Is Rugby Union a game for public school boys, and middle class twats?

I am posting this on the libcommunity board as I don't flame on the other boards where it is not allowed.

Please forgive me if I am wrong, but I was under the distinct impression that all over the world (except in South Wales) Rugby Union was a game played by public school boys, and middle class twats. Rugby League is the 'workers' game.

dunno, i used to play rugby union for years. but that was very near south wales. and i might just be a middle class twat. League is more 'northern' so i guess it must be working class

I played rugby league at junior school (note to overseas posters -- that's up to age 11) and then rugby union at secondary school (which was a state comprehensive before you all start ).

We certainly used to play the local posh schools at rugby union, which was always complete carnage.

Edit for geographics fans: this was in Yorkshire.

I was going to say yes, but I've grown quite fond of Joseph K.

Yes, definitely a game best played on the lawns of Upper Poshington (Welsh teams exempted).

Rugby League of course, is far better and much more proley. Oh yes, I remember the days when I used to go to Swinton's Station Road ground (before it became a fucking supermarket) on a Sunday afternoon because you could still get a pint in after the pubs had shut. Never really followed the game much, but this was Swinton y'know.

And you don't get all these rucks in rugby league - which are obviously just a chance for ex-public schoolboys to feel up the other team's arses or suck each others' cocks on the quiet. Nope, when we rugby leaguers suck each others cocks, we don't need no ruck to hide behind.

What was I saying?

Er, yes, Rugby Union is posh.

I believe that it is actually true all over the world. Ask the Australians. It comes down to a split over one hundred years ago over 'lost time' payments for workers whereas the 'gentlemen' who played Rugby Union obviously didn't need them. I remember when I lived in England during the miners strike that the international RL team refused to wear their shirts which were sponsered by British Coal, and finally went out with the logo covered up. The captain of the English Rugby Union time was probably fucking Princess Dianna at the time. This is what I call a class difference.

P.S. I am not wholly serious about this being a class line.

Devrim you are one hundred percent correct.

Rugby Union is for middle class wankers!

You may not believe this, but I used to play rugby at junior school 8) Touch rugby thoug, what with being a girl and all...

Post of the year.

Well I fucking am. And at the next AF conference, I'll be proposing something along the lines of...

'Any member who likes Rugby Union and is not from Wales or is not in somne gay rugby team can fuck right off and join Friends of the Earth instead.'

Which one is better? Do they ever play each other?

I think John did a sex pee in his pants.

Do you mean did the girl's team play the boys team?

No I meant do Union and League teams play against each other. I wanna know which is best.

rugby union all the freaking way.

i admit maybe 50% are farty public school boys but the rest are cool people like me who just learnt it at (comprehensive) school and enjoyed it

John, They are actually two different games with different rules, and different numbers of players, so it is very difficult to compare who is actually best.

sorry, did someone say something?

Johns a poncey geek who doesn't understand any sports.

ranking and hierarchy. tut tut tut.

vote yes without illusions Jef, i've just remembered my coach once said (i was like 9),

i played both mind

I understand most sports, just not rugby. Or american football. I never played rugby when I was a kid, nor did any of my mates. We thought it was just a sport for poshos. And not posh like I am (no regional accent) but actually posh - rich, possibly related to aristocracy, etc. You know - rugger buggers and rahs. The only people I've known play or like rugby are like that.

So I reckon you're *all* ponces.

In England rugby union is a game for middle class twats and cops.

Wales is an exception of course, but that should not distract us too much in this poll.

I like that quote, I think he stole it from somewhere.

yeah they told me that at my school.

Stuck up wannnabe provincial grammar school wankers!

probably. he wasn't much of a philosopher.

If you grew up in london and played rubgy then you are posh, you can't do a rugby tackle on concrete.

double post

i used to play in goal on concrete. still got the scars....

although obviously football on concrete is just a pretext for fighting, or at least it was in my hardcore rural upbringing

hmm double post. oops.

while i realize that it is no one's intent, can we cut the subtle homophobia when bashing bougie rugby players? Why is it amusing if guys forced into repressing their orientation by an oppressive heteronormative society, sublimate it into homoerotic athleticism. Its not funny. You're laughing at oppression in a pretty homophobic way. Stop it.

I'd like to thank Serge for making an exception in my case.

In these northern wastes, Rugby League is definitely more working class - and harder - union is nobbier and often played by people who've got too old and tired for league.

But having grown up in the soft south I quite like union and still enjoy watching mates play - even though I was cruelly injured whilst doing the touch judge and now can barely run.

Wasn't it only one person - serge - who did that?