I want our coverage back...

...RTE sports still seem to be basking in the "success" of or rugby team finally beating one of the few other teams that play the game. Our embarrassing record stretching back over a century almost erased in the hysteria and overreaction, grown men crying blah blah blah. Similarly Newstalk seem to be full on rugby - are we playing Canada this weekend? It's as if they have forgotten we have a rather crucial competitive football match coming up. The FAI PR department must be one of the worst around, maybe they're focussed too much on spreading the good news that John has a woman and loves her very much to think about stuff like ensuring national broadcasters devote time to the game.

Oat23

RTE sport is ran by a Rugby head. They don't care about football anymore.

Plenty of other ways to get your football fix these days so it's not a big deal. RTE was never great to begin with.

Oat23

Oat23 wrote: »

RTE sport is ran by a Rugby head. They don't care about football anymore.

Plenty of other ways to get your football fix these days so it's not a big deal. RTE was never great to begin with.

Yeah, Ryle is pushing his first love alright.

Surprised at Newstalk though. But think they might have some rights to rugby coverage now. But even they should know that there is one show in town...or out of town...this weekend. Either way, the FAI should be picking up the phone and reminding them of the football match and trying to get coverage, it's basic PR, you push the message. The IRFU wouldn't be so slack as to sit back and expect it to happen.

gimli2112

Totally agree, what's the big deal over beating NZ in a friendly?

dundalkfc10

The FAI top dogs don't care about Irish Football, that's pretty obvious.

They couldn't care how much coverage the national team gets once they get their Free Tickets, Massive Wages, Free Dinners etc...

kfallon

gimli2112 wrote: »

Totally agree, what's the big deal over beating NZ in a friendly?

Got more coverage than when we beat the World Champions in a competitive game in October '15.....unreal!

WesternZulu

You have to hand it to the IRFU and the provinces, they are a hell of a lot better at promotion than the FAI or GAA.

DrumSteve

Imagine a world in which they showed regular, live LOI football. There is a market for it (people always watch football).

SEPT 23 1989

nothing new here

the state has always treated our game with contempt

Harry Palmr

Irish rugby is a winning thing.

People flock to success not failure.

Harry Palmr

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Irish rugby is a winning thing.

People flock to success not failure.

They spent over 100 years losing to the All Blacks, and their record in World Cups is frankly grim despite getting pretty much a bye to the last 8...being one of the top 8 countries in the world.

Harry Palmr

It seems you know very little about the All Blacks and rugby union culture they spring from and relative gap if you think Ireland should be beating them on a regular basis or something.

Don't be so bitter!

Harry Palmr

It seems you know very little about the All Blacks and rugby union culture they spring from and relative gap if you think Ireland should be beating them on a regular basis or something.

Don't be so bitter!

edit Christ I feel like drop kicking the boards.ie servers into touch right now!

Where were you last week when all the rugby fans were complaining about the lack of free to air coverage of the Ireland vs All Blacks match?

mackeire

dundalkfc10 wrote: »

The FAI top dogs don't care about Irish Football, that's pretty obvious.

They couldn't care how much coverage the national team gets once they get their Free Tickets, Massive Wages, Free Dinners etc...

I'd love a free dinner mmmm

Leroy42

So what was all that coverage of the Euros about?

Every game was live. With hours of punditry both before and after the games.

Every newspaper, news report etc gives loads of coverage to Ireland during the big comps.

You say Ireland took beating NZ for 111 years, how often has ROI beaten Brazil or Argentina, or won the world cup or Euros? We beat a 2nd string Italian team with nothing to play for and you'd swear we had won the whole thing.

ROI play a staid type of football, and countries like Iceland showed that being small is no excuse.

I'd be surprised if any other team hadn't beaten NZ over 28 games stretching back over a century.

And no denying they are traditionally a better team...though they missed out on 5 world cups in the 90s and 00s so clearly other teams managed to get over the inferiority thing and that gap.

But either way, my point is that the FAI should have someone grabbing the phone and getting on to RTE and Newstalk and asking who and when they want to interview, and saying it's expected unless they want to be left with Nugent and Hook filling in all their air time.

