Rugby wins hands down

Phil Gilbank, Pocklington Rugby Union Club: "I watched the game at the club. It was a great morning. We had first team members, mini-rugby players, everybody - and at the end everybody was hugging each other. It was a brilliant morning for me, too, because I won the sweepstake.

"I predicted a score of 24 -17. So I had breakfast and beer for free. Can't be bad!

"We will be hoping that being world champions brings younger people into the clubs. We have a good mini-rugby set-up at Pocklington, but there is so much for youngsters to do these days. This will help increase the profile of the sport.

"There is a lot of competition, but if kids come and give rugby a try because of the world cup and keep it up because they enjoy it, great.

"There's a part of rugby that's a bit more no-nonsense in comparison with other sports, and I think that in itself is an appealing quality.

"There's discipline - you don't argue with the referee, plus the fact that, particularly with the England side, they were there to do a job, and were very focussed on that.

"The Australians a week before did a lap of honour because they had won a semi-final. England said 'let's get back into the dressing room, we have got to go through it all next week.'

"The world cup set a great example. It showed that you can enjoy yourself and don't have to get into trouble.

"People were celebrating in York and in Sydney, and there was no major trouble.

"That's great."

KEN Sykes, vice-chairman of Heworth Amateur Rugby League club, and former rugby league professional: "I watched the match. You will get some rugby league players who say I don't give a monkeys about union, I didn't watch the game.

"But I was certainly watching. It wasn't a brilliant game, but it was tense.

"And I was pleased, because I'm English.

"It's nice to be on top of the world for something, and anything that boosts the sport has got to be good.

"Unfortunately, on the same day, the Great Britain rugby league team slipped up for the third time against the Aussies.

"They were beaten 3-0 in the test series, although there wasn't really anything in any of the games, and Great Britain could easily have won all three.

"I've always played rugby league, because that's what I played at school. But I like watching rugby union at international level. It is a much more exciting game than it was.

"Union has got a massive opportunity now. Lots of kids are going to want to play. It all depends how they market it - but rugby union has always been good at marketing itself!

"At Heworth we have got a healthy situation too, as far as young players are concerned, and we generate quite a bit of interest ourselves.

"I don't think there is actually a rivalry between the codes. It is a different game. The balls are the same shape, but the skills and requirements are different. Having said that, this has got to be good for rugby generally."

Andy Gair, director of rugby, York Rugby Union Club: "I was at home looking after the kids, and we were jumping up and down watching the TV at home. It was excellent.

"The finals always have been close, but that one was the closest. Both teams had to work like mad to get any sort of scoring opportunity.

"Saturday was great for the sport, and we really look forward to seeing what happens now.

"The TV coverage is going to push it back into the consciousness of the casual viewer. But the sport is going to have to look at how it can cope.

The problem we have is the amount of space. We are effectively a members club, we don't receive money from the Government or from the council.

We are running four adult teams, ten youth teams, we have 200-plus kids playing every week, and because of the world cup we could quite easily almost double that.

"We should like to have a women's team but we are having to turn kids away. But for anybody who wants to come down, we will do our best to help and provide them with an opportunity.

"Rugby is a unique sport. There is no other sport where you physically hold the object of the game and run with it.

"In every other sport you push the ball, or bounce it. This is the only sport where you hold it and are chased by everybody.

"Football is the national game but when you think about it, if you give a baby a ball, the first thing they want to do with it is pick it up and hold it. And there are certain qualities and attitudes that playing rugby instills in you, whether it is rugby union or rugby league - discipline and humility. You can be a superstar in rugby, but you cannot win a game on your own.

"Yes, Jonny Wilkinson scored the drop goal, but there were 14 guys who did their bit. Jonny depends on the ball that someone gives him. And when you heard him in the interview, he knew that.

"So I don't think that we will get spoiled millionaires in rugby - certainly not in this generation, and if the sport can retain its ethos, I don't think it will ever happen."

Dave Kay, head coach at York Acorn Amateur Rugby League Club: "Everybody will have been glad that they did it. I certainly watched it, and it was exciting.

"I have no mixed feelings. I wouldn't watch a union match on BBC2 on a Saturday, but I do like watching it at international level. And I think this will be good for rugby generally. Especially for rugby union, but for rugby as a whole. It will raise interest in the game.

"That is very important. Clubs such as Acorn are your grass-roots.

"The sooner we get young players started the more they learn. It is the youngsters coming through now that could be world champions in the future. And it gives them healthy activity as well.

"I don't think many people in rugby league will be feeling jealous. Although there is a banter between the two codes, the 'ours is better than yours' stuff, it is just good to have some English world champions.

"And it is good to see another sport other than football in the limelight.

"Players such Jonny Wilkinson and Martin Johnson - they are great role models now.

"Just like David Beckham."

Updated: 11:13 Tuesday, November 25, 2003