Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

[geysir]

I didn't see Leinster v Glasgow in last year's Rabo play-off semi final but my mate was at the game and he said that the ref was weak and Glasgow went to town on him, playing on every favourable interpretation and lack of punishment of their offending. The more he let it go, the more they did it. That's cheating the ref as well as the opposition, no?
Francis was calling for foul play if necessary to run down the clock, yet there appeared to be a refusal from some to accept that for what it was and want to label Francis as saying ireland should have cheated. And now you are giving account from a friend who attended a match with a long list of complaints about the antics of the opposition. So I take it, Leinster were squeaky clean? and we can all rest easy that Irish rugby is truly corinthian? :) or just maybe your friend was, shall we say, partisan? Regardless of what went down in that game, I'm sure if you pull the rug up on many sports you'll find cheats, whether it's cricket, golf, water polo, ice hockey or rugby. I do note that there are drug tests in most every sport and just why would that be?

I've seen rugby players (usually English scrum-halves!) taking quick tap penalties and running straight into an opponent who hadn't an earthly chance to retreat ten yards, to earn the penalty and try and get a yellow card for the opponent. I saw Morgan Parra pretend an Owen Farrell b1tch-slap was a full-on punch, and so on...

They do do it. Nowhere near the prevalance of such ridiculous action in football, of course.
What is with this desire to unearth acts of cheating in Rugby? - 'well this guy cheated in this game a year ago'. I mean what has that got to do with popcorn and ice cream? :)
The issue with football is not just prevalence of ridiculous actions but also the institutionalised and widespread approval of those acts. If it wasn't tolerated, it just would not happen.


But it's a tough one for football. I think they are right, for the good of the game, to have a near zero-tolerance for punching, but I think the game suffers for minor facial contact being interpreted as violent behaviour. It's a fairly easy thing for UEFA to sort out, and blatant play-acting can be punished retrospectively via video analysis. Even if - in fact especially if -players get tough treatment from a video jury then it'll make them think twice about play-acting. Rivaldo was fined about an hour's wages for his utterly ridiculous play acting (against Turkey?) a few years ago. An opponent threw a ball at him for him to take a corner with and he pretended he had been polaxed by some act of aggression. Pathetic behaviour and pathetic punishment.
Football authorities are still rewarding blatant simulation with their almost 100% tolerance of that behaviour. You're kinda saying that the cheating and simulation are relatively easy misdemeanours to sort out, therefore it's fixable, not a chronic problem and football will eventually function just like any other game, if only that part was sorted out.
But just how many thousands of high profile incidents have happened since that Rivaldo one (some 12 years ago)? The top footballers are for the most part, serial cheats, Neymar, Ronaldo etc, those players will not think twice to simulate getting hit, fool the ref to get a fellow player sent off and they are applauded by their own supporters, fellow players from around the world and rewarded by Fifa/Uefa for their efforts. When I heard on the radio Chelsea got a penalty at the death against West Brom, I automatically think "dive". If Suarez wins a penalty, you have to ask 'was it a legit one'? That's football every day in the EPl and it's rationalised as being part of today's game.

Until it's sorted out with those relatively easy to apply fixes, you'll have to contend with people talking about the 'soccer disease', the spread of the 'soccer disease' to other sports and the contagious effect of soccer on sport today......... even by rugby folk.

[Stuttgart88]

You were talking specifically about footballers cheating to get an opponent sent off. You were saying there is a big difference in attitude. I was saying that the difference in that instance isn't that big and gave examples. They are not isolated examples of rugby players being less than Corinthian in spirit. Every example I cited above was in response to something you said a few posts ago.

I was also saying that there are some acts that are so blatant that tolerance should not be granted, but unfortunately it is. There are other acts that are less clear cut.

That lesser acts of cheating or different acts of cheating happen in these and other sports is a given.

You need to stop trying to nitpick with people who are fundamentally agreeing with you.

[Paddy Garcia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76FEWcyFCwM

.......even football teams can get it right occasionally.

[wonder88]

There was a lot of Connacht rugby tops, jerseys etc to be seen on people in Galway last saturday. Rugby is clearly ahead of soccer with the Irish public now and the League of Ireland has a tough battle ahead and the GAA itself should be worried. Maybe there is a bit of bandwagon jumping involved and Connacht lost that day, but Galway FC will need to get promotion fairly quickly if the are to rival rugby for support in the west.

