Why is rugby/the Irish rugby team so popular?

I love posts where the poster calls someone out over a massive assumption /generalisation and then makes ones themselves. It’s a great debating tactic

After the site migration?

I wouldn't be that surprised to learn that everything is hosted on an old IBM 286 running Windows 3.1 out in the middle of a field somewhere now.

I’ll agree that the decision of the WC going to France was the right decision but we had more than 1 or 2 Venues. There were 12 stadia proposed (which was to be norrowed down to 8) already in existence and perfectly capeable of hosting a World Cup match, with 4 of them being rugby stadiums themselves! We don’t have the infrastructure of France or the other bidder SA, but regardless of that we do have adequate infrastructure to host such an event.

Just out of curiosity, why do you hate it? There are sports I'm not a fan of and wouldn't watch but I can't think of any I actively hate.

SA had held the soccer World Cup in 2010 and built new stadiums for it.

France have one of the top 5 professional soccer leagues in the world.

Never mind the rugby stadiums they already have.

They have the infrastructure already in place.

We don’t. And therein was the difference, and why Ireland’s bid was a farce.

Unless you think we don’t need stadiums to play matches 😁😁

This the op is just a begrudgery post. I don't mean the obvious class begrudgery the OP brings up, I mean the begrudgery at seeing other people enjoying things and looking for reasons why they ought not be having such a good time.

It's sport, it's not real life. Its only really there for entertainment and community. Nobody in Ireland gives a shyte about rowing but I saw loads of people take pleasure out of the lads winning medals in the Olympics. It's just a bit of craic (it's obviously much more than that to the actual athletes and those intimately involved).

@the OP Next, time you see people enjoying a bit of sport and having the craic together as a community, don't over analyse it or look for reasons why they're wrong for taking pleasure in it. Just enjoy it for what it is - other people having a bit of fun.

@El_Duderino 09 great to see ya here discussing rugby too! Isn’t it great that people can enjoy and be invested in more than one sport without pissing and moaning?!? Lol!! onto Qatar 😝

I find soccer very dull. I'd never dream of watching a game on my own. But I go abound the lads houses to watch an odd big game that they're interested in and always keep an eye on Ireland results and I always wish the team well because there's a great buzz around when Ireland qualify for a tournament. It makes lots of people happy including those who are big soccer fans and the rest of us who just enjoy the buzz and the bit of excitement.

I'd say it's the same with the rugby and people just get on board for the craic. Terrible shame that people can't just see others being happy and take it for what it is.

Rugby is well marketed across the country. The media have helped drive it from a minority sport to a popular one.

The provincial set ups have given every person a team to support similar to GAA you are a born fan of your area so naturally there's a connection if you have any interest and this helped grow the support. Success on the field has helped grow the popularity of the game and Irish rugby has been competitive at the top of the 6 Nations and European club game for most of the last 20 years.

I've been to a few Munster games over the years, it's a great day out, good atmosphere and an excuse for a piss up. I'd watch most games on TV but could take it or leave it at times. Saturday evening games were ideal for an excuse to go to the pub early and it gathered a crowd and a following.

I find the majority of fans don't really understand the game or rules but enjoy the craic with it and that's fair enough. I work in Limerick and majority of people interested in the game are now big hurling fans and experts since 2018 as well and couldn't name 3 players before then but that's what happens when teams go well🤔 A lot of the fans that started supporting Munster were people that didn't play or support Soccer or the GAA so getting them on board was a massive coup. Ireland soccer team going to pot has helped to convert casual fans too.

The bandwagon element has turned me off the game a bit and also the fawning over mediocre players, performances and double standards when Ireland bottle World Cup games every 4 years. Each player is better than the last and everyone of them is a 'warrior' and 'legend' of the game. The most basic skills get lauded such as lads catching Garryowens over their heads for the last few years.

Despite what the ex players would have you believe the skill levels are relatively low if you have the right physique you could go a long way in the game and we have seen lads pick up the game late in life to become Irish internationals. If there was a bit more balanced informed debate by former players and fans I would enjoy watching the game more. I've yet to hear anyone give a good reason as to why we can't perform in a World Cup with such quality in our squads, it's almost like we're too good and confuse ourselves in World Cups. Every move Stephen Kenny makes is discussed win or lose.

Neil Francis on Today FM used to highlight most of what I dislike about the game and made me hate it for a while even. Every other sport in Ireland can be criticized for its failings bar rugby for some reason.

OP, you're an ignoramus.

