Message of thanks to the Irish team

yeraulone

Thanks boys for the past few weeks. You topped the group, worked your holes off, and gave us so much to cheer about. Heroes.

Welcome home!

Pisco Sour

I'm unsure if any of the players will be reading Boards.ie. Probably best off sending an email to the IRFU who can pass on your congratulations to the players.

thebaz

yes the players gave everything - but please no open bus ride , Pat kenny embracing home return - that should be reserved for real sporting success - and I'm sure many on the team would have been aiming for a WC final berth , if not overall success - the harsh reality is we entered the tournament ranked around 5th and 8th - and return ranked 5th or 8th - but they did give all they had , its not down to lack of effort

yeraulone

04072511 wrote: »

I'm unsure if any of the players will be reading Boards.ie. Probably best off sending an email to the IRFU who can pass on your congratulations to the players.

You are right. I plan to send a mail that way too.

I'm so proud of the guys and the way they represented us.

Pisco Sour

yeraulone wrote: »

You are right. I plan to send a mail that way too.

I'm so proud of the guys and the way they represented us.

I'm very proud of their efforts, but no more proud than I am of any Irish sportsperson/ team who represents us on the international stage.

The actual performance is nothing to be proud of. A quarter final exit is not a success.

stockyboie

yeraulone wrote: »

Thanks boys for the past few weeks. You topped the group, worked your holes off, and gave us so much to cheer about. Heroes.

Welcome home!

Is this supposed to be sarcastic? I think your living in another time period if so. The 90's ended 11 years ago. Theres no longer an appetite in this country for 'ah sure we played well lets slap the players on the back and go for a pint'. We'll never get anywhere with that attitude and if we stick with it we'll be in the same position 4 years from now. There isn't anything to congratulate the players for. They did their job that they get payed very well for.

They played well against australia but ultimately they failed in providing us with anything we don't already know. Having tasted success at heiniken cup and 6 nations level its time for this country to move on. Adopting the ah sure you tried attitude just isn't good enough anymore.

yeraulone

BERBA wrote: »

this is an embarrassing thread , please close it , next thing you'll be looking for an open top bus :rolleyes:

This rugby. We don't want open top bus. We want an open top tank.

yeraulone

stockyboie wrote: »

yeraulone wrote: »

Thanks boys for the past few weeks. You topped the group, worked your holes off, and gave us so much to cheer about. Heroes.

Welcome home!

Is this supposed to be sarcastic? I think your living in another time period if so. The 90's ended 11 years ago. Theres no longer an appetite in this country for 'ah sure we played well lets slap the players on the back and go for a pint'. We'll never get anywhere with that attitude and if we stick with it we'll be in the same position 4 years from now. There isn't anything to congratulate the players for. They did their job that they get payed very well for.

They played well against australia but ultimately they failed in providing us with anything we don't already know. Having tasted success at heiniken cup and 6 nations level its time for this country to move on. Adopting the ah sure you tried attitude just isn't good enough anymore.

I'm just saying thanks for the entertaining moments over the last month. That. Is. All.

Phonehead

The English or for that matter if the Welsh had of lost, I can't see their fans lining the streets or sending Thank You messages for going out in the quarter finals. I am not saying the guys let us down but they achieved what they will admit is the lowest possible target.

Fight_Night

We really shouldn't be settling for mediocrity, going out in the quarters is not a success.

DB21

yeraulone wrote: »

This rugby. We don't want open top bus. We want an open top tank.

I know Sean O Brien is strong, but I don't think he can hold the entire team :P

Anyway, even though we only got to the QF, Ireland still shocked the world by beating Australia. So not the greatest success the team could have got, but a success nonetheless.

Polygon_window

Fight_Night wrote: »

We really shouldn't be settling for mediocrity, going out in the quarters is not a success.

