Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

[Fixer82]

Personally dont see the big draw with hurling. Its a good game and I usually go to a handful of games each year but not as good as some exalt it to be. Like rugby it suffers from lack of competition, meaning the number of really top class games in the championship every year are minimal. Often find with hurling matches that you could just tune into the last 20 mins and you'd have not missed too much. Like football the game can be ruined somewhat with frees and scores are relatively easily got compared to other sports.

hmmmm have you ever played the game?

maybe i'm biased as I play the game.
I've played soccer, gaa and hurling (and even a little bit of rugby) and by all accounts was a better gaa player than either of the other sports but there is absolultely nothing on earth like the battle and skill of a good game of hurling.

[elroy]

hmmmm have you ever played the game?

maybe i'm biased as I play the game.
I've played soccer, gaa and hurling (and even a little bit of rugby) and by all accounts was a better gaa player than either of the other sports but there is absolultely nothing on earth like the battle and skill of a good game of hurling.

Played both gaa codes for several years. For me always preferred playing football, even though I actually was decent at hurling. What irks me is the hurling lads who try to justify the fact that very few counties in Ireland are strong at the game by saying that anyone can pick up a football and be able to play but hurling is far more skillful you cant do the same with hurling. Personally I disagree, like all sports it takes time to learn aspects of the game and each has it skill requirements. Does hurling demand more skill and fitness than football/soccer/rugby? Not in my eyes (although ive only ever played one game of rugby). For sheer skill of thought, soccer trumps it for me. Much harder beat a man one on one in soccer when all you can really use is your feet.

On ydays match, got quite wound up watching the match (playing the french helped!) which surprised me because I was fairly apathetic towards it at the start - perhaps due to the fact I didnt give us a chance. It was a good performance but an opportunity lost in my eyes, yet the media reaction to the performance will be positive, one of a strong performance etc etc. In fairness to George Hook on RTE he was asking the right question last night, how could Ireland play like they did yday only to have played so below par against Wales a few weeks ago and dare I say it likely to play below par next week as well.

[Fixer82]

Does hurling demand more skill and fitness than football/soccer/rugby?

Yes, most certainly. It's a tiny ball, ya have a stick in your hand, ya have a fella coming at you with a stick and on top of that you have to sort out your feet and speed. I definitely think it's the most skillful of all the games. Mainly based on speed and reactions. I know very few hurlers that can't play football (soccer or GAA ) but know many footballers who can't play hurling.
That said, all sports are different and some people suit some sports more than others.

Regarding yesterday's rugby match I thought it was a great game and probably a draw was a fair result. Rob Kearney was sublime! Great to see us stick it up to the French in Paris (bit like Nov 2009 but we won't go into that )

[freewheel30]

I know very few hurlers that can't play football (soccer or GAA ) but know many footballers who can't play hurling.

With this in mind, couldn't the Kilkenny hurling fraternity use, oh I don't know, football matches against other counties as a way to keep up their own fitness

[Murfinator]

Not sure if it was posted already but total viewership figures for the most popular RTE broadcasts in 2011 are here: http://www.rte.ie/mediasales/televis...rogrammes.html

Telling that Ireland/Estonia ranked only #8 out of sporting events, even behind a Rugby match at 9am and a Six Nations game on little consequence as we were out at that stage. Both Football finals (Mayo/Kerry, Dublin/Donegal) were ranked either side of the top playoff, as well as the Hurling and Football final taking top two slots. The only event not involving an Irish team to make the top 20 was the RWC Final, no sign of the champions league.

The representation for the top 20 is:

Rugby: 7
Soccer: 5
Football: 4
Hurling: 4

Hurling and Football continue to be more event driven, although both finals are the biggest and most watched events. Rugby is outdoing soccer in both quantity of representation and peak attendance. Insignificant rugby matches are out-drawing very significant soccer matches, and even the early morning starts for the RWC didn't put off a lot of the audience. There's even a provincial game making the top 20 so the popularity really is right through the levels of the game.

