Rugby League club to be formed in Letchworth

A new rugby league team is being set up, and will be based in Letchworth. The team - North Herts Crusaders - will play at Legends Lane throughout the summer.

At this stage there is no mention of a women's team, but as the ONLY rugby league team in the area (the next nearest is Hemel) if anyone wanted to play some summer rugby then the Crusaders would seem to be the place to go. Furthermore, of course, women's rugby league can be played by anyone over 16 - so many "junior" union girls could join forces with ex-Legends, friends, and any other players in the Hertfordshire or neighbouring counties.

In short, everyone, if some of you did want to get everyone back together this would seem to be a great opportunity.

You can contact NHC via their website, above.

More on the rise of girls' rugby league

Just to show that girls' rugby league is not just growing in the North East, here is the story of spectacular growth in the North West.

And this only a day after reading something I never thought I'd see. Worcester Girls' - Worcester Girls' (who some of us think of as the biggest, best, most successful, most well run girls'club on the planet) - have had to cancel this weekend's U18 home game because they do not have enough players.

Worcester do not have enough players. Let us pause to take the implications of that in...

Scary, isn't it? I mean, for the future of junior rugby union?

In the meanwhile, back to the North West and the obvious question. While The North may indeed be - for Twickenham at least - "a land far, far away of which they know little", clearly the inhabitants of this land are doing something right. Maybe someone should be, perhaps, finding out about it and learning from this success?

County trials - a mixed story nationwide... and a growing threat

Last weekend's Herts county trials went pretty well by the sounds of it - and congratulations for ex-legends like like Ellah, Jade and Sydney for winning their places in the U18 squad.

Unfortunately the news from some other parts of the country is less good.

Cheshire have apparently abandoned county rugby for girls altogether - which presumably bars any girls in the county from possible divisional selection as well - unless they make themselves available for neighbouring countries. And Northumberland - a county that used to be a hotbed of the game - can just about get a U15 squad together, while at U18 they can get a team out only if pretty much every player in the county shows up - but "boyfriends, parents, apathy and injuries often get in the way".

What is killing girls rugby union in the north? Well, curiously it is not because girls have problems with contact and therefore need to be carefully introduced to the game through some untrialled, ill-thought-out, watered-down U13 game. No - the problem is something first identified on this blog just under three years ago.

Rugby League.  Whatever you may have to say or think about this unsubtle, watered down version of the game  it is not only threatening Union in the north, its beginning to beat it hands down. In the north east six new junior RL teams were formed this year, as well as a girls' performance programme, with two U14s squads - one from Tyne & Wear and the other from County Durham, all linked to a senior ladies team at Peterlee which is taking union players.

At the same time "the union side of rugby in Durham has collapsed at U15 with Darlington MP (women's premier league team hosting the current England captain) unable to field an U15's team, while a new Northumberland rugby league team -  Whitley Bay Barbarians - is in direct competition with the struggling union team at Whitley Bay Rockcliff".

Why is League doing to well? The earlier post covered much of it - a unified sport with money and a clear focus from the top to support the women's game - but the fact is that both tag and the U13 game move much more naturally into League than they do Union. All the things that make Union unique - the game for everyone, the importance of forwards, rucks, mauls, line-outs, proper scrums - are absent from both tag and U13 rugby as they are from League. Look at the basic tactics for tag - this is League, isn't it? And as for U13 rugby - effectively no proper rucks, no real mauls, and when the ball crosses the touchline U13 rugby even restarts with an uncontested scrum - just like rugby league, and certainly not union! Throw in the need for fewer players, more flexible age bands - I am pretty sure that girls can play adult league at 16 - and a game that is based in the north (as opposed to one that barely recognises the existence of a world outside the M25) and its a winning formula that in some parts of England is, well, winning.

The other side of the fence

Women's and girls' Rugby League gets an occasional mention on here, partly because it is assumed that readers will be interested, and partly because the problems and pressures faced by both games are rather similar - except that Women's Rugby League gets even less publicity, on a national level, than Union and, you would expect (given the stereotypical southern view of northern folk) face an even tougher problem with the attitudes of those in charge.

Its therefore often a pleasant task to report how positive the RFL have been in their efforts to support their women's game - certainly the failure of last summer's abortive RL session which our ex-Legends tried to take part in was in no way the fault of the organisers, but rather a chronic lack of ambition and foresight from local women's teams.

