Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

You realise that South African game was part of the infamous double selling ticket policy? Where if you wanted a ticket to watch Ireland play South Africa, you also had to buy a ticket for the following weekend and watch them play Samoa. Which with the double price and the prospect of traveling for those outside of Dublin two weekends in a row is a fairly reasonable turnoff.

Its not really the best example to use considering its a widely accepted failed policy which they rectified immediately after that series of autumn internationals. In fact outrage and disappointment for this policy wouldn't have been so great had the ticket demand not been so high.

To a man, every rugby head I met in college derided both soccer and the GAA.
That's going back a while and maybe it's changed but in my opinion if I meet someone who is primarily a soccer or GAA fan, there's a pretty good chance they'll like the other main sports too.
If I meet someone who is primarily a rugby fan, the odds of them liking the other main sports too goes way down.
Not very scientific but that's my experience.

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Originally Posted by TiocfaidhArmani

A friendly game. That the best you can do?

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So what you're saying is that, except for the times when you're not right, you're always right? I see.

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

Chris Lowry: No wonder fans are abandoning soccer for honest rugby

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Did he change his name from Chrisov Lowryyan in the past 3 days or something?

Nothing can compare to what happened in Paris. When someone deliberately handles the ball twice that sets up a decisive goal during a playoff, in a move with no less than 5 offences in it, then he can start preaching about how hard done by the opposition are.

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Originally Posted by mypost

Did he change his name from Chrisov Lowryyan in the past 3 days or something?

Nothing can compare to what happened in Paris. When someone deliberately handles the ball twice that sets up a decisive goal during a playoff, in a move with no less than 5 offences in it, then he can start preaching about how hard done by the opposition are.

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Exactly. The difference between not getting caught for the slightest of contact that barely changed the path of the ball, and deliberately and cynically stopping the ball from certainly going out of play is huge, and if you can't see that, you're an idiot.

That said, I do feel that the Armenian keeper was very hard done by. It hit his arm, but not until well after the ball had been deflected away from the goal by his chest. A free and a yellow would have been a little harsh. A straight red was crazy, I thought the guidelines were refs had to be 100% sure of themselves before making a call like that. (Réiteoir?)

60k in The Millennium in a few hours to watch their semi on the big screen is a real rugby nation.
Fair play, Cymru.

No chance of that with our rugger buggers or soccer for that matter. GAA maybe, except we don't exactly play internationals...

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Originally Posted by ArdeeBhoy

60k in The Millennium in a few hours to watch their semi on the big screen is a real rugby nation.
Fair play, Cymru.

No chance of that with our rugger buggers or soccer for that matter. GAA maybe, except we don't exactly play internationals...

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I'm sure something would have happened if there was say an Irish team in the semi.

Allez Les Bleus.

I doubt it.

And Feck les Bleus.

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Originally Posted by peadar1987

That said, I do feel that the Armenian keeper was very hard done by.

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Really? He was unfortunate because it was probably instinct, but if you charge out of the box with your hands in the air, trying to stop the ball going over you, then you're asking for a red imo.

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Originally Posted by boovidge

Really? He was unfortunate because it was probably instinct, but if you charge out of the box with your hands in the air, trying to stop the ball going over you, then you're asking for a red imo.

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Oh yeah, if the ball had hit his hands above his head, then he could have had no complaints. I don't think his arm was in an unnartural position when the ball his it though, and I don't think the fact that it hit his arm prevented a clear goalscoring chance, which is why I thought a straight red was a little excessive.

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Originally Posted by peadar1987

Oh yeah, if the ball had hit his hands above his head, then he could have had no complaints. I don't think his arm was in an unnartural position when the ball his it though, and I don't think the fact that it hit his arm prevented a clear goalscoring chance, which is why I thought a straight red was a little excessive.

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Once you give the foul in such a case the referee has no choice but to give a red card.

iTalkSport on Setanta was interesting this weekend.
Paul Kimmage seemed to be doing his best to start a row with Brian Kerr over the rugby vs. soccer thing.
Eoin McDevitt pointed out some recent examples of rugby cheating but Eddie O'Sullivan and Kimmage were having none of it.
By the way, WTF is up with Eddies front teeth?