100% agree, you might have a case if they had reached the final but the quarter finals is not a success, us Oirish can be an embarrassing at times!
The fact is we beat the aussies, great but they arent at the top of their game, the other teams we played were rubbish,the welsh are somewhat good but theres no way they will win it!!

RuggieBear

deleting a few posts that add nothing to the conversation. if you are going to post, post civilly and constructively.

Bodhisopha

As someone who only jumped on the bandwagon for the knock out stages, i do not echo the OP's sentiments.

spiralism

I'd like to think the standard is higher than this tbh. the soccer team can be celebrated as heroes for a quarter final defeat, the rugby team doesnt have that luxury because it could be doing so much more. I'm not at all for patting them on the back with "sure didnt ye show up and hard luck with the underacheivement"... please, dont patronise a group of hard working professionals, this isnt junior infants, they know themselves this was a golden opportunity and we blew it

Pisco Sour

spiralism wrote: »

I'd like to think the standard is higher than this tbh. the soccer team can be celebrated as heroes for a quarter final defeat, the rugby team doesnt have that luxury because it could be doing so much more. I'm not at all for patting them on the back with "sure didnt ye show up and hard luck with the underacheivement"... please, dont patronise a group of hard working professionals, this isnt junior infants, they know themselves this was a golden opportunity and we blew it

Yes. A Football World Cup quarter final performance for a country the size of Ireland is a serious achievement and should definetely be applauded.

Given the amount of countries that compete in rugby, and the small populations, and small rugby playing pools of many of them, a quarter final performance is not an achievement at all.

BarackPyjama

This World Cup has been a failure. I'm sure the players will tell you that themselves and won't want any pats on the back. It's time to build for the next one.

Hermy

Reading this thread I was immediately reminded of a similar day in 2003:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-1O3RL2JT8

I don't want an open top bus or a welcome home party and I'm sure that the players don't either. While the result today didn't go our way, these guys still put there bodies on the line and give me reason to be proud to be Irish.

eric hoone

Lads did us proud. 1/4 final respectable considering playing population, small pool of talent etc. We'll be eternally grateful when we see the future generation of players inspired by this group.

spiralism

In all fairness, we're back to where we were before the world cup started. We finished 8th in a 9/10 team race

tomegan2010

yeraulone wrote: »

Thanks boys for the past few weeks. You topped the group, worked your holes off, and gave us so much to cheer about. Heroes.

Welcome home!

I'm behind you on this one buddy. they didn't win the world cup or get by the quaters. They tried their best and just were not strong enough but still done us proud. We have some great up and coming youngsters coming through for our country and in a few years its their turn and the last thing they need is crictisim like some people are giving. They need encouragement. I'm proud of what they have done. A lot prouder than our so called soccer stars have done.
Welcome home lads.

The_Kew_Tour

tomegan2010 wrote: »

I'm behind you on this one buddy. they didn't win the world cup or get by the quaters. They tried their best and just were not strong enough but still done us proud. We have some great up and coming youngsters coming through for our country and in a few years its their turn and the last thing they need is crictisim like some people are giving. They need encouragement. I'm proud of what they have done. A lot prouder than our so called soccer stars have done.
Welcome home lads.

Man that's the first time I have heard that we have world class soccer team.

I know we did 20 years ago.

spiralism

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Man that's the first time I have heard that we have world class soccer team.

I know we did 20 years ago.

If our soccer team was as good in its field as the rugby team, a quarter final wouldn't be good enough either, especially in a competition with 20 teams, not 32 and of only which 10 at best are any way good. If the soccer team makes Euro 2012 it will certainly outdo any of the acheivements of this world cup.

vetinari

It was great to beat Australia. A true highlight. That's a genuine achievement.
But getting to the quarter finals. That's our normal level. It's not exceeding expectations.

yeraulone

Hermy wrote: »

Reading this thread I was immediately reminded of a similar day in 2003:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-1O3RL2JT8

I don't want an open top bus or a welcome home party and I'm sure that the players don't either. While the result today didn't go our way, these guys still put there bodies on the line and give me reason to be proud to be Irish.

