RLWC showcases where Union has the edge over League

Last night’s massively one sided quarter final encounter between Australia and the USA which ended with a ridiculous 62-0 score line, acted as a manifestation of the foibles of the 13 man game in comparison to the 15. The Rugby League World Cup brings together the world’s best rugby league nations with the aim of determining who is top of the heap, inevitably either Australia, New Zealand or England are the victors. It is the predictable nature of this tournament and the complete lack of ability of every other nation other than these three heavyweights which suggests that the global outreach of rugby league is slim to nil. If the Rugby Union World Cup was to feature a quarter final in which one side was absolutely outclassed, and destroyed by a margin of 60 or more points, there would be an outcry, that there is something wrong with the game on an international level. However, in the RLWC this is simply the norm, as minnows repeatedly make it to the knockout phases only to be humbled by the likes of the favourites whose sides feature the world’s best players such as Greg Inglis, Sonny Bill Williams and Sam Burgess. It is simply not good for the game to see such a gap in talent between sides at such an advanced stage of the competition, and rugby league officials must recognise this and take steps to developing the game in other countries in order to make this competition competitive in the future.

Hat-trick hero Jarryd Hayne casually shrugs off USA's Matt Peterson in last night's one sided encounter.

As a game, Rugby Union has digressed into an often boring mix of field goals, drop goals and the rare line break in which teams make their way into the oppositions half only to draw a penalty, slot the three points and do it all again. Rugby Union is its own worst enemy; a simple tweaking of the rules of the game could see it return to its rightful place as an exciting loved sport all around the world. The unintelligible rules surrounding scrums, rucks and mauls make understanding the decisions of referees a laborious process, and in addition to this, if teams were discouraged from simply kicking the ball through the uprights at every opportunity then running rugby would return and fans would return in flocks. Union has something that league perhaps never will, a game which has spread to the far reaches of the globe and is played at high levels in leagues worldwide. There are a huge number of nations capable of fielding decent sides for the Rugby World Cup and this turns it into a spectacle in which national pride is on the line and results are important. This is not the case in the RLWC where Australian viewers can simply take no pride from shellacking a poor United States side that could not even put up a fight.

In Australia, the widespread reach of Rugby Union has been quelled by two very important and somewhat fixable factors. Firstly, the shocking performances of the Wallabies as they have been humbled time and time again by the All Blacks, South Africa and the English, matches in which pride is on the line. Moreover, the unwillingness of the organizers of the Super Rugby competition to televise it on free to air television, has meant that viewers without pay TV are simply alienated and unable to tune into the game’s premier competition other than international Rugby. It is practically the equivalent of Rugby League’s much loved State of Origin not finding a home on free to air TV, something which is simply unthinkable as it takes its place as one of Australia’s most loved sporting series. If Rugby Union is to return to the forefront of sporting disciplines in Australia, it must first fix its points system, lessening the value of both field and penalty goals, revisit rules referring scrums, rucks and mauls, they must televise Super Rugby to a wider audience and finally they must restore national pride in the Wallabies, whose terrible form is quickly giving the game a bad name down under.

That’s the Rosey Wrap on the issues surrounding Rugby League and Rugby Union,

Thanks for reading,

By Jake Rosengarten

No Froome for anyone else at the top, Lisicki capitulates on Wimbledon’s biggest stage, and the Lions roar once again on a great night for British sport

As team sky asserted their dominance on stage 8 of the world’s most famous bike race it seems as though it is almost good night and thanks for coming to the rest of the races big guns. Chris Froome, Richie Porte and Peter Kennaugh set an astounding pace through the Pyrenees as they reeled in Movistar’s 23 year old Columbian rider and new white jersey holder Nairo Quintana. The ease with which Quintana scaled the peaks was mind boggling as some of the races main contenders struggled to keep the pace with the likes of Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck all finishing minutes back from last year’s runner up and this stage’s winner Kenyan born Brit Chris Froome.

Pierre Rolland retained the polka dot jersey on the back of a very attacking display, staying level with Froome on 31 points. Froome secured the yellow jersey as he and his teammate Australia’s own Richie Porte grabbed the one-two on the stage as well as on the individual leader board as other teams ponder how they can possibly stop the powerhouse that is team sky.

Meanwhile on Wimbledon’s centre court the women’s singles title was being fought out between German 23^rd seed Sabine Lisicki and France’s 15^th seed Marion Bartoli. It was not the result that most predicted as Lisicki was unable to curb her emotions in a display which did not do her brilliant tournament justice. Bartoli was calm and calculated as she took advantage of Lisicki’s slow and nervy start to take the first set 6-1. 

