![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In Which I Am Not At All Nice
Oct. 5th, 2015 02:08 amAs a rugby league fan, I can't help but feel a leeeetle bit of schadenfreude that the RFU's most recent attempt at screwing us over has failed quite so spectacularly.
(For non-rugby peeps, rugby union and rugby league both split off from the original game of rugby. The northern rugby clubs, mostly peopled by working people, said players ought to be paid, given the risk of injury and hence loss of pay from work. The southern rugby clubs, mostly peopled by professional types who had more savings, said no, they shouldn't be, Corinthian spirit etc.
As a UK person, I shouldn't really complain, union over here tends to limit itself to trying to pretend league doesn't exist. Vichy France and Franco's Spain actually banned it and, as late as this year, the head of rugby league in the United Arab Emirates was imprisoned for fraud because he didn't make it clear enough to potential sponsors that rugby league was not rugby union.)
The Super League Grand Final is the winner takes all last match of the season. It's been held at Old Trafford at the start of October for the past 16 years, so it's not like we've suddenly moved it.
This year, England is hosting the Rugby (Union) World Cup, and decided to approach Manchester United to ask to use Old Trafford on the second Friday of October. Or, you know, Grand Final day. Now, bless them, United said, 'thanks for thinking of us, but we have a pre-existing booking,'*. To save the RFU's bacon, Manchester City stepped in and let them use their stadium for England vs Uruguay.
The intention was blatantly to distract attention from the Super League grand final, with England being able to stroll past Uruguay, gloriously marching on to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
England forgot one important part of this plan, which was, 'don't get knocked out' so instead it's going to be a dead rubber. Now, it'll still get more attention than the Grand Final, unless Ben Flower has another rush of blood to the head, but mostly it'll be pointing and laughing, showing up England RU for the flat-track bullies that they are.
* There's also some backstory with United, with Sir Alex Ferguson declaring that no rugby union match will ever again be hosted while he was in charge after a union game allegedly tore up the Old Trafford pitch so much it caused United to lose. Now, I don't entirely believe that but I can't argue with his choices ;)
(For non-rugby peeps, rugby union and rugby league both split off from the original game of rugby. The northern rugby clubs, mostly peopled by working people, said players ought to be paid, given the risk of injury and hence loss of pay from work. The southern rugby clubs, mostly peopled by professional types who had more savings, said no, they shouldn't be, Corinthian spirit etc.
As a UK person, I shouldn't really complain, union over here tends to limit itself to trying to pretend league doesn't exist. Vichy France and Franco's Spain actually banned it and, as late as this year, the head of rugby league in the United Arab Emirates was imprisoned for fraud because he didn't make it clear enough to potential sponsors that rugby league was not rugby union.)
The Super League Grand Final is the winner takes all last match of the season. It's been held at Old Trafford at the start of October for the past 16 years, so it's not like we've suddenly moved it.
This year, England is hosting the Rugby (Union) World Cup, and decided to approach Manchester United to ask to use Old Trafford on the second Friday of October. Or, you know, Grand Final day. Now, bless them, United said, 'thanks for thinking of us, but we have a pre-existing booking,'*. To save the RFU's bacon, Manchester City stepped in and let them use their stadium for England vs Uruguay.
The intention was blatantly to distract attention from the Super League grand final, with England being able to stroll past Uruguay, gloriously marching on to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
England forgot one important part of this plan, which was, 'don't get knocked out' so instead it's going to be a dead rubber. Now, it'll still get more attention than the Grand Final, unless Ben Flower has another rush of blood to the head, but mostly it'll be pointing and laughing, showing up England RU for the flat-track bullies that they are.
* There's also some backstory with United, with Sir Alex Ferguson declaring that no rugby union match will ever again be hosted while he was in charge after a union game allegedly tore up the Old Trafford pitch so much it caused United to lose. Now, I don't entirely believe that but I can't argue with his choices ;)
