EURO 2012 V 6 Nations

HappyBalance

Is it just me or does anybody feel the 6N hasn't generated the same excitement in the country as previous yrs...is it due to Euro 2012? You can feel the buzz of that beginning to build and its still 4 mths away...

its_phil

HappyBalance wrote: »

Is it just me or does anybody feel the 6N hasn't generated the same excitement in the country as previous yrs...is it due to Euro 2012? You can feel the buzz of that beginning to build and its still 4 mths away...

I think is's more of an appreciation thing.

Euro 2012 is every 4 years and it's been 10 years since the ROI qualified for a major tournament. Hell i'm more excited for the Euro's!

Six Nations is every year. I'm excited for it every year, but it is hard to generate that extra buzz when the general perception from fans, imo, is that Ireland were realistically third favourites at the beginning of the tournament.

HappyBalance

its_phil wrote: »

I think is's more of an appreciation thing.

Euro 2012 is every 4 years and it's been 10 years since the ROI qualified for a major tournament. Hell i'm more excited for the Euro's!

Six Nations is every year. I'm excited for it every year, but it is hard to generate that extra buzz when the general perception from fans, imo, is that Ireland were realistically third favourites at the beginning of the tournament.

I take your point but never do you see flags out of cars and buntin hanging from houses for the 6N.

At the highest level do you think the Irish public is more in love with the soccer team or rugby team?

WeeBushy

HappyBalance wrote: »

I take your point but never do you see flags out of cars and buntin hanging from houses for the 6N.

I disagree. Many places have flags out for matches, and that number is growing nationally. I see plenty of Leinster flags on cars. Different competition granted, but same sport. You wouldn't see many soccer club flags around.

HappyBalance wrote: »

At the highest level do you think the Irish public is more in love with the soccer team or rugby team?

Ah soccer is still the more popular sport for the general person, so when big soccer events come up they get more into it than the yearly 6N, for example. There are less rugby fans, but I would wager that the average rugby fan is more passionate about the sport than the average soccer fan is of theirs.

Not sure that this is a thread that will very last long...

its_phil

HappyBalance wrote: »

I take your point but never do you see flags out of cars and buntin hanging from houses for the 6N.

You didn't see them for the football qualifiers though?

Really it's just about making the most of the Euro carnival while it lasts because you never know when it will be back in town, and I certainly will be.

HappyBalance

I would disagree totally about the passion. I don't think you can say one fan has more passion than another.

Ire reaching the QF of Italia 90 is still talked about on a regular basis and is still very much part of our culture - Nation holds its breath and all that....

IRE won the grand slam...celebrations were quite low key for such a massive achievement

FearDark

I think its because we lost the first game tbh.

leonard7

we've just had a big world cup as well...i mean after one of those its harder to get excited for the 6N as it seems less important

HappyBalance

leonard7 wrote: »

we've just had a big world cup as well...i mean after one of those its harder to get excited for the 6N as it seems less important

But again if you contrast WC 11 to WC 02 in Japan the excitement was much greater also?

Was discussing this in work today and I was the only person who thought that the football team has a greater level of support and good will then compared to the rugby team.

BTW don't want to turn this into soccer v rugby

leonard7

there is less expectation with the football team and a sense that they can do no wrong as its an achievment to be in the euros already...people are harder on the rugby team as they expect more and rightly so comparatively the irish rugby team is much better and therefore a loss is greeted with more dissappointment than a football loss...in that way i can see football to receive a "greater level of goodwill"

yawha

Although rugby's fanbase has been growing, soccer is still more popular than rugby. I would have thought that that was fairly obvious.

irishbucsfan

Can't compare rugby to soccer in this country.

Soccer is far more popular. However our national team and club teams are not as good. We spend most of our time and money supporting English teams and foreign players.

Rugby is less popular. However we have some of the best "clubs" in the world and our national team is quite good. We fill Irish stadiums to support Irish players (not a hope you'd get 80,000 people to a game between to Irish clubs!).

I don't think you'll ever generate the same kind of buzz for the 6 Nations as an international soccer competition as Ireland only reach the latter once every 10 years.


I personally am looking forward to the Euros more than the 6 Nations. Because of how rarely we reach the euros, because of the performance of the national rugby team and other reasons I'm sure.

profitius

Rugby was a minority sport here not so long ago. Its just beginning to spread to the masses in the last few years but there are still sections of the population that have little interest in it. Look at how different newspapers report on it. Some will have a few pages of domestic action while others like the sun would little to none.

I used to like soccer more but the celebrity culture of it has turned me off. I hope rugby doesn't go down that road but you see signs of it with the way Henson and Cipriani are covered.

bilston

Football/Soccer is the biggest sport in the world, it's no surprise if there's buzz about the Euros than the 6Ns or even the RWC.

It maybe also depends where you go in Ireland. Weren't there 20 odd thousand people on the streets of Limerick in 2006 to watch the HEC final on the big screen? Would that be replicated by a Euro 2012 match in Limerick?

funky penguin

I'm just looking forward to the Heineken cup resuming to be honest, then time to see if we can finally get a certain monkey off our backs down under, hopefully with an Amlin cup, a Heineken cup and a Pro12 cup to buoy us along.

Podge_irl

Not sure how you expect us to get an Amlin Cup!

irishbucsfan

funky penguin wrote: »

I'm just looking forward to the Heineken cup resuming to be honest, then time to see if we can finally get a certain monkey off our backs down under, hopefully with an Amlin cup, a Heineken cup and a Pro12 cup to buoy us along.

Amlin?

funky penguin

Mistake!! I had last year on the brain! >_<

wp_rathead

HappyBalance wrote: »

But again if you contrast WC 11 to WC 02 in Japan the excitement was much greater also?

Was discussing this in work today and I was the only person who thought that the football team has a greater level of support and good will then compared to the rugby team.

BTW don't want to turn this into soccer v rugby

*looks at title of thread*

wonton

The calling off of the french killed a huge amount of buzz for me anyway, especially now that it's on the sunday instead.

marco_polo

Little bit of a hangover post RWC I suppose, combined with the fact that the 6Ns takes place about about 60 times more frequently than a European Championship involving Ireland.