One more year...

[Mikey]

What's this crap about not drinking? Pretty sure we've been slamming mugs on 4th July tables since I was in the single digits...

I said drink legally. IIRC, there's no minimum age to drink illegally.

[McAvoy]

In Ireland it's 18. If you're old enough to join the forces you're old enough to drink. The Irish Amry use the Styer

Generally, if you are within the armed forces itself, they usually don't care as long as you stay out of trouble. If you get caught by the police than obviously, the command you are in has to take some sort of action.

I once got in trouble with my Command Master Chief because I was 19 and drunk and he was questioning which one of us set the gazebo on fire. It wasn't me and some other guy who was of drinking age did it. Once that was established, they dropped the whole thing about underage drinking and was never brought up again. Same Master Chief bought me a shit-ton of shots when he found it was my 20th birthday. I think he just wanted to see me to puke.

[Thorin]

Union is 15-a-side, League is 13-a-side, Union is professional, League is amateur (in theory anyway - I'm not sure how much they stick to that rule these days). There are also some differences in the rules.

In theory it's the exact opposite. The rugby football union banned anyone who had ever played league from playing union due to league being professional and the RFU wanting to keep rugby (pre-split: yes, it use to be all one sport) amateur. A lot of players had to take time off work to play the sport they loved and required compensation - at least the ones in blue collar jobs. The wealthier ones didn't need the money and could carry on playing union as an amateur sport. Until about 15 years ago, that is, when union became professional and their vendetta against players being paid legitimately had to stop. Having said all that, to make the RFU even more contemptious they often used the 'brown paper bags out of car boots' method of payments to union players.

League: poorer players required payment.
Union: banned all payments (except dodgy ones, which were aplenty)

Poor in the north and rich in the south... Sound familiar?

That is why I really hate union. Otherwise I don't have a problem with it (other than it being increadibly boring full of people who can't hack it in league)

[Mikey]

Jeez, the guy's gone for over a year but you can summon him just by talking abut league v. union.

Good to see you.

[Deepcrush]

How the hell did this end up in a birthday thread...

[Captain Seafort]

In theory it's the exact opposite.

Witness my vast, detailed, and unsurpassable knowledge of rugby.

Good to see you again Thorin.

How the hell did this end up in a birthday thread...

C'mon Deep, you know better than that.

[Deepcrush]

C'mon Deep, you know better than that.

Fair point.