Think our recent record v Brazil, since that Brady goal anyway, is played 2, won 1 drew 1.

Think our record v Argentina not so good, think we played 3 times and never won. Still though, it's not like not winning in almost 30 meetings...

Leroy42

The set up of matches is different in Rugby than Football. There really is no friendlies in Rudby, the world cup is a relatively new competition and prior to that the November test series, 5 nations etc were the equivalent.

So Ireland beating the All Blacks is not the same as Ireland beating Brazil in a friendly, it is more akin to beating them in a world cup.

And ROI, except for Italy in the Euros have failed to beat any top nation for years. The ROI team, at the moment, is not a particularly good product. Nothing against them, I think they do as well as they can be expected, but from a fan point of view it is rather boring to watch most of the time. Now of course you can say that about rugby, its just IMO.

Despite this, the ROI gets full coverage for every game. Even friendlies as discussed in the week before, reviewed for days afterwards. The ROI get plenty of coverage.

Is beating the All Blacks bigger than a group game against Austria? Yes, not even close.

i think the other factor, is that there really is no connection between the ROI team and the fans. The players are all based abroad, they are pretty much kept away from the public. On the pitch, or probably better to say in the press, players come across as aloof and disconnected. It is a bug problem in the UK were quite a sizeable amount of fans dislike the international breaks.

Rugby players come across as one of the community, part of it. A lot of this is unfair but that is the perception to alot of people.

Finally, it is a bit rich of anybody to claim that the FAI should be demanding interviews in the press etc when the head, JD, does everything he can to avoid given out any information.

kfallon

Leroy42 wrote: »

And ROI, except for Italy in the Euros have failed to beat any top nation for years.

:rolleyes:

Leroy42

kfallon wrote: »

:rolleyes:

Sorry, you are right of course, I meant in the actual Finals themselves.

But, when that did happen was there not massive coverage. It was a huge story. Coverage as the main headline on many news reports.

And rightly so, btw.

If Ireland make it to the WC then again, it will be wall to wall coverage.

WesternZulu

Leroy42 wrote: »

So Ireland beating the All Blacks is not the same as Ireland beating Brazil in a friendly, it is more akin to beating them in a world cup.

That is compete bs to be honest.
Ireland beating NZ in a November test is in no ways akin to Ireland beating Brazil in a world cup. The latter would be a far far greater achievement.

irishguitarlad

Pfff beating the all blacks in a test match in the US. The world cup is where it counts in rugby and frankly Ireland always get their arses handed to them. Let the hype machine build them up again for the next world cup and sit back and watch it all crash in flames again.

WesternZulu

WesternZulu wrote: »

That is compete bs to be honest.
Ireland beating NZ in a November test is in no ways akin to Ireland beating Brazil in a world cup. The latter would be a far far greater achievement.

Not really. It's far easier to get an upset win in football than Rugby. I wouldn't be shocked if Ireland beat any football side.

Leroy42

irishguitarlad wrote: »

Pfff beating the all blacks in a test match in the US. The world cup is where it counts in rugby and frankly Ireland always get their arses handed to them. Let the hype machine build them up again for the next world cup and sit back and watch it all crash in flames again.

I understand the argument, so then why complain about ROI getting lack of coverage for a group game against Austria.

Why the massive coverage of ROI beating Germany?

I really don't get it. Whether you agree with the systems or not. Ireland finally (and you can argue all day about how it should never have taken so long) overturning 111 years of defeat is always going to be a big story.

And what harm. The Footy will be on TV. It is all over the press. You think that it should just be treated as any old event. then the same should hold true for ROI. When we beat Germany/Italy the press should just shrug its shoulders and point out that we don't do it often enough!

WesternZulu

Basil3 wrote: »

Not really. It's far easier to get an upset win in football than Rugby. I wouldn't be shocked if Ireland beat any football side.

Surely in a sport where Ireland are in the top 8 countries regardless that beating a team ranked a few places above them should not be that much of a shock?

WesternZulu

WesternZulu wrote: »

Surely in a sport where Ireland are in the top 8 countries regardless that beating a team ranked a few places above them should not be that much of a shock?

