Future of Rugby in France?

[gho]

Rugby has been growing drastically France since the 2007 RWC, what does the latest implosion by the French Football team mean for Rugby?

 

[Seaton]

I don't think it will affect the numbers that greatly anyways, I mean a great deal of football fans idolise players who are not of there ilk, those being the gloryhunter suppporters i speak of.
I don't think it will push people away from the sport, but if the French rugby team continue doing well, and the football team failing, there might be a shift of media attention which in turn would affect numbers oif players
At the end of the day, anyway in which this affects the sports, the results will only be felt in a decade or so.

 

[Mr.cyclopede]

Shall I say that I don't wish that the pathetic show Football gave us will bring rugby supporter joining in by default.

I'm not against rugby getting more fans, but not whatever must be the price.

 

[SelimNiai]

Well the way I assume these things work is that if a team does well then paticipation will go up. A failure, however, doesnt mean participation falls. I remember having near a full blown row with a Uni lecturer who said there was no proof that cricket participation increased after the 2005 Ashes win and after England won the RWC in 03, not 2 weeks after I interviewed Jon Barfoot at Havant RFC who said since 2003 they have has nearly 3 times the number of kids turning up to play.

A good world cup for France will re-balance the effect I think

 

[terrasblogger]

I worry about a couple of things with the increase in Rugby's popularity, and not just in France.

I came over from football to avoid a whole host of rubbish that came with that sport... media hype, ridiculous money, rivalry that was based on hatred and not healthy sporting competition etc. etc.

The financial situation in the top14 has led to an explosion in contracts and whilst it is nice to have a leading competition with a good number of star players you only have to the look at the Barclays Premiership to see how it doesn't always guarantee a good competition.


We are starting to see the money dry up a bit as well which is going to see the league less competitive in the long run I reckon.

 

[Amobokoboko]

I don't think they are related to each other. Rugby in France is doing quite well and the French league attracts lots of fans owing to the money that clubs use to get overseas players.
A bad WC for les Bleus just means that people are a bit disappointed and that they will need some wins to gain more confidence. But with the soccer season starting soon I guess most fans will focus on that and the rest will follow later.