Well done Tets. Player supply doesn't appear to be that much of an issue for FAI if recent selections are any evidence in all age groups - although there were a fair few U.K. born in one XI last week. Rugby folk just can't help themselves sometimes. They just can't praise themselves without criticising other sports. The comments on Francis' article Twitter, many from rugby fans, were very critical of the article.Originally Posted by tetsujin1979
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 31/03/2018 at 10:56 AM.
The latest from RTE's Facebook page:
And the article itself, which says that football is actually declining in numbers:⚽ Soccer remains the most popular competitive team sport in Ireland by participation, with Gaelic football eighth and hurling/camogie 12th. Rugby doesn't feature in the top 12. �� The gym, swimming, running and cycling took the top four spots.
https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2018...laying-soccer/There has been a significant drop in the numbers of young men playing soccer in Ireland, according to a Sport Ireland report into participation levels in sport across the country.
The 2017 Irish Sport Monitor found that 22.6% of males between the ages of 16 and 19 are playing soccer compared to a figure of 30.7% in 2015, a drop of 8.1%.
Being honest, that study is quite worrying across the board.
While it's good that younger people are doing individual sports for their fitness, i think it is much nicer seeing them playing team sports. Whether it's rugby, gaa or football, team sports are great for community spirit.
We play football on a monday lunch time in our work and the under 35s barely want to know, while some lads well into their 60s are loving it. Nearly any of them have ever played in teams but they love their weights.
You could do with tidying up that last sentence . I think your saying the young lads love their weights but have never played in team sports .
FWIW, my experience would be (broadly) along the same lines. In my last job, we used to have a regular kickabout on a Thursday evening after work. Depending on the weather, time of year, etc, it could be anything from 5-a-side to a full 11-a-side game. I heard about a year ago that the game has ended, and there's nothing like it in my current company.
I go to the gym near my office about twice a week, usually after work but sometimes at lunch. There's a secondary school nearby and I have noticed that, at lunchtime, there are some schoolkids using the gym. I think they're restricted in the times they can use it though.
As long as they're doing something sporty. Rather than stuck on a games console or phone.
Gym and running seem to growing in popularity among young lads in my area.
I coach a 19's team and get it hard to get players. The move to summer soccer won't help me at all. It's bad enough as it is with a crossover period.
Interesting. But the way the Leinster conveyor belt is functioning it takes a lot less time for an under 20 rugby player to break into a senior side (Leinster) than it will an under 17. If we want to consider the tangible impact on senior sides which might not be the Crux of the debate or the point that would or would not prove out.
I think he just meant the TV ratings.
Ok. Sorry for adding context.
Even though I am born and bred in Dublin, and I support/follow/watch Irish teams in pretty much most sports, the Leinster win left me cold. Little or no interest in it primarily because I have met so many Leinster fans over the years and, well how can I put this, they express surprise that I follow football rather than rugby (I am in the legal profession). There is such a snob culture attached to rugby in many (not all) parts of Leinster, Dublin primarily. These guys I know have never played the sport in their life but there is cache in being a Leinster supporter. They remind me of that idiot who was interviewed on RTE on the way back from the cancelled Ireland v France rugby match a few years back and said there was no trouble "but imagine if it had been a soccer match !!". I would be interested in the Irish rugby team because it's Ireland. However, for the reasons above, rugby will never become the people's sport despite what Francis might say.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
this was in the IT by Matt Williams after the 2012 France V Ireland 6N match was called off due to a frozen pitch...
"The crowd went to leave the stadium only to find the train station overflowing. So we had few trains, thousands of people out in the open air, all very unhappy, and it was minus eight degrees.
If that was an international soccer crowd, there would have been a riot.
The rugby people, well, we all went for a pint.
In the aftermath of the worst managed sporting event I have every witnessed, there came a dazzling beacon of hope. The rugby people, both French and Irish, were simply sensational. They were patient, well-mannered and filled with an infectious good-natured spirit."
Rugby snobbery at its very worst.
I wrote a letter to the IT letters page making specific reference to the fact that our behaviour was perfect in the very same stadium in 09 despite the most scandalous cheating incident I have ever witnessed at a sporting event. it wasn't published!
Last edited by jbyrne; 14/05/2018 at 4:14 PM.
This is well put. I was turned off of rugby a long time ago by the attitude of some (if not many) of their supporters. In addition, I suspect that there will be further developments on the impact that concussions will have on rugby as a sport. As more information comes in on the impact that playing rugby has on young men's brains I do think there will be a falling off in both participation and viewership.
There is no such thing as a miracle cure, a free lunch or a humble opinion.
I work in finance. The clear assumption that you follow rugby drives me nuts. I used to be in an international Irish business networking group. That was the worst. You'd get emails "Come to X pub to watch London Irish v Connaught in a non-entity of a match" on the same night Ireland would have a WC qualifier.
Last edited by Stuttgart88; 15/05/2018 at 11:20 AM.
I remember that well. A guy from Meath had a great letter published. was yours published? I wrote one too, after Poland vs England in Warsaw was called off at less than an hour's notice. Something like, Sir, last night Poland vs England was postponed at short notice due to bad weather. I hope your columnist Matt Williams took note". It wasn't published though!
no, wasn't published. It was along the same lines as the one that was published but I also mentioned irish fans being peed on in Turkey in 91 and not rioting so maybe the editor didn't like the coarse reference!
Maybe the editor is one of those guys who actually likes being peed on? Like Donald Trump.
Didn't Shane Horgan make a similar statement at the time? Could be wrong.
Smacks of some sort of insecurity from the Rugby crowd . I suppose the money in football rattles them a bit even though the money in football is a well “ grotesque "
Yes, he did.
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