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To give you an overview of the International layout of Rugby Union, there are 2 premier annual tournaments: the 6 Nations and the Rugby Championships. The former started with the Home Nations championship in 1883 and involves England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland (with NI and the Republic competing under a single team), France (from 1910) and Italy (from 2000). The Rugby Championship began as the Tri Nations which officially started in 1996 involving New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina (from 2012). The teams involved in these 2 competitions are generally referred to as Tier 1 nations and make up the bulk of the Top 10 nations in the world (Italy being the exception). While the Rugby Championship generally has the better players, the 6 Nations is usually closer (4 out of the 6 teams have won it since 2000) and is more of an event. In Tier 2 you will find the likes of: - Japan - currently a rising star in Rugby Union, who caused a big upset against South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup and followed up with a quarter final finish in 2019 - Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga - the 3 PI nations produce some of the most naturally gifted players although they lack the resource to consistently challenge the Tier 1 nations. Fiji is currently the strongest of these. - USA and Canada - Canada used to be quite good in the 80s and 90s but because it took USA so long to embrace rugby Canada didn't have the opponent's or resource to transition to professionalism. USA is referred to as the Sleeping Giant in Rugby. - Georgia (the country) - their history with the sport is a fascinating one. They have very strong forwards (the big ugly guys getting stuck in at rucks and scrums). Romania and Russia are other Eastern European nations with semi-decent teams. - Uruguay - the next best Latin American team after Argentina. They caused an amazing upset against Fiji at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. - Namibia - regularly the next best African team after South Africa. Beyond that there another 100+ countries with active international Rugby Union sides although their followings are generally small.

One thing that is never mentioned in these videos is the trade off between “field position” vs “ball possession”. In League and especially NFL, ball possession is extremely important because it is quite easy to maintain possession the whole way down the field. Union has much more fluid possession (‘turnovers’ are quite common) therefore field position is much more important because a team wants its opponents further away from scoring. Hence, ‘punting on 1st down/tackle’ in League or NFL is completely bonkers even if you are on the 1 yard line, but extremely common, and in fact tactically sound, in Rugby Union.

I played Rugby Union many years ago. Not at the professional level though. I loved every minute I was able to play. I introduced my wife to the international tournaments and now she’s a bigger fan than me ! 😁

Been a Rugby League fan all my life and a player in my younger days.

Having to place the ball on the ground is one of the most exciting parts of Rugby. It leads to lots of action right on the goal line, often in the closing minute.

I'm from Australia and I follow both. The bit about limited tackles in rugby league only came in around 1960s. One reason was in relation to an attept (which worked) to stop St George Dragons going for 12 Premierships in a row. The 1 point for a field goal came in during the 1971 season, in part due to South Sydney Rabbitohs legend Eric Simms constantly kicked field goals - 86 in his career (record still stands to this day).

Rugby Union is the finest game of them all. I might be biased though as I come from Rugby town.

Rugby Union is legalised brutality followed by a booze up. Dwarf tossing is optional.

“Cricket is a gentlemen’s game played by gentlemen, Football is a gentlemen’s game played by thugs, Rugby Union is a thug’s game played by gentlemen, And Rugby League is a thug’s game played by thugs.”

When I was growing up in UK, Rugby League was covered on TV 'live' most Saturdays with famous commentator Eddie Waring. Rugby Union was really only the International matches. Also note that Rugby Union has been 'professional' since 1995. Prior to that some top Union player switched to League to cash in on their talents.

I'm a massive rugby league fan from Hull where we have two of the most historic teams. The River Hull divides the city with the west side traditionally being Hull FC fans (my team) and the east side being Hull Kingston Rovers fans. The local derby games are some of the most famous rugby league games in the world. The Australian NRL is the biggest rugby league competition in the world and a couple of players from that league have actually had a go at playing in the NFL, Jarryd Hayne being an example, this crossover probably made more easily because of the similar nature of the games. Sydney is the biggest league city in the world with about half of the professional clubs in Aus coming from the city. The biggest game of the year in England is the Challenge Cup Final (similar concept to the FA Cup in football) with the game played at Wembley normally in front of about 70,000 fans. Both England and Aussie leagues have a Grand Final, like your Super Bowl, played in Manchester at Old Trafford in England and at the ANZ Stadium, Sydney in Australia. The biggest rugby competition of either code in the world is a league competition, the annual 3-game State of Origin series in Australia which is played between the state teams of Queensland and New South Wales, these games attracting 80,000 fans. One game was once played in Melbourne at the cricket ground in front of 100,000 fans. The only country in the world where rugby league is the national sport is Papua New Guinea, though as the video said it is also more popular than union in Australia as well. Union is by far the bigger sport though rugby league absolutely dominates in the small parts of the world that it is played, as the video says, the North of England and Australia (and PNG which was not pointed out in the video). Last fun fact for you, rugby league was founded at a meeting of northern clubs at the George Hotel in the Yorkshire town of Huddersfield. The hotel is still there and is just outside the railway station; there is a blue heritage plaque on the wall of the hotel outside the front door to commemorate this event. You can also visit the room where the meeting took place. It is a real place of pilgrimage for rugby league fans, I myself have had my picture taken next to the plaque! 😊

