The two codes of rugby in Britain have always been different in terms of fan base, geographical location and type of player. However from time to time a League player (given the opportunity) tries his hand at Rugby Union and vice versa. I am mainly going to focus on Northern Hemisphere in this particular article, as is my geographical location, with some references to our Southern Hemisphere counterparts.
League is generally more popular in the north of England, and Union is mainly played in the South of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland alike.
A league player is usually large in stature, with a lot of power and pace in some cases. A union player in comparison can be differing in somatotype, and skill set depending on the position the player plays.
Rugby League to Rugby Union, the convert analysis
Personally, I’m of the opinion that League is a one dimensional game. If you can tackle and run at people you’ll generally be ok, with the odd exception when a player kicks the ball in the last phase. By no means am I dumbing the sport down, its just a simple observation. However when they convert they seem to struggle due to the diverse skill set needed to play Rugby Union. Furthermore they seem to be only suitable to play at centre or flanker due to the need to tackle and run at people. Jason Robinson is an obvious exception, however in general speak that is the theme.
It is shown in players who have switched from League to Union and vice-versa, which include: Henry Paul, Gareth Thomas, Jason Robinson, Wendell Sailor and more notably and recently Sam burgess and the infamous Sonny Bill Williams; all powerful players.
The more successful converts of the fore mentioned were Jason Robinson, Wendell Sailor and current player Sonny Bill Williams. Henry Paul had a quite successful, but turbulent time with Gloucester. The Sam Burgess story is yet to unfold, and i’m sure all of you will agree it will be very interesting to see how he gets on. Robinson was a prolific League player for Wigan, and was reportedly offered very good money to play in Australia at one point. He left League to join Sale in Rugby Union in 2000 because he had “nothing left to prove in League”. He converted to a winger/full back, and went on to become a Sale legend making over 150 appearances, as well as winning the World Cup with England in 2003. Sonny Bill Williams converted in 2008, and had an ambition to play in the 2011 World Cup which he achieved. He has since switched back and is planning to switch back again for the 2015 World Cup, seems as though he enjoys the best of both worlds!
The point being is that the two games are worlds apart, and success when converting isn’t guaranteed. There have been success stories, and ones that haven’t worked out. However I would say for a convert to be successful in Union, a natural skill set would be needed; apparent in Jason Robinson and Sonny Bill Williams. As previously mentioned, it will be interesting to see how Sam Burgess goes, but talk of the 2015 World Cup maybe premature due to the time it may take him to learn the game and adopt the centre role Bath have given him.
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