[tetsujin1979]

That doesn't really prove anything. Are there as many jerseys to be seen in Galway during the off season? Do you see many GAA jerseys around at this time of year?
Of course there's going to be more on view on matchday, and against high profile opposition, it's when there's no game on and jerseys are still on view that you really can say it's taken over.

[IsMiseSean]

People in the West like to wear Rugby jerseys on a night out, which I don't understand..
Walk into any pub in Galway at the weekend and you'll probably see some lad wearing a Connacht/Munster jersey tucked into their jeans!

[CraftyToePoke]

People in the West like to wear Rugby jerseys on a night out, which I don't understand..
Walk into any pub in Galway at the weekend and you'll probably see some lad wearing a Connacht/Munster jersey tucked into their jeans!

Tell me about it, brand Munster, I went for pints a few years back with a few of the lads from school when I was back over Christmas and two of them with their Munster regalia on. I knew these lads through their formative years and beyond, and the fortunes of Irish rugby was one thing that never troubled them in any way shape or form I can tell you. The disdain in which they held the '#@;*"ing rugby jocks' who played in our school team back then wasn't a conversation topic they were comfortable with at all, I recall.

Tucked tight down into the jeans too.

[elroy]

Galway seems to be an area where football needs alot of promotion and development and is lagging behind both rugby and gaa.

[IsMiseSean]

Galway seems to be an area where football needs alot of promotion and development and is lagging behind both rugby and gaa.

I think Galway FC will struggle if they don't get promotion fairly quickly.
Galway isn't really a sporting city, people seem to be only interested in GAA when the teams are doing well and even then the support & interest doesn't seem to match other "GAA mad" counties..

[Crosby87]

This is in the paper:
The top 10 gifts for Irish Men this Xmas that won't break the bank.
1. Magee Tweed Blazer
2. Male grooming gift
3. Aran Winter Woolies
4. Farming boots
5. Authentic Irish iPad case
6. Newbridge silverware cufflinks
7. A new Wallet
8. Irish themed onesie (longe pants)
9. Sunglasses
10. Authentic GAA gear.

Discuss.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Really?
Call relative cliche(s) alerts on that lot.

[SkStu]

Really?
Call relative cliche(s) alerts on that lot.

to be sure, to be sure.

[DannyInvincible]

Saw this on Balls.ie this morn: http://balls.ie/football/great-graph-showing-the-hardest-running-ball-sports-in-the-world/

http://balls.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/BldEnbvCQAAByWQ.jpg

Take that, rugby!

[Charlie Darwin]

I'm pretty sure rugby is more like 8km, but that looks about right - the less contact in the sport, the more running you do. Tennis has no excuse.

[osarusan]

The should throw a marathon runner onto the end of that graph to make it even more pointless.

[DannyInvincible]

As it was done by a GAA analyst, I'd imagine it was created to promote the notion that amateur GAA players are perhaps fitter than some of their professional counterparts. Not that I'm necessarily agreeing this is the case, nor am I suggesting that the average distance traveled during a match by a sport's participants is the only measure by which we should judge the skill-level of that sport. The graph is obviously limited in that sense, but I still thought the comparisons interesting.

[The Fly]

The knocks that players take in rugby more than compensate for the reduced distance travelled in my opinion, but, as Osarusan says, the graph is pretty pointless.

For it to have a little bit of relevance, a match in each sport would have to last the same length of time.

[bennocelt]

How could they even get that average? Some teams barely move at all.

[CraftyToePoke]

Tennis has no excuse.


Not even the little tiny teeny patch they ply their trade on, compared to Croker of a fine Sunday in June CD ?

[Charlie Darwin]

How could they even get that average? Some teams barely move at all.
Lots and lots of opta stats.

[Charlie Darwin]

Not even the little tiny teeny patch they ply their trade on, compared to Croker of a fine Sunday in June CD ?
In my day tennis players came off the baseline.

[tetsujin1979]

if you really wanted to make it pointless, you should add in golf players and chess grandmasters

[CraftyToePoke]

And miming.