I’m from the town rugby! We have a statue and a pub named after William Webb ellis and they recently opened a museum to the sport of rugby in the town centre

In those day the working week for the miners, cotton/wool and factory workers was Monday to Saturday dinner time i.e. five and half days a week. The matches was play on Saturday afternoons so if you played in an away match you would have to travel to the ground so they had to take the day off so they could get to the game. if you are only on a couple of pounds a week you needed that half days pay. The clubs used to charge a a entrance fee to the match and the club where quite well off for money.

I grew up in Wales. Rugby Union is the law! We had to play all through the year in all weathers.

It wasn't the fact that William Webb Ellis 'picked up the ball' that was revolutionary as many believe. Players could pick or catch the ball already in order to kick the ball, it was the fact that after picking the ball up he ran forward with it.

I’m from Hull, which has 2 professional League clubs, but I played Union. I prefer it because there’s a lot more variety to the play, although a bad game of Union is worse to watch than a bad game of League.

That story about Webb- Ellis picking up the ball and running with it is pure myth. There were many forms of football until the rules, including Not Handling, we're standardised about 1860 by the football association. The public school ethic was very strong. Only amateurs were allowed to participate in many sports, including rowing, and the Olympics. Is was a rule designed to keep the hoi polloi out. Only Gentlemen were allowed to indulge. They didn't want to be beaten by someone from the lower orders. I played rugby at school. It's quite brutal. Whenever someone passed the ball to you, half a dozen bigger boys jumped on you and threw you in the mud. I prefer watching it to soccer though, as more is going on.

In Italy we only play Union. I wasn't aware that there was an alternative until now, tbh :D

Rugby league is mainly a Northern town sport - and the towns are generally smaller. It's mainly Lancashire and Yorkshire whereas Union will have many counties playing it. League is also mainly a town sport union is played in some of the bigger cities - London - Bath for example. League has started to branch out and clubs like Catalan Dragons from France play in the English Rugby League

The rich amateurs would play for their local schools and such, for small crowds. The poor "professional" players would put the game on for the public and charge at the gate.

The video you watched, the narrator was clearly a Rugby Union fan. There’s more to it than that.

thank you finally an American trying to learn the difference between league and union as an Aussie I get the old eye twitch when commentators say this person gave up rugby back in Australia and may I suggest the video of What is AFL explains so much about Australian rules football

Cool reaction most reactors don't have the quality video like yours. Much appreciated.

LOL this was great. I'm from NZ and played both sports through my whole life but played more league as i got older. I did not know the origins of Rugby league so this was great cheers :) I actually thought Rugby League came from Aussie. Kia ora SoGal subbed :)

Currently, The best rugby Union team in the world is the South African 'Springboks' After they won the 2019 Rugby World Cup

As a New Zealander I grew up watching Rugby Union. These days I can't even watch a League game because it just doesn't make sense to me.

I gew up in a northern mining town in the 60s, and my dad took me along to watch Castleford, the local Rugby League team. When I went to Grammar School in the 70s, the games lessons were Rugby Union, and since no one ever explained the rules to me I hadn't a clue what rucks and line-outs were all about. Still don't if it comes to that :)

Keep up with the rugby, appreciation of your appreciation. Union all the way. Ps nice friends reference. Love from England

I’m not a particular fan of either Rugby code, but I do find League is the more enjoyable code. It’s faster and flows better.

I played Rugby League at school because my games teacher was a professional player who played in 2 Challenge Cup finals

There were many efforts to stop the spread of Rugby League worldwide to some success, which is why Union is the bigger game. Being that League was banned in many countries, when Canadians started playing it they called it Canadian football which became American football.

