Rugby Etiquette

Cuchulain

Hi,

Being a recent follower of the Rugby Union (bandwagon stuff you may say), one thing has struck me as the most endearing thing about the beautiful game. Its the good manners displayed by players and fans. Referees are respected, players applaud each other at the end of the match and the fans behaviour always seems impeccable. I even have heard someone say that its a thugs game (alluding more the physical aspect of the game) played by gentlemen.

Anyway I was at Croker on Saturday and a man with his girlfriend/wife in front of me started shouting "beat the scum" in the 2nd half.

I didnt say much and shook my head in disbelief at his ignorance plus the fact there was a spattering of English supporters all around us.

I felt that it was quite out of context of rugby fans in general. Would I be correct in assuming this?
What would have been your reaction to this guy?

zAbbo

I noticed a lot of soccer style shouting, some of it disgraceful - both at the English and our players (mainly ROG)

Also noticed some animosity towards Northern Irish fans and players, again a real shame - but it was a minority.

Colm_OReilly

If you were in the Hogan, we just laughed at the guy.

On a related note, we'd a gentleman next to us who grumbled underneath his breath everytime a Munster player had the ball and took pains to tell me how it was all Leinster that day. Granted Brian was phenomenal with zero regard for his own body but I just thought it was laughable the level of deep seated hatred - and hatred is the only word for it - he had for Munster players.

Otacon

Cuchulain wrote: »

Being a recent follower of the Rugby Union (bandwagon stuff you may say), one thing has struck me as the most endearing thing about the beautiful game. Its the good manners displayed by players and fans. Referees are respected, players applaud each other at the end of the match and the fans behaviour always seems impeccable. I even have heard someone say that its a thugs game (alluding more the physical aspect of the game) played by gentlemen.

This is why I love the game of rugby. It epitomises what I like about sport in general. Passion, aggression and respect are the ideals, or at least should be, of any good sport.

I have said it before, but when i see/hear/read about the behaviour of some 'fans', it really gets on my nerves. I have no issues with supporting your province, so long as that goes hand in hand with supporting your country. I would never in a million years deride any Leinster player or fan during an international (or otherwise, I might add, but I am not an aggressive 'f*ck the other team' fan anyway, more of a supportive 'come on ROG!' fan). Unfortunately, all any self-respecting rugby fan can do these days is try to sing louder, and drown out the 'others'.

Cuchulain

Yes I was in the lower hogan. Im guessing these guys are somewhat new to rugby and dont understand the difference between rugby and other sports.

Heard alot of booing from Hill16 when Flood was taking his penalties also.

But I did enjoy the booing when Johnson showed his mug on the big screens

chupacabra

Sure you get that kind of behaviour in every sport thankfully not as much in rugby. In my experience the SH games have alot more of it than we have up here especially Super 14/Tri nations games between the Aussies and the Kiwi sides, no respect for the kicker whatsoever and the refs are put under serious pressure by the home fans. Matches in South Africa have a different atmosphere and mostly have nice family day out feel with a crispy braai in the car park and a lukewarm beer in the hand.

thomond2006

Cuchulain wrote: »

Hi,

Its the good manners displayed by players and fans. the fans behaviour always seems impeccable.

Not in France. :D:D:D

Thomond Park is the epitome of respectful Rugby grounds, would you agree??

bamboozle

Colm_OReilly wrote: »

If you were in the Hogan, we just laughed at the guy.

On a related note, we'd a gentleman next to us who grumbled underneath his breath everytime a Munster player had the ball and took pains to tell me how it was all Leinster that day. Granted Brian was phenomenal with zero regard for his own body but I just thought it was laughable the level of deep seated hatred - and hatred is the only word for it - he had for Munster players.

that fellow couldnt have been too pleased at the numerous Munster jerseys dotted round the stadium!

damselnat

I watched the match in a pub on Parnell St, not my usual place but we were late and it was the only place we could find where we had a decent view. However, I didn't feel very comfortable with the crowd at all. There was an awful lot of booing and shouting. I know it's not the same as being at the match, but in my exp even in a pub there's usually more respect for the opposition, whoever they may be, and the kickers. The respect and decorum of (most) players and fans is one of the things I like about rugby, and think it should be encouraged and pride taken in it. I don't know who this crowd were, if it was just their nature or just because it was England, but even so there is no call for drowning out a national anthem, heckling a player or booing a kicker (even in a pub!)

athtrasna

I think the respect is slowly seeping away. For the most part we still have it here, and at Murrayfield it was pretty calm for kicks too, Twickenham and Stade de France are very different beasts. The resident brass band would get into full swing when we take penalty/conversion kicks in Paris.