Still I think we're a sporting country and there's more than enough room for 4 major games, the states have as many. Soccer isn't the top dog anymore but it's keeping itself relevant and Euro 2012 will help that. I wouldn't say its decline in popularity is the crisis that Dunphy seems to believe.

[Stuttgart88]

One thing that appeals to me about soccer over GAA and rugby is the spatial awareness required to play it properly. In rugby you always have the option of just taking the tackle and you never have to look too far for a pass option, not to mention that you rarely have to "watch your house". In GAA you always have the option - more often than not the preferred option - of just lumping it. OK, there's always the pass back in soccer but in my view to be a gifted playmaker in soccer takes more than to be a gifted out half in rugby.

Did the media latch onto Cian Healy's "lazy retreat" or whatever it's called with the same sense of self loathing that met Simon Cox's handball appeal when the Armenian GK handled the ball? OK, even I'm feeling a bit paranoid here, but I think it's kind of valid!

The rugby on Sunday reminded me of the 2-2 draw in Amsterdam in Sept 2000. A good lead squandered and by the end you're glad of the draw.

[Stuttgart88]

I'm surprised nobody has put this up here before (unless I missed it).

Irish Times, December 21st 2011

Soccer proves popular but BOD reigns supreme

IT’S OFFICIAL. Brian O’Driscoll – by a whisker – is deemed Ireland’s current “greatest” sports star; Stephen Cluxton’s last-gasp point to win the All-Ireland football title for Dublin is considered the most “iconic” sporting moment of 2011; and the Republic of Ireland’s qualification for the Euro 2012 finals has been found to be the “greatest achievement” of the past year.

Yet, while a comprehensive new survey has found soccer retains its position as the most popular sport, only Robbie Keane has managed to make it into the top-five (and only barely so!) in the list of greatest current sports stars behind O’Driscoll, Rory McIlroy, Katie Taylor and Ronan O’Gara.

What does it all mean?

Well, the survey – conducted earlier this month amongst a nationally representative sample in the Republic by research agency AskChili, on behalf of Dublin-based Pembroke Communications – provides an intriguing insight into the sporting sentiments of the public, affirming that almost 80 per cent of the adult population have a genuine interest in sport.

Interestingly, while soccer is the most popular sport with 30.9 per cent claiming it to be their favourite sport (with Gaelic Games on 20.9 per cent and rugby on 20.5 per cent) and Ireland’s feat in qualifying for next year’s European Championship finals is rated as the greatest achievement, it would seem that it is the team’s achievement as a whole rather than individuals who have captured our hearts and minds.

Indeed, O’Driscoll is considered Ireland’s greatest current sports star. But only just. BOD got the thumbs-up from 16.7 per cent of those surveyed, just ahead of US Open champion McIlroy who got 16.3 per cent.

Considering the survey was conducted in the 26 counties, McIlroy’s high rating emphasises his wide appeal.

Boxer Taylor placed third (on 13.1 per cent) behind the big two of O’Driscoll and McIlroy, providing further indication of how she has managed to infiltrate the national consciousness. Among sportswomen alone, though, Taylor’s star rises even further – almost 50 per cent of those surveyed, men and women, ranked her as the female athlete most admired in a very competitive field that includes Derval O’Rourke, swimmer Gráinne Murphy and jockey Nina Carberry.

Not surprisingly, given the parochial nature of following a county team, GAA players don’t figure as highly when ranked against those playing international sports. Dublin forward Bernard Brogan, at three per cent, was the top Gaelic footballer in the category headed by O’Driscoll. Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin was the top hurler with 2.8 per cent.

Although the indigenous nature of Gaelic Games presents a great challenge when put against the international exposure enjoyed by soccer and rugby, Dublin goalkeeper Cluxton’s injury-time point in the All-Ireland final against Kerry was deemed the most iconic sporting moment.

Cluxton’s late free-kick was chosen by 20.3 per cent of those surveyed, ahead of the 17.3 per cent who chose Darren Clarke’s winning putt at the British Open and the 13.7 per cent who selected McIlroy’s final round collapse at the US Masters.

