll be going the way of American football, to only be played by professionals. I'm also worried that both codes are trying to 'appeal' to the spectator more than the players which is bad and we'll end up with a mix match code of both that loses all the enjoyable aspects of both. Finally, the Beeb doesn't show much RL thanks to Murdoch and Sky, union's headed there too, I'm not prepared to pay that much to watch a couple of games of either. I'd much rather have both on terrestrial TV along with a number of other sports.
Muzzo
Guest
Chris, World Rugby does not control the S18 & the Rugby Championship, it's run by SANZAR. Also the inclusion of P.I. teams, does include the financial problem. Even the AB's going to Samoa last year was at a loss. To include the P.I.'s would require them to come up with a major sponsor to finance this.
Muzzo
Guest
Well in truth Pickett, the world rankings a few years ago was having Soccer, or football, as the world's No1 sport, followed by the Olympics, & Rugby third. I'd love to know where you get your ratings from, as basketball, is not played in as many countries in the world as Rugby, in which Rugby has over 120 countries involved.
stillmissit
Roar Guru
Although we would get the opportunity to beat the AB's regularly, I don't want it to happen. The game would change to accommodate them and the league supporters seem to be refugees from some roman games. No more champagne and cold chicken from the back of the Roller and polite clapping and declarations of 'Well done old boy'. It would be all 'shift yer arse you bludging bastard' 'belt im Kenny' etc etc Where can a gentleman and woman go to watch a contact sport in peace and without the hoi-polloi pray tell? My God! all that would be left to us would be cricket.
Mike
Guest
haha yes of course it will Parra of course it will
Chris
Guest
I wouldn't want Rugby to be as big as Soccer and Basketball plus Basketball is crap
Pickett
Guest
@ Hughes Rugby is no where near Basketball in world sport. Soccer, basketball.......and a long distance away would be baseball, cricket, rugby, hockey ..
Chris
Guest
Maybe change the game to clamp Rugby as a tackle ?
In Brief
Guest
The class war is one way traffic, and it's not coming from rugby. In Australia, rugby league completely controls the media in NSW QLD, and rugby is treated like dirt. In the UK, while rugby has more media profile, the supporters of league wage a war of hatred and vitriol against rugby union, whereas rugby seems to be very accommodating of league. When you think that rugby league is rugby union's competitor, and a sport which has plagiarised itself from rugby union, you realise that rugby union is being incredibly accommodating.. I know if the shoe was on the other foot it would be a different story.
In Brief
Guest
Please no Oz Tag - horrible, frustrating sport.
Doug Graves
Guest
The concept of some kind of merger is in principle OK but It's just not going to happen when Rugby Union continuously wages class warfare against Rugby League. Also I find it telling that Union is always the one talking about merging, there appears to be no interest from League in this matter. Why is that? Why is Union so interested in appropriating League?
Parra
Guest
League is growing nicely around the world and doesn't need Union. Union may try to put up road blocks etc but this is due to its own insecurity as it knows league is more entertaining and produces better players. I suspect in time people will choose league over Union.
Dan
Guest
First of all, baseball is a very boring sport. Even in the US it's derided for being boring & has been declining for decades in comparison to other major US sports. It's 'America's pastime' in every sense of the phrase. Now 7's gets a lots of crap, but did you watch the 7's at the Glasgow games? It was just about the most exciting event of the entire games, with the Rangers stadium being sold out at 40K plus on both days. I could never imagine that atmosphere at a baseball game where most of the time the height of entertainment is a ball being pitched then either missed or fouled by the batter. 7's has a product that can thrive in a games atmosphere, just like T20 in cricket, regardless if you think it's a 'real sport' or not. I'd also point out that there's still a strong following of Rugby in Malaysia which was pretty much solely based on them hosting the 7's in 1998. Secondly, baseball in the Olympics required all players to be amateur, so it was never even close to being the best of the best & never formed a strong reputation. Just like football (the dominant sport on the planet) struggles with global appeal in the Olympics due to their u23 rule. 7's at least will have professional players, it will have some world stars of the game, it will encompass teams from all 6 inhabited continents who will have a realistic chance of winning a medal. Hence, it has potential for growth in all parts of the world. An example being that whenever Argentina does well in the RWC, the whole of South America gets behind them. When baseball was included it was very North/Central America & Asian based, just like Handball is very European based, places where the game is already established. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not naive enough to think one appearance in the Olympics & suddenly Rugby will boom, but if it becomes a regular it's going to produce steady growth for as long as it's a part of the Olympics & open the game up more to sleeping giants like Russia, USA, Canada, Kenya, Japan. Also Remembering that the USA has just announced a professional Rugby comp with plans to expand into Canada. & given the fact that the USA is the world center of attention, if it takes off in the US market it holds added potential for world growth.
RobC
Roar Guru
Gday Mike. Happy New Year. Its not intended to be click-bait. If it was, I would have included names like SBW, Thorne, Burgess, Quade Cooper. and KB
RobC
Roar Guru
Clipper, no. Its not just TV. Its from all revenue sources as per annual reports. SH Rugby Union income includes tests, especially tests. Thats were countries like NZ and ARU makes a lot of money and is in their books. In this $140M figure already added Lions tests of $20M / year (USD$80 / 12 years for each SANZAR country) RWC generates around $250M in a SH event which happens there once every 8+ years. BUT it goes to World Rugby. As an example, 2011 NZ's revenue DROPPED because of reduced number of tests in RWC year. SR vs NRL Club takings? Its in my too hard basket, but a guesstimate: - Whilst the gates / gamed are lower in NRL, they have more games So. I believe the US$120+M gulf is still there, I think.