Not a great turnout in RDS for Leinster

Tim Robbins

Well doesn't look like too many people were in the RDS. I think it's a bit sad when there is a great Irish achievement and it's not really celebrated as such.

I appreciate there's a state funeral on; Barok Obama is coming into town tomorrow and a big game on Saturday - but still... Are we taking this amazing team, comeback and achievement for granted? Are RTE not supporting the team as much as they should be?

What does anyone else think?

Quint2010

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Well doesn't look like too many people were in the RDS. I think it's a bit sad when there is a great Irish achievement and it's not really celebrated as such.

I appreciate there's a state funeral on; Barok Obama is coming into town tomorrow and a big game on Saturday - but still... Are we taking this amazing team, comeback and achievement for granted? Are RTE not supporting the team as much as they should be?

What does anyone else think?

I think people were either too hungover to go (I know I was) or still in Cardiff.

PhatPiggins

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Well doesn't look like too many people were in the RDS. I think it's a bit sad when there is a great Irish achievement and it's not really celebrated as such.

I appreciate there's a state funeral on; Barok Obama is coming into town tomorrow and a big game on Saturday - but still... Are we taking this amazing team, comeback and achievement for granted? Are RTE not supporting the team as much as they should be?

What does anyone else think?

Did you go?

danthefan

Tim Robbins wrote: »

Well doesn't look like too many people were in the RDS. I think it's a bit sad when there is a great Irish achievement and it's not really celebrated as such.

I appreciate there's a state funeral on; Barok Obama is coming into town tomorrow and a big game on Saturday - but still... Are we taking this amazing team, comeback and achievement for granted? Are RTE not supporting the team as much as they should be?

What does anyone else think?

Ehhh, what?

People were clearly still in Cardiff or on their way home.

Aidric

I saw the report on the RTE website just now and it was a fairly pathetic turnout, looked like a few hundred.

I remember being at the Munster homecoming in 2006 when an open topped bus drove through the streets of Limerick, lined with thousands of supporters braving crappy weather.

Sundy

Aidric wrote: »

I saw the report on the RTE website just now and it was a fairly pathetic turnout, looked like a few hundred.

I remember being at the Munster homecoming in 2006 when an open topped bus drove through the streets of Limerick, lined with thousands of supporters braving crappy weather.

Same supporters who couldnt make it our to a semi final last week?

Things like this never do that well in leinster and we wont pretend otherwise.

CIARAN_BOYLE

Aidric wrote: »

I saw the report on the RTE website just now and it was a fairly pathetic turnout, looked like a few hundred.

I remember being at the Munster homecoming in 2006 when an open topped bus drove through the streets of Limerick, lined with thousands of supporters braving crappy weather.

Leinster website claims over 5,500 turned up at the RDS, wouldn't call that pathetic

Tim Robbins

I didn't go. But I didn't even hear anything about it. That's what I am saying RTE could have hyped them up a bit. They barely even make the news and they are after winning a heineken cup in the most spectacular fashion.

Me thinks some big wigs in RTE have red goggles :-)

They have always been hyping Munster up getting airport shots even when Munster lose finals.

Seriously I am not bitter :-)

I think RTE have put the brakes on how much hype the give the Heino since they lost the rights to it.

chris85

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Leinster website claims over 5,500 turned up at the RDS, wouldn't call that pathetic

+1 great turn out.

I would have went but at that time I was driving across Wales to get a ferry home following being at the game. A lot of people said the same.

TheHighRoad

Aidric wrote: »

I saw the report on the RTE website just now and it was a fairly pathetic turnout, looked like a few hundred.

I remember being at the Munster homecoming in 2006 when an open topped bus drove through the streets of Limerick, lined with thousands of supporters braving crappy weather.

But in fairness they did the same in Munster when Crystal Swing came back from doing the Ellen Degeneres show in the US.

durkadurka

Let's look at the 400k who paid to watch Leinster play this season maybe?

P_1

In fairness that is a decent turnout given the fact that the majority of the people who would normally have gone to it were probably halfway across the Irish Sea.

Would have loved to have gone myself but sadly the chopper to pick me up off the ferry failed to materialise.;)

Aidric

CIARAN_BOYLE wrote: »

Leinster website claims over 5,500 turned up at the RDS, wouldn't call that pathetic

I was only commenting on how it looked from the RTE report. Still fairly low all the same.

Reloc8

pithater1 wrote: »

In fairness that is a decent turnout given the fact that the majority of the people who would normally have gone to it were probably halfway across the Irish Sea.

