A sting in the Scorpion's tail?

On a day when Wales lost to England in rugby union, tonight I ventured out down the Gnoll for a rugby league match, the South Wales Scorpions versus the London Skolars. A good game, which finished with a win for the Scorpions by 26 points to 16 points.

Rugby league has been one of the hot topics in Wales over the past week or so, with the news that our only Super League side the Celtic Crusaders had given up their Super League licence for next year. A devastating blow for Welsh Rugby League! So is this the end of rugby league in Wales? Or is there a sting in the tail? (Did you see what I did there? Lol)

Certainly losing a side in the high profile Super League is not going to do the game much good, but the Scorpions had a good crowd tonight and I've read that the number of youngsters playing the game in Wales now is quite significant. I think there is an appetite for league in Wales, as I know quite a lot of people who love the game. I think the RFL's biggest mistake was not to take advantage of the success of the international side in 1999 when Jonathan Davies, Rowland Phillips et al got the team to the semi final of the World Cup. If ever there was a time to create a Welsh Super League side with star names, that was the time, but it's a chance that went begging.

My love of the game came through my Great Uncle who played for Warrington and Keighley, and I've been watching it since I was a kid. What I like about league is that you never see games won by penalties; you always see tries, where as in union you could see a game finish 33 ? 15 but see no tries whatsoever. That's not to say though that you can still see some stinkers.

It's rather ironic that when my uncle went north the bad feeling that existed between union and league meant that he would never be allowed into a union clubhouse ever again, but here we are tonight with rugby league being played on the oldest rugby union club in Wales' ground. How times have changed hey?

So if you've never seen a rugby league match before get down to the Gnoll, Neath on Saturday 22nd October 2011, kick off 6:00pm to see Wales v Ireland. I think you'll enjoy it!