Rugby now more popular than football AND GAA?!

**backstothewall** · 19/06/2015, 5:50 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

radical change has been called for several times in the past but history has shown that the best changes are usually small. Football is miles better without the GK back pass and without brutal tackles from behind. But calls for bigger goals were rightly shot down. Sports evolve and go through phases. An attacking style might win out one year and then a defensive tactic will become common to negate it, so the attacking style evolves further. That's how it goes. Look how different WC14 was to WC10.

Rugby is a bit different. It's a sport where size counts so players are just getting bigger, to the detriment of their well being and, in my opinion, to the detriment of the game. Rugby laws change more frequently so the game adapts to the laws, often with unintended consequences, prompting more law changes. The 2007 RWC saw teams like Argentina master the kick and chase routine. It was more beneficial to pressurise an isolated opponent into releasing early than it was to try and work your way into territory.

I think you are completely right about small changes being best.

Rather than everyone packing it in and taking up 7s, or building GAA size pitches around the world for rugby, would there be anything to be said for going down to 14 a side (Probably doing away with the Number 8 position)?

**Stuttgart88** · 19/06/2015, 7:44 PM

Ive heard talk of (a) doing away with flankers and (b) reducing the number of tactical substitutions. (B) certainly would be an easy one to bring in without disrupting anything. The rationale is to do away with teams replacing whole front row units, making them depend more on their aerobic endurance during a game rather than anaerobic strength, and hence making the game a bit less attritional, at least in one area.

**tetsujin1979** · 19/06/2015, 8:04 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

radical change has been called for several times in the past but history has shown that the best changes are usually small. Football is miles better without the GK back pass and without brutal tackles from behind. But calls for bigger goals were rightly shot down. Sports evolve and go through phases. An attacking style might win out one year and then a defensive tactic will become common to negate it, so the attacking style evolves further. That's how it goes. Look how different WC14 was to WC10.

Rugby is a bit different. It's a sport where size counts so players are just getting bigger, to the detriment of their well being and, in my opinion, to the detriment of the game. Rugby laws change more frequently so the game adapts to the laws, often with unintended consequences, prompting more law changes. The 2007 RWC saw teams like Argentina master the kick and chase routine. It was more beneficial to pressurise an isolated opponent into releasing early than it was to try and work your way into territory.

I too think the box kick from the 9 is too prevalent in rugby these days, and I think Ireland over rely on this and the high corner kick. In my opinion possession is kicked away a little too frivolously in rugby, even if a team is good at retrieving the high ball. I do wonder, though, whether Schmidt has more in his tactical locker than he is letting on and if he is saving it for the RWC.

I thought during the six nations we were too reliant on Sexton's place kicking. We scored two tries in total against England, Wales and France, and one of those was a penalty try. If Sexton's kicking is off, or he gets injured, we may be looking at an early exit from the World Cup in September. I had a look at the wikipedia article for this year's six nations and it's even more damning that only one Irish player scored more than one try - Sean O'Brien with two! Italy finished bottom of the table, and they still had two players on two tries.
But that's a discussion for another thread.

**TheOneWhoKnocks** · 22/06/2015, 10:57 PM

Ciaran Deely combining coaching roles with QPR and London Gaelic footballers

http://www1.skysports.com/gaa/gaelic...ic-footballers

**paul_oshea** · 23/06/2015, 11:19 AM

It didnt do them much good.

**OwlsFan** · 25/06/2015, 11:08 AM

Anniversary of the peno shootout in Italia 90 today. Gift Grub's slant:

http://www.todayfm.com/player/podcas...a_90_25_Years_

It is interesting that the Charlton era started off in a bitterly cold day at Lansdowne where 14k gathered to watch a dismal game against Wales and a few years later, unless you were a block booker, you could forget about getting a ticket.

**Desyf** · 25/06/2015, 11:29 AM

I thought that Wales game was played elsewhere ?

**Stuttgart88** · 25/06/2015, 12:06 PM

Definitely Lansdowne. Aldo missed a penalty I think, and also hit the post. Nobody would have guessed it'd take him 19 more games to score.

Trivia question: who scored our first goal under Jack?

**DeLorean** · 25/06/2015, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by Desyf

I thought that Wales game was played elsewhere ?

I'm pretty sure we played them in the RDS at some stage in the early 90's, with the same scoreline. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

**BonnieShels** · 25/06/2015, 1:01 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Definitely Lansdowne. Aldo missed a penalty I think, and also hit the post. Nobody would have guessed it'd take him 19 more games to score.

Trivia question: who scored our first goal under Jack?

I was 2 and a half so there's no way I'd know so I checked.

As an addition... Who scored our first goal from general play under Jack?

**gspain01** · 25/06/2015, 1:19 PM

We played Wales a lot in the late 80's/early 90's.

Jack's first game was in Lansdowne in 1986 and we lost 1-0.
We played in the RDS in 1992 and lost 1-0 also.
We played in Lansdowne in 1990 and in Tolka in 1993 and away in Wrexham in 1991. We won all 3.

**OwlsFan** · 25/06/2015, 1:21 PM

Originally Posted by Stuttgart88

Definitely Lansdowne. Aldo missed a penalty I think, and also hit the post. Nobody would have guessed it'd take him 19 more games to score.

Trivia question: who scored our first goal under Jack?

I assume it was in the Uruguay game but I can't remember who scored. I'll have a guess at Cascarino.