Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

[kingdom hoop]

It's all bandwagon stuff really.

When Munster and Ireland were poor in rugby, no-one wanted to know except a few rugby heads.

Munster win a few games and the Ireland rugby team win a few games and suddenly everyone follows rugby.


There's certainly a strong bandwagon-effect but you're greatly mistaken if you think the only people who followed rugby before recently were "a few rugby heads". A bit of success doesn't take a sport from 'nowhere' to 'everywhere'.

[endabob1]

Bang on there Bunk. The bubble won't burst for several reasons but the biggest one is the structure the IRFU put in place when the game went professional. Unlike the FAI, the IRFU showed themselves to be a very clever forward thinking organisation. They knew a country of our size could not possibly support a league the size of the AIL as a professional entity, clubs would have gone under in double quick time (how could Blackrock have afforded to pay the best player on the planet and keep a competitive team together?) this was seen with the collapse of the Scottish and Welsh leagues who thought they knew better. The IRFU pretty much resurrected rugby in those countries with the Magners league idea, giving them the opportunity to use "provincial teams" as opposed to the traditional "club" model. For those of you saying Munster are not technically a club, I am sorry to burst your bubble but for the purposes of Heineken Cup and Magners League, they are indeed "a club" as are Ulster, Leinster and Connaught. All of their players are registered with club sides merely to confirm eligibilty to play for the larger "Province" because of some old rule or other from back when the game was amateur. Irish rugby is now on the cusp of something massive, we are leading the way in Europe, this is something for us all to be proud of. rugby fans or not.

The Provincial structure is not unique, it's modelled entirely on the All-Black set-up, local clubs, provinces, national team at the top of the pyramid with first dibs on the players availability. Everything revolves around the national team first and foremost, the provinces come secondary to that.
Warren Gatland was in charge of Ireland in the early days of professionalism and was very influential in the structure.

[DonnyG]

And for me personally I'll cut to the chase and say I'm not as proud of the Irish soccer team as I am of the Rugby team or the county team and it all boils down to location. Soccer feels too anglicised a game for my liking, guys like Doyle, Duff, Given, Andy Reid etc are legends and if the whole squad was like that there'd be no problem but don't expect me to sing the praises of someone like Caleb Folan who essentially is here because he isn't good enough for England. To compare with the rugby lads, I regularly see them training, I have a book with each of their autographs and even go to see Munster play. My only first hand experience with an Irish player is at the Late Late Show when our captain came on to tell us all to lower our expectations and continued to explain how we're not as good as England.

Even look at the Lucozade "last 15 minutes" adverts. For Rugby we get ROG, the hero of our first six nations in decades, football there's gooch the best player in the game and likewise Shefflin. For soccer there's a former reserve goalkeeper telling us through an English accent how bravely the team will battle.
Or how about Lawrenson when he expresses his viewpoint as an "Irishman" as he speaks through a thick english accent on the national british tv station. Or how we've now played some home games in London. It's a game and setup that makes me very uneasy about being passionite towards it at times, I wouldn't have those reservations with Rugby, Football or Hurling.

You see this is something I don't understand. I am Irish through and through and put my support for the Irish football team before all other. But I now live in Australia permanently after I married an Aussie. We are expecting our first child and to me that child will be as much Irish as Australian. I will bring them up sharing my passions and heritage. Say for example they were to become a decent footballer (long shot but stay with me) would they not be as entitled to play for Ireland as someone who grew up in the country? Would their Aussie accent outweigh their Irish parent and love for Ireland?

[CarrickFan]

You see this is something I don't understand. I am Irish through and through and put my support for the Irish football team before all other. But I now live in Australia permanently after I married an Aussie. We are expecting our first child and to me that child will be as much Irish as Australian. I will bring them up sharing my passions and heritage. Say for example they were to become a decent footballer (long shot but stay with me) would they not be as entitled to play for Ireland as someone who grew up in the country? Would their Aussie accent outweigh their Irish parent and love for Ireland?


your spot on sir...i wouldnt pass any heed on the original poster..he just comes on to agitate and annoy...he wont even have the balls to answer you post as he always avoids poeople who challenge him with valid points

[Maroon 7]

ireland v australia rugby in croke park today ... 70,000 plus fans at match could have foo led me atmosphere is terrible ( sounds like stadium half full) even commetators have mentioned it 3-4 times the lack of support for team ... do the great /wonderfull fans only cheer / sing when they are winning... compared to atsmosphere last night when fans were magnificent backing an irish soccer team .. :p

Can't really compare a Saturday evening game (especially a world-cup playoff) with a Sunday afternoon game (with half the crowd probably still hungover).