How many Irish football players past or present are in top level finance or banking jobs? I would guess few to zero. How many Irish Rugby players both former and current are in finance or banking jobs? Loads. Says it all. Martin Cahill would be considered an amateur. Morgan Kelly had it right when he called this rugby grouping who somehow end up running banks and financial institutions "slightly dim".

I was thinking of that very point when they were having the debate about private schools on The Frontline last week.
Only one chap in the audience seemed to get why people send their kids to private schools.
It's not about education, it's about social networking.
Remember they published a list in one of the papers of a hundred or so people that directly contributed to our economic downfall?
I'd love to know what schools they went to.

Who cares about rugby fans or even the players. Sure some of them are even nice people.
:rolleyes:

Just be grateful most of them don't actively care about soccer or it would be even harder to get tickets for the really big games.
IMO, we should try to play the likes of Estonia or the Germany game in Croke anyway. Just to show them a real crowd...

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Originally Posted by Jinxy

Paul Kimmage seemed to be doing his best to start a row with Brian Kerr over the rugby vs. soccer thing.
Eoin McDevitt pointed out some recent examples of rugby cheating but Eddie O'Sullivan and Kimmage were having none of it.

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They're scared!

I listed above several cases of clear cheating in rugby, a few involving Irish players. I could have added Alan Quinlan gouging Leo Cullen's eye at Croker.

I should have added the totally discgraceful BO'D spear-tackle incident in NZ, and the even worse reaction by NZ.

As it happens, I think rugby is played in a better spirit than football, although it never gets mentioned when, for example, James McCarthy makes no fuss about being elbowed in the face by Rooney. However, denying cheating in rugby is disingenuous. As the professional era evolves it will only get worse too.

I don't think there's less cheating in Rugby, more that there's less trying to get another player done for nothing than in football. It does happen though, (such as O'Callaghan holding BOD down whilst the ref was the wrong, to get him pinged for playing off his feet, a year or so ago comes to mind). It's probably becoming more into the GAA in recent seasons (the whole going down holding the face). Some of those you mentioned Stutt's did result in long bans after the fact at least - Richards got 3 years, Quinlan a 12 week ban - which is rare enough in football.

To me, the biggest difference is respect for the referee (on the pitch at least). For all their whinging about the decision afterwards, the welsh players just got on with what they viewed an unjust sending off. Players usually refer to the ref as "sir" on the pitch rather than an expletive in football. Worst thing is that FIFA and country FA's could address if they really wanted too.

Yes, I agree with the respect for referee business and I think the English Premier League in particular has shamefully only ever paid lip service to this aspect of the game. I loved Contepomi asking Nigel Owens last week "can I ask a question?".

Football managers are allowed far too much whinging time to the press too. As I see it the "there's so much money at stake now" defence doesn't hold much water. If so much depends on avoiding simple human error, then so much money shouldn't be "invested" in football.

However, it's easy to ingrain referee respect culture into good schools, which is typically where rugby players are moulded. Try doing the same to street kids in some slum town in Bolivia. Football's global roots make it harder to develop the same culture.

I think if rugby players could gain advantage by pretending to be knocked over, they would. They can't so they don't.

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Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

However, it's easy to ingrain referee respect culture into good schools, which is typically where rugby players are moulded. Try doing the same to street kids in some slum town in Bolivia. Football's global roots make it harder to develop the same culture.

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Whatever about south america, the rugby clubs I played with and against in England didn't exactly conform to the stereotype of rugby, and had no problem with the respect of the ref. Start giving 10 metres for backchat, up to and including to giving peno's, and it'd soon stop in football.

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Originally Posted by Macy

To me, the biggest difference is respect for the referee (on the pitch at least). For all their whinging about the decision afterwards, the welsh players just got on with what they viewed an unjust sending off. Players usually refer to the ref as "sir" on the pitch rather than an expletive in football. Worst thing is that FIFA and country FA's could address if they really wanted too.

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There will always be cheating in all sports to gain an advantage but re your point above I have to say, as someone who has played Soccer, GAA and Rugby I have never seen as much whinging and moaning at a ref than on the soccer pitch. It is really annoying and I honestly don't know why refs put themselves through it. It is 90 minutes of constant moaning.
GAA is not as bad but does have some element of it, whereas the Rugby is almost non-existent. Totally different culture in the Rugby.
If someone moans too much in GAA or Rugby their own players turn on them...have never seen this in soccer