Rugby League as a Worldwide Phenomenon - Through the years, rugby league has become a sport that enjoys popularity in more than fifty countries worldwide.
Through
the years, rugby league has become a sport that enjoys popularity in
more than fifty countries worldwide. Four of the most renowned rugby
league countries are England, Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New
Guinea, where rugby league is hailed as the country’s national
sport. These four nations have participated heavily in the Rugby
League Four Nations series, which will be played regularly until
2011, as a precursor to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup.
Rugby
league is played a t a professional level in some places, such as
France and Wales, and is due to be played professionally in the
United States by 2010. The country is close to launching its first
ever fully professional rugby league, the National Rugby League USA,
in 2010 or 2011. The new league aims to build the sport's profile in
the United States. It also hopes to provide more talent for the
national team.
It
is a dominant winter sport in Australia, particularly Queensland and
New South Wales. No professional team currently exists in either
Scotland or Northern Ireland, although the Challenge Cup final has
been held in Edinburgh Murray Field Stadium twice.
With
the French losing interest in rugby union in the 1930s, rugby league
started to gain popularity in France. The sport experienced criticism
after World War II, and became actively marginalized through the
1990s. In 1996, Paris St-Germain, a French club, was one of the rugby
league clubs which formed the new European Super League. The club
however was dissolved in 1997 due to its failure to run at a profit
and poor attendances.
With
efforts being made by the Rugby League European Federation to expand
the game to new areas, countries such as Germany, Lebanon, Malta,
Russia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Jamaica, and others have also
taken up the game and compete in international rugby league
tournaments or matches. The sport has garnered international
attention, and rugby league
clubs began forming in many different countries.
The
worldwide success of rugby league has slowly crept its way into Asia
as well. Rugby league clubs started competing locally in Japan, and
enthusiasts are hoping to see more of the sport in this region of the
World.
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