[Stuttgart88]

We're not comparing like-with-like. Qualifying for a WC is a major football achievement for Ireland. Not making a WC Q/F is a disaster for the rugby team. Also, beating Australia ina November test is nice, but not crucial. I'm not sure there'd have been many people leaving Croker yesterday absolutely gutted if we'd lost 13-20, but maybe that says more about me than the rugby crowd.

The only game I can think of in rugby that is equivalent to a knockout game is something like when we played Argentina in 2003 as third seed(?) and we won by a point. That was a winner take all play off game.

I love the 6 Nations and winning the Slam was a great achievement - one to be savoured - but the fact that if you have a bad 6N campaign sure you just start again next year, totally un-disadvantaged. It's just not the same, not to mention the truly global nature of football.

[tetsujin1979]

I'm not sure there'd have been many people leaving Croker yesterday absolutely gutted if we'd lost 13-20, but maybe that says more about me than the rugby crowd.The Ireland and Australia rugby teams are much closer matched than the French and Ireland soccer teams.
Compare and contrast the reactions of the soccer fans with the draws with Italy?

[Reality Bites]

We're not comparing like-with-like. Qualifying for a WC is a major football achievement for Ireland. Not making a WC Q/F is a disaster for the rugby team. Also, beating Australia ina November test is nice, but not crucial. I'm not sure there'd have been many people leaving Croker yesterday absolutely gutted if we'd lost 13-20, but maybe that says more about me than the rugby crowd.

The only game I can think of in rugby that is equivalent to a knockout game is something like when we played Argentina in 2003 as third seed(?) and we won by a point. That was a winner take all play off game.

I love the 6 Nations and winning the Slam was a great achievement - one to be savoured - but the fact that if you have a bad 6N campaign sure you just start again next year, totally un-disadvantaged. It's just not the same, not to mention the truly global nature of football.


The Point is winning the Grand Slam will never never compare with beating England in Euro 88 or the penalty shoot-out in Italia 90 for the mood and euphoria it generated, those moment resonate deeper simply because soccer is the peoples game Rugby is a game for the middle classes and boarding school set, In Dublin it starts in Kielys in Donnybrook and ends somewhere just outside Dunlaoighre with pockets of stronghold in class divided cities like Cork and limerick..You are never going to get a Christy Moore song about the Grand Slam, the best you'll get is closing Dawson Street on a Sunday afternoon.

We always qualify for Rugby WC tournaments but you'll hardly ever going to hear of a Joxer story with sleeping bags rolled out after all the stout was polished of simply because the lads from Foxrock or Douglas will be booked into the Radisson or Hilton . There won't be any fans there from Ballybough or Ballymun.

Rugby is Populist at the moment but it's still an elitist sport for aspiring classes and middle classes..thats the Class issue thing out of the way.

On technique its several levels below soccer. There was a big hoopla yesterday because a 22 yr prop burst through 2 or three Aussie Tackles.. not skill in my opinion, the guys is no different to a prize bull stuffed with a diet and weight regime to give him bulk so its no wonder he can knock a few lads over with the Ball squeezed to his chest, in soccer if you can skip past three players while only relying on ball contol, speed and trickery its real skill simply because you never have full possession of the ball only the Goalkeeper has that, Compare Maradonas unreal skill in WC 86 and Rugbys equivalent Johan Lomu in Rugby WC 95, there is no comparison Maradona was a gifted Genius Johann Lomu was Freakishly big and fast but thats it.

[colster]

The Point is winning the Grand Slam will never never compare with beating England in Euro 88 or the penalty shoot-out in Italia 90 for the mood and euphoria it generated, those moment resonate deeper simply because soccer is the peoples game Rugby is a game for the middle classes and boarding school set, In Dublin it starts in Kielys in Donnybrook and ends somewhere just outside Dunlaoighre with pockets of stronghold in class divided cities like Cork and limerick..You are never going to get a Christy Moore song about the Grand Slam, the best you'll get is closing Dawson Street on a Sunday afternoon.