Would have loved to have gone myself but sadly the chopper to pick me up off the ferry failed to materialise.;)

Exactly - I'd love to have gone but have just arrived home from the game like 90% of the people who were at it.

crisco10

I was still trying to get home from Cardiff!!!

ktulu123

I was at it and thought the turn out was great. Bigger than last time anyway. The figure of 5500 is acurate i'd say.

Michael Corcoran was the mc and he was woefull!! He was asking the players stupid questions and there were loads of silences when he was trying to think up of a question. The least he could of done is prepare a few.

The players in fairness to them were great, thanking the fans and the support. Sexto got alot of stick about the half time speech, seems Joe Schmidt is now the assistant coach and johnny is a player coach.

Drico also said the cup is now called the "Johnny Sexton Cup"

The lads stayed around for ages signing autographs and getting pictures taken.

Morf

I went. Seemed to be lots and lots of families there. I reckon a large part of the travelling support were still in transit or just back and wrecked.

Good occasion and a good turnout considering.

Phonehead

One thing this win has really brought out, a growing number of people claiming to be munster fans making very surprising remarks.

I grew up with, and always harboured that rugby ethos of mutual respect. Having read a Munster rugby forum I am really surprised, I'm not going near the Leinster one for fear of seeing the same stuff being pedaled from the other side.

If it's a rivalry of hate people want, then surely they should follow one the Association football teams.

ktulu123

Morf wrote: »

I reckon a large part of the travelling support were still in transit or just back and wrecked.

Yeah there were only a few of us cheering when asked who was at Cardiff, took bloody ages to get back! We were stuck in some sort of bus holding pattern place before we could get to the airport!

Clareman

I heard there were a lot of communions/confirmations/christenings/weddings on

tolosenc

My flight landed at like 3pm. Am I excused?

irishbucsfan

I was still on the way home.

The prelims of the LSFC were on. There was a state funeral on. It was the final day of the premiership season.

Let's stop being ridiculous here.

You're all having a laugh, it was jammed.

It was an event for the people who couldn't travel. And considering that Leinster have appealed hugely to families this year it was dominated by adults and their kids.

The weather was atrocious, torrential rain one minute and baking hot the next.

Easily 5k people there, which, considering that we had issues getting "around" the policing of the State Funeral and also the short notice and timing issues, was excellent.

Sexton got a serious ribbing from all the squad, Wright did a dance, and Hines seemed fairly choked up by it all.

The lad presenting was a goon though.

Profiler

tolosenc wrote: »

My flight landed at like 3pm. Am I excused?

No, to the Brave and Faithful the laws of space-time continuum do not apply.

Seriously, what next for the Leinster haters?

Should Leinster win the Double, I can't wait to hear the parochial rubbish that gets spouted.

The good news from all of this is that should anything happen to Stephen Jones then The Times will be able to find plenty of haters to replace him.

I Look forward to headlines like "Why Keith Earls is a better option as Prop than Mike Ross" :rolleyes:

Teferi

I thought the turn out was grand. Enjoyed the banter between the team. The chap who was presenting was an awful eejit. Sexton got absolutely ruined. Would have liked a stand for the Heineken Cup in centre stage. They just placed it on the ground and made it hard to see. The weather was a disaster before the lads came out. Overall I really enjoyed it. Hopefully we'll be doing the same again next week.

zachler

Just like to point out that, around the same time as the RDS were welcoming the European Rugby Cup Champions home with a crowd of "hundreds" (RTE) or "5,500" (Leinster Rugby), the Red Bull 'Flugtag' in Dun Laoghaire, just a few miles down the Dart tracks (where people were throwing themselves of a pier) attracted at least 40,000 people. Bizarre!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0523/1224297548182.html

wixfjord

One stupid thread, added to by a few who just want to find any way to begrudge the mighty Blues!

What about the 40,000 or so who were making their way back from Cardiff, or too hungover and wrecked to head up to Dublin, or the hundreds of thousands of others who had events on yesterday.

Jaysus 5,500 is a great turn out.

wixfjord

Aidric wrote: »

I saw the report on the RTE website just now and it was a fairly pathetic turnout, looked like a few hundred.

I remember being at the Munster homecoming in 2006 when an open topped bus drove through the streets of Limerick, lined with thousands of supporters braving crappy weather.

:pac:
Tough weekend Aidric was it?!

peterako

Seems to be an ABL forming (Anything But Leinster)....

From Hookie (have you heard how much he's talkied down the team?) to numerous posters on this forum.

The story of Ireland? (.....united we don't stand....)

TheHighRoad

zachler wrote: »

Just like to point out that, around the same time as the RDS were welcoming the European Rugby Cup Champions home with a crowd of hundreds (RTE) or 5,500 (Leinster Rugby), the Red Bull 'Flugtag' in Dun Laoghaire, just a few miles down the Dart tracks (where people were throwing themselves of a pier) attracted at least 40,000 people. Bizarre!