What I've loved about rugby since I was a teenager (sounding old now!) was the cameraderie between the supporters of the different teams, we all go to the pub after and reminisce, none of the argy bargy like you get with soccer games. I hope this aspect doesn't disappear, even in the high tension games the supporters get on for the most part, but there will always be a tiny element that are not quite so sporting.

Stev_o

athtrasna wrote: »

I think the respect is slowly seeping away. For the most part we still have it here, and at Murrayfield it was pretty calm for kicks too, Twickenham and Stade de France are very different beasts. The resident brass band would get into full swing when we take penalty/conversion kicks in Paris.

What I've loved about rugby since I was a teenager (sounding old now!) was the cameraderie between the supporters of the different teams, we all go to the pub after and reminisce, none of the argy bargy like you get with soccer games. I hope this aspect doesn't disappear, even in the high tension games the supporters get on for the most part, but there will always be a tiny element that are not quite so sporting.

I dunno why Twickers is as bad as it is considering that the general rugby grounds in England there is silence for the most during kicks. So then suddenly it goes into a racket then at Twickenham is just strange.

France is France and it ll never change it's just part of the game over there they need alot of a noise in a game no matter what, sure they won't shut up for their own kickers too.

eroo

thomond2006 wrote: »

Thomond Park is the epitome of respectful Rugby grounds, would you agree??

+1

Tefral

I have to say i HATE sport. I used to play hurling, soccer, Football. And the crap that goes on turned me off playing it from a younger age. However, about 2.5 years ago i spent time with crazed rugby fans. And i have been hooked ever since. The behaviour etc compared to other sports (IMO) is vastly superior. I felt it had clicked for once.

Based on this I have to wonder, the success of our teams in Rugby has created something to be proud of and alot of bandwagoners have now jumped on and maybe they dont know how it should be? I really hope it doesnt descent into Hatred etc. I am a munster fan having lived under the shadow of thomond park its hard not to.. and i now work in dublin and i have met people who support munster simply because its easier.. (everyone knows people like this, of course there are some dy hard fans up here too) and i think this syndrome has transposed into Rugby from other sports, except the good manners and decorum hasnt...

A situation i was in recently (munster V Connaught) in galway, my girlfriend and i were the only 2 munster fans amongst all the connaught fans and they gave us some ribbing, but it was friendly banter and they all patted us on the back when we lost. id love to see that in the english premiership...

jdivision

I think aside from soccer and GAA most sports are very respectful towards officials.

Noffles

Good thread....

The booing at the kickers has been on the increase everywhere and I see it's sadly really caught on in the millennium, this was pointed out a couple of seasons ago and was noted by the WRU... I now see there have been no such notes taken by the WRU and this is basically the way it'll be!

I also read a disappointing article about racist abuse coming from some Ospreys fans at some black players... very sad to read but hopefully was dealt with...

Would HATE to see anything near the b*llox that goes on in football...

Heroditas

athtrasna wrote: »

but there will always be a tiny element that are not quite so sporting.

AKA "the Welsh" :pac:

RichTea

Yep, the respect of rugby fans seems to be dwindling. As someone said it's still there at places like Thomond Park (and the RDS and Donnybrook too, not at all at Ravenhill and theres no one in Galway to boo :pac:).

The New Zealand media were amazed at the hush during kicks and the respect for the Haka at Thomond. It's good to see it kept up in some areas.

Irish international games have always been a bit of a mixed bag. Tickets don't seem to be going to alot of genuine rugby fans and the booing and lack of respect on show is, at times, quite appalling.

Rugby fans have a reputation to live up to. Let's keep it that way!

Crash

No winding up our token welsh man, its not fair, we outnumber him

edit: the RDS is getting better actually - there was a period a year or two ago, when a lot more new fans started coming, that the silence for kicks was getting broken by a few eejits, but lately its been excellent.

Micky Dolenz

chupacabra wrote: »

Sure you get that kind of behaviour in every sport thankfully not as much in rugby. In my experience the SH games have alot more of it than we have up here especially Super 14/Tri nations games between the Aussies and the Kiwi sides, no respect for the kicker whatsoever and the refs are put under serious pressure by the home fans. Matches in South Africa have a different atmosphere and mostly have nice family day out feel with a crispy braai in the car park and a lukewarm beer in the hand.

I agree about the Aussies and NZ. I went to quite a few Super 14 games and was stunned by the crowd reaction to players and other supporters. There is real haterd among some of them.