Beating England in Euro 88 you won't get anything that will beat that in rugby, soccer or any other sport.
As for your comment about Rugby being a middle class sport you haven't a clue. I support both soccer and rugby and this is a complete generalisation of Rugby supporters. As for Christy Moore not writing a song for the grand slam thats just ridiculous. Anyway, who do you think played for the Irish team during the 6 Nations last year.



We always qualify for Rugby WC tournaments but you'll hardly ever going to hear of a Joxer story with sleeping bags rolled out after all the stout was polished of simply because the lads from Foxrock or Douglas will be booked into the Radisson or Hilton . There won't be any fans there from Ballybough or Ballymun.

Complete rubbish. I think you'll find similar stories from both Leinster, Munster fans and Irish fans and the lengths they went to to get to Heineken Cup games and Grand Slam games and also to World Cups.



Rugby is Populist at the moment but it's still an elitist sport for aspiring classes and middle classes..thats the Class issue thing out of the way.

Rugby has always been a well supported sport in this country especially at International level.


On technique its several levels below soccer. There was a big hoopla yesterday because a 22 yr prop burst through 2 or three Aussie Tackles.. not skill in my opinion, the guys is no different to a prize bull stuffed with a diet and weight regime to give him bulk so its no wonder he can knock a few lads over with the Ball squeezed to his chest, in soccer if you can skip past three players while only relying on ball contol, speed and trickery its real skill simply because you never have full possession of the ball only the Goalkeeper has that, Compare Maradonas unreal skill in WC 86 and Rugbys equivalent Johan Lomu in Rugby WC 95, there is no comparison Maradona was a gifted Genius Johann Lomu was Freakishly big and fast but thats it.

I know if that lad had been playing soccer he would have gone down rolling around the ground like he'd been shot at the first whiff of a tackle.
Jonah Lomu!!! What are you like. Maradona is perhaps the best to have ever played football. Lomu is nowhere near the best player to have played Rugby. Just shows how much you know about Rugby?

[CarrickFan]

The Point is winning the Grand Slam will never never compare with beating England in Euro 88 or the penalty shoot-out in Italia 90 for the mood and euphoria it generated, those moment resonate deeper simply because soccer is the peoples game Rugby is a game for the middle classes and boarding school set, In Dublin it starts in Kielys in Donnybrook and ends somewhere just outside Dunlaoighre with pockets of stronghold in class divided cities like Cork and limerick..You are never going to get a Christy Moore song about the Grand Slam, the best you'll get is closing Dawson Street on a Sunday afternoon.

We always qualify for Rugby WC tournaments but you'll hardly ever going to hear of a Joxer story with sleeping bags rolled out after all the stout was polished of simply because the lads from Foxrock or Douglas will be booked into the Radisson or Hilton . There won't be any fans there from Ballybough or Ballymun.

Rugby is Populist at the moment but it's still an elitist sport for aspiring classes and middle classes..thats the Class issue thing out of the way.

On technique its several levels below soccer. There was a big hoopla yesterday because a 22 yr prop burst through 2 or three Aussie Tackles.. not skill in my opinion, the guys is no different to a prize bull stuffed with a diet and weight regime to give him bulk so its no wonder he can knock a few lads over with the Ball squeezed to his chest, in soccer if you can skip past three players while only relying on ball contol, speed and trickery its real skill simply because you never have full possession of the ball only the Goalkeeper has that, Compare Maradonas unreal skill in WC 86 and Rugbys equivalent Johan Lomu in Rugby WC 95, there is no comparison Maradona was a gifted Genius Johann Lomu was Freakishly big and fast but thats it.


Good post....just to point out i think im right in saying that the Rugby team dont even have to qualify for the World Cup much less go through a 10 game campaign which included playing the World Champions twice.

[Schumi]

Rugby has always been a well supported sport in this country especially at International level.

Better supported than football for as long as I can remember

[kennedmc]

Even in the 90's when the Irish rugby team were cack they still got great support and internationals especially the 5 nations were always sold out.

Even the club game in the early 90 with the AIL acheived some big attendances etc. easily comparable to what Irish football clubs got. The IRFU decided that provinces were the way to go and though its not perfect they have been proved right. Look at Irish football clubs at the moment?!