Rugby League is biggest in Australia, but it does extend to the rest of the Rugby playing world - but Union is the biggest overall by a long way. But I like both, the World Cup was supposed to be happening in England next month (I was going to support Jamaica primarily) but it was delayed till next year as NZ and Australia have decided not to attend.

Rugby League is my favourite team sport; followed by Rugby Union, which is my second favourite team sport.

Rugby Union actually banned professionalism until 1995 (although teams often found round-about ways to pay the players - either by paying 'expenses' or just by breaking the rules and paying them)

Let’s be honest, us Brits have a track record of loving pretty complicated, rules and strategy heavy, sports (cricket for example! 😛)!! It shouldn’t come as a surprise really that the more complex Rugby Union remained the more popular sport in the UK and it’s Empire/Commonwealth compared the simpler sport of Rugby League. I also found it interesting to note here that part of the explanation for the rule changes in Rugby League, specifically the reduction in the points scored for tries, penalties and drop goals, was to make the game more exciting for the spectators. I may be being unfair here but I get the sense that American sports, with the exception of baseball, seem to be founded around the principle that high scores and a fast turning over of the scoreboard is more exciting. I think this is a big mentality difference between British and American sports fans… we can get excited by a football/soccer game where only one point/goal is scored in the whole match (or even none are scored) and will accept draws as a result whereas most American sports need a constant stream of points and a match ending in a draw is simply unacceptable.

For terminology, we used to have to get a touchdown (the ball has to be pressed down) to have a TRY at a kick at goal. Which was the only way of scoring points but that changed to a touchdown for a try getting points as well as the try at goal.This would be similar to american football where they have a touchdown and a conversion except you no longer have to touchdown to score just be in bounds holding the ball.

Another great video! In just a few weeks, the Australian Football League (AFL - it’s not Rugby or soccer!) Grand Final will be played. I know you mention it at the end, but If you can fit it in your busy learning schedule, it may be worth looking at ahead of the big game this month to decide the premiership.

Gloucester, my hometown, is a centre for Rugby Union in England. I’m a season ticket holder, so see a lot of very mediocre matches! Still, we’re still in the top English league, and very occasionally do win things. If you do watch a rugby match, expect to be confused and bored. The rules are very complicated, and open to a lot of interpretation. And there is a lot of down time when nothing is happening, although nothing like American football. I was at Wembley for the first NFL match to be held in London. It was four hours of bugger all happening (one touchdown I think), partly because of awful weather. The last quarter seemed to never end. I’ve not watched a game since.

When I was 14 at school I had a frame like yours. Rugby Union at school was hard at first, but I learned to be a great fly-half. Speed and agility were my attack/defence. Also knowing how to avoid the big/fat players kept my limbs intact. Awareness.

I must say that the introductory video was an excellent description of the differences - but I'm still an "intellectual" Union addict! The brawn, PLUS the brains!! & yes - I went to a public (ie. private, in the UK) school!!

Worth noting that Soccer was an English term first (slang for association). Football was a broad term that means a ball sport not played on horseback (aka played on foot), which goes all the way back to medieval times. So you have association football and rugby football. That also means in America they technically play the sport: "American" lol

Ever thought to ask why in American football to score is called a "Touch Down" but you never actually touch the ball down as in Rugby

That was an informative video for me, an Englishman, as well as you So Gal :) I know I am down South but whenever we talk about Rugby then most people mean Rugby Union. Rugby League is really for a group of Northern Counties only where anyone can play Rugby Union though it is a Southern-based game. Rugby is similar to your Ivy League Colleges and one of the famous (fee-paying ) PUBLIC Schools ( that is "Private" )...:)

Someone asked me once after a game of rugby why I was so fast and I just said to them did you see the size of those guys that were chasing me.🏉

Rugby Union has a World Cup every four years that is contested by, usually, 16 countries (first played in 1997). The Tier 1 nations get automatic entry while other teams have to play games against each other to see who gets to go. South Africa (Springboks) and New Zealand (All Blacks) have both won three times out of the 9 held so far.

NOTE: For some (typically English!) reason, they call their independent, "upper-class" PRIVATE schools (eg Eton) PUBLIC schools. Most attend government-funded State schools. Controversially, here in Australia similar well-endowed, fee-charging private schools also receive significant government funding, while many state schools struggle to provide basic facilities. So, at a "polite" dinner table don't mention Politics, Religion ... or School Funding!