There is also evidence in the survey that sports followers have broad interests.

When asked to nominate a favourite sport, 30.9 per cent put soccer as their number one. However, when asked what sports they were interested in or liked, this number jumped to 56.5 per cent.

Ireland’s successful qualification for Euro 2012 was rated the best achievement by 23.7 per cent, followed by Ireland’s group win over Australia in the Rugby World Cup (13.9 per cent), McIlroy’s US Open win at Congressional (10.2 per cent) and Dublin winning the Sam Maguire (9.4 per cent, which rose to 20 per cent for those living in the capital).

While soccer remains the most popular sport overall, it is interesting to note that Gaelic games (27.9 per cent) are actually the most popular among women – ahead of rugby on 22.9 per cent – which may be attributed to the belief that GAA and rugby attendances are more family orientated.

Still, Giovanni Trapattoni’s men will inspire most expectations going into the new sporting year.

In the survey, 30.7 per cent claimed that the Uefa finals was the most eagerly anticipated sporting event in 2012 with the Olympic Games in London getting 27.3 per cent.

These two major sporting competitions ranked well ahead of everything else, with the Ryder Cup – in Chicago – getting a meagre 3.2 per cent vote

[geysir]

GAA still rules with gold, silver and shares the bronze, who cares about the rest.

Those figures do look a bit questionable, the (WC rugby) Ireland v Italy had 15% more viewers than Ireland v Wales.

[Stuttgart88]

Telling that Ireland/Estonia ranked only #8 out of sporting events, even behind a Rugby match at 9am and a Six Nations game of little consequence as we were out at that stage. There's even a provincial game making the top 20 so the popularity really is right through the levels of the game.

When I read your remarks first I thought 'fair enough'. Then I opened the link and couldn't help feel that you've put quite a bit of spin on it.

"even behind a rugby match at 9am" - yep, an important World Cup match that would determine whether or not we won our group.

"a 6 Nations game of little consequence" - except that it was against England, the highlight of most Irish rugby fans' calendars, and weren't we trying to stop their Grand Slam attempt? That was a big, big game by anyone's definition.

"even a provincial match" - the Magners League FINAL, between arguably the two biggest franchises in European rugby, both Irish and huge rivals!

Ireland played the glamour teams Macedonia, Armenia and Estonia by comparison. The % share of the total audience in the away match in Tallinn I would hazard a guess was relatively low (46% was it?) because of wives wanting to watch the Late Late on a Friday, whereas the % share for early morning rugger games was because there is eff all else on early in the morning, except for Peppa Pig.

I agree with your last paragraph to an extent, but I'd ask anyone here: if Old Trafford was burnt down and Man United moved to Dublin for a year, does anyone think that Leinster rugby would sell more tickets?

I agree with Geysir that it's bizarre that IRL v Italy got more viewers than IRL v Wales.

[Charlie Darwin]

It would be interesting to see how the survey data compares to the Nielsen figures.

[Stuttgart88]

What are the Neilsen figures?

[geysir]

Now that I think about it, the Ireland Wales game was played at 5 or 6 am.

heres another list


1 All-Ireland football final, Dublin v Kerry, September 18th: 1,085,200

2 All-Ireland hurling final, Kilkenny v Tipperary, September 4th: 847,000

3 All-Ireland football semi-final, Dublin v Donegal, August 28th: 700,500

4 Six Nations, Ireland v England, March 19th: 690,400

5 Euro 2012 play-off, Republic of Ireland v Estonia, November 15th: 649,000

6 Rugby World Cup, Ireland v Italy, October 2nd: 631,600

7 Euro 2012 play-off, Estonia v Republic of Ireland, November 11th: 599,500

8 All-Ireland Football semi-final, Kerry v Mayo, August 21st: 569,300

9 Rugby World Cup, Australia v Ireland, September 17th: 545,600

10 Six Nations, Ireland v France, February 13th: 544,100


Probably Dublin in any AI final is thee top game in Irish sport, the rest of the country tunes in to cheer on the other team

[BonnieShels]

GAA still rules with gold, silver and shares the bronze, who cares about the rest.