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0523/1224297548182.html

No suprise there, the Red Bull Flugtag would attract not just people from Dublin or Leinster but people from across Ireland and even the world too.

phog

Cant understand the need for a thread like this, fans are fans, whenever they turn out it's a good thing.

One of the problems for fans that dont do the one day trip to a final is that you miss the home coming should your team be lucky enough to win.

justsomebloke

would have loved to have gone but as I'm only home an hour after being at the match.

The other problem is that most people are putting of going to see Leinster till we have both cups next week;):D

Lustrum

The couple of thousand of us on the ferry back from Pembroke to Rosslare yesterday afternoon had our own celebration, there was plenty of cheering and egging the lads on even though we were watching the re-run of the match we had all been at the previous day!

I'll do my own welcome home for them in Thomand on Saturday

norrie rugger

I could not understand why they do these events, when tens of thousands of people are still travelling home.
Would have thought that tonight would have made more sense.

P.S. Don't feed the trolls. I have seen nothing but comments of appreciation from real Munster fans. Being from Cork I expected there to be a lot of Leinster bashing, amongst my friends and on my Facebook, but the manner of the victory has made everyone I know accept that it was a deserved victory and something to celebrate.

gcgirl

Sometimes people have things planed, birthdays and what ever and 24 hours notice is a bit short notice, i was there back in 09 but like ever year my sons birthday falls on the heino final and i had to do the usual day out **** yesterday and we were no where near Dublin.

bamboozle

Tim Robbins wrote: »

I didn't go. But I didn't even hear anything about it. That's what I am saying RTE could have hyped them up a bit. They barely even make the news and they are after winning a heineken cup in the most spectacular fashion.

Me thinks some big wigs in RTE have red goggles :-)

They have always been hyping Munster up getting airport shots even when Munster lose finals.

Seriously I am not bitter :-)

I think RTE have put the brakes on how much hype the give the Heino since they lost the rights to it.

Leinster win the HC final in greatest of comebacks, yesterday evenings 9 O Clock news ran the sports bulletin in the following order GAA, Premiership results, Horse racing, Cycling, Leinster HC Homecoming...thanks RTE, as usual you have your finger on the pulse of the nation.

MIRMIR82

I am a munster fan- i watched the match in a munster pub - ABSOLUTELY NO BEGRUDGERY there - we were shouting for Leinster as much as we would have been shouting for Munster- Blues fans enjoy your win and dont dwell on the few ar$eholes that ruin for everyone!!!

tipptom

MIRMIR82 wrote: »

I am a munster fan- i watched the match in a munster pub - ABSOLUTELY NO BEGRUDGERY there - we were shouting for Leinster as much as we would have been shouting for Munster- Blues fans enjoy your win and dont dwell on the few ar$eholes that ruin for everyone!!!

+1,i watched in a munster pub and they were just as down in the first half and excited in the second as if Munster was playing.

Tim Robbins

bamboozle wrote: »

Leinster win the HC final in greatest of comebacks, yesterday evenings 9 O Clock news ran the sports bulletin in the following order GAA, Premiership results, Horse racing, Cycling, Leinster HC Homecoming...thanks RTE, as usual you have your finger on the pulse of the nation.

This is exactly what I am talking about. They did the exact same for the 6.00 news. And they made no mention on the highlights program about the celebration in the RDS. They did the same in '09. When Munster won, they gave them huge plugs and had live footage of the celebrations in Limerick and in Cork. They even had video footage of them in the airport. Every time a county wins an All Ireland they show the team coming home and the celebration.

Also, I was expecting a little video piece of at least all the tries and magic moments of the year from the heineken cup for Leinster. The kind of thing you'd expect at the end of a great year.

It's all about capturing excitement and special moments. RTE are more interested in Ryan Tubirdy's band!

Tim Robbins

gcgirl wrote: »

Sometimes people have things planed, birthdays and what ever and 24 hours notice is a bit short notice, i was there back in 09 but like ever year my sons birthday falls on the heino final and i had to do the usual day out **** yesterday and we were no where near Dublin.

+1 if you are bringing kids to these things you need a bit of notice. RTE - should have had it on their news and highlights show.

Tim Robbins

phog wrote: »

Cant understand the need for a thread like this, fans are fans, whenever they turn out it's a good thing.

One of the problems for fans that dont do the one day trip to a final is that you miss the home coming should your team be lucky enough to win.

