Why is rugby/the Irish rugby team so popular?

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169885#Comment_118169885

I would say that rugby involves more skill than soccer to be fair.........I mean you have positions that are so specialised as a result of the specific skill needed. Everyone in a rugby team appears to have a specific role and the teamwork and coordination and discipline appears to be very important. In rugby you catch, kick, throw, sprint, sidestep, tackle etc. I've never played it at all apart from messing around with one or two sevens tournaments a long long time ago.

Boxing is indeed a great sport and it is individual so you can only depend on yourself. You don't have to worry about the teamwork but you also have nobody to back you up if you make a mistake. It is a sport that also teaches discipline. There is also that old (mainly US) idiom of boxing being a way out of the ghetto for young men that otherwise probably would never get the chance to escape. That can of course be contrasted with soccer - which could be argued to be a way to keep young men in the ghetto who might otherwise have escaped 😋

generic_throwaway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169742#Comment_118169742

Seems odd to pick out a paedophile idiot as representative of the entire Unionist community, but whatever.

Blue4u

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169560#Comment_118169560

Quite the opposite. You will find a lot of the young Irish players like Larmour, JVDF etc etc all represented Ireland or played other sports at a young level. Just highly skillful young Irish people, same with the ladies rugby

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169981#Comment_118169981

You need more people, I'd think. Four or five kids can have a 2 on 2 kickabout, but with rugby you need a few more. Also, you can play football out on the road, with rugby it needs to be grass.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170019#Comment_118170019

Of course. If you have the physical attributes to play any of those sports at a high level, you could realistically transfer those attributes to another sport and play at a reasonable level at least. I am sure for example, that most top GAA players could run 100m faster than you average non-sprinter. I'd expect that any pro rugby player would be able to pick up another sport at a reasonable level fairly highly. Sure didn't RTE have a good series about players doing crossovers a few years back? I seem to remember the Donegal fella Michael Murphy going to play rugby for a team in France? And Lee Chin went to Canada for ice hockey etc.

I even see the local GAA second team here doing alright at Junior B level over the last few years. They have a couple of older lads on the sidelines coming to the end of their playing day that if, say they decided to give up and take up soccer, could probably get a run on the Irish national team if they lost a bit of their collective beer bellies.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058217794/why-is-rugby-the-irish-rugby-team-so-popular

How few people have addressed your third point is really telling. Majority of the naysayers don't know what they are talking about. You got your wish and the rule has already been changed from 3 years to 5 years. I actually think you might be trolling given how wrong you got this.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170031#Comment_118170031

You have a hurl and a sliotar you can even tip it around by yourself a bit, you have a wall and you're laughing. Same with a football.

You have a rugby ball, I suppose you could practice holding it?

Blue4u

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170031#Comment_118170031

Tag Rugby and 7's rugby can be played...the likes of Keenan have played for Ireland 7s and thst is a path more players are taking. Also the ladies 7s is getting more investment than 15s

You don't need grass to play rugby. It is better to have it because if you fall but you dont

generic_throwaway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170127#Comment_118170127

Nearly 21,000 posts.

Blue4u

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170127#Comment_118170127

You can practise passing it, have you watched a GAA football match recently 99% of the time they are hand passing. Kick the ball and everyone on the pitch stops and looks.

You also have a rugby ball which you can practise passing which comes back to you :-)

starkid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169885#Comment_118169885

christ on a bike. right what age are you? if reasonable age i can get you into a local club. i'd laugh as i watch you fall apart with the lack of skill needed. jesus h christ these two attributes are huge in rugby. you sometimes have to do multiple actions in the space of a minute. Skills are learned competencies. Attributes are much more personal. Attributes are the personal qualities that make us who we are. so in such a physical game the line blurs significantly.

yeah run across the line as another human is about to smash you.

you haven't a clue. embarassing input.

Blue4u

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170060#Comment_118170060

I was just pointing out how skillful the players are.

If Rugby was Irelands number 1 sport and we have the pick of players like GAA I think we would be far more successful than we currently are.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170152#Comment_118170152

20 years versus 4 months, short timer. I was posting here back when barely anyone outside of George Hooks christmas card list gave a flying **** about Rugby

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170169#Comment_118170169

I was agreeing with you! Any of those lads would be able to turn their hand to another sport if they wished to. They might not make it to the top level but they'd go far beyond the average level.

starkid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169742#Comment_118169742

lol i think we've found Ewan.

ffs what a load of utter tripe.

the ignorance drips from your psots. if you think Tweed was the only Unionist who played for Ireland you are an ignorant melon.

its quite obvious why the Irish rugby team does this., Funnily enough its hugely inclusive and is a soft glue between north and south which would be more divisive without the likes of rugby, cricket, golf being all ireland. Tyrone winning is a similar positive for GAA and the same thing.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170176#Comment_118170176

Do you remember when boards.ie was all fields?

generic_throwaway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170176#Comment_118170176

You'd think you'd have something better to do than trolling Boards at this age. Anyway, carry on - whatever lights up your days.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170189#Comment_118170189

I'll give you that Tweed is a extreme example, but what else about my post is wrong, or a load of utter tripe as you call it ?

The media hype up rugby.

The RWC 2023 bid was a joke.

We are not Rugby Country.