The idea that rugby has just been popular over the last 10 years is rubbish - although it is more popular now and has probably attracted some of the ole ole brigade from the football in the late 80's and 90's - maybe Christy Moore will do a song about it? Wound that just be grand - think of the crack we'd have ;)

Ultimately there are some @rseholes that follow rugby that have a negative view on football. Although after reading some the opinions on this thread I can say the same about some Irish football fans - appears they too have a nicely balanced chip on each shoulder.

[Reality Bites]

Beating England in Euro 88 you won't get anything that will beat that in rugby, soccer or any other sport.
As for your comment about Rugby being a middle class sport you haven't a clue. I support both soccer and rugby and this is a complete generalisation of Rugby supporters. As for Christy Moore not writing a song for the grand slam thats just ridiculous. Anyway, who do you think played for the Irish team during the 6 Nations last year.

Christy Moore has always leaned heavily towards Socialism, hence I feel he feel more comfortable singing about a Irish Soccer team supported by Grass roots working class supporters like the fictional Joxer rather than an accountant from Howth who had a great time with his Blackrock buddies on a Leinster away trip


I know if that lad had been playing soccer he would have gone down rolling around the ground like he'd been shot at the first whiff of a tackle.
Jonah Lomu!!! What are you like. Maradona is perhaps the best to have ever played football. Lomu is nowhere near the best player to have played Rugby. Just shows how much you know about Rugby?

As per my original point - Because you never have full possession of the ball in soccer ( unlike in rugby) beating a player is a far superior skill I see nothing in your response that refutes this apart from a silly comment about a tackle.

[peadar1987]

Even the club game in the early 90 with the AIL acheived some big attendances etc. easily comparable to what Irish football clubs got. The IRFU decided that provinces were the way to go and though its not perfect they have been proved right. Look at Irish football clubs at the moment?!


A provincial system just wouldn't work in football though.

http://foot.ie/forums/showthread.php?p=1222903&highlight=elevenaside#post1222903

That's my opinion on it anyway.

[Murfinator]

You see this is something I don't understand. I am Irish through and through and put my support for the Irish football team before all other. But I now live in Australia permanently after I married an Aussie. We are expecting our first child and to me that child will be as much Irish as Australian. I will bring them up sharing my passions and heritage. Say for example they were to become a decent footballer (long shot but stay with me) would they not be as entitled to play for Ireland as someone who grew up in the country? Would their Aussie accent outweigh their Irish parent and love for Ireland?

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

[kennedmc]

A provincial system just wouldn't work in football though.

http://foot.ie/forums/showthread.php?p=1222903&highlight=elevenaside#post1222903

That's my opinion on it anyway.

I don't disagree with that. The way UEFA govern the game it couldn't happen and as we only have 3 provinces it just wouldn't make sense! (For a lot more reasons then that also).

[Paddy Garcia]

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

Your a great man to bring yourself to support an Irish team where not even one of the squad, nor the manager, nor the managers assistant, nor many of the supporters live in Ireland.

[Noelys Guitar]

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

We should have a seperate Mein Kampf thread.

[Torn-Ado]

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

I think I'll dump my Swedish missus and move back home so I can be Irish again.

Utter utter sh!te.

[DonnyG]

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

WTF mate. Are you serious? I was born and raised in County Roscommon and was 30 when I moved to Australia, I have an Irish passport and my whole family is Irish - yet I'm not really Irish because I live in Australia. So by your reckoning a recent immigrant to Ireland is more Irish than me because they have chosen to live in Ireland?

It’s a big world out there you know and Irish people have travelled the world throughout history – doesn’t make us any less Irish

Be careful you don't get a nosebleed so far up there on your (really REALLY GREEN) pedestal.

[endabob1]

I love when someone who has clearly grown up in time of economic prosperity feels compelled to judge those who may not have been so fortunate. Ireland has a history of emigration dating back to the famine and before, I like many other people who grew up in the 80’s had to leave to make a future, many of my friends went back some have stayed some have left again. I have moved all around the world, London, Oz, and now South Africa, I feel lucky and privileged to have been able to do this but to me Ireland is still my home, even if I never live there again.
So how f—king dare you judge whether I am Irish or not, I was born and bred in Ireland, I speak the language, I will never be anything other than Irish, I carry an Irish passport, as will my children.
I hope for your sake the recession does bite so hard that you are forced like I was to leave your friends and family to try and build a future elsewhere.