Hats off to you for your willingness to investigate sports like cricket and rugby which are popular in the UK (& Commonwealth countries) but not popular in the USA. I come from NORTH Yorkshire. Rugby League is played predominantly in West Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, and Lancashire (and a bit in Cumbria which borders Lancashire & Yorkshire). Union is more popular in southern England, and also in Scotland and Ireland (& especially in Wales). Most fee-paying schools and grammar schools (selective entry) played Union rather than League - like my school in North Yorkshire. Union has great international tournaments - (1) in the Northern Hemisphere the Six Nations which started out as a Home Nations tournament between England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland but which later expanded to allow France and the. Italy to join in, and (2) in the Southern Hemisphere a tri-nations tournament between Australia, New Zealand & South Africa and which recently expanded to allow Argentina in. There is also a World Cup tournament involving all those and others like certain South Pacific Islands like Fiji, Samoa etc and Japan, and countries like Canada, Romania, Georgia etc. All great fun. LOTS of alcohol drunk by the supporters on the weekends they follow their international teams to away games. But no trouble. You can drink in the crowd at rugby matches but not at football (soccer). Rugby has been naughtily described as a game for thugs played/watched by gentlemen whilst football is a game for gentlemen played/watched by thugs. Plenty of good natured rivalry and banter at rugby but you couldn't (as away supporters) sit in the stadium with the home team supporters in football as an outbreak of violence would be feared. The FA (Football Association) runs football in England and the game became known in fee-paying schools and Universities as "Soccer" (from Association) whilst Rugby became known there as "Rugger". Those schools & Universities had a habit of shortening words.... So pregnant would be "preggers" etc. At Cambridge decades ago I can remember the professor taking me for a supervision (seminar) in International Law calling it "Internaggers". Rugby is sometimes seen as a game for "toffs" (the well-off) in the South of England, but for everyone in Wales and New Zealand (and previously for white Boers/Afrikaners in South Africa, whereas Rugby League would have been thought a game for the working man in the North of England. Thanks for the video.

It'd be really fun to see you do a video on squash highlights or squash rules, it's agreat sport!

I played both - and much preferred Union. The rucks and mauls and fighting for possession of the ball was what made the game fun for me, and the going through the phases, done well is like watching choreographed artwork. Hated the head down and charge, keep possession and back heel to do it again as in League. This gets me into a lot of trouble as I was born in Wigan.

Thank you. Now I finally have some understanding about American Football!

The English Game (though football) Is an excellent series about professionalism during the 19th century. Definitely worth watching.

If you notice the green Rugby Union team furthest north (more northern than the League teams) this is Newcastle Falcons. Newcastle also has Newcastle Thunder who play in the Rugby League second division. However in general, Newcastle is not a city where either code of Rugby is hugely popular. It is very much a Football city (despite Newcastle United being run incredibly badly, there is a huge love for the club and anger at it’s bad management). Rugby is a very distant second. However, St James’ Park, Newcastle United’s Football stadium has hosted prestigious matches in both codes of Rugby (Kingston Park Rugby Ground - home of both Falcons and Thunder is far too small to host big Rugby games).

Don’t worry too much about understanding the rules Jonathan Davies who played for Wales at international level at both Union and League always claimed he never really understood the rules.

If you’re interested, and as it’s timely, the Women’s Premier 15’s season starts on Saturday and all 5 games are on the Premier 15s KZfaq channel. First game is midday (GMT) and the last game kicks-off at 17:00 GMT. 🙂

For motor sports I would suggest the world rally championship as it's crazy how fast these guys go on any terrain

Awesome video for you to watch!! A few rugby people probably learnt a bit as well. From a New Zealand point of view Rugby Union had been semi-professional for a long time. The better players were not paid by the rugby union or club but they kept their amateur status via company sponsorship with players getting paid for being 'sales' reps or other 'jobs' so they would technically have a job and they played for 'fun' Full professional contracts and leagues started in 96. Can't wait for you to watch a few games. I would suggest watching some highlight packages as opposed to just compilations of tries or hits. You won't really get an understanding from those. Listen to the commentators on the highlights or full games as they do explain a lot of the plays in real time. Enjoy. 🙏

I come from the town of Rugby, being born half a mile from the field where the game was created. We have the World Rugby Hal of Fame in the town, our own version of the Hollywood walk of fame (for different players) and many large rugby balls spread around the town.