And going to a private school greatly enhances your chance of being a senior international.

sydthebeat

"And going to a private school greatly enhances your chance of being a senior international."

Why do you think that is??

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170340#Comment_118170340

Well it's obvious, because they have the facilities, the coaching etc to develop players.

And as a result claims that rugby is not elitist fall of deaf ears because more than likely going to a private school is a pre-requisite to becoming an international player.

People can throw out one or two names of players here and there that came from non fee paying schools and made it, but they are the exception, not the rule.

Dyr

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170160#Comment_118170160

It is shocking to see the creeping into GAA sports of lads throwing the ball around, undermining the natural skillfullness of sports for True Gaels. Rules need to be amended if they can't be enforced to address the problem, RTE commentators referring to lads coming off the shoulder in glowing terms, disasterous

starkid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170331#Comment_118170331

the bid was a joke cause sporting facilities in this country are a joke. thats hardly rugbys fault is it? If Ireland were hosting a WC in 2023 it would be unreal and a huge filip for the country. of course people who lack imagination can't get it.

Who said we are a rugby country? its the 4th most popular sport in the country? again Irish rugby doesn't write vodafone ads. so how is that a criticism. the media went into overdrive as we have very few succesful professional sports in this country. its not rocket science like. Success breeds hype and interest. again it would be remiss of the IRFU not to encourage this for funding and profit. so its a stupid point. Its not some media conspiracy like. ffs. Theres wall to wall coverage of English soccer in this country. Pages upon pages dedicated to our main amateur sport. The SUnday Times has huge GAA coverage.

and i do have an issue with the IRFUS work in this area regarding private schools, however its not a cause and effect issue. otherwise we'd be unreal. Its a freak that a huge number of pros are coming from one private school, but its hardly some sort of conspiracy. Its a wealthy school so they have access to facilities and coaching. However loads of other private schools are failing on and off the field. rugby is tied into it across the World due to the historic ties. Its up to World rugby and the IRFU to continue growing it outside of these bubbles, like they have in Bandon. Again its criticism leveled at people as if they could change it. How could James Ryan or Sexton change where they went to school?

The IRFu will point to Earls, Furlong, Sean O'Brien, Shane Horgan, Murray, Henderson, Ferris and a few others as examples of non private schooled players.

Like i can't wait for the day a kid from inner city plays pro rugby somewhere, but apart from funding a club in the heart of the city what can the IRFU actually do. they already do special sessions with non traditional schools.

You can't just put down jumpers for goalposts. Rugby has a number of issues that differentiates it fro mother sports. Mainly safety. Its inheritantly an unsafe sport that needs specialised coaching to mitigate the dangers. I know cause i have done the steps needed. These old schools have a century of rugby in them. Its foolish to dismiss that.

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170331#Comment_118170331

Viewing figures on TV for matches and regular near sold out stadiums would say differently.. but sure lets not let facts and figures get in the way of your sectarian rambles

nj27

I hate rugby but I can see why people follow the Irish team and get excited for the matches etc. It's one of the few relatively big international sports at which we can win matches the odd time. I'd genuinely choose to be blindfolded in an anechoic chamber for the duration of a game than watch Ireland win the world cup final though, that's how much I actually can't stand the sport. It's getting to the point of an irrational level of contempt but whatever.

The head trauma thing is a personal choice. If you start banning sports because of head trauma then far, far superior sports like boxing would be on the chopping block first and nobody wants to live in a world without boxing. Fortunately people are more informed when they make the decision to participate in sports where head trauma is a risk, so it's up to them. They know what they're getting into.

CorkBoyInDub

I wouldn't be a rugby fan myself, but it's a physical sport with a lot of hits and usually there's plenty of scores in a game. We're never going to be *that* bad so it's easy to understand why people like it so much. If you're not a big fan like me you can always just change the channel.

I must say I was surprised reading that the Ireland vs Portugal game had 50,000+ more viewers at it's peak than the All Blacks game.

Fr Tod Umptious

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170462#Comment_118170462

Yea TV figures and attendance at big games is good, but as I have alluded to on this thread many times, it's not deep.

TV viewers and the big games is all it is.

Once you scratch the surface, and get away from the big events (I believe Japan was not a sell out) the numbers just dry up.

Compare that to something like the GAA, where you can go multiple layers below All Ireland Final days, county finals for example, and still find thousands of people going to games.

Rugby is a TV sport for the masses, little else.

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170518#Comment_118170518

40,000 people at the japan game, considering theres a healthy number of people still cautious with regard covid, thats not a bad figure for a test match with a team with almost zero support in the stadium. Considering leinster needs to move quite a number of their games from RDS to Aviva would imply there is a demand also.

GAA for sure has a huge following, because GAA is more, does that mean rugby is not popular? Im just trying to see your logic.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118169768#Comment_118169768

Is Earls not the exception that proves the rule? I think the IRFU could do much more. I think Guinness sticking a billboard in St. James's saying "This is Rugby Country" is not going to do anything

melekalikimaka

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118170552#Comment_118170552

checked there, ireland v qatar was what 25k and ireland portugal, 10k more than the japan game...

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118162808#Comment_118162808

I don't know anything about the background of those players but I've long thought that it should be the underage system that developed you should determine your international eligibility.

No one actually plays for Ireland, they play for the sporting association.