Lisicki was clearly rattled but still looking to get the match back on track. She had little luck as Bartoli raced out to 5-1 in the second set. The German woman rallied briefly as she brought it back to 5-4, with the crowd clearly on her side it seemed as though Lisicki might be able to take it to a third, but it wasn’t to be as Bartoli held serve with ease in the next game to take her first grand slam title. The 28 year old sealed the title without dropping a set in a bizarre tournament which saw the top 14 seeds fail to make the final.

Meanwhile in Australia, the British and Irish Lions lined up against the wallabies at Sydney’s ANZ stadium. The mood for the night was set as the Lions capitalized on Will Genia’s dropping of the kickoff to go up 7-0 care of a Corbisiero try and a Leigh Halfpenny conversion within 90 seconds. The wallabies were sloppy in their play as the Lions made their way to an easy 19-10 lead at half time. The right boot of Christian Leali’ifano kept the Wallabies in the match as he struck two penalty goals to take the score to 19-16. It looked as though the wallabies may be within striking distance of back to back series victories over the Lions but just as easily as the Wallabies came back into the match they were swept out of it thanks to the brilliance of the Lions ball players. Tries were scored by fly half Jonny Sexton, winger George North, centre Jamie Roberts as well as player of the series fullback Halfpenny.

The final score was 41-16 as the Lions and their fans celebrated long into the night whilst the Wallabies were left ruing a simply awful performance in what was billed as one of the biggest games of the year for them.

That’s Rosey’s Wrap on what was a busy Saturday night in sport,

Thanks for Reading,

By Jake Rosengarten

Code flopping? Are Israel Folau and the code hoppers good for Australian sport?

Israel Folau is the only man in the history of Australian sport who has featured at the top level in each of rugby league, rugby union and AFL, whilst this is quite a feat and something which some would feel is commendable, it calls into question the value of loyalty in sport and also showcases the fact that sports clubs and codes are now businesses.

Folau, now 24, has already featured for the Melbourne Storm, the Brisbane Broncos as well as the Kangaroos in league, for Greater Western Sydney in the AFL as well as for the waratahs and is on the verge of making his wallabies debut in the coming weeks.  This impressive résumé reflects to his brilliant skills on a football field whilst also alluding to a certain lack of loyalty and commitment. Folau debuted in the NRL in 2007 and was an instant hit, securing himself as one of the league’s most dangerous backs in the following years until his decision to quit league at the end of the 2010 season. He was lured to GWS with a huge pay packet and lasted only one season in the NEAFL and one in the AFL before he decided to change codes once more. His AFL stint can only be considered a failure, whilst he drew increased publicity for the giants; he can only be considered a substandard AFL footballer, a testament to the fact that rugby league and AFL players need very different skills to excel in their respective sports.

Folau joined the NSW Waratahs at the beginning of the 2013 season and has been an unmitigated success in rugby union, forcing his way into the wallabies squad for the upcoming game against the British and Irish Lions on 22 June in Brisbane.  Folau was the tied top try scorer in this year’s super rugby competition with 8 tries, which is a testament to just how well he found his feet in his first season in the competition. However, this rise to union stardom has not led to him committing to another season with the tahs; reports coming out of Canterbury suggest that Folau has been in discussions over a contract starting next season at the bulldogs, which would make him the only player ever to play three different codes in three seasons.

Code hopping is not a new thing between rugby league and rugby union, and vice versa, with quite a few players becoming dual internationals in recent years, the likes of Matt Rogers, Lote Tuqiri and Wendell Sailor spring to mind. However, Folau’s swiftness in code change and the enormity of the pay packets he is picking up and the marketing he is generating suggest that sport has simply become another money making venture rather than something filled with passion and loyalty. This can be seen as a very bad thing for Australian sport as Folau could well pave the way for more and more players making the switch between codes, cheapening the image of the game, and suggesting that players do not care about fans or clubs rather just about driving around in sports cars and banking their multi-million dollar cheques.

Big money transfers to rival clubs are not rare in many other sports, including NFL, MLB and world football, and when these things do happen, it breeds an image of selfishness and a lack of loyalty for the player in question. A recent example of such a thing is Robin Van Persie’s £24 million move to Manchester United from Arsenal in August 2012, a move which saddened Arsenal fans and even led to the burning of Van Persie jerseys outside the Emirates Stadium. Sporting fans are not a hard bunch to please, they simply ask for tactfulness, honesty and loyalty, all traits that code hopping does not breed. As an overarching statement, code hopping is a terrible thing for Australian sport as well as fans of Australian sport who wish to see players who love and respect the clubs which they feel the same way for.

Thats the rosey wrap on code hopping in Australian sport,

Thanks for reading,

By Jake Rosengarten