Can anyone explain what are the main differences between league and union in rugby. I know one has 15 players and the other 13 but there are other differences are there not?

When I were a lad, league players could be paid and Union players were 'amateur'.

You might want to look at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_league

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football

I used to play Union when I was at school. I assume both games hurt as much. :)

When I were a lad, league players could be paid and Union players were 'amateur'.

You might want to look at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_league

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football

I used to play Union when I was at school. I assume both games hurt as much. :)


Many thnaks.

The basic difference- rugby league's exciting to play and watch, and rugby union isn't.

From BBC Website



Former Australia coach Eddie Jones has voiced his concern at suggestions that rugby union rules should be altered to encourage a more attacking game.

In the wake of a try-less World Cup final and games decided by penalties, Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill called for rule changes.

But Jones said: "We've got to be careful we don't change the game just because we want entertainment".

"We'd be very, very foolish to look at changing to make the game like league."

League evolved over 100 years to be suitable for spectators, as it relied on spectator support to survive. Union evolved over 100 years (apart from internationals) as a game overhwelmingly for players. Clubs survived on players' subscriptions rather than spectator admission fees. Only in the last 12 years has Union had an imperative to get people to pay to watch club games, and in that time it has already made rule changes to become more like League. League gets higher crowds for club games, but Union gets higher crowds for internationals.

League, by the way, has had a World Cup since 1954, but since Union launched its World Cup in 1987 it has got away with calling its version "the Rugby World Cup".

The last time the (league) Australians were over here, when asked by Harry Gration about the differences between rugby league and rugby union, his equivalent (sport TV presenter frontman) replied

"ragby league and ragby wot?"

The main differences are in union there is a massively bigger emphasise on rucks, mauls and scrums. In league all you really do is run the and pass the ball for 5 tackles and then boot it to the other team.

I think the balls are slightly different shapes and there are only 13 players on the pitch in league compared to 15 for Union.

The balls are a slightly different shape, which means they can be kicked further in union. You see penalties kicked from inside a team's own half in union, whereas 30 yards is a big kick in league. One of the reasons why league has many more tries per game, as it is not as easy to accumulate points without scoring tries. Oh and speaking of scoring, the system is -
Try - 4 points RL, 5 points RU
Penalty - 2 points RL, 3 points RU
Conversion - 2 points in both
Drop/Field Goal - 1 point in RL, 3 points in RU.

RL has also been a traditionally working class game, and RU traditionally middle/upper class.