I mention this because an interesting article has appeared on the BARLA (British Amateur Rugby League Association) website, summarising the pressures, problems and ambitions of the women's game - interesting because anyone from women's union reading this will experience massive feelings of deja vu as they read it, from the dedicated few at the centre trying to expand the game - and the dominance of New Zealand at the international level - to the inability of clubs to send in match reports or give any importance to publicity generally (I just mention this because I suspect the non-appearance of all of the results from the last round of women's county games is certainly not the fault of the RFUW).

I am also left wondering why the two sports - particularly at the youngest junior levels (where the rules are most similar and the skills all but identical) - fail to work together, or even acknowledge each other's existence.

England lose to New Zealand - again

England's women's rugby team lost to World Champions New Zealand at the weekend, in the first of two test matches.

You didn't even know that they were on tour? Well, the 44-6 defeat was suffered by the "other" England team - the England Women's rugby league XIII who are in the middle of a post-season tour to New Zealand, who are World Champions in this code as well as our own.

For the rugby league girls the fact that they were unable to record a win in their warm-up game against a regional side - Counties Manukau - was perhaps a warning about what to expect in the test series. Still, they have a chance to put things right in the second test later this week.

Unfortunately our women's union team have rather longer to wait before they can gain revenge for that amazing world cup final last month. Sky TV and the RFU were so impressed and excited by that game - and the tournament as a whole - that a last minute attempts was made to try to get the Black Ferns back to England again for an Autumn test to be played as a "double header" with the men's test next month. Unfortunately, as ScrumQueens reports, it has proved impossible to arrange at such short notice. Trouble is that this is still an amateur sport - you have to consider things like employers, who had already been amazingly generous this year before you start worrying about sport-related costs that the professional game need not concern itself with.

Still, there are some serious positives to come out of this - not the least of which is that Sky were a major instigator of the idea. When a major national broadcaster is chomping at the bit wanting more you know that you are on the verge of something really special. Would it be too much to expect them to maybe show some of the Six Nations - live - next year. The game against France could be worth showing, at the very least

• England also lost the second test, 38-6

Plus ça change...

A great pity about today. We get a great team down to the festival... and then the team most likely to benefit from the development of their game (ie. Rugby League) cannot be bothered to either turn up, or (perhaps even worse) tell the organisers that they were not coming. After all, if we had known even yesterday I am sure people would have been happy to postpone. But now....

Apparently they are very keen on finding and helping to develop other teams in the South East (as they invariably travel to Nottingham or beyond). Strange way to show it.

Which leaves us with a few options for the future of a "Legends reunited" day. Do we give the RL another chance - either in two weeks or four (when the next two festivals are planned), or try to enter a Sevens some time somewhere, or... well, ideas anyone?

Thanks to everyone who turned up, and to Chloe, Sasha and Jess in particular for all the hard work they put in. Sorry it did not come to anything.

Rugby League festival: final details

I've had the following from the organisers, which seems to include everything we need. We will have quite an interesting team - a combination of Legends and friends of Sasha and Jess. Assuming everyone can work out the rules (coach Sasha will be ensuring this happens!) it should be a fun afternoon. Details now follow:

Hi All,

Saturday is just a few days away and I hope you are as excited as I am in looking forward to our new opening round of the Merit League. Main details are as follows:

Venue: Hemel Stags RLFC, Pennine Way (right next to the car dealership), Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 5UD (very close to the M1 and M25)

Change Rooms open: Midday

KO and estimated finish: 1pm – 3pm

There are three pitches available and it would be appreciated if teams could get changed into their gear as quickly as possible as there are two change rooms.

Despite Wimbledon taking place at the moment, the forecasters says it will be a shiny day, so let’s hope they are right. I have been told that some teams may not have any subs, we will arrange before each kick off the number of players we will have on the pitch for each individual game. From our perspective, the first round is about getting as many players receiving as much playing time as they like.

The day will run in a round robin format, and depending on the number of confirmed teams, a final game between the top two placed teams.

Registration forms will be present on the day, and I ask that each team manager arranges for these to be filled out by all players for insurance purposes.

Finally, if your team has not confirmed already, please let me know if you are expecting to take part this Saturday or not. The next round is only two weeks away and I am sure you will have a great time and want to join us in South London on the 10th June.

Any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Phone calls will work best over the next few days.