It's a rant against RTE. That thing we pay a tv license to. That thing that is supposed to cover the national interest.

mahoo

MIRMIR82 wrote: »

I am a munster fan- i watched the match in a munster pub - ABSOLUTELY NO BEGRUDGERY there - we were shouting for Leinster as much as we would have been shouting for Munster- Blues fans enjoy your win and dont dwell on the few ar$eholes that ruin for everyone!!!

great to hear some voices of sanity . . lets avoid the munster v leinster begrudgers.. was at the game. amazing atmosphere. must have been 40,000+ leinster fans in cardiff. . cant believe someone is questioning the level of support for leinster when they've filled the aviva 4 times this season

TheHighRoad

mahoo wrote: »

great to hear some voices of sanity . . lets avoid the munster v leinster begrudgers.. was at the game. amazing atmosphere. must have been 40,000+ leinster fans in cardiff. . cant believe someone is questioning the level of support for leinster when they've filled the aviva 4 times this season

There was even more than 40,000. If there was 40,000 then that would mean that it was almost even in support but walking around Cardiff before the game yesterday and it was a sea of blue.

ronan1986

TheHighRoad wrote: »

There was even more than 40,000. If there was 40,000 then that would mean that it was almost even in support but walking around Cardiff before the game yesterday and it was a sea of blue.

After overnight partying and overnight travelling to get back from Cardiff via Heathrow, and only arriving home at 1pm, can I too be excused for not turning up to the RDS?

TheHighRoad

ronan1986 wrote: »

After overnight partying and overnight travelling to get back from Cardiff via Heathrow, and only arriving home at 1pm, can I too be excused for not turning up to the RDS?

I had to pay £230 for a taxi from Cardiff just so I could make it to London to catch my flight after partying all night in Cardiff and missing the train. I didn't sleep at all and missed the homecoming as I was simply knackered. I also didn't turn up, but apparently no we cannot be excused.

mahoo

TheHighRoad wrote: »

There was even more than 40,000. If there was 40,000 then that would mean that it was almost even in support but walking around Cardiff before the game yesterday and it was a sea of blue.

yeah. it did feel like more. just going by whats being reported.. in the stadium it looked more like 50+. there was only that one end with the northampton fans. and there was a good few neutrals too...some mental toulouse fans!

Ginny

and the Stade fans who seemed to be supporting us too.
Again like in 2009 we were still away when the homecoming was on, obviously I can't be excused though, should have swam home.

Tomtom364

mahoo wrote: »

yeah. it did feel like more. just going by whats being reported.. in the stadium it looked more like 50+. there was only that one end with the northampton fans. and there was a good few neutrals too...some mental toulouse fans!

all toulouse fans are mental.
one of my best rugby memories is partying with tolouse fans outside twickers after they beat london irish in the '08 semi final.

crazy people...

captivo

Lustrum wrote: »

The couple of thousand of us on the ferry back from Pembroke to Rosslare yesterday afternoon had our own celebration, there was plenty of cheering and egging the lads on even though we were watching the re-run of the match we had all been at the previous day!

I'll do my own welcome home for them in Thomand on Saturday

+1 to that. The crowd on the ferry were cheering the match as if watching it for the first time. There was brilliant banter going on.

phog

Tim Robbins wrote: »

This is exactly what I am talking about. They did the exact same for the 6.00 news. And they made no mention on the highlights program about the celebration in the RDS. They did the same in '09. When Munster won, they gave them huge plugs and had live footage of the celebrations in Limerick and in Cork. They even had video footage of them in the airport. Every time a county wins an All Ireland they show the team coming home and the celebration.

Also, I was expecting a little video piece of at least all the tries and magic moments of the year from the heineken cup for Leinster. The kind of thing you'd expect at the end of a great year.

It's all about capturing excitement and special moments. RTE are more interested in Ryan Tubirdy's band!

When RTE covered the homecoming in Limerick there were thousands lining the streets, much more news worthy than a couple of thousand in the RDS.

It was also competing with the funeral of Garrett Fitzgerald, the incident in Cork airport and the lead up to Obama's visit, all newsworthy items in themselves.

Tim Robbins wrote: »

It's a rant against RTE. That thing we pay a tv license to. That thing that is supposed to cover the national interest.

How many depend on RTE for their news anymore, Twitter, Leinster rugby, Leinsterfans, facebook, Newstalk, etc, surely announced details of the homecoming.

I'm sure any fan that really wanted to attend was well aware of the homecoming details.

wonton

one thing could also be getting off work or a getting a shift swaped so you can get off is alot harder than it was a few years ago, people need to work whenever they can.

Like next week end i'm missing the magners final as well because of work but a few years ago I probably would a have gotten off for it.