I actually grew up in the town of Rugby and played the game (Union) from the age of 6 until I finally hung up my boots 5 years ago at the age of 34. Was only an amateur player playing for local teams. For people to say League is far more physical can be a bit of a misconception. In Union we have fully contested scrums, rucks and mauls and lineouts. League doesn't have any of those. In some ways certain aspects of both codes are similar to American Football (Steelers are going to win the Superbowl.....) but both codes flow much quicker. An American Football match can last for 3 hours with just an hour of actual play. Union and league matches are generally an hour and forty minutes with injury stoppages.

Just a bit more on the history if it helps; back in the 1800's the working week (for the common people) was Monday to Saturday with Sunday reserved for the sabbath (no sports). Rugby matches were played on Saturdays which meant working class people would need to give up a days pay in order to play rugby. The wealthy public school (fee paying private school) toffs didn't suffer wage loss and wanted to keep the game amateur. Working class players joined clubs who had a closed pitch with paying spectators and they received a playing fee as compensation from the pitch owners. This resulted in a rift between the two parties eventually leading to the split, as described in the rest of the video. Hope that helps.

Warwickshire is pronounced War-rick-shurr. Oddly, the idea that the ameture game, Union, was a rich man's game, is a very anglo-centric idea, Union was the working mans game in Wales. Union didn't go professional until 1999, but many Union teams would find players jobs with sympathetic employers, who were happy to let the players have time off in exchange for the prestige of having a top rugby player on their books

In Australia rugby league was and still is mainly played through the catholic school system and rugby union through the church of england system although now with big money involved many players are changing from one code to the other .

Fun facts: 1. placing the ball down in the in-goal area is called a 'try'. Your kicker can then line up a place kick for goal (over the crossbar), a 'conversion'. These terms date back to the very early days of rugby where grounding the ball in the in-goal didn't award any points. Instead, it allowed you a "try" for goal to "convert" it into points. 2. Rugby Union has laws. Rugby League has rules. Check out this video next kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fLV6mM2fta-UoGQ.html

Played both, watch both. Watch my local rugby league team “Wigan Warriors” whenever work permits me to get to the game, but I watch more International rugby union due to its TV availability

Interwsting factiod, I go to Rugby Scool where the game was created. And only us and England are allowed to play in full white as the first school and international sides to play the game.

In the 90s the best rugby league team called WIGAN FROM LANCASHIRE BEAT BATH FROM RUGBY UNION IN BOTH CODES

I've done union for 7 years and league only for a few weeks but both are good with different challenges, league needs better cardio and that isn't for debate but union has a better array of set-pieces and i think rucks are good (they don't happen in league). Both good but quite different.

The difference is like fly fishing or throwing a hand grenade in a lake

Thank you SoGal and Roger. I had been asking for you to look at this for a while. The commentary contained northern humour, which is self deprecating, so do not believe that RL is without tactics. It is nearer to NFL as some of the captions showed. It suffered from being a poor man's game for northern workers and got lower investment and press coverage. Educational institutions generally went with the elite game Rugby Union as it was the Public School (where you pay to go) game. These paying schools dominate admissions to Oxford and Cambridge, where most Cabinet members go. My friend Alok is a real exception. In the north and Australia, where the upper class are seen by ordinary people as like the stupid officer with Blackadder, RL is the game of choice. It is like Sharpe (good Keighley lad) against posh officers. You may remember my RL fan friend liking Prince Philip for turning down a posh Polo presentation to watch RL on TV. I watched a channel you know with Ethan in Kansas when you were ill and since then. He got how the north south divide is a thing as he also did the place name Map Men video. You might look at this. I always reckon northerners, Aussies and Americans are pretty similar. Ethan said he had been to US WW1 Museum by the way. I do not think badly of Rugby Union as my cousin played for Keighley, having gone to a school that taught it, though it is telling that his family are all RL fans. One was a professional RL player. Lastly I think Rob Burrow was in the game shown with Leeds v St Helens. I asked about head injuries in US before. He recently revisited his old club to a great reception. The programme made about him is up for a TV award.

Most Polynesians play both union and league and so become dual coders. The best thing about this is that attack and defend concepts for both games can be used esp from league > union.