[Doire Abu]

Well that's something that I've never understood. You've chosen to live in Australia, that is your country of choice, you might have a romantic view of yourself being 100% Irish or whatever you like but you're not part of the community here, you don't live the day to day life or communicate with the people here all the time every day. I speak form experience knowing many Americans with distant Irish relatives who claim to be heavily Irish despite never actually being in the country. For some people being "Irish" is some abstract romance thing in their head that makes them special as its something unique to them compared to the people around them. To me, being Irish is choosing Ireland as your home, Australia is your home and it was your decision to make it that, just like it's my decision to choose Ireland as mine.

You should get out more.

[colster]

As per my original point - Because you never have full possession of the ball in soccer ( unlike in rugby) beating a player is a far superior skill I see nothing in your response that refutes this apart from a silly comment about a tackle.


I disagree. In soccer the defending player has to target the ball in the tackle. In rugby the defending player targets the player with the ball.

[dahamsta]

I'll be closing this if it continues off-topic. If you want to have a chat with someone about your origins, use the PM system. If you want to throw smart comments about, just save everybody the bother and log out.

[Stuttgart88]

There are skills in both games & it's dumb to suggest rugby is all brute force and ignorance.

In my opinion there are few things in sport that match the beauty of Rob Kearney fielding a high ball in rugby. The guy is truly world class. So too is BO'D. However, the question posed in my mind is would BO'D be world class if rugby was the truly global game and countries with populations of 50-200 million played the game, or would he just be another really good player?

What about all the great running backs in NFL - would they be great rugby players if that was the game they were brought up in and played professionally? Would Robbie Keane be world-class if football was only played in Commonwealth / ex-Commonwealth countries?

Rugby also deserves great credit for its governance, especially when compared with other niche-like "international" sports like cricket, where governance is a shambles.

[CarrickFan]

Viewing figures for Ireland v France were 858,000 from start to finish with a peak of 1.1 million towards the end...anyone know the figures for the rugby on Sunday by any chance?

[Scram]

The Irish middle/upper class controlled media have a whole lot to do with this.

But also:

Munster and Leinster have won the equivalent of soccer's Champions League and Ireland have won what is basically the equivalent of the European Championship. You can see where the support is being generated from.

[mypost]

Munster and Leinster have won the equivalent of soccer's Champions League and Ireland have won what is basically the equivalent of the European Championship. You can see where the support is being generated from.

The European Championship in rugby is 6 teams. The Euros in football is 53. I think our football team would win the Euros with only 6 in it.

Munster and Leinster won a 6-country tournament. The CL is open to everyone. There is no comparison in either.

[Schumi]

The European Championship in rugby is 6 teams. The Euros in football is 53. I think our football team would win the Euros with only 6 in it.
Even if the six included England, France and Italy?

[colster]

The European Championship in rugby is 6 teams. The Euros in football is 53. I think our football team would win the Euros with only 6 in it.

Munster and Leinster won a 6-country tournament. The CL is open to everyone. There is no comparison in either.

Really. Our Team would win in a 6 team tournament with England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales in it? I like your optimism.

[colster]

The Irish middle/upper class controlled media have a whole lot to do with this.

But also:

Munster and Leinster have won the equivalent of soccer's Champions League and Ireland have won what is basically the equivalent of the European Championship. You can see where the support is being generated from.

What are you trying to say? Rugby has always been a popular sport in this country. Landsdowne Road is a rugby stadium and has always been full for 5 & 6 nations for as long as I remember, (which stretches back to the early 80s) and remember the capacity at Landsdowne for a Rugby match 50,000 and more.
Croke Park has been full AFAIK for every 6 nation game played there.

[SilkCut]

There are skills in both games & it's dumb to suggest rugby is all brute force and ignorance.

In my opinion there are few things in sport that match the beauty of Rob Kearney fielding a high ball in rugby. The guy is truly world class. So too is BO'D. However, the question posed in my mind is would BO'D be world class if rugby was the truly global game and countries with populations of 50-200 million played the game, or would he just be another really good player?

