naishou

Both sports or both people? Yes to either

RedRover

Naishou, I DIDN'T say 'Melbourne' - I said "in the broader Australia".

If you were to travel within Australia I think you'd find in Hobart, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne that Rugby Union is virtually non-existant. As I said originally, Rugby Union only thrives in parts of Sydney and parts of Brisbane.

BTW, I did live in Sydney for many years with time spent both South and North of the harbour (within walking distance from Aus). Whilst my footballing days were predominantly Rugby League I did play a few social games of Union so I'm not a total ignoramus about it.

The reason why Soccer rates higher than Union is because of much greater player participation at the school level (Australia Wide). If you haven't seen Soccer on the TV you should watch more SBS. I believe those initials stand for "Soccer, Bloody Soccer".

AusS2000

I can back up Naishou here. He doesn't live in the North Shore. You probably made that mistake because he appears to be educated.

And how could the Commonwealth Games be considered popular. If it was we wouldn't hold it in Melbourne!

Billyblue - Isn't QLD a southern state of Japan?

How to upset everyone in one post!

RedRover

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AusS2000

naishou

The broader Australia, the broader World. Personally I'd rather watch a game between say Japan and the USA than Collingwood and St Kilda, or Balmain and Penrith for that matter. I think that Rugby Union has a strong following precisely because it is a game of international relevance. I can watch an annual competition involving 12 teams from the 3 strongest Southern Hemisphere nations, and one between 6 of the strongest Northern Hemisphere nations, plus many other international matches. Come to think of it it's really quite irrelevant for us to be arguing about whether people in various parts of our tiny nation follow a certain sport. If you want to say that NSW and QLD are irrelevant because they don't represent the broader Australia then you have to consider how Australia represents the broader world. Soccer comes first, Rugby second League a distant last and AFL was scratched. The original suggestion that started all this was that the Rugby World Cup was some kind of flash in the pan that had no real relevance. I found that absurd as there are literally millions of people in Australia and hundreds of millions worldwide who followed Rugby before the Cup and will continue to afterwards.

naishou

And I do live in Randwick by the way

RedRover

[QUOTE]Originally posted by naishou The original suggestion that started all this was that the Rugby World Cup was some kind of flash in the pan

naishou

There isn't a World Cup next season. Or do you mean other Rugby games such as the Super 12 games and Tri Nations matches that are always sold out? If you mean club rugby then sure, there'll be about as many people there as there are at typical soccer games. But then club rugby never was the point