Rugby league in the British Isles
Rugby league is a popular sport in Northern England and south Wales, and to a lesser extent in Scotland, Ireland, and other parts of England and Wales. It is organised separately in each of these countries, and also on an all-Ireland basis, with Northern Ireland and the independent Republic of Ireland playing together.
| Rugby league in the British Isles | |
|---|---|
| Country | Great Britain and Ireland |
| Governing body | Rugby Football League (England)[lower-alpha 1] Scotland Rugby League (Scotland)[lower-alpha 2] Wales Rugby League (Wales)[lower-alpha 2] Rugby League Ireland (Ireland) |
| National team(s) | Great Britain men's team Great Britain women's team Teams of the Home Nations[lower-alpha 3] |
| First played | 1895 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
Rugby league in the British Isles is discussed in the following articles, corresponding to the separate organisations governing the sport:
However, areas where the sport is similar between the Home Nations will be discussed in this article.
National team
Unlike in most team sports in the United Kingdom, the UK has historically operated on unified national side, nicknamed the GB Lions, since 1908.[1] The team saw great success, winning the 1954, 1960, and 1970 Rugby League World Cups in addition to achieving a runners up place on four separate occasions. However, the team failed to enter the 1995 tournament in favour of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland competing separately. Despite this, the GB Lions still competed in other torments together such as test series and the Rugby League Tri-Nations, until 2007 where the team was disbanded altogether.[1]
In 2019, the GB Lions were reunited for a tour of the Pacific, playing against New Zealand (twice), Tonga, and Papua New Guinea.[2] The presence of the tour gave hope for the home nations to compete under a unified team again.[1][2][3] However the fact that Great Britain lost all four tour matches called people to question the feasibility of the team, with a major criticism being the imbalance of English player to the other nationalities. This was defended with the justification of a lack of high level domestic league in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.[4][5][6]
Women's team
Women's rugby league has also operated a full UK team nicknamed the GB Lionesses. Unlike the men's team, the women's team played in all competitions under the collective banner until the 2007 split in favour of the home nations competing individually. The allowed the team to complete in the inaugural 2000 Women's Rugby League World Cup, to which they were also hosts, which saw the team come second, losing to New Zealand in the final. The team played in the 2005 Women's Rugby League World Cup as their final major competition.
Domestic competitions
League system
The league system in Great Britain has existed since 1895. Current the system operates a three-tier professional league system headed by the Super League, with the RFL Championship and RFL League 1 beneath the top tier. The professional structure is administered by the RFL,[7] with BARLA administering the fourth tier National Conference League and Conference League South in addition to various fifth tier regional leagues. Three of these regional leagues, the North Wales Conference and the South Wales Premiership, and the Scottish National League are administered by Wales Rugby League and Scotland Rugby League respectively as teams that compete in them are exclusively part of the respective home nation. Despite this, they are also recognised as BARLA regional leagues in order to allow promotion to the conference leagues via the same method as the English regional leagues. The British rugby league system however doesn't include Northern Ireland who compete with Ireland on an all-Ireland basis. The Irish top tier of Rugby League is the Ireland National League.
Popularity and team geography
Due to the increased popularity of Rugby League in Yorkshire and Lancashire compared to the rest of the country, the majority of the 37 professional teams to make up the top three tiers are from this area. Of the 34 British teams, only eight are not from the two historical counties (six English, and two Welsh). The final three teams that make up the professional structure in Great Britain are foreign teams who have applied to play in the RFL. They consist of two French sides and one Canadian side.
The increased popularity of Rugby League in its heartland of Yorkshire and Lancashire sees the National Conference League primarily operated in the heartlands and the Conference League South operate elsewhere. The National Conference League is split into four tiers to reflect the increased competitivity as teams in this league are primarily looking for promotion to the professional structure whereas teams in the Conference League South are just looking for a greater standard of Rugby League than what exists in the regional league.[8]
Due to the popularity of Rugby League in the heartlands of Yorkshire and Lancashire, the term "rugby" usually refers to rugby league whereas "rugby" usually refers to rugby union in the rest of the British Isles. Occasionally, in the heartlands, "football" also refers to rugby league however this is rare due to football being the most popular sport in the country.[9]
Cup Competitions
The Challenge Cup is the national cup of Rugby League in the United Kingdom. The competition is administered by the RFL and was instituted in 1896.[7] The competition has also seen teams from Ireland, France, Canada, and Serbia compete.
