The Six Nations is in full flow and rugby fans in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales are flocking to stadiums to watch the likes of Maro Itoje, Antoine Dupont and Fin Russell. But does it paint a false picture of the sport’s popularity in the UK?
There are those who would tell you that Rugby Union is dying in Britain. The WRU and the RFU are in crisis. There is no money in it, attendances are down and clubs are going out of business. We are constantly hearing that there is a desperate need for a shake up, ranging from law changes to new marketing strategies and everything in between. But is that really what’s needed?
I was joined by CityAM Deputy Sports Editor Matt Hardy to debate the health of Rugby in Britain, is there really a doomsday scenario right around the corner or is there yet hope for the game we love? We draw on examples from club rugby, test rugby and women’s rugby to reach our conclusion and give our verdict on what should be the sport’s next move.
#englandrugby #welshrugby #irelandrugby #scottishrugby #sixnations #urc #womensrugby #podcast #interview #debate
Follow me on Twitter: https://x.com/HuwGriffinRugby
Chapters
0:00 Why the Six Nations is So Popular
8:43 Honest Thoughts on Ticket Prices
13:17 Women’s Rugby to Overtake Men’s?
17:42 The Free Ticket Dirty Secret
21:13 Club Game in Decline?
28:15 Is Rugby Badly Run?
37:30 One thing that MUST Change
29 Comments
lack of major tournament wins and Southern hemisphere domination can kill a sport, just like the Bledisloe one sided domination has destroyed Australian rugby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWLbaYHlI9w
good video, explains why Oz were more successful with fewer rugby club teams.
Think the way rugby is structured in Britain outside Scotland really hurt with covid.
When the tide goes out as it did, you see who's swimming naked, and the Premiership has been doing it for a long time.
The constant law changes is what is messing up the sport
Great video as always Huw , always great to listen to your ideas , such as the women's Lions team touring Canada etc , as for the men's Lions team, well after a long arduous end of season tour to one of the three southern hemisphere giants , I think the touring players should rest until October and with the coaching infrastructure all in place from the summer , then a three game tour of France in November could be a possibility, maybe even a couple of mid-week games v Italy, with the games kicking-off at 8pm French time it'd surely bring in the tv money along with packed clubhouses and prime time Saturday evening viewing in the home nations and South Africa along with Sunday morning viewing down under too , this could also let us have a Rugby European Championship in the September /October of that year for the players not involved in the Lions series by awarding full caps to players in a format including ten or twelve teams now that Georgia, Romania, Spain and Portugal are getting better and better, teams could play a couple of matches at home and a couple away rather than the tournament being hosted in a single host nation , this would give a tournament every two years to the likes of Georgia etc since the 6 Nations don't seem to interested in helping them out .
FFS, interesting chat but for the millionth fk'n time, Ireland is NOT part of Britain or the UK so edit the title Huw! We're 'bloody' well not and one sure way to show Brit arrogance and utter ignorance to our nation and our history. Really surprised by you Huw on this.
Is rugby only for posh kids? Is posh kids getting less and less. Is same with hockey in CAN. Only rich kids play the working class left out so best athletes not in it.
Rugby (League) is bigger than ever. No problem.
WR and the clowns that run the game are ruining rugby they are the culprits for this constant law changes petty cards and so on the sooner they kick those clowns out the better
For me, International Rugby is only getting bigger and better
Rugby is not played in state schools anymore. Rugby was the Grammar school game. However, even though Grammar schools were the academic route out for working class children, our beloved Marxist leaders saw them as elitist and closed them down.
Current PE teachers are either untrained in the game or unwilling to take the risk of playing the game in secondary schools.
Welsh Rugby given as an example International vs domestics league attendance. As Englishman and outsider of Welsh Rugby, I would say the WRFU is missing huge opportunities here. I’m old enough to remember the Welsh league, Neath, Swansea, Cardiff, Bridgend, Newport, I could go on and on, all these great teams and rivalries pushed aside, trying to adopt providential Rugby, it may work in NZ, Ireland, but not in Wales. Support the Welsh leagues, even if semi professional, let the elite players earn their money overseas. The development of young new talent would certainly increase bring back these local rivals and televising it in Wales.
There was a lot of young peeps at super games on WE
Rugby in Ireland, France and Italy has never been bigger. Plus the game is growing in Spain, Portugal, Romania and Georgia. So while the sport might be in the doldrums in Wales alas, it is in rude health in Europe.
The new rules are dreadful
You were interesting Huw, but your guest did not really address your questions. You asked about the club game, he kept bringing it back to Internationals. You asked about the club game in Britain (even specifically to England and Wales), he brings up Ireland, France, America and Fiji! You ask what you would change about rugby, he gives the (ridiculously) superficial 'boo the kickers' There was no hard look at the problems in regards to the club game (outside of charging a fiver for free tickets) and to just say 'No' to the question about whether there's a problem when clubs have gone to the wall in England, and the lack of attendance at club games in Wales is blinkered at best.
It's not optics. It's rewarding incompetence. And if you rewarding and therefore incentivising incompetence.
7:38 60 pounds? JAYSIS thats cheep. sure you're looking at at least 145 euros for a ticket to the Ireland v England or France games.
Rugby is an open declaration of gladiatorial conflict.
All the niggles between neighbouring nations can be settled between a small set of our champions, and then put to bed for a year whilst sharing a pint with the enemy.
As to the game as a whole, there are obvious difficulties in managing the finances of the professional game.
The big money in sport is generally swallowed up by football, whereas in France, Ireland and New Zealand have a greater respect rugby, as a result, I am concerned for the game in England.
By the way 82,000 x 1,000,000 is £82,000,000,000.
Loved your pod show
felt inclusive obvs ruby will always struggle against football and it’s in the schools where we’ll find the next groups of stars
Just televise the international games more widely. It beats soccer, hands down.
DEI it….get woke…go broke….so far removed from men's rugby of years gone by. Merit….Merit….Merit..
Rugby is in big trouble. Outside tier one test rugby, the professional game isn't financially sustainable. The HSBC 7s and Women's games are bleeding any profits from test matches and the World Cup dry. I suspect the obsession with growing the game is what will ultimately destroy it. This guest has no idea btw. Scotland and Ireland are far from rugby mad countries.
Changing demographics certainly will play a role in the future. Immigrants will generally prefer to watch football over rugby.
The focus has always been too much on six nations and other test matches. Club Rugby never got the proper treatment it needed. France seems to be the only country where they care about making club rugby as attractive as possible.
I'm going to be honest I think the title is clickbait. Rugby has problems. It's thriving as a sport for children but clubs struggle to put out a senior team where there used to be 3 senior teams. But that's just my experience. I thought your guest might have some insight into this but I don't think he knows anything about it.
Meow
Come on then have your say: Rugby = growing or shrinking? 📏
I lived in the UK for 4 years in the 00’s and was always surprised by the reluctance to televise club games in England over the usual open air channels. The rationale that I recall was that putting matches on TV would decrease attendance. The NFL had this idea back in the 80’s and early 90’s. If your local team didn’t sell enough tickets their game would be blacked out in the local area. Totally counterproductive. The better idea is to get as many eyes on the game as possible and then people will want to go to the games and buy the merch. Now NFL games are usually near sellouts and the TV audience is huge.