Wigan Warriors Coach Calls for Return of Yorkshire-Lancashire Rugby League Clash
Wigan Warriors head coach Matt Peet has advocated for the revival of the iconic Yorkshire-Lancashire rugby league clash, following widespread criticism of the recent England-France mid-season test match.
“Everyone I speak to, certainly within our club, shares that frustration,” he said via Wigan Today. “I think it’s for the owners and the CEO’s and those at board level to try to impact, and hopefully they can work with the RFL and see what more we can do.”
This backlash has led to discussions around potential changes to the rugby league calendar in the UK, including the involvement of English clubs in the NRL’s Vegas series next year. However, Peet has another idea to help revitalize interest in representative rugby league: the return of the War of the Roses fixture between Yorkshire and Lancashire.
“I know we’ve committed to games against France at the moment, and once we’ve committed to do that, I think it’s important we stick to that,” Peet said. “But I would personally like to see the Lancashire-Yorkshire fixture revitalised, and given another go. A stepping stone for an England shirt would be great for so many players, it would get more coaches involved as well. The fact is we took a game to France, and the fans didn’t come out, for whatever reason. So I personally would love to see the War of the Roses back, but I also understand there are reasons why I’m in my job and other people are in other reasons, and there may be reasons why that can’t happen.”
The Yorkshire-Lancashire rivalry has a long and storied history, with the two sides facing off for almost a century before the fixture disappeared for a decade, only to return from 2001 to 2003 as the County of Origin series. The century-long rivalry culminated with the sides winning 44 games each, meaning that if the concept were to return, the next winners would immediately take the lead in the all-time rankings.
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