Like most bigots you haven't got a rat's ass clue what you're talking about. You take a bunch of half-understood misconceived notions, spin it into a straw man's argument and then say: "I'd just like to know what people think"

To dismiss your vapid and perfunctory "questions" individually

1: Yes. There is a problem with head injuries in rugby. Just as there is in other sports. Is the answer to ban the game completely or to take firm steps to mitigate the risk? I would suggest the latter.

The game needs to remain extremely vigilant about head contacts and to limit the number of times this happens to any one person in a game. This is done through a concerted effort of training, coaching and enforcement. And awareness. This is happening now at all levels and rightly so.

Would you ban boxing, completely, for example? Well off you go into Portland Row and tell Kellie Harrington that so.

2 Why is rugby the preserve of "private schools"? Well, it isn't in most of the country. In Leinster in general, and Dublin in particular, it is popular in many such schools but that is because most of them are situated in Dublin and its environs. Rugby is not a street game. It's a highly technical game with very specific roles and needs to be coached properly. (See comments above about head injuries). People need to learn how to tackle properly and safely, how to scrummage properly and safely, how to form rucks and mauls properly and safely. This isn't something you can pick up on the street like soccer or basketball.

I suspect though you're really dog whistling about "middle class" people trying to exclude the "working class" (whatever that means in today's world) from its pastimes. But that's just nonsense. Rugby is actually a very inclusive game everywhere it is played. In all of the countries in which it is popular, it has adherents among the middle classes certainly but also there are regions where it is everyman's game. These include Limerick in Ireland, the Border region of Scotland, the Welsh valleys and the West country of England.

So you don't like the salaried middle class? Fine. Clear off and watch the millionaire classes playing soccer and trying to hide their wealth by describing it in terms of a weekly wage. But don't let them kid you. NOBODY earns £150k a week; that's £7.5MILLION a year. And they don't rock up to the accounts hatch every Friday with their lunchbox wrapped up in their playing gear to receive their remuneration in a windowed envelope of used fivers. There are offshore accounts and various investment instruments, arranged at great expense by armies of consultants and advisers, to facilitate all that. Usually, I believe, it's all legal and above board but even Saint Lionel Messi fell foul of the tax authorities a few years back.

3 You object to foreigners qualifying for the Irish team "after 6 months or a year" and say it "feels wrong".

Yet you're presumably quite happy when some England or Scotland reject swans into the Irish soccer side just because he's been made aware of the fact that he has a single Irish born grandparent he's never heard of before???? What a hypocrite!!

For a start: the qualification period for people of no Irish ancestry to play for the rugby team has been three years until recently and has now been put up to five years, mainly because of the systematic way Ireland recruited while staying WITHIN the laws that apply to everyone. I don't really object to the law change but all it will mean is that recruiters will now go back to scrutinising birth and ancestry records rather than enticing the likes of Bundee Aki and James Lowe to commit to a career in Ireland.

And so what if they do? This is the 21st century. People migrate to further their careers but don't necessarily do it permanently. The best people go to where the best opportunities are available. And in Ireland, rugby is almost uniquely a professional sport with top-class local teams that attract good players from abroad. And they do so because local people are prepared to pay to watch these teams regularly. Fair play to them.

Do you really think it preferable that all the enthusiasm in Irish soccer goes to globalised dot.com brand entities for hire in the English premiership owned by some of the dodgiest proprietors in international business? What on earth is so "working class" and egalitarian about feeding the vanity of ruthless oil barons, from Russia or the medieval monarchies of the middle east? Or gambling impressarios from Asia or the dregs of the vulture capitalist class from Britain?

You want to profess your loyalty to "Unoited" or "Orsenal" or "Chelski" be my guest. But don't expect me to be impressed. I'll stick to supporting a team that plays locally, in front of local support, is one of the best club level sides in the world and contributes greatly to the strength of the Irish team. Meanwhile Irish soccer players will populate clubs in the nether regions of the English premiership or the Championship, or even League 1 (what we used to call the Third Division). Ever since the Bosman ruling and the globalisation of soccer recruitment, Irish soccer has floundered because our players can't get into the big sides any more.

If you don't want to watch Irish rugby then don't. I suspect you're not much of a loss.

Most people couldn't give a flyer about class, (but undeniably elite level Rugby Union has a disproportionate number of players from private education) and just like to see their team do well/win, and Ireland and the Provinces often do well/win, that helps a great deal in maintaining it's popularity.

The Ireland women's team was much more evident in the media when it was winning, considerably less so with their current form.

I don't enjoy watching, it's overly complicated and stop start for me. Kick, kick kick, mass of humans in a pile on the ground, wait for the ref to (arbitrarily?) point one way or the other, you may or may not know the reason why, repeat.

Don't find it difficult to avoid watching/reading/talking about it though, and if other people enjoy it I'm not adversely affected so why should I care.