I'm not so sure. Over the years I have seen support for the 'other' major sports yoyo. When big tournaments are on, support increases, when we do well, of increases but in between, it settles down again. Its almost like a group of people, a large group, just tag along at any major tournement or event and then move on to the next sport soon after. I know a handful of people who would always talk about Rugby, and its exclusively League at that. During the build up, suddenly 100s came out of the woodwork, as it is, the rugby talk has faded away like England's typical world cup performances, regardless of the sport.
I can assure you that support for club RFU a has been growing for many years now. Just like football, people gravitate to the most successful clubs. Obviously, it will never rival football in terms of popularity, and there will always be the fair weather fans, but from where support was 10-15 years ago, it's come on significantly.
The World Cup clearly f***ed off Sam Burgess. He didn't learn the "skills" of RU quickly enough, apparently
Ridiculous! He was set to fail from the off. He was never ready for RFU at that level, so poor from Lancaster and crew.
Jonah Lomu, RIP. Not my sport but it's easy to recognise greatness and he was a phenomenal rugby player. He was for a long time the main man in rugby union. Very sad.
True! He was a phenomenon when he first burst onto the scene. I mean a 6' 5" 19st winger, WTF!! And he could run 100m in around 10.5 secs. The game had never seen anything like him. Apparently, a gentle soul off the pitch. Very sad he should pass away at such a young age.
I'm sure he'll insist that all eligible England players are made available for selection regardless of where they play their club rugby.
This scenario was obviously going to happen. We did the exact same mistakes with Iestyn Harries when he signed for Cardiff from Leeds Rhinos.
Jones has a habit of getting what he wants. He's not going to start making waves from the off. But if he considers it to be necessary, he's not afraid to confront Ritchie & Co,
