Why is rugby/the Irish rugby team so popular?

I said the majority not nobody, big difference. I am sorry if I struck a nerve informing you that the majority of casual fans don't know understand the rules of the game.

I'm still going to call them rules like every other sport. Laws and rules are the same thing just a different name.

Most of the parents bringing their kids definitely don't have a clue about the 'laws' They don't care either for the most part.

I played soccer underage and I'd say half the parents still don't know what the offside rule is despite going to games for over a decade.

What BS have you called out exactly?

Rules called Laws? Same thing just a different name.

By your logic anyone that goes to a game knows the laws of the game inside and out😂

I can assure you I have been to Celtic league, Magners League, Heineken cup, Pro12, Pro14 and Champions Cup games in Thomond Park, for some reason it's always freezing there.

Just wondering if all the fans around you didn't know the laws or were giving out because ref's decision went against the team they were supporting? I know that is something that only happens in rugby. In every other sport they politely applaud and say "well that's the rule" when a decision goes against their team.

John Hayes started playing rugby at 18 and ended up being our most capped player before he retired.

Can you explain how he mastered all the skills of the game in such a short period of time then?

There is skill in the specialist positions, half backs, full backs but none of the front 8 and usually 2 or 3 of the backs rarely ever kick the ball or chip the ball, run a line, pick it up and beat a few players or are encouraged to do so. But very few players are expected to do much else other than to break a tackle or pass to a lad less than 5 foot away. Holding the ball while getting battered isn't easy but not highly skilled. It is relatively low skilled compared to the other field sports played here. Anyone that thinks otherwise truly hasn't a clue.

All it took was 2 years in NZ to master a game and be most capped Irish international player of all time when he retired 🤔

If only I'd have gone to Brazil at 18 I could have been an international soccer player😂

Are you saying none of the front 8 have any specialist skills? Your either a troll, ignorant or just both!! The whole pack are in specialist positions… 3 of them are so specialist that your not allowed field anyone in those positions unless they’ve been specifically trained. You even have to have replacements for all three of those positions named on the bench! Even at club level!

Having played at full back myself for over 20 years I’d love nothing more than to bring you out for a training session to show you some of the “basic skills” needed just to make sure your able to leave the field in one piece! Trust me, there is some level of skill needed to stay focused while throwing your body up to catch a garryowen in full knowledge that as soon as your foot hits the ground your going to be minced by two 100kg plus backrowers (two of those unskilled fellas as you like to say), all while keeping possession and recycling the ball back, getting up off your hole, catching your breath and going to do it all again!

The fact that a fella can take up the sport at 18 and become record cap holder before he retires shows that it is not massively highly skilled, it's a physical and mental game.

@square ball I can’t speak for GAA at all but having played soccer along side rugby for a large portion of my adolescence (About 10 years as a defender/goalkeeper, including an appearance for a team in the Eircom league as it was known at the time) I’d absolutely say the level of skill needed to be half decent at rugby is greater!

Having said that, the competencies are vastly different and there is a lot of things footballers can do that rugby players can’t! The highest level I played at in 1xv rugby was Leinster League Div 2 but did finish up with the 3rds for an AIL team before injury ended it this past summer! So I’ve a decent level of experience at both to be able to judge accuracy I feel!

Nothing wrong with disagreeing…. Opinions are like arseholes eh 😉😂

I don’t know how to answer your question! But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I was a defender and ‘keeper in football and a full back in rugby, both have transferable skills!! Infact I’d say most half decent full backs would make a half decent keeper and vice versa!

Now could I chest a cross down and volly it into the top corner? Prob not!

I do go to games have been for the last 35 years or so, and it's very rare the people around haven't a clue what's going on and that's from minis up to international.