Well look, I'm not here to educate you about a sport if you don't know anything about it.

This is a good place for you to understand how much they have dominated the sport for over 100 years.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_national_rugby_union_team

ArmaniJeanss

Basil3 wrote: »

Not really. It's far easier to get an upset win in football than Rugby. I wouldn't be shocked if Ireland beat any football side.

Was it an upset win? Number 6 in the word beats Number 1 in the world on neutral territory wouldn't be upset win in just about any team sport. I understand it was a cause for celebration after xx successive losses to them, but an upset?

As for the OP and coverage on RTE, I'm blissfully unaware of the issue. I'll switch on RTE for the game and appreciate it being on f.t.a., but don't see the point in being obsessed as to whether it was lead item on sports bulletins this week or how many previews/trailer slots it had.

ArmaniJeanss

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Was it an upset win? Number 6 in the word beats Number 1 in the world on neutral territory wouldn't be upset win in just about any team sport. I understand it was a cause for celebration after xx successive losses to them, but an upset?

As for the OP and coverage on RTE, I'm blissfully unaware of the issue. I'll switch on RTE for the game and appreciate it being on f.t.a., but don't see the point in being obsessed as to whether it was lead on sports bulletins this week or how many previews/trailer slots it had.

Ireland were given a 23 point head start by the bookies, so yes..... It was an upset.

arrianalexander

DrumSteve wrote: »

Imagine a world in which they showed regular, live LOI football. There is a market for it (people always watch football).

There is but LOI clubs have issues with games been shown live as it has a direct impact on gate receipts. The revenue lost at gate offset by the money gained by TV money still results in lost revenue. The exception of course is where game sells out , sadly bar Cork and Dundalk that rarely happens.

RTE's courage is a disgrace though. You go website to get latest scores and it way down list and even at that they aren't latest scores. (5/10 min delays

Then they show a game at end of season and harp on about how great the league is .

Leroy42

arrianalexander wrote: »

There is but LOI clubs have issues with games been shown live as it has a direct impact on gate receipts. The revenue lost at gate offset by the money gained by TV money still results in lost revenue. The exception of course is where game sells out , sadly bar Cork and Dundalk that rarely happens.

RTE's courage is a disgrace though. You go website to get latest scores and it way down list and even at that they aren't latest scores. (5/10 min delays

Then they show a game at end of season and harp on about how great the league is .

Its OT, but you have answered your own point. Only two teams can get full crowds in the league, yet you think that tax payers money should be used to pay to broadcast what is essentially a minority sport (the LOI not football in general)

As you said, live TV tends to reduce the gate so why don't FAI reimburse the club for any falloff as an investment to promote the game. I would watch an LOI game on TV but haven't been to a live game in years. But if I keep seeing on TV my interest will continue to grow.

We all have things we would like to be covered, its out interest and we feel that everyone should value it, but unless a critical mass will then the economics don't work and then you need taxpayers to fund it.

arrianalexander

Leroy42 wrote: »

Its OT, but you have answered your own point. Only two teams can get full crowds in the league, yet you think that tax payers money should be used to pay to broadcast what is essentially a minority sport (the LOI not football in general)

As you said, live TV tends to reduce the gate so why don't FAI reimburse the club for any falloff as an investment to promote the game. I would watch an LOI game on TV but haven't been to a live game in years. But if I keep seeing on TV my interest will continue to grow.

We all have things we would like to be covered, its out interest and we feel that everyone should value it, but unless a critical mass will then the economics don't work and then you need taxpayers to fund it.

I never said I wanted LOI games shown live, the poster said there is a market for games I was merely pointing out why LOI teams are against it.

I would like RTE to give it a little bit more focus on their website throughout the year. I'm not saying huge but it needs to improve. Especially when at end of year they try to make a big deal out of the final games / cup final.

TheNap

irishguitarlad wrote: »

Pfff beating the all blacks in a test match in the US. The world cup is where it counts in rugby and frankly Ireland always get their arses handed to them. Let the hype machine build them up again for the next world cup and sit back and watch it all crash in flames again.