[paul_oshea]

According to Trap "The Irish are very proud and passionate people. Although their passion is seen more in rugby than in football."

take it from someone in the know. Cue dodge with there are X number of registered soccer players in ireland v rugby players and therefore Soccer is bigger. :D

[Stuttgart88]

That's a pretty disingenuous remark by Trap given the support his team got in Poland and at away games. Even at home games we were filling Croker to play the likes of Georgia and Cyprus until the penny dropped among Irish fans that if passion was what they were looking for, watching a Trap team play football wasn't the place to watch it.

And of course our successful provinces and national rugby teams are getting huge support and attention. They're internationally successful. Trap's legacy is the 65th ranked team in the world. Ok, not all his fault!

[paul_oshea]

Ah i dont think too much was meant by it. I wouldnt read too much into it either but I think as a football man an foreign obvserver he would have been in a good position to give a relatively impartial view.

[Charlie Darwin]

I remember reading a map of stereotypes before, where all the countries in Europe are renamed based on what a particular country stereotypes them as. For Ireland, most countries had us down as "potatoes" or "Guinness", but the Italian stereotype of Ireland was "rugby" so maybe it's just the perception of us over there. Certainly Trap didn't spend enough time in Ireland to have any impression of us other than stereotypes.

[Stuttgart88]

Thescore.ie adds that Trap said that at the rugby he was struck by how well behaved Irish rugby fans were and how much they appreciated the game but that (only citing one game - Wembley) in soccer it was like going to a war, but a gentlemanly war.

http://www.thescore.ie/trapattoni-claims-irish-people-more-passionate-rugby-soccer-1457116-May2014/


Wtf is he on about? And when did he live "there"?

Was he never struck by the good behaviour of Irish football fans everywhere they followed his team? Is he having a dig at football fans' lack of appreciation of football? Maybe he should have a chat with Declan Kidney, if he feels bitter about not being appreciated enough.

I took my 8 year old to Wembley for ENG v IRL. That's how safe it was.

[DannyInvincible]

I remember reading a map of stereotypes before, where all the countries in Europe are renamed based on what a particular country stereotypes them as. For Ireland, most countries had us down as "potatoes" or "Guinness", but the Italian stereotype of Ireland was "rugby" so maybe it's just the perception of us over there.

A few years ago, an Italian rugby fan I knew living in Dublin told me that this was indeed the perception that Italians had of the Irish. I found it very surprising.

[geysir]

I think I prefer Guinness and spuds than the rugby, imagine being the butt of a rugby stereotype? What a hell ...D4.... rog, bod, poc.
I thought that Martin Scorcese film The Departed would have pushed us up a bit in the eyes of Italians, that we too can be evil, treacherous, backstabbing touts.

[Eminence Grise]

the Italian stereotype of Ireland was "rugby"

I know we didn't play too well against them in the Euros, but there's hardly any call for that...

[SkStu]

Maybe he meant the passion and number of fans at domestic rugby games (all 4 provinces) as opposed to the approximately 16000 fans of domestic football?

[Stuttgart88]

Which would be a fair point if you think he even knew about our provincial rugby teams!

[SkStu]

I'm sure himself and Marco would have popped along. They spent so many weeks on end being with and getting to understand the natives... :D (my OP was just a mini grenade I wanted to throw into the mix after being away a few days/weeks)

[punkrocket]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/international/2014/1205/664798-ireland-to-bid-for-2023-rugby-world-cup/

Ireland are in with a good shout to get this. Expect interest in rugby to go stratospheric if it happens.
I must say I would like to see it happen, I like especially the all Ireland aspect.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Aye, why not?

We may have a few eejit fans, but the AI concept is a good one. Even a Mr.P.Robinson acknowleged such earlier! Surprisingly enough.

[Stuttgart88]

It'd be great for the GAA too. Hopefully the football team will win Euro 2020 and we'll be the best small sporting country on earth. I think it has a good chance of succeeding. Good luck.

Enda Kenny shouldn't be let anywhere near sport. He has no understanding of it whatsoever.

[Paddy Garcia]

Anyway I'm looking forward to the game against Quins on Sunday - just down the road!

