I'm from London, went to a pretty posh grammar school and even at that there were about 10 fellas in my year who could speak intelligently about rugby. We all watched the 6 nations and the world cup of course but club rugby just wasnt on the agenda. Remember once Saracens offered free tickets for anyone who fancied going to one of their games, and I think about 20 people ended up taking up the offer...
Rugby is a sport for private school toffs in the South basically, people who want to differentiate themselves from the plebs.
Cricket, literally nobody watched this apart from the ashes. Ive always thought Cricket was a game played almost exclusively in little villages by nice little upper middle class boys who looked like extras from Mary Poppins.
A mate of mine who I once interned with for a few months, invited me and a few others down to his gaff in Buckinghamshire. Guy went to Eton and was was a good bloke tbf, but he was playing cricket on the village green one morning and I was just standing there drinking a pink of lager in the club-house trying to think of something interesting to say to these kunts other than ''see the Arsenal at the weekend, did ya?''
Different worlds. Then again Ive always felt a bit uncomfortable in these posh little villages, have literally no family outside the immediate London area so I dont get these people really.