Long off topic on motorsports since you mentioned them at the end of the video; As a fairly new motorsport fan myself, I'd suggest looking for a primer or explanation of the rules of whichever series you choose to look at (like you've done with other sports). Then, dive into a race - most series have a qualifying session that sets the order the cars start and they can be particularly fun but I'd suggest starting with a race as that's the main event and usually easier to follow. Even if you know nothing about the series, consider picking a team and or a few drivers to look out for in the race. Base this decision on anything - favourite colour car, cool name, anything at all. imo it helps in making the race more exciting by having even a minor stake in it and unlike in football, most folks are very chill about who you support and you aren't going to be upset fans of other teams/drivers or feel 'locked in' with those picks. After a few races you'll probably start getting a feel for who you like and can go from there but there are a lot of fans who want to see most drivers in a series do well - I consider myself a fan of about half the grid in F1 and I'm not alone in that. Doing this can be a good way to get into other racing series too, since starting watching F1 I've gotten into 3 other series and it's definitely helped me enjoy races before I really knew anything about the teams/drivers. F1 is probably the most famous motorsport internationally and the netflix show "Drive to Survive" is an excellent if over-dramatised intro to the sport for newcomers - they tend to play around with footage and team radio messages to create a narrative that is not always quite true to life but it usually captures the general vibes of F1 and the real drama that makes it great. It's a big part of how I properly got into the sport and good for learning about a good chunk of current teams, drivers and their personalities. It's worth keeping in mind that F1 is often fairly strict with copyright footage from what I recall. Nascar is very popular in the US but I know basically nothing about it and can't do it justice, but it'd be unfair to not at least mention it here given it's large popularity. Indycar is sadly far less popular than F1 or Nascar but is far easier to follow from the US (since it's based there) and imo frequently has closer and more exciting races than F1. It's quickly become one of my favourite series despite only having started watching it earlier this year. Indycar is a mostly spec series (all teams use same chassis, specific engine etc) with the exception of some parts, meaning that drivers are more able to show their quality and make the difference in a race - almost anyone could win any given race and the championship battle is a lot closer as a result. The downsides of Indycar is that it's current U.S broadcaster (NBC/Peacock I think) is pretty poor, the amount of ads shown in race are apparently excessive even by the US norms, the timing of said ads has been outright idiotic at points and it's often given lesser treatment in favour of promoting Nascar. F1 is very much a team/constructor championship with more open car development meaning that there is often a more set hierarchy each season with a more predictable (in theory) outcome, drivers still make a difference but it's uncommon for a team at the lower end of the championship to achieve a top 6 finish never mind a podium. Indycar is nearing the end of it's current season with 3 or 4 races left and a very tight and exciting battle for the championship still to be decided between around 6 or so drivers mixed between exciting young talents (Palou, O'ward, Herta) and former multiple time champions Newgarden and Dixon. F1 has just returned from it's mid-season break and has roughly 8-10 races left (there are still some uncertainties with the calendar given covid and it's nature as a cross country/continent series). It's been the most exciting F1 season for years with a proper fight for both the driver and constructor championships between Mercedes and Redbull, the midfield battle is intense with Mclaren and Ferrari fighting for 3rd in the constructors and 3 other teams all trying to be best of the rest while another 3 fight for 8th place with millions in prize money at stake. There are also new regulations coming into effect from next season which combined with a cost cap on team spending could shake up the team hierarchy dramatically. On KZfaq; For F1; This video from CYMotorsport covers the history of F1 and stuff for newer fans - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/nZN-iN1h1benYH0.html Chain Bear has a lot of good easy to follow videos covering a number of topics within F1. Though I don't know if he has a good intro to F1 for complete newcomers. For Indycar, Indy Fanatics has a fairly good quick(ish) explanation video on the series. (The shift F1 podcast has a good primer episode every year, although that's not helpful for the channel I thought it was worth a mention for anyone else who may be looking to get into F1 as they usually cover the basic rules, teams and drivers etc) Apologies for the essay - despite being a newer fan of motorsport (specifically single seaters and 'formula' racing series) it's something I absolutely love. TL;DR; Motorsport is fun. Try Drive to Survive on netflix if you want a look at Formula 1. Keep an open mind about other racing series. Indycar is great but often overlooked. Now is a really good time to get into either of those as both are having awesome seasons.

Just some advice when watching AFL, it's a game best watched live as there is so much happening off the ball which you don't always get to see on television. That's why you regularly get 80 thousand people attending a game on the weekend. In my hometown we have a stadium which only holds 53 thousand however we are able to fill it most weekends in a town of 900 thousand.

A rugby palyer from England invented American Football as you know it.

I love both forms of Rugby .... watching the All Blacks is a must for any rugby fan .... For it`s Speed you want to watch Rugby League ... but I must agree and say Rugby Union is like a Chess match and far more Brutal too. Rugby in any form is the Second most popular sport around the Globe and the World Cup is a great event to follow plus the many leagues and cups around the World.

