2 England teams, 2 brothers, 2 venues, 2 sports, 1 day

Whilst I am a union fan, I sometimes enjoy a good Rugby League match.

On saturday we had England Rugby Union playing at the same time as England Rugby League on a Saturday afternoon. Seems a bit of a fixture clash that i can't recall happening before. I am sure loyal fans followed their own team, but its not great for general sports fan or loyal English patriot ( can't think of a better word ) watching on tv. thank goodness for sky plus. Commercially it can't be a great idea surely ? I am sure that TV schedules could be worked out better.

Just to make it even more weird, two brothers played for England at the same time - but in different codes - Joel Tomkins at Twickers, Sam Tomkins up North in Huddersfield. Wonder if thats ever happened before ? and I wonder which one their mum and dad went to ?

Well Close:

2 countries,2 brothers, 2 venues, 2 sports, last week:

Last Tuesday Luke Douglas played second row for Scotland against Tonga in Rugby League, meanwhile on Saturday in England his brother Kane Douglas played second row for Australia against England at Twickenham in Rugby Union.

At least the Tomkins brothers played for the same nation.

I guess this is going to happen more and more now !

Probably will occur more often,as more and more people realise how closely related the two Rugby codes actually are.

In the last ten years the number of dual Internationals between the two codes have just about become common place, or is that my imagination?

it was the first time two sets of brothers were in the same match day squad since the 1900's (can't remember the exact year)

Two sets of brothers in the same match day squad wouldnt be that rare would it?

aucklandlaurie wrote:
Two sets of brothers in the same match day squad wouldnt be that rare would it?

It is for England.

1999 Mike Umaga vs Tana Umaga

2 Teams, 2 Brothers, 1 venue, 1 sport, 1 game.

That's pretty cool too.
ps Tana beat his big bro that day.

This has got to be a coincidence for the ages, no? Does seem almost impopssible.
Maybe the brothers should have played the lottery on Saturday?

In 2010 Football world cup Kevin Prince Boating played for Ghana against his brother Jerome Boating who was playing for the Germans.

We had our third Whitelock on the field against Japan last week- and theres two more to go...

You could have both Tomkins as the England centres in 2015 couldnt you? Rugby will be the place to bein 2015/ 16 with the WCup, Olympic 7's and the Lions tour to NZ.

Taylorman wrote:We had our third Whitelock on the field against Japan last week- and theres two more to go...

You could have both Tomkins as the England centres in 2015 couldnt you? Rugby will be the place to bein 2015/ 16 with the WCup, Olympic 7's and the Lions tour to NZ.

If Sam switched codes I'd expect him to stay in the back three personally rather than the centres. He's smaller than his brother but given his pace and all round skills he could make a brilliant FB or wing in union! With injured players back and others hopefully progressing I expect Joel may struggle to hold down an EPS spot long term however.

How likely do you think it is to see all 5 Whitelock's capped at some point? Other than Sam who I've always rated highly I can't honestly claim to have seen too much of them.

king_carlos wrote:

Taylorman wrote:We had our third on the field against Japan last week- and theres two more to go...

You could have both Tomkins as the England centres in 2015 couldnt you? Rugby will be the place to bein 2015/ 16 with the WCup, Olympic 7's and the Lions tour to NZ.

If Sam switched codes I'd expect him to stay in the back three personally rather than the centres. He's smaller than his brother but given his pace and all round skills he could make a brilliant FB or wing in union! With injured players back and others hopefully progressing I expect Joel may struggle to hold down an EPS spot long term however.

How likely do you think it is to see all 5 Whitelock's capped at some point? Other than Sam who I've always rated highly I can't honestly claim to have seen too much of them.

I think it would be possible to create a Barbarians team with only Whitelocks, Tuilagis, and Vunipolas. Put the Tomkins lads on the bench as subs.

2 Tongans, Lots of carries for 1 nation.

Not their Nation or the Nation that educated them.

DeludedOptimistorjustDave wrote:2 Tongans, Lots of carries for 1 nation.

Not their Nation or the Nation that educated them.

Just the nation they want to play for.

(And I guess by that rating their education must of stopped not long after leaving primary school)

Seems strange that the England Rugby League team were playing at such a small venue.

Does anyone follow the League world cup?

From memory - perhaps a kiwi could help me out - the famous bachop brothers in the 95 World cup - before IRB sorted up the qualification rules :

Stephen played for samoa ( parents ) in 91 and then NZ ( birth ) in 95 and then back to samoa again; brother Graham played for NZ ( birth ) in 95 then Japan ( residency following post world cup contract ) in 99.

Wonder if they ever played together internationally, later to play against each other internationally ? that would also fit the Tomkins brothers weirdness.

scrumpy, I have watched a little of the RL world cup. RL always struggles internationally, especially as Australia are so far ahead of the others and its a major shock if they don't win. only 3 nations play RL to a high standard. All the Italy team have strong australian accents. Even the opening ceremony featuring a doubel header at the millenium stadium - with seats much cheaper that wales union - only got about 45,000 in. And that was for ' home ' teams in Eng v Aus and Wales v Italy.

Thats the draw for RL player to switch codes - like Folau - is the international experience in Union which just doesn't exist in League.

2 England teams, 2 brothers, 8 different countries.

GloriousEmpire wrote:2 England teams, 2 brothers, 8 different countries.

8 billion threads, 8 billion whinges, 1 poster.

   

Mum to one venue, Dad to the other.

At least not pitted against each other such as the Brownlee brothers or Serena and Venus. That really would make family dynamics interesting.

The parents went to watch Joel play as it was his debut and at Twickers.

Sam Tomkins is off to play abroad and so won't be crossing codes just yet.

Not the same but for all three Wallace brothers to be selected to tour on different tours with the Lions is some feat.

Richard was called up as a late replacement on the 1993 tour to NZ
Paul the 1997 squad
David the 2001 and 2009 squads

So for three consecutive tours three brothers from the same family toured.

The Youngs brothers have played for club, country and the Lions together.

Though not brothers the Vesty's have had four generations play for the Leicester Tigers first team.

formerly known as Sam wrote:The Youngs brothers have played for club, country and the Lions together.

Though not brothers the Vesty's have had four generations play for the Leicester Tigers first team.

Plus their dad (Nick) played for Tigers and England.

Youngs and his sons hold the rare distinction of all starting in test wins over New Zealand

And on the same afternoon two Vunipola brothers turned out for England along with two Youngs brothers (all of whom have fathers that have played international rugby union).  Meanwhile two (of the many!) Burgess brothers played league alongside Sean O'Loughlin - uncle of union fly-half Owen Farrell whose father, dual code international Andy, was part of the coaching group.

Incestuous little game isn't it!

DeludedOptimistorjustDave wrote:2 Tongans, Lots of carries for 1 nation.

Not their Nation or the Nation that educated them.

I didn't know Toby had a brother that played for Wales too?

nathan wrote:

GloriousEmpire wrote:2 England teams, 2 brothers, 8 different countries.

8 billion threads, 8 billion whinges, 1 poster.