From
http://www.firstscience.com/site/editor/033_ramblings_21112003.asp"Rugby League has 13 players, Rugby Union has 15. Most of the laws are similar or identical, but there are bigger differences. Union puts a lot of emphasis on scrums and line-outs (when the ball goes out of play). League has both but they are really incidental to the game. On the other hand a League team has 6 tackles to score a try before it goes to the opposition. These difference make them essentially different games with some common skill elements. They actually split in 1895 over the issue of paying players. With league going professional, and union staying as an 'amateur' sport (to say it was amateur is really apocryphal with all the training that was expected - 'not paid' is a more accurate description) until the last few years when it has also gone professional."
In the UK, Rugby League is playing mainly in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