The 1895 Cup also exists for teams competing in the Championship and League 1
Women's Rugby
The RFL also administer the Women's Super League and Women's Challenge Cup.[7]
Defunct competitions
There have been a number of rugby league competitions played in the British Isles during its history. The current Super League is the direct successor to the Rugby Football League Championship First Division during its rebrand in 1996, with the Second Division, and Third Division being rebranded to the Championship and League 1 respectively in 2003.
The 1895 Cup (2019–present) has also existed under different names at different points in history. Once as the Trans-Pennine Cup (1998–2001) and again as the Championship Cup (2002–2013).
The League Cup (1972–1996) and Charity Shield (1985–1996) have also existed for short periods of time and operated in the same way as the English football competitions of the same name. The League Cup being a cup for professional clubs only, and the Charity Shield a single game competition to mark the start of the season between the previous years league champions and challenge cup winners.
History, a major part of rugby league in the British Isles were the county competitions in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The RFL Lancashire League and RFL Yorkshire League are as old as the national league itself and the RFL Lancashire Cup and RFL Yorkshire Cup we're founded only a decade after the Challenge Cup. The county league were abandoned in 1970 and the cups in 1996 in order to develop rugby league nationally. The Rugby League War of the Roses was the only county competition to survive into the Super League era, being abandoned in 2003. The competition was a single game event featuring one team from each county and was based on the roses rivalry that has existed between the two counties since the Wars of the Roses which ended in 1487.
Governing bodies
Men's governance
The Rugby Football League (RFL) was the governing body for rugby league in the British Isles until the founding of Rugby League Ireland, Scotland Rugby League, Wales Rugby League, and in 1988, 1994, and 1995 respectively. Currently, the RFL has full control over Rugby League in England only with the other organisations operating within their respective home nation. However, the RFL has some powers over the two professional clubs in Wales, the North Wales Crusaders and West Wales Raiders as the RFL are the sole governors of the professional league system.
All four bodies are affiliated with the Rugby League International Federation (RLIF) and the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF), and government their own national teams with the RFL, Wales Rugby League, and Scotland Rugby League jointly operating the Great Britain national rugby league team.
The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) are responsible for amateur rugby league chiefly in the sport's North of England heartlands. Though many National Conference League and Conference League South teams are affiliated to BARLA, the Conference itself is not a BARLA organisation. As well as the conferences, BARLA overseas a number of regional leagues, mostly located in the heartlands, but also including the North Wales Conference and the South Wales Premiership, and the Scottish National League which are administered by Wales Rugby League and Scotland Rugby League respectively but also see BARLA involvement in order to allow promotion to the conferences.
BARLA are also responsible for selecting an international team consisting of amateur players, the BARLA Lions. This team tours many parts of the rugby league world, and have competed in the Rugby League Emerging Nations Tournament.
Women's Rugby
The Women's Amateur Rugby League Association (WARLA) is the governing body of female rugby league in the British Isles, it currently falls under the Rugby Football League association which oversees its running and management. It was originally established in 1985 and was recognised by the RFL in its first year.
Armed Forces
Rugby league was recognised as a military sport in 1994. The Combined Services Rugby League (CSRL) is the co-ordinating group for the Army Rugby League, Royal Navy Rugby League and the Royal Air Force Rugby League. Each constituent body organises its own competitions at unit and formation level. Players are fed into representative teams to represent each of the services, and the best players are selected to represent the Combined Services. Because of the difference in sovereignty between the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, it is the only place where Northern Ireland competes in rugby league under a UK system rather than an all-Ireland one.
Student Rugby
The British Universities and Colleges Sport run The University and College Rugby League and govern rugby league at the university level.
Rivalries
Domestic
There are a number of rivalries within professional rugby in the British Isles, with debate about which one is the biggest. The Hull derby between Hull F.C. and Hull KR is the only derby where both participants are from the same city. The Good Friday derby is also considered a major rivalry with the two teams, Wigan Warriors and St Helens, consistently performing well in the league and cup competitions.[10] Other major rivalries include the Calder derby, Cheshire derby, and West Yorkshire derby.[11]
International
The England–Scotland football rivalry is the oldest, and by some sources, the greatest sporting rivalry on the planet,[12][13] add due to this it has naturally become a rivalry in other sports. Because of the Great Britain national rugby league team, England and Scotland did not play their first game until 2016 Rugby League Four Nations[14] where England won 38–12.[15]
England (previously Great Britain as a whole) also has a fierce rivalry with Australia to whom they compete The Ashes with.[16] This rivalry has also affected the domestic game with the Super League and National Rugby League becoming the two biggest club competitions on the planet with the two competition winners competing in the World Club Challenge.