What about all the great running backs in NFL - would they be great rugby players if that was the game they were brought up in and played professionally? Would Robbie Keane be world-class if football was only played in Commonwealth / ex-Commonwealth countries?

Rugby also deserves great credit for its governance, especially when compared with other niche-like "international" sports like cricket, where governance is a shambles.

Yes he would. Quite simply the man is a genius. The question should be would he be world class if Irish rugby had continued down the path it was on before it turned pro? No he wouldn't. Will Ireland continue to produce world class rugby players? Yes. Why? Because Rugby is set up to succeed regardless of what other countries are doing. Football unfortunately is set up to fail. Football in Ireland must be restructured drastically or Rugby will kick its arse.

[SilkCut]

The Provincial structure is not unique, it's modelled entirely on the All-Black set-up, local clubs, provinces, national team at the top of the pyramid with first dibs on the players availability. Everything revolves around the national team first and foremost, the provinces come secondary to that.
Warren Gatland was in charge of Ireland in the early days of professionalism and was very influential in the structure.

I didnt say it was unique. Gatland took charge in 98, 3 years after the formal restructure he had nothing to do with it. Either way it is a great system especially in NZ where they still get big crowds for club rugby as well as the super 14 games.

[colster]

I didnt say it was unique. Gatland took charge in 98, 3 years after the formal restructure he had nothing to do with it. Either way it is a great system especially in NZ where they still get big crowds for club rugby as well as the super 14 games.

It was Brian Ashton former Ireland and England manager that recommended that the professional structure be around the Provinces feeding into the National Team.

[youngirish]

Really. Our Team would win in a 6 team tournament with England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales in it? I like your optimism.

We've only won it once in 20 years and I'd safely state that if there was an equivalent football tournament we'd probably even have won it more than that in the past 2 decades.

You also ignore the fact that rugby union is nowhere near as popular in Scotland or England as football. We could probably beat both in tiddlywinks also.

[colster]

We've only won it once in 20 years and I'd safely state that if there was an equivalent football tournament we'd probably even have won it more than that in the past 2 decades.

Are you serious? How many qualifying groups have we won in that time?



You also ignore the fact that rugby union is nowhere near as popular in Scotland or England as football. We could probably beat both in tiddlywinks also.

It's not as popular as soccer but what is? It's still played by significant number of people. In England it's popular enough to support a fully professional league, an 82000 seater stadium for the national team and significant media coverage for all the major competitions or matches. In Scotland, admittedly the numbers are falling but you a similar thing is happening there in football.
The fact that Ireland were able to produce a Grandslam winning team against nations like France, England and Wales who have more players and more professional clubs is I think a great achievement, If you add to that the fact that they have been 2 on numerous occasions over the last decade then it is even more so.

[Scram]

What are you trying to say? Rugby has always been a popular sport in this country. Landsdowne Road is a rugby stadium and has always been full for 5 & 6 nations for as long as I remember, (which stretches back to the early 80s) and remember the capacity at Landsdowne for a Rugby match 50,000 and more.
Croke Park has been full AFAIK for every 6 nation game played there.

How about you read the thread title and read my post, and if you can't figure out what I am "trying to say" maybe you need to read it a few times more, but I didn't think it was written in code. Unreal :rolleyes:

[SUB of the day]

Really. Our Team would win in a 6 team tournament with England, France, Italy, Scotland and Wales in it? I like your optimism.

Its an annual tournament, I'm sure we could win it once every 50 years or so.......just like rugby!

[Mento]

If there was a soccer tournament with just Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Italy EVERY YEAR, then I am fairly confident Ireland would of won it at some stage in the last 40-50 years

[colster]

How about you read the thread title and read my post, and if you can't figure out what I am "trying to say" maybe you need to read it a few times more, but I didn't think it was written in code. Unreal :rolleyes:

I take your point. I think this thread title is meant to be tongue in cheek.
A lot of people have taken the bait and got all precious about it, some making sweeping generalisations about the people who support rugby.

[colster]

If there was a soccer tournament with just Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Italy EVERY YEAR, then I am fairly confident Ireland would of won it at some stage in the last 40-50 years

and France.

But if we did win it, it would be a great achievement just as it is for the Rugby team to do so.

[colster]

Its an annual tournament, I'm sure we could win it once every 50 years or so.......just like rugby!