THAT

Hermy

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Man that's the first time I have heard that we have world class soccer team.

If our soccer team played with anything like the pride and passion that their rugby counterparts display every time they put on a green jersey then they'd be beating teams like Andorra by more than two goals and they would not be happy with 0-0 draws with the likes of Russia.

MungBean

Have to say its a bitter pill to swallow. Going out to a team we should have beaten without putting up much of a fight.

But its easy to say things like that, easy to point the finger and say they should have been better. I'm sure the team knows that and I'm sure the anger and heartbreak that us fans are feeling pales in comparison to what the players feel.

I suppose all you can really do is learn from it, moaning and lambasting people wont do anything. So we look at it, we learn and we move on. Its not the end of the word, its only the start of the season.

spiralism

Hermy wrote: »

If our soccer team played with anything like the pride and passion that their rugby counterparts display every time they put on a green jersey then they'd be beating teams like Andorra by more than two goals and they would not be happy with 0-0 draws with the likes of Russia.

that's hardly fair, you saying that richard dunne didnt put his body on the line in moscow? the personnel isnt there with the soccer lads, unlike with the rugby

Chucky the tree

The soccer lads play for Ireland for free because they want to. Irish rugby players have the benefit of being paid very good money for it.

Hermy

Richard Dunne is quite the exception - always gives his all. But I don't see that replicated across the entire squad. They seem quite content at the moment to court mediocrity even though they are capable of far more as they proved in Paris not so long ago.

But I'm dragging the thread and the forum off topic...

kerash

Chucky the tree wrote: »

The soccer lads play for Ireland for free because they want to. Irish rugby players have the benefit of being paid very good money for it.

Don't agree, bar a couple (Dunne included) the soccer lads all too often look and act like they have little or no passion or pride in playing for their country, makes me wonder why they are there at all, there are plenty would love to have their place.

As a soccer fan I see a far greater pride and passion in the Rugby lads - something the Republic team could and should aspire to.

Well done to the Rugby team, it is a pity we didn't get further but best of luck to Wales on a deserving win.

washman3

Lads, forget about the rugby/soccer comparisons. all players try their best.
we were beaten by a better team today,on the day. great credit to Wales. they played the game as it should be played and won fair and square.
we entered the competition as 8th in the world(out of 10) and return home around the same position.
Look at France,brilliant today, yet beaten well by Tonga.
Would we beat Australia if only 1 team qualified from group?
Doubt it very much. it was a good win but needs to be put into context.
If somebody said 4 weeks ago we would beat Australia but lose to Wales, very few would agree.

Get behind Ireland on Tuesday now.

thebman

You can only play whats on front of you and to your best on the day, they did that. What more do people want? Wales on form, Ireland not so we couldn't win today.

Even if we were on form, these two teams are equal at the best of times so we could have still lost by a drop goal.

The mistake was not scoring our points from penalties in the first half. With the wind and dodgy kicking all round, I'm not sure the outcome would really have been much different if we had kicked them though. Wales managed to hit both posts.

It is easy to say if they had done something else they would have won as it can't be proven. They played the way they played and it wasn't good enough on the day.

The pool games were amazing and I'm proud of them. They did what we could expect and placed where we should be expecting them to place topping the group which was a nice unexpected bonus. They didn't step up a gear but maybe they don't have the gear to give this year so we will have to try again next time.

I think they have done us proud and raised interest in Irish rugby which will give it a good platform in the future. That is all we can ask of a team that was never really good to go the distance but we all hoped they could find something somewhere. I think they did all we could ask of them.

Chucky the tree

Hermy wrote: »

Richard Dunne is quite the exception - always gives his all. But I don't see that replicated across the entire squad. They seem quite content at the moment to court mediocrity even though they are capable of far more as they proved in Paris not so long ago.

But I'm dragging the thread and the forum off topic...

