If you have any questions to ask,  e-mail them here and I will answer them and also put them on here.

How does it work?

All players from the European Super League, Co-operative Championship and players in the French championship as well as players from the European Championship are rated in five key areas, attack, defence, kicking (tactical), goalkicking and temperament from 1 to 10.

Each team has a 30 man squad (increased from 27 in 2010), of which they use 13 plus 4 interchange players in each game and then set attacking and defensive styles and strategies.

The details are fed into an in-house simulator (RLSim) designed by Graeme Kirk for both teams and this then plays out the game move by move taking into account all of the above and producing a match report.

Can I join?

Of course. There isn’t any guarantee that teams will be available at the time, but you can always be added to the waiting list for a team to become available. Just e-mail here to  be added.

Are there any prizes?

No prizes are offered in this  competition.

What does it cost to play?

There is no cost to playing the  game.

Why does the sim *still* have so many scrums won against the feed?

The sim is a complex beast and with  so many variables, there will always be anomalies within it. This is one such example, however the sim is very realistic in most other areas.

What's a sim?

The sim is the simulator used to play the games.

Who can be a coach?

We’re an equal and diverse bunch here at EIRL, and anyone can play, young or old, male or female, black  or white. All we ask is you commit to the competition and your team for at least the duration of the season (around April to November). On  average, sending training, your team orders (instructions) and perhaps  one news article to the blog each week shouldn’t take much more than an hour of your time.

What’s an e-group?

The e-group (operated by Yahoo!  Groups) is a means by which all coaches can send e-mails to everyone in the competition. Visitors can also read messages on there without being  members. You will find the group here. From this season we will be using the e-group more for everyday messages but the blog will be the main method of communication and for press releases.

Can I see an example of a game?

Absolutely, you can look through many games for the competition, especially the finals of the play-offs  and cup competitions. Type http://eirl.playiirl.com into your browser and add any of  2001 to 2010 (i.e. http://eirl/playiirl.com/2005) to the end to view the website for that particular season and you will find many examples on there. If  you want a thrilling game at a key point of the season, try this game from 2003.