Those figures do look a bit questionable, the (WC rugby) Ireland v Italy had 15% more viewers than Ireland v Wales.

Those sports figures are for Men aged 15+ whilst the other figures are total audiences. I think there may be slightly more parity in the proper overall figures.

Interestingly the Friday night before Ireland-Wales was the game against Andorra in Andorra. I would say that that coupled with the fact that I knew a fair few people on the batter (such as myself) on that Friday could be a reason why less watched the Welsh game. Town, Dún Laoghaire and Bray were wedged that night.

[Charlie Darwin]

The ones that are reported directly from the tellybox unit in a representative sample of homes - it's where the official audience share stats come from. I'd have thought they'd have been released by now, or maybe just nobody's analysed them.

[BonnieShels]

Now that I think about it, the Ireland Wales game was played at 5 or 6 am.

Probably Dublin in any AI final is thee top game in Irish sport, the rest of the country tunes in to cheer on the other team

It does also help that there's a 1.5 million Dubs as well!

[elroy]

Yes, most certainly. It's a tiny ball, ya have a stick in your hand, ya have a fella coming at you with a stick and on top of that you have to sort out your feet and speed. I definitely think it's the most skillful of all the games. Mainly based on speed and reactions. I know very few hurlers that can't play football (soccer or GAA ) but know many footballers who can't play hurling.
That said, all sports are different and some people suit some sports more than others.

Regarding yesterday's rugby match I thought it was a great game and probably a draw was a fair result. Rob Kearney was sublime! Great to see us stick it up to the French in Paris (bit like Nov 2009 but we won't go into that )

Just have to agree to disagree on this, every entitled to their opinion. For me the fact u are restricted in football makes it a more technical game. In hurling, its easier to score, u have full use of ur arms and feet etc. Many people don't play hurling because it isn't as widespread or the main game at their club, a lot depends where u come from. Where Im from in cork the focus always was on football at our club, that wasn't because we could or could not play hurling, it was because success is measured in football terms not hurling. Its ironic that the gaa often goes on about the need to develop hurling, one of the greatest obstacles to this is their own clubs.


As for viewer ship figures, its been a good couple of yrs for the gaa with kk v tipp hurling finals and dubs doing well in football. This things often go in cycles but the Irish football team tend to have consistent pulling power. Even in rugby grand slam year it was no 1. The unattractive group this time round didn't help but there is little doubt qualification has generated a much needed general public interest and anticipation. Little doubt what will be no 1 this year

[tetsujin1979]

Interesting discussion on NewsTalk earlier about the France game at the weekend. Both the host, and studio pundit Shane Horgan praised Paul O'Connell for discussing Cian Healy's potential yellow card with the ref and changing his mind not to send Healy to the sin bin. Remind me of that the next time a rugby journalist criticises Robbie Keane for protesting to the ref for a tackle.

[Charlie Darwin]

If that was the Ireland soccer captain he would have rioted.

[cornflakes]

The RTE figures don't show the true figures for soccer in the country in my opinion, a lot of Irish people will watch matches on Sky Sports. I'm sure most will watch on RTE but a large amount probably watch on Sky while the gah is only on RTE and I'd imagine few will watch rugby on BBC or whatever channel show it

[elroy]

Interesting discussion on NewsTalk earlier about the France game at the weekend. Both the host, and studio pundit Shane Horgan praised Paul O'Connell for discussing Cian Healy's potential yellow card with the ref and changing his mind not to send Healy to the sin bin. Remind me of that the next time a rugby journalist criticises Robbie Keane for protesting to the ref for a tackle.

Heard the programme alright, the way they were talking ud swear we hammered France. Little mention of such a lead given away, no score in the 2nd half and the very poor line out. Maybe it simply is a case of how close the pundits are to the players but I find their analysis bizarre, particularly compared to football or Gaa. Whenever there is criticism, its usually tactically related rather than individual.