Ireland VS South Africa Pre Match Thread

**jbyrne** · 08/09/2009, 9:48 AM

Originally Posted by Razors left peg

Must admit I debating myself whether to go or not, its not a long journey from Galway but on a miserable wet day going to see the 2nd string in a brutal atmostphere isnt the most appealing prospect in the world.

my advice would be to go. i decided on the day to go to the australia game and even though i spent 6 hours in the car that day and we lost i would still rather be there than not. id say the team we have out tonight may actually end up being more interesting to watch than if the first string was out.

weather set to improve....

Some dry periods at first in parts of the east but generally wet and windy in many areas this morning. Very mild and humid with temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees. Cooler, brighter, fresher weather with sunny spells and scattered showers will spread eastwards this afternoon and winds will gradually moderate.

**Razors left peg** · 08/09/2009, 10:08 AM

Originally Posted by jbyrne

my advice would be to go. i decided on the day to go to the australia game and even though i spent 6 hours in the car that day and we lost i would still rather be there than not. id say the team we have out tonight may actually end up being more interesting to watch than if the first string was out.

weather set to improve....

Some dry periods at first in parts of the east but generally wet and windy in many areas this morning. Very mild and humid with temperatures of 15 to 19 degrees. Cooler, brighter, fresher weather with sunny spells and scattered showers will spread eastwards this afternoon and winds will gradually moderate.

Haha Id like to say it was your advice that convinced me to go... but just after gettin off the phone to one of the lads and he did that already. I'll be glad to see Doyler as captain and as ya said it will be good to see some of the fringe players.

**lionelhutz** · 08/09/2009, 1:28 PM

Originally Posted by Duggie

its got nothing to do with ticket prices or who is in the starting eleven IMO. think its just nobody cares about soccer much in limerick or the surrounding areas. rugby country and thats fine. sooner lansdown is open again the better.

You couldn't be more wrong. There is huge interest in soccer in Limerick, as demonstrated by the 9 junior leagues of 12 teams. In terms of playing numbers, soccer totally dominates rugby in Limerick.

There are a number of reasons people aren't going toinght. Firstly, it's a friendly. I'm a block booker with the FAI and I always sell off my friendly tickets as I don't think it's worth travelling to Dublin for a non-competitive fixture. That said, I'm going to the game tonight as it's across the road from me.

Secondly, the opposition is not attractive. If it was a top tier nation like Spain, it would be a sell out. Thirdly, our own national team isn't as well supported as previous ones. This is probably cause of the lack of big name players and the Staunton era turned alot of fans away from the national side.

And finally, the horrible performance against Australia has deterred alot of fans.

**DeLorean** · 08/09/2009, 1:53 PM

I honestly think the low turnout expected is more to do with the Dubs being unwilling to travel than there being a low local support. They represent a huge percentage of the International match goers and if this match was in a similar sized stadium in Dublin I suspect it would be close to full.

**SuperDave** · 08/09/2009, 1:56 PM

Originally Posted by Lionel Ritchie

Lads, back up in fairness. I think it'd be a very interesting exercise to find out what proportion of whoever does turn up are locals and how many dubs bothered their @rses to travel on these very rare occasions they've been asked to do so. The rest of us have to travel for every game and do so.

The population of Limerick is about 80,000 when the colleges are closed and closer to 100,000 during semester. Did you seriously expect 1 in 4 of the local population to buy overpriced tickets to watch an underperforming team in a less than glamouous midweek friendly? (I'm not remotely bothered by the absentees btw ...happy to see them get game time)

you better mean south africa, cos we are far from underperforming!

i'd post a link comparing stan's results to trap's if i could be bothered.

**ifk101** · 08/09/2009, 3:05 PM

Any stream for this game (besides iraqgoals)?

Thanks.

**Scooby Doo** · 08/09/2009, 3:16 PM

Originally Posted by lionelhutz

You couldn't be more wrong. There is huge interest in soccer in Limerick, as demonstrated by the 9 junior leagues of 12 teams. In terms of playing numbers, soccer totally dominates rugby in Limerick.