In 1895, a split in Rugby football resulted in the formation of the Northern Rugby Football Union (NRFU). The success of working class northern teams led to some compensating players who otherwise would be on their job and earning income on Saturdays. This led to the RFU reacting to strictly enforce the amateur principle of the sport, preventing "broken time payments" to players who had taken time off work to play rugby. Northern teams typically had more working class players (coal miners, mill workers etc.) who could not afford to play without this compensation, in contrast to affluent southern teams who had other sources of income to sustain the amateur principle. For many years there was an insistence that RL players had a full time job to fall back on in case they received a career ending injury. Professionalism was only sanctioned in Rugby Union in 1995. Until then, if a Union player wanted to try League he was usually listed in the match programme as A N Other to avoid being banned from Union.

You should watch the Atherstone Ball Game. The only rule is don't kill anybody. It is a Medieval Ball Game played on Shrove Tuesday every year in Atherstone England on the towns main street. The winner is whoever is in possession of the ball at the end of the game.

Watch a bit of both and see what you think :) I've never been a big fan of rugby despite having lived in two pretty big Rugby cities - Leeds (very successful RL club) and Cardiff (mad for rugby especially union and international games). I've always found league to be far more entertaining both to watch and play as the rules were simpler and it's a lot faster paced than union. When I've tried watching union matches the stoppages killed any flow in the game and I lost interest fairly quickly given I never had a good grasp of the rules - I found it slow and hard to follow. The video is spot on with league in England (iirc) historically been more popular up north and been a more working class sport where the perception of union I had growing up was as a posh lads game down south. There's definitely a cultural divide between the two sports as there often is between the north and south of England in general.

Hiya So Gal, if I were you I would watch a game of Rugby League its very much more open, all they do in Rugby Union is give it the number 10 and He kicks it into touch, it's like watching paint dry,

I am Welsh which is traditionally poor but we took union to heart against the posh English southern counties, though there have been notable league players from Wales. League is more like American football with its number of tackles/yards made where as union is less stop/start - and can be bizarre to a newbie. Nice work x.

Check out some videos of the All Blacks (New Zealands team) when you get around to watching the actual sport. The greatest team in the world, nearly unbeatable.

Neglects to mention in the video that Union is the game of the working class where I grew up in Wales.. and we stayed amateur until the revisions in the 90's! Love of the game being more important than money. Players who "went North" were made pariahs in their home communities.

Rugby Union did indeed eventually go professional - in 1995! Albeit, really union players were making money from the game without directly being paid for it prior to that point, so the game turning professional was more an acknowledgement of reality rather than a drastic change. Cricket used to distinguish between the amateurs ("gentlemen") and professionals ("players") in a similar way, although the distinction was abolished in the 1960s. It makes sense once you realise that in Victorian and Edwardian times the upper class amateurs would have been horrified at the idea of being paid for playing, since that was something grubby working class professionals had to do because they obviously didn't have the luxury of already being rich and able to play merely as a hobby, and heaven forfend the upper classes do something the working classes had to!

Played both at amateur level for years, but preferred league. It is a much more skilful and dynamic game to play, and demands much more from you. There is no hiding place on a rugby league field. Since going professional union has by and large been obsessed with learning from league, only in the past few weeks the England rugby union coach has made further league coaching appointments to his coaching staff for instance. There is little if nothing union can teach league though I find. Union is a complicated game, and the referee actually bizarrely interprets the rules, as if ref’d by the letter of the law the game is unplayable?

Most international games are Rugby Union.

Rugby around the world. New Zealand All Black's are famous. South Africa have the Spring boks. Australia, Fiji and a lot of the old empire countries play it, particularly the southern hemisphere ones. There is a popular competition each spring called the six nations. It's played between England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,France and Italy. Italy usually come last, they are not a bid rugby nation. It is very popular in the south of France though. Wales, though it's the smallest nation involved usually do very well as they are so keen. They treat it as the national sport. The six nations only lasts for a few weeks so it's quite a quick competition, it's not stretched out over months..

If you ever want to do motor sports watch the Isle of. Man TT race. It's the best, most dangerous time trial in the world. It held on public roads and the speed those guys ride at are insane - it's unique with a long history.

We have a tournament called six nations and as you can guess it's six teams Ireland (represents the whole of Ireland), Wales, Scotland, England, Italia and France and what ever team has the most wins, wins it.

