Irish rugby in 10 years time

Gelio

what will irish rugby be like this time 10 years on?
Are we investing enough in the youth?
What is the training in secondry schools like?
Will there be any sort of diving/playing up to the ref, like in soccer?

siochain

can't comment on the whole county, my local club has hugh numbers for each under age section, the u8's to u16's have upto 30-40 each to select from.

siochain

ajeffares wrote: »

Will there be any sort of diving/playing up to the ref, like in soccer?

i doubt it very much unless the change the rules.

timmywex

as far as i can see, im under 16 at the mo, in my area, there is the local teams, then a south east team, a south leinster and then leinster, following that theres a ireland.

So plenty of teams, and players seem to be doing well at the trainings aswell!

damnyanks

It should be ok. The last few years have been great which in turn gets kids more interested in the sport. The next 4 years will have a big impact. If we dont improve people will lose interest so less will take up the game.

Given the FAI is also doing terribly they;ll all go off to the GAA. In turn this will cause the man who owns copper faced jacks to grow his empire to include 5 more copper face jacks.

This overall will be good for Ireland as we will have far more gardai , teachers and nurses.

Blisterman

I must say, looking at the Leinster Schools Senior Cup, this year. The standard is much higher than I remember it being, even four years ago. I'll take this as a good sign for the future.
It might be tough for a couple of years, as ROG and BOD, start to decline, as we don't have that many good players aged 23-26 or so.

toomevara

Following the Irish rugby league teams unprecedented victory at the 2008 RL world cup in OZ, the game goes nuclear in Ireland...the Munster Reds and the Leinster Lions become successful members of the newly expanded Super league competition, regularly playing to packed houses at Thomond and the RDS which they share with their union Brethren....

The 2015 RL grand final between the Munster Reds and the Leeds Rhinos is played in front of 80,000 at Croke park. It is widely acknowledged as one of the best games of league in the modern era. Munster Reds earn a hard fought 20-16 victory.

Tired of the inadequacies of the union national team BOD switches codes and becomes Leinster lions captain and is recognised after, a 5 year career, as on of the greatest centres ever to play the 13 man game. He goes on to successfully coach St.Helens and becomes the first Irish man to manage the British and Irish RL Lions in a whitewash of the Aussies and Kiwis in the 2018 tri-nation series.....

The republic of Ireland becomes a hotbed of league and after the unification of ireland in 2015, even the Union holdouts of Ulster convert to the purer code. The inaugural rugby league 5 nations competition is launched in 2018. The Wolfhounds emerge victorious subduing the English at a nail biting winner takes all game in Manchester's Old Trafford stadium.....

Hey..stranger things have happened....

Tim Robbins

ajeffares wrote: »

what will irish rugby be like this time 10 years on?
Are we investing enough in the youth?
What is the training in secondry schools like?
Will there be any sort of diving/playing up to the ref, like in soccer?

I would say things are about 20% better at grass roots than they were ten years ago. But there's still a huge room for improvement.

However, senior club level, things are about 50% - 80% worse.

The senior game needs to be seriously rejigged before clubs start going bankrupt.

Stev_o

Development of underage rugby in clubs should be continued to be invested in as they have started to do. A promotion like "Go play rugby" should really really be done to get even more interest in the game and get more players on the field.

Sort out the AIL the amount of money clubs are spending is ridiculously high.

More effort in finding talent also lets not go for the schools only approach for the rest of the future or numbers will dwindle

Gelio

If rugby 7s gets into the Olympics it could have good results all over the world. Asias and americas teams could all improve.

[Jackass]

At the moment if you look at players establishing themselves now who will be around long term i.e. 7,8,9 years there's Fitzgerald, Kearney, Heaslip, Sexton, O'Connor, Earls, Healy, Caldwell - then there is the entire U-20s grand slam winning team coming through their respective academy so the future should be bright.

I don't know much about the extended squads at other teams, butas development / established team, Leinster are producing some very exciting talent all over the park, and I'm sure it's no different at the other provinces.

1. Hagan
2. Sweeney
3. Healy
4. McInerney
5. Toner
6. Murphy
7. O'Brien (said to be putting Jennings under pressure for 7 this season already - Gaffney called him "a superb talent")
8. Heaslip
9. O'Donohoe
10. Sexton
11. Fitzgerald
12. O'Malley
13. Keatley (presuming he comes back from his "loan" at Connacht)
14. Carr (presuming he comes back from his "loan" at Connacht)
15. Kearney

That entire pack played in Irelands U20 grand slam with the exception of Toner, Murphy and Heaslip, plus there are one or two other props from that squad in the academy. And also Dave Kearney, Robs brother, who's highly rated. Some of those players have been raved about from the Leinster camp, some wont make it, but with all the provinces able to produce teams of great promise from their youth development system (with the exception of Connacht) I think the future is as bright as ever in Irish rugby.

Plus when you factor in that our domestic game is thriving financially and in European competition with Munster doing so well and 3 of the provinces being able to attract world class players (SA world cup winners brought to Leinster & Ulster, Howlet at Munster etc. etc.) we shouls be able to maintain our competetiveness as financially, we amongst the securist in European or even world rugby and with our youth players playing at the highest level, that can only be good for our national game.

The main threat to rugby survival over here is the ML being undermined. Llanelli and Ospreys will see any anglo-welsh competition as their primary domestic competition and if you listen to their fans, Munster only care about 1 thing, HEC, so that is 3 teams undermining it and a collapse in the domestic game will kill our rugby.

You can't survive on the revenue generated from 1 cup competition a year and if a team was to go out in the QF, then that is 7 games in total in an entire season. possibly only 3 at home. the revenue from 3 or 4 home games a year wont pay for much.

Gelio

I think the quality of rugby at under age is improving. For example most past v present matches (if taken seriously ) are won by the present team.

aerplane

would declan kidney still be coach or are there any good young coaches coming through.

Serenity Now!

toomevara wrote: »

Hey..stranger things have happened....

You are feckin' nuts, toomevara

Sandwich

I think we'll have some serious thinking to do:

The big question will be what to do about the dearth of talent to replace the double world cup winning Platinum Generation. Ugly war of words carried out in the press between fans, pundits and the IRFU as Ireland loose to New Zealand in Wellington. Loosing was just not contemplated and the fans feel cheated after 6 years of bossing around the Southern Hemisphere teams. Had it been Italy, our only real competition internationally, it might have been accepted. But New Zealand! They're only the 3rd best team in the world ffs! Time for heads to roll. Who ever said Trevor Brennan was an international standard coach capable of maintaining our position at the top of world rugby? Now the chickens are coming home to roost as the IRFU failed to invest in the clubs, spending their bounty on yet another stadium. In Athlone. 82000 seater. Most of the clubs have gone under, with only Bruff now flying the club flag from Munster in the All British Isles League. (Remember Shannon anyone ?. Cork Con ? (its a nice ice rink now)). Our only hope is to plunder Granny rule players from the USA, favourites to peak in Chile at the World Cup and take the trophy from us.

toomevara

Serenity Now! wrote: »

You are feckin' nuts, toomevara

We'll see about that...oh yes, yes, we will..*cackle, gibber*