Although union is slowly catching up with it at the top level. You can watch lower division or amateur league and marvel at the pace and handling skills, but having witnessed Richmond v London Scottish a few years ago, it was like a fight where a ball sometimes bounced around amongst a pile of bodies.

Much more fun to play too, especially as a forward.

League and proud of it!

I'm half-Welsh, half-Wigan. I liked union more as a kid, especially as Wales and Orrell were doing so well, but I'm more likely to watch a league game now.

While a big, fast forward who can pass in the tackle is regarded with awe in union, they are commonplace in league. Union is now blighted by too many penalties in the scrum and ruck and too much kicking. League is less fragmented and is a more flowing game,

I also feel league gets a raw deal in the press - American football is starting to get more coverage in some papers, when there's a faster, more skilful (unpadded) game on their doorstep.

Union has one advantage, I think. A good union try seems to be a lot more complex than a good league one - there are more people to beat, more players involved and more ground covered.

It's like war conducted by other means. Like war it's all about momentum and chaos and plans going wrong. Those moments of pure throbbing pandemonium are what I love.

Chess with mud.

Loved it since schooldays, played it till my ankles gave out. A game of patience and persistence, with moments of sublime glory.

Different skill sets among the players, unlike league, where everyone does pretty much the same thing ALL THE TIME.

So I HAVE to say Union. Actually, as a kid I played in the same team as Phil Ford (one of the few GB league players to be part of a team the beat the Aussies in OZ). He wasn't that good at the time, but I often played against David Bishop (a couple of Welsh Union caps) and he was good then.

I was crap though - classic lumbering 2nd row.

...ever - but unfortunately run by the biggest load of pillocks ever assembled.

I am always amazed by the bias given by the daily press to Union. usual top see full 4 page section on the other game, yet RL gets 3 or paragraphs hiden away in some obscure corner.

The greatest ever player ? Only one in contention I'm afraid:-

The mighty John Woods - sadly I can't find any video footage.

(i follow the pie eaters)
There's too much kicking in Union,
don't know where the ball is half the time
and it looks like the referee is the only
one who knows the rules.
League is easier for a thicko like me to follow.

I have not played either but as a TV spectator I prefer Union.

growing up in Ireland, I was unaware there even was another form of rugby!

When I moved to England and saw some TV coverage of league my first thought was "why are their strips so clean?" I guess the muddy grappling which seems the least appealing part of union is actually the most engaging part for me, and even though league moves faster and stops less often I find it paradoxically boring.

The 6 nations and rugby World Cup are the only sport I ever watch, probably because Ireland never do well in anything else!

If the choice is between Gary Puckett & the Union Gap and the Human League I'd go with the DYWMB hitmakers every time.

...though following Bath is becoming a little painful, and I'm now rather too far from the Rec to voice my support

Union can be an exhilarating watch but too often descends into a battle amongst the forwards and constant kicking by the backs.

Can't stand all that 6 tackles stop-start stuff in league.

I find league a little monodimensional. But twenty years ago when I was a student in Manchester in the glory days of the Wigan / Widnes struggles.. I'd have had to think long and hard.

Anyone remember the first cross-code encounter in 1996?

I'm southern and went to a public school, played rugby (union) for seven years, so it's no contest. I can appreciate the skill and strength of League players, but, as others have said, Union has far, far more variety. Of course, in the old days, players of all sizes and shapes could play Union. Hardly the case these days, when the average wing seems to be bigger than Bill Beaumont. It's always heartening when a (relative) shrimp like Shane Williams gets through the mass of bulked up beef and brings something different to the game.

for style and stategy. Plus the local leaguies appear to be a bunch of psychopathic drunks.

But as a pom living in Oz, I'd just point out that it appears that League is really only played in it's home the north of England and NSW (and that's primarily Sydney), with the odd very small franchise pockets elsewhere (Melbourne, Brisbane, NZ, France etc), so I just don't see it surviving long term. Since Union went pro it seems like half the stories in the press are about players being poached between the codes, mostly toward Union (at least round here).

I guess it was what I was brought up with. Never got into League - always found it too stop / start.

I've always thought that League works well as an intro to the sport of Rugby but after watching it for while it is just so dull. How many tries are scored in League after a grubber kick which bounces right for the players charging onto it and how many are missed because it bounces wrong.

As someone has pointed out above, Union is basically chess with mud and yes, it is incredibly complex but this is what I like about it. I've been watching the game since I was a kid in the 1970s and I love it as much now as I ever have, perhaps more so.

The sport does have a problem now that South Africa have illustrated that teams can win without attempting to spend any time passing but something will happen to sort this out, perhaps with a law change. Union is a great great sport and I love it more than any other (and I say this as someone who spent most of his time watching football for 25 years).

Even though Bill McClaren (RIP) was a wonderful commentator, League has Ray French.

... and I haven't even moved to the North.

Union these days seems all about kicking for position. If I want to watch a ball being punted from one end of the pitch to another, I'll go and watch Stoke play football.

League is 80 minutes of non-stop action.