Cheers,

Steve Davis

RFL East Regional Development Officer

"Legends reunited" - now is the hour to step forward!

We now know that the RL festival will be in Hemel (not St Albans, unfortunately, but still Hertfordshire), kicking off at 1pm on 26th June. The address of the ground is: Pennine Way, Hemel Hempstead HP2 5UD

So - now is the time when firm commitments are needed (or as firm as possible with just under two weeks to go). If you can play (or hope to play), or have managed to get any friends to play, please let me know as soon as possible. We need at least nine names - ideally more than that.

If we can pull this off then we can look forward to other reunions in the future - not only other RL festivals, but perhaps entering a sevens next summer, or organising a friendly game against a local club (like Hitchin, perhaps) next season - so please try to spare a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. It should be worth it!

Remember - anyone in the current U18 team can play, as well as former Legends!!

Getting ready for the 26th: RL in action

There is amazingly little decent video of rugby league on the web - but (for the next couple of days at least) there are a couple of games available on iPlayer:

Bradford Bulls v Warrington
Leeds Rhinos v Wigan

Thoughts? Tactical suggestions?

So - what's this Rugby League, then?

Things looking pretty good for our getting a team together for at least one of the first two festivals - and maybe some of the others too - so its maybe worth looking at what this version of rugby is like, or more to the point what the main differences are... 'cause there are a few...

First - the obvious, and maybe cosmetic, ones. League is 13-a-side - no flankers, essentially - and, for some reason, the players are numbered in reverse (1 is the full back, while the scrum numbers from 8 to 13). Most positions have roughly the same names - except our "No. 8" becomes League's "lock". You also only get four points for a try, two for a penalty (or a conversion), and one for a drop goal.

Other than that...

Line-outs
There aren't any. Replaced with a scrum, 20m in from the line.


Scrums
Uncontested, five-player affairs. The team given "head and feed" always wins - and most of the time the ball seems to be fed straight to the second row!

Mauls
There aren't any. Apart from one-on-one tackles, you cannot steal the ball from the ball carrier. If more than one defender tackles an attacker and takes the ball then that is a penalty!

Rucks
There aren't any (well, not as we know them). If an attacker is tackled to the ground, or just held so they cannot go forward, then that is a tackle and play stops for a "play the ball", which you will all recognise from playing Touch. However, the area where the "play the ball" is happening is (confusingly) called a ruck.

Tackles
The same, but obviously you do not release the ball after a tackle - and after six tackles you hand over the ball to the other team. You cannot deliberately "go to ground" in League, but you can shoulder charge an opponent - barge them over, in effect. You can also use your legs to bring someone down once you have grabbed hold of them. If you are tackled near the line you cannot reach forward and put the ball down - this is a "double movement".


Other oddities

• The markings on the pitch (right) are very different - more like American Football
• You can throw the ball into touch
• If a player is fouled as they score, they get two kicks at goal - one for the conversion followed by another for the penalty (an "eight point try")

Those seem to be the major rule differences, but overall the key difference is that in Union territory - where you are on the field - is the key, while League is all about possession - gaining as much ground as you can while having he ball, and restricting any gains the opposition may make while defending. In Union you can almost always compete for possession - in League you generally cannot. Obviously there will be quite a few tactical differences as a result - for example, from a restart the kicking team will  normally try to kick the ball as long down the field as possible.

So... that is what you will be getting yourself in to...

Legends reunited this summer? Volunteer now!

A few past and present Legends have already shown some interest (even quite a lot of enthusiasm!) about the idea of getting together for one of the RL festivals this summer. Wonky is also on board (work permitting) to help out - which would be useful as Rugby League is a bit different!

Currently waiting for further details about what would be involved, but in theory anyone from any current or past U18 team could probably play, entry is FREE!, and all of the tournaments will be within fairly easy reach of Letchworth (the "worst" being one in Carshalton, in south London). The first is on 12th June - which is a bit close, but not impossible if enough of you come forward in the next week or so - and the second in St Albans is on the 26th, which sounds very possible.

So if you are interested please let me or Mike know as soon as possible. At this point we aren't asking you to commit to play on any particular date, but if this is a non-starter the sooner we know the better (saves on lots of hours of admin!). 

Non-Legend "guests" are also welcome, especially if that will help us make a full team - so by all means ask around - but ideally I think we'd want to field as near a full squad of past and present wearers of the black-and-amber as we can.