Jeez that comes across very bitter. Who would take pleasure in seeing their countrymen fail.

Fr Tod Umptious

Leroy42 wrote: »

The set up of matches is different in Rugby than Football. There really is no friendlies in Rudby, the world cup is a relatively new competition and prior to that the November test series, 5 nations etc were the equivalent.

So Ireland beating the All Blacks is not the same as Ireland beating Brazil in a friendly, it is more akin to beating them in a world cup.

And ROI, except for Italy in the Euros have failed to beat any top nation for years. The ROI team, at the moment, is not a particularly good product. Nothing against them, I think they do as well as they can be expected, but from a fan point of view it is rather boring to watch most of the time. Now of course you can say that about rugby, its just IMO.

Despite this, the ROI gets full coverage for every game. Even friendlies as discussed in the week before, reviewed for days afterwards. The ROI get plenty of coverage.

Is beating the All Blacks bigger than a group game against Austria? Yes, not even close.

i think the other factor, is that there really is no connection between the ROI team and the fans. The players are all based abroad, they are pretty much kept away from the public. On the pitch, or probably better to say in the press, players come across as aloof and disconnected. It is a bug problem in the UK were quite a sizeable amount of fans dislike the international breaks.

Rugby players come across as one of the community, part of it. A lot of this is unfair but that is the perception to alot of people.

Finally, it is a bit rich of anybody to claim that the FAI should be demanding interviews in the press etc when the head, JD, does everything he can to avoid given out any information.

Your way off, but sure that was clear when you forgot that ROI beat Germany.

Soccer and fan involvement/participation/bandwagon will trump rugby every day of the week.

Far far more people are interested in soccer than in rugby in this country, rugby is the 4th most popular sport, far behind soccer and both GAA sports, it’s not even in the picture.

Rugby will never have an Italia ’90 moment, rugby will never have the types of moments when GAA teams win an All-Ireland for the first time, or after a long wait or a anything like that.

Yes the folks who are really into rugby are really into it, and that's good for them.

But far more people will take interest in ROI beating Austria in Austria than in what happened last weekend; it will be talked in much more detail and by much more people.

adox

For lads that apparently have no real understanding of rugby union youse have an awful lot to say.

The win at the weekend was historic. Fair enough if you dont like rugby but at the same time youse are looking foolish on here with your uninformed opinions.

ArmaniJeanss

'Historic' has lost all meaning I guess.

average_runner

Suppose if you look at it this way?

What has Irish national soccer team ever won? Nothing.

What has the rugby team won?

6 nations and grand slams!

Even if there was a 6 nation soccer tournament, we get our ass kicked.

I am a big fan of irish soccer, but its terrible to watch, just look at the Georgia game.
We are a poor man's team that gets lucky an odd time.

Fr Tod Umptious

Fr Tod Umptious wrote: »

Your way off, but sure that was clear when you forgot that ROI beat Germany.

Soccer and fan involvement/participation/bandwagon will trump rugby every day of the week.

Far far more people are interested in soccer than in rugby in this country, rugby is the 4th most popular sport, far behind soccer and both GAA sports, it’s not even in the picture.

Rugby will never have an Italia ’90 moment, rugby will never have the types of moments when GAA teams win an All-Ireland for the first time, or after a long wait or a anything like that.

Yes the folks who are really into rugby are really into it, and that's good for them.

But far more people will take interest in ROI beating Austria in Austria than in what happened last weekend; it will be talked in much more detail and by much more people.

I don't know what you base your popularity figures on, but the most watched sporting events in Ireland in 2014 and 2015 were both rugby, afaik.

LuckyLloyd

gimli2112 wrote: »

Totally agree, what's the big deal over beating NZ in a friendly?

kfallon wrote: »

Got more coverage than when we beat the World Champions in a competitive game in October '15.....unreal!

Friendlies don't exist as a concept in Rugby. Saturday was a monumental achievement. What's rare is wonderful.

average_runner

Basil3 wrote: »

I don't know what you base your popularity figures on, but the most watched sporting events in Ireland in 2014 and 2015 were both rugby, afaik.

in fairness Ireland in the euro's gets the general public going alot more than the rugby.