Tournaments hosted
.svg.png){kind=small}
Television rights
Live Super League and National Rugby League games are shown on Sky Sports Arena with highlights also being shown on the channel.[17][18] Challenge Cup matches are split between BBC Sport and Sky Sports Arena. The final and semi-finals are shown by the BBC only and usually on BBC One. Matches prior to the sixth round are usually shown on BBC Red Button or as BBC iPlayer exclusives. BBC Two is also used in addition to BBC One to show the matches from the latter stages of competition.[19]
Stadiums
.jpg)
Ireland is the only home nation to have a national rugby league stadiums, with Irish home matchs being played at Carlisle Grounds and Morton Stadium.
England home match are played at a number of locations, however, Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, Olympic Park, and Elland Road are most commonly used.
Scotland and Wales also don't have set home grounds. Netherdale has been the most recent home venue for Scotland and the Racecourse Ground for Wales.
Domestically, Old Trafford is used as the venue of the Super League Grand Final, with Wembley Stadium hosting the Challenge Cup Final. Super League's Magic Weekend has previously been hosted at the Millennium Stadium, Murrayfield, Etihad Stadium, St James' Park, and Anfield.
Museums
The UK's National Rugby League Museum is set to open in August 2020 in the George Hotel, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, the birth place of rugby league, on the sport's 125th anniversary.[20]
Other versions played
- 7s and 9s: Rugby League played with 7 and 9 players per side respectively, more common among pub teams due to the greater ease of getting a full squad.
- Touch Rugby: A limited contact version of the sport where a tackle is made by placing two hands on the opponent.
- Wheelchair rugby league: Played by people in wheelchairs.
- Masters Rugby League: Rugby League with modified rules to make it more suitable for older players.
See also
- British Rugby League Hall of Fame
- British rugby league system
- Rugby union in the British Isles
Notes
- Historically has governed the whole of the UK, currently has limited presence in Scotland and Wales and Jointly administers the Great Britain national rugby league team.
- Jointly administers the Great Britain national rugby league team.
- England national rugby league team, England women's national rugby league team, Scotland national rugby league team, Scotland women's national rugby league team, Wales national rugby league team, Wales women's national rugby league team, Ireland national rugby league team, Ireland women's national rugby league team.
References
- https://www.ucfb.ac.uk/news/ucfb-news-hub/in-focus-the-great-britain-lions-and-the-future-of-representative-rugby-league/
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50167198
- https://www.scotlandrl.com/2019/03/04/gb-lions-to-return/
- https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/17/kevin-sinfield-great-britain-rugby-league-wayne-bennett-papua-new-guinea-new-zealand
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/50446763
- https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/no-helmets-required/2019/nov/12/great-britain-lions-coach-wayne-bennett-new-zealand
- https://www.rugby-league.com/the_rfl/about_the_rfl
- https://www.rugby-league.com/article/54086/rfl-launches-southern-conference-league-for-england-and-wales
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings/individual/leeds-leeds-collins-tony.shtml#transcript
- https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/in-depth-the-st-helens-and-wigan-rivalry/
- http://sportofcall.co.uk/rugby-league/what-are-the-top-five-english-rugby-league-derbies/
- https://edition.cnn.com/2008/SPORT/football/11/06/first11.rivalries/index.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1999/11/99/battle_of_britain/473756.stm
- https://www.rugby-league.com/article/38842/england-v-scotland-the-oldest-rivalry
- https://www.rugbyleagueplanet.com/2013/03/02/2016-rugby-league-four-nations/%3famp
- https://www.sthelensreporter.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/rugby-league-ashes-rivalry-be-renewed-2020-2023750%3famp
- https://www.rugbyleagueontv.com/superleague
- https://www.rugbyleagueontv.com/nrlonsky
- https://www.rugbyleagueontv.com/challengecup
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/53163130