I'm not so sure we would have and if we did I doubt we'd do it by beating every team considering the fact that we're rarely ever won away from home, never mind against the top nations.
Even so if there were such a competition in soccer and we did win it it would be a great achievement and worth celebrating, just as it is for the Rugby Team.

[peadar1987]

I'm not so sure we would have and if we did I doubt we'd do it by beating every team considering the fact that we're rarely ever won away from home, never mind against the top nations.


Over the last 50 years, with all the players we've had, I'd say we probably would have, but we'll never know, so it's not worth debating

[Jinxy]

I think the fact that the country is ready to go to war this morning puts the rugby v soccer popularity guff to bed.

[CarrickFan]

2 million watching at one point last nite..half the country.

[elroy]

I think the fact that the country is ready to go to war this morning puts the rugby v soccer popularity guff to bed.


2 million watching at one point last nite..half the country.

Thank you and thank you. No other sport captures the heart of the nation like football.

Highest viewership for a sporting event since 1995...........even beating the Grand Slam success earlier this year and by a sizeable margin too!!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2009/1119/ireland_rte.html

Its a shame, anyone who doubts the impact that WC qualification would have had for the morale of this country has their head in the sand.

[cavan_fan]

Thank you and thank you. No other sport captures the heart of the nation like football.

Highest viewership for a sporting event since 1995...........even beating the Grand Slam success earlier this year and by a sizeable margin too!!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2009/1119/ireland_rte.html

Its a shame, anyone who doubts the impact that WC qualification would have had for the morale of this country has their head in the sand.

What was the 1995 event that had more viewers???

Holland play off?

[gspain]

2 million watching at one point last nite..half the country.

The other half were either watching Sky or in Paris.

[SilkCut]

Thank you and thank you. No other sport captures the heart of the nation like football.

Highest viewership for a sporting event since 1995...........even beating the Grand Slam success earlier this year and by a sizeable margin too!!

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2009/1119/ireland_rte.html

Its a shame, anyone who doubts the impact that WC qualification would have had for the morale of this country has their head in the sand.

Absolutely agree with that, however, with the way FIFA are handling this, on top of the whole seeding issue, it is beginning to make it very difficult to love the game anymore. I think Sepp Blatter has been too long in his job and is now only interested in money. Am I alone in feeling that this kind of carry on lessens the appeal of football? What happened to the days when Fowler appealed against a penalty, when DiCanio caught the ball instead of scoring, when Arsenal offered Sheff Utd a replay? Proper fair play, players acknowledging that its a game, and games are only worth winning fairly. When O'Driscoll got his dodgy try against the French at least they looked at the video before awarding it, it still took from the win though.
Football should be played for what it is, it should be run for what it is, a game, a glorious game, when played properly it is by far and away the best game on the planet. Yes it needs money to provide the best entertainment, in fact nowadays the money involved is part of the entertainment, but FIFA and UEFA seem hellbent on making it the be all and end all of the game. They don't seem to want the smaller nations to succeed anymore, its almost as if they are saying "we have enough participants, unless you can make us huge amounts of money kindly **** off and play another game." What happened to the "everyone loves the underdog" days, I'm a Liverpool fan yet I would have been kind of happy had they been beaten by Havant a few years ago, a small part of me is happy even when my own teams are beaten by the underdog, why? because thats football, its about 22 players taking to a field and giving it everything for 90 minutes in order to claim victory. Its not about who has the most money, thats what Wall St. and other financial districts are about.
Don't get me wrong, I love football, it stirs emotions in me that no other sport does, I flew from Australia to Ireland in the vain hope of getting to Paris, I was happy to watch the game in my parents home instead, for what? for football, for the opportunity to watch my country beat one of the "BIG BOYS". Today after all that has happened I feel let down, its the same as when you are a kid and discover your dad is not superman, that santa is not real, that your mum is not perfect, that you are last to be picked at football. Its the same kind of dissapointment, not at Henry or the ref, but at FIFA and how they are seemingly happy to forget their fair play code of conduct in favour of money.
For as long as football moves down this path, then football and I will be moving further and further apart.
As I said on another thread, its a sad sad day but there is a bright bright future for our team. Wheather I will care so much in the future is another question.

[irishultra]

How many will watch FAI Cup final on Saturday? Is there anything to compare it against rugby?