QuoteJust about !Originally Posted by SkStu
Chokers just won the 6 Nations…
Just about !
A win is a win and also they dominated them SF…
I would say that teams have sort worked out how we play and know how to counter-act us ~ Scotland are something of a flake-y outfit ~ Against anyone but England at the moment.
Funny enough old Six Nations this year ~ All be it, entertaining enough.
Anyway we certainly are not as good as the Dublin media talk us up ~ I would say that South Africa, New Zealand, France with Dupont, and maybe even France in the right frame of mind, Perhaps England from now on are better than us ~ Certainly the first three of those, and maybe all four.
Certainly some of the present Irish panel are at the end or near it ~ It will be interesting to see if Farrell will be able to get the same or better replacements.
That’s a hot take. For example, we’ve coped fantastically with the loss of Sexton, arguably one of the greatest players of his generation. There’s a bit of a conveyor belt of Irish talent and that’s recognized broadly across the sport - and practically through the success of Irish underage teams. There’s many media pundits and former players from around the globe (not just Dublin media) that are talking about how Ireland are set to be at the top table for at least the next 5-10 years and how it’s down to how the system has been set up from top to bottom, the quality of coaching etc.
It’s one sport where we’re actually run really professionally, really well - in that it’s something we should be proud of.
The schools set up in Dublin with professional coaches feeding into the leinster academy and to a lessor extent the other provinces has us in a great position. The best young kids are being coached to a high level from junior Cup level at 14yrs old
Just won the home nations for the second year in a row.
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
West-Brit ( wink )
The Lions game against Argentina was a sell out. The stadium was a sea of red. There were huge queues outside the store in St Stephen's Green and thousands gathered outside the Shelbourne Hotel where the team was staying. Thousands came from the UK (including an English friend of mine who's mother had died two days before). I don't get the interest. Any psychologists out there who can put their finger on what the attraction is, especially for Irish people ?
Forget about the performance or entertainment. It's only the result that matters.
^^^^^
Something to be doing for People with money.
Something ( that they have done ) for them, to be telling the People they mix with !
Sure, isn't better than People going to war with one another, because they had too much time on their hands in the, summer / autumn, as often happened in Europe down through the centuries ! ! !
it didn't sell out until the week of the game itself, loads available before then. Can't speak to "thousands outside the Shelbourne" but a friend of mine did stop into the pop up shop on his lunch break one afternoon with no queues. Everything was overpriced, he just picked up a baseball cap.
I was at the game, sitting next to a guy from Newcastle and his grandson. There was definitely a novelty factor in the attendance. Like a lot of people, I'm unlikely to go on a Lions tour, and I'm pretty sure my chances of a call up are gone. FWIW I was wearing a Munster polo shirt, and there was a lot of Munster jerseys around me.
An estimated 40k Lions fans will be going to Oz for this tour. And on the basis that the great majority will be going for the full duration (no point in going that far for a week or two), and you add on the inflated prices of hotels, tickets and air fares etc, I don't expect many will have much change out of £10k.
That said, it would be very wrong to write them off as just wealthy, middle class bandwagoners etc, for if the first two descriptors generally fit, some will have been saving for four years for this. While all are very committed rugby fans. And on top of all that a tour like this has a tremendous social element to it - think of it as 6 or 7 long rugby weekends at Lansdown/Twickers/Murrayfield/Cardiff crammed into 35 days, with a few midweek games thrown in.
Which is where the Argentina game in Dublin comes in. For those who cannot afford the time or money to go to Oz, this will be at least a taste of the tour; while for the rest, it will be a nice little Starter before the Main Course.
Meanwhile however you look at it, none of this provides any evidence towards the proposition of this thread i.e. it cannot be taken to mean Rugby is now Ireland's second sport. Not even close in fact (imo).
P.S. I know some people who've been on Lions tours and/or are going on this one. And if I thought my bank balance and liver would stand it (they wouldn't!), I'd be tempted to join them - even if I never saw a ball kicked!
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