Telegraph's positive new Thread

I couldnt think of an approapiate place to put this, but i just wanted to say how weird it is seeing the Telegraph say something positive about the game.

http://ift.tt/1GxM8iF

Rugby league’s Anzac Test now bigger than rugby union’s Bledisloe Cup

Quote:

RUGBY league’s Anzac Test has usurped union’s Bledisloe Cup as Australia’s favourite trans-Tasman rivalry and tomorrow night’s clash will prove it. I can hear the glasses of red wine being smashed on the ground already but in Australia, union’s once premier annual event has drowned in the Tasman Sea of rugby league’s surging popularity. Ever since the working class men of union got sick of not being paid and rebelled to form the 13-man game, the sport has never had the international relevance their older brother enjoys. League will never find the worldwide recognition union rightly trumpets. However, Australians have spoken and they would rather watch the Kangaroos play the Kiwis than the Wallabies play the All Blacks. The television ratings prove that, in Australia at least, more people care about league’s much derided international competition than union’s much hyped Test calendar. More than 1.4 million Australians watched last year’s Kangaroos clash with New Zealand in April on Channel Nine. It comfortably beat the opening Bledisloe Cup clash last August, the most watched union Test of the year, which attracted just over 1.2 million viewers combined on Channel Ten and Foxtel broadcasts. Why wouldn’t the floating sport fan turn off the Bledisloe Cup, at least the result is in doubt when the Kiwis clash with the Kangaroos . The Kangaroos are the World Cup champions but the Kiwis are the Four Nation champions. The Kiwis have two wins on the trot against the Kangaroos and have won two Four Nations and a World Cup in the past seven years. The Wallabies haven’t beaten the All Blacks since 2011. Australia has won just two of the last 22 Bledisloe Cup Tests. The result is rarely in doubt. Australia’s growing passion for international league says more about union than the sport Dally Messenger crossed over to, the one still fighting a myriad of self-sabotaging battles. We won’t go into the merits of each sport, that is a toxic debate for another day. The facts are that rugby’s stars struggle to gain traction. Beauden Barrett in action for the All Blacks. Beauden Barrett in action for the All Blacks. Even the best of the All Blacks do not resonate in Australian minds like they once did. New Zealand’s premier five-eighth is Beauden Barrett, not Dan Carter, but if you took a poll in any Australian street, outside Bondi and Logan, few would be able to name the classy Wellington No.10 who is a player that would thrive in league. Richie McCaw continues to command great respect on this side of the ditch but once upon a time die hard champions would watch a Bledisloe Cup to marvel at the skills of Carlos Spencer, Jonah Lomu, Christian Cullen and co. Adam Ashley-Cooper scores a try for the Wallabies. Picture: Darren England Adam Ashley-Cooper scores a try for the Wallabies. Picture: Darren England The Wallabies’ most capped player of all time is Adam Ashley-Cooper, a solid workhorse whose best game is a seven out of 10 performance and worst game a six out of 10 effort. Most casual sport fans would have little idea who the Waratahs’ outside back is. The Kangaroos most capped? Darren Lockyer. The Kangaroos second most capped? Mal Meninga. In tomorrow night’s Test there are Kiwi stars such as Shaun Johnson and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck worth the price of admission alone.

Anyway, i thought it might be interesting to have a thread dedicated to positive Telegraph stories (it might get cobwebs, but still...)

Telegraph's positive new Thread