All they provided is France were a very average team which was highlighted even more during the World cup.

kerash wrote: »

Don't agree, bar a couple (Dunne included) the soccer lads all too often look and act like they have little or no passion or pride in playing for their country, makes me wonder why they are there at all, there are plenty would love to have their place.

As a soccer fan I see a far greater pride and passion in the Rugby lads - something the Republic team could and should aspire to.

Well done to the Rugby team, it is a pity we didn't get further but best of luck to Wales on a deserving win.

I take it you didn't mean to quote my post? Unless you are claiming the FAI pay the Irish players or, barring 1 or two players, the IRFU don't pay the rugby players?

Hermy

@washman I always get behind Irish teams - I just hope the lads give us something to shout about!

@Chucky If Ireland played every game the way they played that night in Paris they'd top the group.

Chucky the tree

And if the Irish rugby team played every game like they did against Austraila or England in the 6 nations they wouldn't have been soundly beaten by Wales.

Hermy

Chucky the tree wrote: »

And if the Irish rugby team played every game like they did against Austraila or England in the 6 nations they wouldn't have been soundly beaten by Wales.

Well thankfully that's what they aim for even if they don't always achieve it and that's why I love watching and supporting them.

kerash

Chucky the tree wrote: »

I take it you didn't mean to quote my post? Unless you are claiming the FAI pay the Irish players or, barring 1 or two players, the IRFU don't pay the rugby players?

Don't agree with the implication that players play better because they're being paid. (though I thought soccer players got appearance fee but that's by the by) I don't want to drag the thread off topic any further, only to say that the rugby team display a passion lacking from the Republic soccer team. To imply that has something to do with money is something I don't agree with.

The_Kew_Tour

Hermy wrote: »

If our soccer team played with anything like the pride and passion that their rugby counterparts display every time they put on a green jersey then they'd be beating teams like Andorra by more than two goals and they would not be happy with 0-0 draws with the likes of Russia.

is this the same Irish team that played with massive pride beating the mighty Georgia by 4 points in last world cup?

MungBean

Message of thanks to the Irish rugby team - followed by a two page discussion of the Irish soccer team. Good stuff.

RuggieBear

rugby forum folks. no more about other sports please

jive

Loling at the dumb comparisons between achievements in different sports. Achievements are relative. Ireland making the quarter final in the rugby isn't an achievement they would have set, a semi-final appearance would have been an achievement and I'm sure the players themselves would admit to this. Beating Australia was an achievement but unfortunately we didn't build on that. Ireland making the quarter final in the soccer would be a huge achievement. You can look at it 2 ways - rugby is played on a far lesser scale than soccer and thus the competition is tougher in soccer or that we have more talent at our disposal in rugby and thus expect more. You could make a good argument for both but I would question the mentality of anyone who would bother because it's not relevant to anything remotely important.

We lost to Wales. A semi-final was the goal prior to the tournament and given how the tournament panned out a final was ultimately the goal. Unfortunately we fell at the first hurdle in part due to having a bad day at the office. If Ireland had a semi decent day they would have at least run them closer than 12 points but it just wasn't happening. Fair play to Wales and good luck to them in the semi's. I don't wish to thank the rugby team though for doing their job. I'd like to put my body on the line for my country but unfortunately I'm shít so instead I put my body on the line for my local parish and don't expect any thanks! You can't doubt the passion of any of the players from either the soccer or the rugby team. I'm not sure how people doubt the passion of the soccer lads either tbh. The likes of Keane, Given, Dunne, Kilbane, Duff, O'Shea etc. have been doing it for years without any hesitation or any club vs. country bullshít. Even the 'plastic paddies' exhibit some serious heart. It's partly the reason a team with such limited talent tend to exceed what is expected of them at almost every opportunity. The fact of the matter is there is little incentive to represent your country in soccer and if you don't have the passion you simply don't bother, just look at Stephen Ireland. In rugby there is a larger incentive but there's no reason to question their passion either.

edit: just saw mod post now as was typing my message... no way am i deleting it now... too much sweat, blood and tears went into her.
TL;DR - comparing different sports is like totally silly.

aidan24326

yeraulone wrote: »

You are right. I plan to send a mail that way too.