You never get pubs packed for a rugby group match compare to a euro group match.

ArmaniJeanss

average_runner wrote: »

Suppose if you look at it this way?

What has Irish national soccer team ever won? Nothing.

What has the rugby team won?

6 nations and grand slams!

Even if there was a 6 nation soccer tournament, we get our ass kicked.

In fairness if the soccer Euros was played on a yearly rotating home&away basis and limited to Ireland, England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany, with no worries about relegation as it's a closed shop, then I'd be fairly confident we'd have won it a few times over the years.

GLaDOS

Lot of people coming across as very bitter in this thread, and i say that as someone with zero interest in rugby.

average_runner

average_runner wrote: »

in fairness Ireland in the euro's gets the general public going alot more than the rugby.

You never get pubs packed for a rugby group match compare to a euro group match.

Because every knows Ireland are knocked out in the groups, so better get in there while you can

I'm a football fan, and rugby fan....I'm just surprised with the uninformed anti-rugby sentiment from a lot of people. I struggle to see how winning last week wasn't a huge deal. The match was only available on Eirsport anyway, so hardly a worthy example by the OP.

KaiserGunner

Leroy42 wrote: »

Is beating the All Blacks bigger than a group game against Austria? Yes, not even close.

I'm not taking away from the Irish victory against the All Blacks last Saturday and can see the historic nature behind it but, win lose or draw that game against the All Blacks and it doesn't really change things.

The Austria game is bigger in the fact that a draw or a loss could be detrimental to the chances of qualifying for the next World Cup. A win could be massive in going towards the target of qualifying for the World Cup. So I would class it as a bigger game. Ireland Rugby Union don't have to worry about having to qualify for the World Cup as they automatically qualify.

Obviously if you have no interest in the Ireland football team than this doesn't apply.

WesternZulu

average_runner wrote: »

Even if there was a 6 nation soccer tournament, we get our ass kicked

Ireland's record isn't all that great.
England, France, Wales, and Scotland have all won the tournament more times.

average_runner

Basil3 wrote: »

Because every knows Ireland are knocked out in the groups, so better get in there while you can

I'm a football fan, and rugby fan....I'm just surprised with the uninformed anti-rugby sentiment from a lot of people. I struggle to see how winning last week wasn't a huge deal. The match was only available on Eirsport anyway, so hardly a worthy example by the OP.

Same here, but everyone knows in the rugby world cup that Ireland will lose in the q-final no matter who we play.

average_runner

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

In fairness if the soccer Euros was played on a yearly rotating home&away basis and limited to Ireland, England, France, Italy, Spain and Germany, with no worries about relegation as it's a closed shop, then I'd be fairly confident we'd have won it a few times over the years.

Well I wouldn't. If you said Scotland, wales, n ireland and england maybe, but not that list you mentioned

average_runner

KaiserGunner wrote: »

I'm not taking away from the Irish victory against the All Blacks last Saturday and can see the historic nature behind it but, win lose or draw that game against the All Blacks and it doesn't really change things.

The Austria game is bigger in the fact that a draw or a loss could be detrimental to the chances of qualifying for the next World Cup. A win could be massive in going towards the target of qualifying for the World Cup. So I would class it as a bigger game. Ireland Rugby Union don't have to worry about having to qualify for the World Cup as they automatically qualify.

Obviously if you have no interest in the Ireland football team than this doesn't apply.

But you forget that win will have an effect on what seed we be in the world cup

The_Kew_Tour

Ireland(soccer) do get super coverage when they get to finals, but I did find the whole "I shed a tear" after beating the AB cringe too.

The_Kew_Tour

average_runner wrote: »

But you forget that win will have an effect on what seed we be in the world cup

Ya are they going be playing Georgia or Namibia. Riveting stuff.

The_Kew_Tour

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

Ya are they going be playing Georgia or Namibia. Riveting stuff.

Funny thing is that rugby can be enjoyable to watch regardless of who you're playing. The same can't be said for football....especially a lot of international football.