User:POds/Sandbox/Rugby War

The Rugby Union was founded and administered by the upper and middle class who unlike the lower class boasted worldly know-how and plenty of high profile social contacts. On the other hand, the game was played more so by the lower class, who could not always play due their low income and thus commitments to work. This lead to the demands by the lower class of match payments to compensate for time off work used for playing rugby or by where rugby caused an injury that lead them to unable to work.

The upper class underestimated the initiative of their fellow man who's demands were met with content and sheer snobbery. In 1895 the cultural division between the games players and administrators hit an all time high. So much so that the working class peoples in the north of England formed a break-away faction that would administer a partly professional rugby competition in their part of the world known as the Northern Union. In less then a decade the rugby union was in disarray while the Northern Union had become the more popular competition which could now boast a larger set of clubs compared to the original rugby union.

Rugby's working class revolution started to take shape in other nations particularly in New Zealand. Fortunately for the New Zealand Rugby Union they were versed on the effects of professional rugby on the armature version during their uninspiring tour of the English Union in 1904. They witnessed first hand the dissolution dealt to the once proud Union establishment of England by their working class foe. So started a long list of achievements for the New Zealand Rugby Union in preventing professional rugby from taking hold in its home country.

The upper echelon, like the lower class stuck together when the going got tough; this was no less true in New Zealand who could perhaps boast the most union ingrained society of any country at the time. The first use of the NZRU's deep rooted contacts came about when they had the New Zealand Government's Agent General in London deliver a statement to the British press in an effort to undermine the first professional rugby tour.

For all intents and purposes the NZRU's first attempt to discredit professional rugby failed; however it did not stop it from further attempting to constrict the games movements. The NZRU continued to constantly pressure potential converts, officials, sponsors and ground keepers into refusing involvement with the New Zealand Rugby League and even going as far as to take legal action preventing the NZRL team from using the name, “All Blacks”.

Credit where credit is due, the NZRL has endured and survived; however the NZRU was able to prevent the one thing the English RU could not: massive disbandment from the union.

As New Zealand trudged along, Australian rugby league prospered at a frantic pace. It seems unclear whether or not the Australian RU tried to control the success of professional rugby in Australia at the time, but one thing is clear, if it did, it completely failed.

The New South Wales Rugby League used international matches and massive player payments to entice almost the entire star studded rugby union team of Australia to play professional rugby. It was so much of a success that it left union in a worse state then when the schism of 1985 ripped through the English ranks; it also turned a cashed strapped NSWRL into a rich and vibrant competition with in just a year. It didn't matter if rugby league really was the best code to watch as was reported by the games new converts; the fact remains rugby league had the best players and was able to show the people a better spectacle then its arch rival. Needless to say, fans chose the sport with the best performers and the rugby league won.

As one would have thought, the threat of professional rugby versus armature had now clearly been established. For some reason, perhaps their slow, or just didn't get the memo, the French RU didn't take much notice of the codes introduction in 1934. Perhaps it's because the FRU was in a crisis already. With or with out the current crisis France missed their early opportunity to squash rugby league in France; so much so France only took notice when it became an overwhelming threat. It was at this time obvious that previous tactics used by the NZ union would not work, as rugby league was all but toppling rugby union in popularity.

Obviously feeling pressured, having history as a reference as to what they may have to look forward too, the FRU took drastic action. The FRU or those allied to it, convinced the government at the time that rugby league was a sinister version, which lead to its banning in 1941. The cream of society had almost killed the working man's game; along with its clubs, rugby league had all its assets turned over to the FRU, where they remain today. In fact, until 1990 the game was known as, 'the game of thirteen', as the rugby union had the sole rights to the name 'rugby' in France.