Accomplished Ireland stun Springboks-Rugby

[JoeSemi]

Alright P.M!!! Calm down, calm down.......... Still a minority sport with people of limited mobility and skill playing it I'm not into politics and don't want to compete with you on that count. As for the comment I made on the IRFU accomodating the FAI- it was takin out of context....... My mistake They are a very well run 'egg' organisation and if they hadn't been so generous maybe the FAI would have progressed quicker on the stadium issue. Thats not meant in a bad sense towards them, but towards the FAI. We'll settle this over a pint sum night. You'll have all the facts(very learned P.M that you are!) but what it boils down to is skill, and rugby is NOT as skiful a game as soccer or hurling for that matter....Don't be arguin for arguments sake P.M

[exile]

of course its a skillfull game maybe not as skillfull as hurling but skillfull all the same its takes years to perfect how to kick a rugby ball properly or even to throw it properly have you played rugby joe you because if you havnt you cant possibly know how much skill it takes to perfect these things

[JoeSemi]

Have to question 1 or 2 more things P.M. O'Driscoll will become a living legend in 1 or two countries as opposed to Damien Duff, Roy Keane(pains me to say) and past greats like Liam Brady and Ronnie Whelan; who are renowned on a global scale that dwarfs rugby's popularity. Must ask at this juncture, also, why these aforementioned rugby players are playing the oval ball game as opposed to the other sports you claim they were good at? Obviously weren't accomplished enough at other ball sports that require more technical ability. Did you see them play or are your opinions of their past exploits drawn from sum know-all journalist?!!

I personally don't think many Irish soccer players would swap what they have for what the egg boys have. Richard Dunne could be a front rower for his size alone, but has way too much ability for that in terms of skill. What other sportsmen spend half of a game up another man's h@le?!! Maybe sumo-wrestling if you want to make a realistic comparison.

Presume you've foregone your soccer tickets to now attend the game of the upper-classes? How you've changed your tune P.M...........!!!We'll have one after the match tomoro if your going? And I know what you'll say.........

[JoeSemi]

of course its a skillfull game maybe not as skillfull as hurling but skillfull all the same its takes years to perfect how to kick a rugby ball properly or even to throw it properly have you played rugby joe you because if you havnt you cant possibly know how much skill it takes to perfect these things

Yes exile but how many lads on a rugby team have that ability to kick a ball? I think you could count them on one hand. I played rugby for a spell when I was younger, but thankfully I gave it up to concentrate on football which I've done alright at. I can take the argument about people like O'Driscoll, Murphy and D'Arcy having skill and may have turned their hands to other sports, but don't give me the pish about the overweight lads being skillful

[Macy]

can take the argument about people like O'Driscoll, Murphy and D'Arcy having skill and may have turned their hands to other sports, but don't give me the pish about the overweight lads being skillful

Did you ever play front row? Just a different type of skill.... If the front 5 don't perform, the girly backs can't either.

[Dillo]

First of all Sligoman, what the hell are you thinking of bringing up the subject of 'rugby' on a football forum? Can't you see the controversy it has caused already. I'd say it was far from eggchasing you were reared down behind the Curlew Mountains!! More like the odd scrambled egg of a Sunday!

Was watching TV a few weeks back with my ten year old cousin (a football fantic) when some english rugby league appeared before our horrored eyes! Out of curiosity, I just asked him what he thought of rugby, he replied, "Sure what is only a big group of fat fellas jumping on top of each other!". Might be somewhat OTT, but it's easy to see where the gossin's coming from. We both agreed immediately to switch channels!

It really is bizarre.... the game that is eggchasing! I've yet to hear a better description (apart from my cousin's ) than JoeSemi's recent one- "Like a crowd of biafrans chasing a loaf of bread!". It sums it up for me and a vast majority of others. It is ludricious to say that rugby is a skilled game. Quite the opposite in fact. Brute, force, ignorance and bullthickness are 90% of the main ingredients required to succeed in this minimal skilled nonsense of a 'game'. Ask Homer sure...

I don't mean to be biased in my views, but to say Brian O' Driscoll or 'Drico' as the D4 knobs like to call him is a living legend is jumping the gun PM! JoeSemi refers to Irish football legends like Ronnie Whelan, Liam Brady and Paul McGrath who proved themselves on a global scale. Let's face it, there are only a handful of teams capable of winning the Rugby World Cup. It is a minority sport and will always be that way. The beautiful game is a worldwide sport, takes in a greater scope and demands a whole lot more for success.