Micky Dolenz

On the Thomond park thing, when I was a kid my ould man would bring me, It anybody made noise(normally young lads) during a kick they would get a clip around the ear from people standing beside them.

The thing I find funny is when drinking in pubs in Limerick watching a game, the pub will almost fall silent when a kicker is lining up.

skinnyfatman

have to say i agree with pretty much everything being said. I think a full silence is nearly as off putting as a bunch of idiots shouting at the kicker! When we played engerland back in 05, there was no noise made when England was kicking at all. was incredible!!

kdp99

Saw a wonderful example of rugby etiquete. Sadly (for an Englishman) we were at Lansdown for the blown 'foot and mouth delayed' grand slam game back in Oct 01. Our white shirts a small blip in a sea of green.

When our final attack failed and the whistle blew the Irish all around us went mad, the bloke in front of us danced up and down in delight. He accidently stamped on my wife's foot. He then stopped his celebrations, made profuse appologies, shook hands, then continued his jig of joy.

Exactly what our game is about.

skinnyfatman

We met 4 English blokes beofre said 05 game in a pub close to Landsdowne. after chatting to the group we told them we'd see them in the Quays bar and they could buy us a bottle of champagne when we won ( we sounded more confident than we were) 2 hours after we left Landsdowne i was standing there watching the Kilkenny vs Galway hurling match when a cork flew by my ear (i nearly pooped myself) but there were 4 English men with the bottle of champers in hand. We had a great night and stayed drinking with them all day!

Tim Robbins

Cuchulain wrote: »

Hi,

Being a recent follower of the Rugby Union (bandwagon stuff you may say), one thing has struck me as the most endearing thing about the beautiful game. Its the good manners displayed by players and fans. Referees are respected, players applaud each other at the end of the match and the fans behaviour always seems impeccable. I even have heard someone say that its a thugs game (alluding more the physical aspect of the game) played by gentlemen.

Try reffing a J4 match. Or any youth's match with parents at it.

Anyway I was at Croker on Saturday and a man with his girlfriend/wife in front of me started shouting "beat the scum" in the 2nd half.
...

I felt that it was quite out of context of rugby fans in general. Would I be correct in assuming this?

No. Many Rugby fans shout stupid things right through the game. I've heard Leinster fans do it and Munster fans lambast Denis Hickie, BOD etc.

And of course, people 70M away think they know better that a player isn't releasing the ball, then the ref who is 1 meter away and has a better understanding of the game.

It's called irrationalism.

Webbs

RichTea wrote: »

Yep, the respect of rugby fans seems to be dwindling. As someone said it's still there at places like Thomond Park (and the RDS and Donnybrook too, not at all at Ravenhill and theres no one in Galway to boo :pac:).

The New Zealand media were amazed at the hush during kicks and the respect for the Haka at Thomond. It's good to see it kept up in some areas.

Irish international games have always been a bit of a mixed bag. Tickets don't seem to be going to alot of genuine rugby fans and the booing and lack of respect on show is, at times, quite appalling.

Rugby fans have a reputation to live up to. Let's keep it that way!

I think that the silence that is at Thomond for kickers is great but I really dont subscribe to this thing that it means they have more respect!
In France they give the kickers hell yet when I have been there the fans are equally as knowledgable and respectful of good play, yet consider themselves to be the 16th man.
Why at thomond if an opposing full back is under a high ball is there a whole chorus of catcalls and jeers etc, whats the difference?
If the crowd is one where silence is the norm then great but too be honest I would rather give whistles, jeers whatever you want to call it etc (not booing I might add)

dub_skav

Webbs wrote: »

I think that the silence that is at Thomond for kickers is great but I really dont subscribe to this thing that it means they have more respect!
In France they give the kickers hell yet when I have been there the fans are equally as knowledgable and respectful of good play, yet consider themselves to be the 16th man.
Why at thomond if an opposing full back is under a high ball is there a whole chorus of catcalls and jeers etc, whats the difference?
If the crowd is one where silence is the norm then great but too be honest I would rather give whistles, jeers whatever you want to call it etc (not booing I might add)

Well said. I think the camaraderie between opposing fans is far more important than lambasting people for partaking in pantomime booing or whistling.

The tradition of silence in Thomond is no more than that - a tradition. It signals no more or less respect for the opposition than the French crowds.

Micky Dolenz

Webbs wrote: »

Why at thomond if an opposing full back is under a high ball is there a whole chorus of catcalls and jeers etc, whats the difference?

To be fair, it is the same whichever team kicks a Garryowen, regardless if it's the home or away side.