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<blockquote data-quote="RoosTah" data-source="post: 654043" data-attributes="member: 12207">Well it wasn&#039;t &quot;Champaign rugby&quot; by any stretch, but it was a game that reflected the cautious and intensely combative approaches taken by both teams. It was a little like watching the Rugby League State of Origin match a few days later - no where near as riveting as top class club games like last year&#039;s Grand Final, but it&#039;s played in a different environment and with players that have had less time together. People bagged out that game last week, but I strangely found myself thinking better of it the more it went on - like Origin it was physically quite intense and very &#039;****ly&#039;. From an Aussie perspective, it was encouraging to see the Wallabies play a forward oriented game and win at it.&nbsp; On the club v country thing more broadly, I think for most Australians at least we have a similar connection to our state/club teams that we do to the national one. The Reds pulled more fans than the Wallabies v France game in some of their matches this year and people are increasingly becoming more attached to their Super Rugby sides.But yes, the Wallabies are always the top of the pyramid and the season builds toward them in a way that our other sports apart from maybe soccer don&#039;t. Rugby League has State Representative fanaticism with Origin, but the Kangaroos are just too talented and their competition too poor for people to get excited about, so it remains a club game for the most part and so does AFL.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="RoosTah, post: 654043, member: 12207"] Well it wasn't "Champaign rugby" by any stretch, but it was a game that reflected the cautious and intensely combative approaches taken by both teams. It was a little like watching the Rugby League State of Origin match a few days later - no where near as riveting as top class club games like last year's Grand Final, but it's played in a different environment and with players that have had less time together. People bagged out that game last week, but I strangely found myself thinking better of it the more it went on - like Origin it was physically quite intense and very '****ly'. From an Aussie perspective, it was encouraging to see the Wallabies play a forward oriented game and win at it. On the club v country thing more broadly, I think for most Australians at least we have a similar connection to our state/club teams that we do to the national one. The Reds pulled more fans than the Wallabies v France game in some of their matches this year and people are increasingly becoming more attached to their Super Rugby sides. But yes, the Wallabies are always the top of the pyramid and the season builds toward them in a way that our other sports apart from maybe soccer don't. Rugby League has State Representative fanaticism with Origin, but the Kangaroos are just too talented and their competition too poor for people to get excited about, so it remains a club game for the most part and so does AFL. [/QUOTE]

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