PM (much more patriotic than I am) says the hairs stood on the back of his neck when he heard the anthemS!! We have one National Anthem in this country and it's called Amhrann na bhFiann. Ireland's Call was written to accomodate those other jumped-up cheeky orange mongrels who for long spells refused to sing our National Anthem. It's a disgrace and the like of it would not be tolerated in any other land.

til I die

[Macy]

First of all Sligoman, what the hell are you thinking of bringing up the subject of 'rugby' on a football forum?

Far more relevant than a bloody thread about hair products....

[Plastic Paddy]

rant rant rant

Ah, you're nothing but a cartoon bad boy, Dillo. Nice try. We know you like all manner of ball games. Even cricket.

PP

[Dillo]

Far more relevant than a bloody thread about hair products....

I wasn't the one who started the hair products craic. I did contribute though! Anyway give me hair products anyday ahead of egg!

[Macy]

Anyway give me hair products anyday ahead of egg!

There used to be some ponce in school that used to put egg white in his hair, if that's any help?

[Dillo]

There used to be some ponce in school that used to put egg white in his hair, if that's any help?

Believe it or not, they say egg is very good for washing your hair! I tried it once- that's as close as I came to playing rugby though, thank God! I don't eat eggs- boiled, scrambled or the like. Afraid I'd get salmonella. I'd chance the odd bit of an Easter egg but that'd be it! Bread Soda is also very good for washing your fiachla. All the latest toothpastes contain a lot of bread soda.

[JoeSemi]

Believe it or not, they say egg is very good for washing your hair! I tried it once- that's as close as I came to playing rugby though, thank God! I don't eat eggs- boiled, scrambled or the like. Afraid I'd get salmonella. I'd chance the odd bit of an Easter egg but that'd be it! Bread Soda is also very good for washing your fiachla. All the latest toothpastes contain a lot of bread soda.

Your on the ball now Dillo!

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

Have to disagree with JoeSemi and Dillo. A lot of your views are one-dimensional. Open yer eyes lads.
JoeSemi refers to rugby as a minority sport. Tell them that in Munster. It might be a minority sport wherever you come from but its mainstream in many places. I would go on to argue that rugby is just as popular if not more popular than soccer in this country. Last Saturday, 48,000 people packed into Lansdowne to watch a "friendly" test match against South Africa. Tuesday night, the Irish soccer team could only attract 32,000 to the same venue. This is nothing new. With the exception of games against the likes of Holland and Portugal in recent years, there has very rarely been a demand for tickets like there is for the rugby games.
Every week, the combined attendance at all League of Ireland games comes to a combined total of less than 20,000. Compare this to domestic rugby. Leinster had 13,250 people at their last Heineken Cup game. Munster could sell out all their games twice over. This does not even take into account the attendances that Connaught get. Therefore, it would appear that rugby has a bigger fanbase than soccer. Now JoeSemi, when you referred to rugby as a minority sport, maybe you were comparing it to GAA. If that is the case, then you are making a fair point. However, when compared to soccer in this country, rugby is far from a minority sport. Rugby is the sport with the finance, their own stadium, and they can afford to keep their players in Ireland. In contrast, soccer in this country has always been squabbling for the scraps at the table.
Also JoeSemi, you refer to "eggchasing" as a game for the "upper classes". Well, its far from upper class that I was reared. I don’t think this prohibits me from watching rugby. I even played it when I was younger and was treated better than any soccer or gaelic football team I played with. In Munster, it is viewed as the people's game. If as you suggest, people should be restricted to a certain sport on the basis of their class, then surely the working classes wouldn’t allow you to play soccer. I can support our soccer and rugby teams like any Irishman and be proud. Cast your inhibitions aside JoeSemi.
Maybe it is a case that you and Dillo just cant appreciate rugby for the sport that it is. Im the same with other sports. I couldn’t care less about hurling but I know it is a skilful sport. I know one lad who stayed at home from school one year to watch the cricket world cup. I couldn’t fathom his thinking. Like any other sport, rugby has lots of skill. I’ve already outlined the wonderful footballing ability of the Irish backline, who are defined by speed, kicking ability, and precision. However, as Macy pointed out, it is the forwards who build the platform for this array of skills. Paul O'Connell is a forward and quite possibly the greatest athlete in this country at the moment. There is far more to being a forward than size. Keith Wood played in the front row. He is a man that I would put alongside T.W. Tone and Michael Collins as the greatest man this country has ever produced. BTW, he also played minor hurling for Clare. His tearful interview after his final game against France last October was the television highlight of 2003 for me. He used to practice his line-out throws by spending hours on end throwing a ball at a goalpost from 12 yards. Many professional soccer players can’t even hit the goal form 12 yards. There is skill to most aspects of rugby. Like soccer, I accept that there are elements of the game that are less attractive.
As for the national anthem, I think Dillo said that a second national anthem would never be allowed to happen in another country. That is incorrect. It’s only a few years since the people of Yugoslavia booed their own anthem. They wanted it changed and they got what they wanted. I still love Amhran na bhFiann. It’s still played before games so I don’t see the problem. But we need to face facts that it is essentially a Nationalist anthem. We wouldn’t like if we were asked to listen to the Sash. Ireland's Call is more wholly acceptable to all people on our island. We need to accept that. With regard to patriotism, wasn’t it great to see the Irish players sing both anthems with gusto on Saturday. Sometimes I wish that the football team would do the same. Ironically, the Irish rugby team is probably the most Irish team of all. The overwhelming majority were born and bred in Ireland and earn their living here. The team exhibits all the attributes of a 32-county team that many people on this site feel should be the case with soccer.
Dillo stated that only a few teams can win the Rugby World Cup. Surely the same is true in football. Only 7 nations have ever won the football World Cup. Uruguay, with a population of just over 4 million may never win it again. The same handful of nations from 2 continents have always dominated. This never made it boring for the spectator. The Rugby World Cup only began in 1987. Four nations have already won it, from 3 different continents. That’s a higher level of productivity that the early years of the football World Cup. In a similar way, the Heineken European Cup has had a greater spread of success than the infant years of football’s European Cup which was dominated by Real Madrid. It is without argument that football is the universal game and always will be. However, rugby is showing signs of growing as a sport. Remember, the first football World Cup in 1930 only had 13 participants. The Rugby World Cup is probably the third biggest sporting event after the football equivalent and the Olympics.
As football fans, we should be grateful to rugby for the way that it has helped soccer. It has helped mould probably the two best wingers in the English Premiership over the past ten years. Ryan Giggs played as a winger in rugby, while Damien Duff operated as a full-back. I have no doubt that the lines of running both players learned as rugby players has helped them be the exciting footballers they are today.
So lads, I would ask ye to look beyond yer narrow minded views and appreciate the great sport that is Rugby football. Soccer is my number one game and I don’t feel that prohibits me from watching other sports.