There are a number of reasons people aren't going toinght. Firstly, it's a friendly. I'm a block booker with the FAI and I always sell off my friendly tickets as I don't think it's worth travelling to Dublin for a non-competitive fixture. That said, I'm going to the game tonight as it's across the road from me.

Secondly, the opposition is not attractive. If it was a top tier nation like Spain, it would be a sell out. Thirdly, our own national team isn't as well supported as previous ones. This is probably cause of the lack of big name players and the Staunton era turned alot of fans away from the national side.

And finally, the horrible performance against Australia has deterred alot of fans.

Only today i asked a class full of secondary school lads if they enjoyed the big match at the weekend and if they were looking forward to the one tonight. They all thought I was talking about Kilkenny/Tipp and thought that there was Champions League on tonight that I was refering to!!!

Sad times....

**eirebhoy** · 08/09/2009, 4:10 PM

Originally Posted by Scooby Doo

Only today i asked a class full of secondary school lads if they enjoyed the big match at the weekend and if they were looking forward to the one tonight. They all thought I was talking about Kilkenny/Tipp and thought that there was Champions League on tonight that I was refering to!!!

Sad times....

We really need to qualify for the WC.

**Murfinator** · 08/09/2009, 4:12 PM

Know that feeling. I remember being able to say things like "are you watching the big game at the weekend" and everyone would assume I was talking about a qualifier.

Now they assume firstly that I'm talking about an all-ireland match / heineken cup match / premiership match.

But if Ireland qualify for this it'll get the team in the spotlight again so maybe it's not all doom and gloom.

**Murfinator** · 08/09/2009, 4:13 PM

Originally Posted by DeLorean

I honestly think the low turnout expected is more to do with the Dubs being unwilling to travel than there being a low local support. They represent a huge percentage of the International match goers and if this match was in a similar sized stadium in Dublin I suspect it would be close to full.

Isn't it kind of worrying that there is such low interest outside of Dublin?

**Oink** · 08/09/2009, 4:32 PM

The sheer will to kick up a fuss and find the bad in anything never ceases to amaze me from our "Fans". These are the same clowns who turn up at our Home games and rush out early for the half time hot dog and tut and begrudge and never bother with vocal support.... they love a mexican wave.

I'm looking forward to the game tonight, particularily the Andrews/Gibson partnership.. reckon they could compliment eachother well. S.A should be up for it considering they have no qualifying competition, also nice to get another game against a side from outside europe for experience.

**Lionel Ritchie** · 08/09/2009, 5:35 PM

Originally Posted by SuperDave

you better mean south africa, cos we are far from underperforming!

i'd post a link comparing stan's results to trap's if i could be bothered.

No need. I've added thanks to your post as I'm more than keen to clarify this in case I've been misunderstood.

Nowhere in any thread on Foot.ie or elsewhere have I complained about results under Trap. I'm also far beyond considering Trap lucky (...okay maybe Georgia getting moved to Germany aside). Our place in the table speaks for itself.

But it's fair to say that even our first team is sloppy and patchy and the football they play is a thin gruel at best. It's also fair to say that at 40 bucks a pop -tickets for a midweek friendly are still too pricey for many -regardless of whether they'll get an exhibition in champagne football or not.

Now if ye'll excuse me I've a football match to get to.

**DeNiro** · 08/09/2009, 5:58 PM

Originally Posted by ifk101

Any stream for this game (besides iraqgoals)?

Thanks.

Are RTE not streaming it on their website? Sure I saw that on some advert/ticker during the Cyprus game!

**SkStu** · 08/09/2009, 6:11 PM

any links to streams for exiles?

**tricky_colour** · 08/09/2009, 6:17 PM

Originally Posted by DeNiro

Are RTE not streaming it on their website? Sure I saw that on some advert/ticker during the Cyprus game!

Looks as if it is a 'matchtracker' ie text updates, anyhow if they are showing it it's only available in Ireland. Looks like several are showing it on Justin TV, amongst others, however somethings they get blocked unexpectedly but with it being a low key game that hopefully won't happen.