Originally the Northern Rugby teams were 'work' teams usually Factory workers and paid by the Factory owners who competed against each other (in the sense they wanted the best players)

It's misleading to suggest that Rugby League was professional. These players were mainly poor labourers, that were compensated for time off work. They still had to work in their tough jobs, such as miners, steelworkers and other factory workers. At least it kept them fit and strong. Players eventually were on win, lose or draw money. Then around 80's the top tier was truly professional in England. Rugby Union players were Solicitors, Bankers, Accountants (basically the rich public school boys club), and most still are today. Union may be older than League as an organisation, but the clubs were formed around the same time. And they still played the same rules for years. Union is bigger sport globally, because its run better with more influential people at the top. (Public schools boys club again)

A topic that may be interesting would be the origin of ‘football’ and you will see how each area of the country and public school had there own versions and that’s why we have lots of different sports called football

With regards to the Professionals, alot of teams both in football and rugby used to be factory teams. Mill owners had to pay there workers to go play for the team because they literally couldn't afford a day off work. This resulted in Mills/Factories starting to look for talent and offering them jobs for more money to come play for there teams. Netflix had a great film on this period of football called 'the association'

In the UK for some reason, private schools are called public schools. Union went full pro in the 90's and there's a lot of players that swap codes now, sometimes multiple times. I disagree with the fitness aspect, particularly for the forwards. In rugby union the forwards have to basically stay on the ball the entire time and it's preferred if they're the first to a loose ball, but the stop/start nature of league gives you a little breather even though it's short. The line between forwards and backs is blurred in league now due to scrums being uncontested whereas union scrums are contested by the forwards (a subject for another video), usually the biggest players on the team . Union can be faster and flow more depending on the referee and tends to be the case in the southern hemisphere but in the northern hemisphere the referees seem to have love affairs with their whistle. I've played both a lot and love both for different reasons. I love watching both.. Go Brumbies and Eeels!!

Spectators at the games paid the professional players. (By way of ticket sales.) Some of the differences between Union and League are the result of the Rugby League making rules to make their game more fun to watch, while the Rugby Union made rules to make their game more fun to play.

Love that your world map has New Zealand 🇳🇿 on it

The main difference you're going to find between rugby union / rugby league and American football is that both types of rugby are full on for 80 minutes. There is none of this continually stopping and starting and changing the team after every play. Rugby Union and rugby league are, therefore, 80 minute games that take about 90 minutes to play ( with half time), whereas American football is a 60 minute game that takes about three hours to play!

Rugby was mainly played in British Commonwealth countries. But is now played worldwide, including the USA. The world Cup is played by countries from all round the world. American gridiron football is based.on Rugby and English football. The first game was based on London football Association rules. But some US collages started playing a Rugby style football. In the end this bloke called Walter Camp sorted it out. He did away with the scrum. And that is why he is called the father of the American game.

The early (very moderate) payments to players were made by their clubs, from ticket receipts; which is basically what still happens now, isn't it? In those days would mainly be played on Saturdays but a lot of workers had to work on a Saturday so they had to be recompensed for lost working time to be able to play. Generally these payments were only made if the players actually had a job. Later when they began to have teams that were largely professional then they have the time to train and improve fitness and skills, which means it was difficult for all but the best amateur sides to compete with them. The big difference these days is that the clubs/franchises also have very large sums from Television broadcasting, plus advertising, and merchandising to supplement salaries. The top Rugby Union teams turned professional in 1995 and rugby union remains the most popular version of the game around the world..

The best game of League to watch is the 1998 Challenge Cup Final. The mighty Wigan against the minnows from Sheffield. Best day of my life. Unbelievable!!!

College/University sports for non-athletic sports were never a thing, so all the other sports were mainly played by the working class while the rich and school boys did sports for fun and without taking it very seriously. The working class players started forming clubs, and could only fund that their players missed out on the work day by selling tickets to attendees who were other working class people that saved up to attend. Football and Rugby are very much the working classes sport, and it is the working class that started the idea of professional sport and not just doing leisure activities in your spare time. Traditionally season ticket holders have all been working class people from the nearby area.

American football began as a college based game, became professional in the 20's and the early pro teams didn't carry a full roster, usually just a QB and a running back or so, former college stars. The rest of the team were pickup local guys. My dad played for the local team and they actual played the green bay squad. He said you could tell who was a replacement guy in the line cause his nose wasn't bleeding yet.