[$Leon$]

couldn't have put it better myself. is it any wonder your leading a country

[Terry Phelan]

decant post..............

[exile]

great post jamican no arguing with that do you think and type at the same time my gf says men cant do 2 things at once

[tricky_colour]

great post jamacia I will read it propperly when I have more time!!
Must be the longest post ever!!

It was a great game at the end, SA looked destined to score (maybe)
I was out of my chair when an Irish fella picked up the ball and I knew
all we had to do was to kick it into touch to win

I never doubted the kicker would miss the stand

Keith Wood looked like he had tears in his eyes and his reaction
when we picked up the loose ball at the end was the same as mine

[Dillo]

Expertly put together PM! Doubt $Leon$ could have written better! But nothing and I mean nothing will ever change my outlook on "a crowd of biafrans chasing a loaf of bread!"

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

Last night I was lucky enough to be in attendance at Lansdowne Road for an excellent game of rugby between two of the top teams in the world at the moment. 21-19 proved to be a great win for Ireland aginst very tough opposition. The Argentinians humbled the French in Marseille one week earlier.

Ireland were not at their best last night as they struggled to get across the gain line and the Irish backs found the greasy conditions difficult at times. However, once again Ronan O'Gara came up trumps. His place kicking along with his tactical kicking was very assured. With serious doubts over the fitness of Jonny Wilkinson for next year's Lions Tour, the autumn internationals have surely put O'Gara ahead in the pecking order to replace him at out-half. Stephen Jones of Wales has lost the kicking duties to Gavin Henson, while Ollie Barkley is struggling to fill Wilkinson's boots with England.

All in all, its been a great couple of weeks for this Irish team. With so many world class players and such astute management in place, there's a strong chance that this season could yield a Six Nations Championship for Ireland. If we keep progressing at this rate and if the IRFU are willing to splash out and take Brian Carney from Rugby League to the domestic game, there's no reason why this Irish team cant win the World Cup in 2007.

Well done on an excellent year lads. Ye have brought sporting pride to the country.

[De Town]

.....Ollie Barkley is struggling to fill Wilkinson's boots with England.....

Its hard to struggle to fill Wilkos boots when he's not even playing