[DannyInvincible]

Enda Kenny shouldn't be let anywhere near sport.

Or politics!

[geysir]

Or politics!
See Danny, that just goes to prove that your 2 words can be mightier than your 2 hundred.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Harsh. But fair.

[gastric]

Maybe Danny is learning about the economy of words from our master - AB!:D

[ArdeeBhoy]

Too true!

[DannyInvincible]

Not everyone is keen on the bid: http://balls.ie/rugby/hardline-unionists-not-excited-ireland-rugby-world-cup-bid/


Telling to watch Martin McGuinness talk about “this Island nation” without a whimper of protest from Peter Robinson standing beside him! (https://twitter.com/JimAllister/status/540969304301522944)


TUV parliamentary candidate for East Antrim, Sammy Morrison, shares his leaders misgivings about the enterprise.

Morrison says there is unanimity within the party that,


…while the anthem of the Irish Republic is often played at rugby events that they don’t recognise the fact that part of the island of Ireland is in the United Kingdom.

He laments that one doesn’t hear ‘God Save The Queen’ at Ireland matches and there is no place for the cross of St. Patrick or the Union flag at rugby matches. The ‘All-Ireland’ aspect of the bid also has caused disquiet within the ranks.


I took exception to Martin McGuinness talking about the nation of the island of Ireland. I also take exception to the contrived political links that Northern Ireland has with the Irish Republic because of the Belfast Agreement.

He did allow that there would be people in Northern Ireland who would be happy to ‘see international rugby come to local stadia’ but he is indifferent to it.

Asked if he and his party colleagues, support the Irish rugby team, he said he’s aware of party colleagues who do, but he ‘personally does not.’ He prefers to support the British teams.


What I see in predominance when it comes to events at the Six Nations in Dublin is the tricolour and I don’t see any recognition that there are people from Northern Ireland who don’t feel any allegiance to that flag, and in fact, associate that flag, and I’m conscious that someone in the south would not associate it with this, but this is the reality in Northern Ireland, associate it with a thirty year campaign of terror to force use into somewhere we didn’t want to go politically.

Ireland has long been represented at international level by members of the Unionist community. Indeed, two former Irish wingers went on to become Unionist politicians – albeit as part of the most moderate strand of Unionism , the now almost irrelevant Ulster Unionist party.

Trevor Ringland, the hero of the 1985 Triple Crown win, ran for the UUP in East Antrim at the last UK General Election. He quit the party over it’s then leader Tom Elliot’s refusal to countenance attending an All-Ireland final if an Ulster team made it. He subsequently joined the NI Conservatives.

And Tyrone Howe served as an Ulster Unionist councillor in Banbridge during the mid-noughties.

The TUV even had an ex-Irish international within it’s ranks. Davy Tweed, currently serving a prison sentence for indecent assault, played four times for Ireland in 1995.

His first game was against France at Lansdowne Road. At 35, he was an aged debutant and his politics were well known at the time. Many eyes were fixed on him during the national anthem, but, according to Brendan Fanning, he didn’t move a muscle – a myth has grown that he belted out God Save The Queen while everyone else was singing ‘Amhrainn Na bhFiann’ but there appears to be no evidence for this. Afterwards, he was reputed to have said ‘After 30 caps for my country, I’ve been selected to play for Ireland!’

[ArdeeBhoy]

The usual ballix from the usual suspects...

If the URFU reckon it's Ok, they should just put up.

[punkrocket]

I particularly liked this bit ".. I’m conscious that someone in the south would not associate it..."

[Gather round]

Sammy Morrison and TUV are opposed to the bid, as a bit of party opportunism. If they were really indifferent they'd ignore the issue. Peter Robinson's hypocrisy is hard not to challenge.

Is there a chance of Windsor as a venue if the bid succeeds? Greater chance of it being fully developed than Casement.

What other NI venues are likely?

The UUP has never been the most moderate strand of Unionism.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Casement redevelopment was being planned before this bid was launched right?

[ArdeeBhoy]

You need to read the links oh Great Rotund One...
:rolleyes:

[Gather round]

Casement redevelopment was being planned before this bid was launched right?

Yes. Now threatened by local resident objections in Andytown.