Donna Gee's article about the two different codes of rugby and her thought that the two should merge caused a great amount of debate amongst fans of both codes - in particular her comments regarding League’s World Cup and supposed 'northern bias.'

I am a fan and player of Rugby Union as well as League, but I have more of an emotional connection to Rugby League through my experiences with Wolverhampton Wizards and Serbian Rugby League, so I am writing this to put across a case for the defence, as it were.

The stigma of being a solely northern game has been attached to Rugby League ever since the big split in 1895. For the main part, this stigma has been almost justified as the game has almost kept to itself in the counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria, almost afraid to spread out and expose itself to the general populace.

Reasons for this may have been the perceived ideal that the sport was only going to be taken seriously in northern England and the rest of the land was not going to 'get' it - or the fact that those who played Rugby Union were strictly forbidden from even being in contact with Rugby League clubs. Such behaviour was deemed by the staunchly amateur Rugby Football Union and, subsequently, all Union clubs as an act of 'professionalism'.

Until 1995, when professionalism hit Rugby Union and a successful Rugby League World Cup took place in England and Wales, the game had been almost exclusively a northern one (despite the best efforts of Bridgend in the national leagues and a presence in London from the developing Broncos).

Since then, Rugby League has sprung up in towns and cities all over England and has spawned one of the greatest RL initiatives in the Rugby League Conference, which has provided an opportunity for both Union players out of season and new players eager to play and learn RL. In 2006, more than 90 teams from Fife to Plymouth via Swansea and Ipswich took part in the RLC Premier and Regional competitions, with the ultimate winners, South London and Liverpool, excellent examples of Rugby League development (South London once had five teams playing competitively on the same day)

As for Super League and the National Leagues, there is still a patently northern bias to the National League structure. This, I believe, is to be expected when a sport has only truly started to develop in the last 12 years. A rush job in an area still getting limited exposure can only lead to failure (Paris St Germain is a good example).
However, efforts are being made by expansionists who care enough about their game to put ideas forward and create things from almost nothing. London Skolars and Celtic Crusaders are teams which developed from little more than an idea and, through years of dedicated service by people who love Rugby League and hard work in the local community and beyond to promote the game, have made their way into National League Two, with Crusaders only two games from promotion in their first season.

London Skolars feature in both this competition and on the international stage, which I will talk about now as this was another huge point in Donna’s article.

Although the last World Cup was not a massive success, it was certainly not the joke competition that people have painted it as. True, there were some heavy defeats and some teams were outclassed, but I can think of several teams at the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup who were severely beaten (Australia beat Namibia 142-0, while New Zealand posted over 230 points in just three games against Italy, Canada and Tonga) with little mention made of it.

The tournament also saw some new teams, which is only natural when a tournament develops from five entrants in 1992 to 16 teams. Of those who played in the tournament, only New Zealand Maori seemed an unlikely choice.

The Russian team consisted of about 80 per cent Russian-born and bred players, with only Ian Rubin of Sydney Roosters, who had taken advantage of the grandparents' rule to play for Russia, making any significant impact as a 'foreign' player. The Cook Islands team were made up of players from the Cook Islands and New Zealanders of Cooks extraction. Both teams performed creditably and have continued to develop since.

I will accept that a lot of the players who turned out for Scotland and Ireland were not born and bred in those countries. However, the players who represented these sides were able to because they wished to and could do. Since the World Cup, both countries have developed the game and are on the verge of qualification for the 2008 edition with more home-grown players.

One accusation thrown at Rugby League is that all the national teams are artificial, either through 'national' teams set up in Sydney and pretending to represent Malta or Greece, or through the points I mentioned above about Ireland and Scotland.