I'm so proud of the guys and the way they represented us.

Why would you want to clap them on the back for getting beaten? The way the competition was panning out, exiting in the quarter finals (again) is a big disappointment. They battled hard for sure and there's no disgrace in losing to a bang-in-form Weslh team, but ultimately they again failed to really deliver on the WC stage, and the win over Australia doesn't paper over that.

Hermy

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

is this the same Irish team that played with massive pride beating the mighty Georgia by 4 points in last world cup?

No - their jersey was a slightly different shade of green.

.ak

When are they back? Is there any official welcoming home thing?

Say what you will about the team/management, the lads must be gutted, especially BOD, ROG and Darce who have definitely played their last WC and were on the cusp of doing something no other Irish team have done. Would love it if a huge number of people showed up to show them how proud we are anyway!

aramush

Lads, for people to say that this tournament hasn't been a success for the Ireland team would be wrong, in my opinion. Sure we lost today, but the last three weeks post Australia game, the buzz around the place was amazing, there was a smile back in the peoples faces back home.

A lot of people have left these shores in search of employment in NZ/Australia, many do it against their will. I would like to think that for the last month, those ex-pats who have left Ireland have felt closer to home once again thanks to what those Irish players have achieved on the field.

One would have to look into the stands in the games nd see the sea of Green, many of them young Irish people who have been forced to leave their home land. To see the smiles on their faces for me alone, has made this Irish tour a success.

The players owe us nothing, sure it was a disappointing to see them lose but they put smiles on peoples faces for maybe a short while and heres hoping we see those young Irish people back home again and the Irish Rugby team keep giving us special moments.

dizzler

Lads!

Snap out of it. They lost. Do really think that drico etc will be on boards tomorrow and read our messages and that It will lessen the blow? If you think then take a walk.
Rugby is there career. Their job. Their bread and butter, and u know what what? Those men loved it. And I thank bod rog poc and doc for all the amazing matches hey gave us.

TRUE SERVANTS TO THE COUNTRY.

God bless.

thebman

I just heard of someone I know who is working abroad who worked the whole Australia win as a common knowledge strength of the Irish thing to make a multi-million sales deal

the immortals

i for one will not be congratulating or thanking the irish team and management, they blew what might be the chance we will ever have of making the final by a dreadful performance against wales, these are highly paid pros whose job it is to win and if they dont win at least give it their best shot,

Pisco Sour

.ak wrote: »

Is there any official welcoming home thing?

Bloody hell! Are you for real? Why on earth should there be a homecoming? Derval O'Rourke did more than her country proud by coming 4th in the World Championships (a serious achievemeny in a truly world sport) and not a soul showed up to meet her at the airport. Why should we have an "official welcoming" for a team that finished 6th or 7th in a 12 horse race? That would actually be an insult to the likes of BOD and POC and what they strive to achieve.

We're proud of their efforts. They gave their all, but they werent good enough on the day and that's that. No open top bus parade!

.ak

04072511 wrote: »

Bloody hell! Are you for real? Why on earth should there be a homecoming? Derval O'Rourke did more than her country proud by coming 4th in the World Championships (a serious achievemeny in a truly world sport) and not a soul showed up to meet her at the airport. Why should we have an "official welcoming" for a team that finished 6th or 7th in a 12 horse race? That would actually be an insult to the likes of BOD and POC and what they strive to achieve.

We're proud of their efforts. They gave their all, but they werent good enough on the day and that's that. No open top bus parade!

Because of that. That is all. So that the fan base in Ireland can show that they're proud of them. Is that a crime? If you don't like it, don't go. Pfft.