While it is true that the Greek, Lebanese and Maltese teams have all formed out of individuals in Australia getting ex-pats together (indeed, the Lebanon team at the 2000 World Cup were primarily Australian players with Lebanese heritage), progress has been made in each country to ensure the game meets the people who will benefit most from watching and playing it. It is helping to develop a wider spread of countries playing RL in Europe - indeed, the game in Lebanon is now solely run from Beirut, with the national team almost 100 per cent Lebanese born and bred. It is also the national sport in Papua New Guinea, a country that has provided stars in both the NRL and Super League such as Stanley Gene and Marcus Bai.

Rugby League is not the first sport to have players using the grandparents' rule for qualification (I, for example, qualify for and have played for Serbia through my grandfather, Milan), but it seems to get a bad press for doing so  -  with the Nathan Fein fiasco not helping matters. Rugby Union has seen players switch between countries and barely an eyelid batted. For instance, several Samoan and Fijian players have switched to play for New Zealand, despite having played for their own countries in the World Cup.

The international game can also bring moments of high drama outside of the mainstream games. Everyone remembers the Australia vs New Zealand Tri Nations final and Australia’s thrilling win in sudden-death extra time. However, I have been present at two thrilling games in 2006 on which neither country was involved. I was in Holland with the Serbia squad for a World Cup qualifier. As I did not play, I was able to watch from the sidelines as Serbia went 20 points down at half-time, but came back in the second half and very nearly stole a memorable win.

I was also present at the Middlesex 9s International competition (which was run by the European Rugby League Federation and London Skolars at Skolars New River stadium on Challenge Cup weekend and included teams from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Russia, Serbia and Tatarstan). After Serbia were eliminated in the quarter-finals, I settled down to see Russia take on Tatarstan in a very emotional semi-final. Both sides gave their all and, after winning a thrilling game 8-4, the sheer joy shown by the Tatarstani players as they celebrated with their fans was a sight to behold.

As for the World Cup, Rugby League has had one for over 30 years longer than Rugby Union. Donna makes the point that one of only four teams can actually win the League tournament. I would answer that by saying that the Union equivalent could only be realistically won by one of maybe three nations  - France, New Zealand and South Africa.

However, I can also say that Rugby League is lagging behind Union in aspects of the World Cup. The Union tournament has, since the inaugural 1987 competition, been aggressively promoted for years in advance; a full qualification set-up in place and a big coverage deal in place so that every game can be seen by whoever wants to see it.

The Rugby League tournament, although it has been in place since 1954, has been held at seemingly random points in the years following, has taken place with seemingly little advertising (fans in Australia still don’t know that the 2008 competition is taking place) and minimal TV coverage. For example, the 1995 tournament was televised by the BBC, which only showed the opening game, the two semi-finals and the final.

Only recently has a qualifying competition been added to the tournament  - mostly because until 1995 the only teams competing were Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand and, from 1985, Papua New Guinea)
However, thanks to the efforts of the Rugby Football League and the European Rugby League Federation, the World Cup has developed a shape and a purpose and will continue to develop in the decades to come.

My point is that, despite a number of obvious image problems, Rugby League is a vibrant, exciting sport which, after 100 years staying within its shell, has begun to spread itself over Great Britain, Europe and the world - and will continue to do so. Two areas that need addressing, however, are as follows:

• Better TV and press coverage. The game still lacks a forum from which to portray itself in the press and is victim of attacks from Rugby Union commentators and writers who barely disguise their disdain for League in articles and columns. Better and more balanced press coverage of Super League and internationals will tell more people positive things about the game and generate a potential whole new audience

• Better administration of the international game. As I have stated, the 2008 World Cup has suffered from lack of advertising and news about venues, timings, television deals etc. The control needs to be taken away from NRL club bosses who, it seems, value their own clubs above genuine international competition, and placed in the hands of those who will listen to supporters and make more prompt decisions

That said, the game still goes from strength to strength. Although problems will arise, they will arise with any sport. Rugby League has the right people in charge to solve any problem. It’s a great game. Give it a try sometime.

Sportingo.com welcomes all contributions on both Rugby League and Rugby Union. Let us have your views on the upcoming Six Nations Championship and the new Super League season - and also your comments on the above article.