Rugby is on the up no doubt however yesterdays result was totally blown out of proportion by the media. Look it, when we needed to perform in the world cup last year our so called superstars were found out. We got to the quarters so essentially we are in the worlds top 8 and there are about 12 teams in the world whho take rugby seriously.
Rugby is definetly growing outside dublin, yesterday you had lads from wexfrod louth westmeath carlow and kildare playin

11jm11 (Kildare) - Posts: 365 - 06/11/2016 22:55:21    1932204

Ormondbannerman Rugby is dangerous.Concussion is a serious issue for the game and we're only finding out now about the long terms affects of concussion and repeated body collisions. Unfortunately there will no doubt be lawsuits in the future from players who have suffered brain damage from playing rugby much like in American football not to mention how physically wrecked a lot of rugby players will be in the future apart from issues with their brains. If I had children I wouldn't let them near playing Rugby or American Football and probably Ice Hockey as well. It looks like heading the ball in soccer could have similar negative affects.

But by all means bury your head in the sand if you want to because you just can't seem to tolerate any legitimate criticism of anything to do with rugby.

The rugby teams achievements are always overhyped. It's a sport competed by 10 counties and we can't get past the World Cup quarter finals and yet for winning a meaningless challenge match against a team at the end of there season it's been treated as some miraculous achievement.Rather than what it was which was a victory over a tired team who aren't anywhere near as good as they were last year.Beating them in the world cup knock out stage would be something to celebrate this not so much.Do you not remember the ridiculous level of hype after beating Australia in the 2011 world cup or France in 2015 only for Ireland to be well beaten in the next stage.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 06/11/2016 22:57:21    1932205

tom smith - does anybody in ireland actually use the term rugger ive never heard it

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 06/11/2016 23:03:17    1932206

Ormond - GAA wont ever get swamped by other sports but giving more kids greater options to play more sports is better for everyone. Kids can learn more skills and use skills from different sports to improve their other sports like using tactics and skills more used in rugby to improve their gaelic and vice versa.


he is right you know i see it with my own kids -and kids are better off playin as many sports as possible -my lads during the olympics were tryin the pole vault and shot put !!!!!!

If the media in this country get their way rugby will be the no1 sport in the country in ten years. Lets call a spade a spade we won a friendly match against NZ and you'd swear we just won the world cup. --11jm11 (Kildare)

Winning a non competitive game that exists as a money making venture is not anything to be crowing about.We were bound to beat them at some stage in one of these type of games when New Zealand are never going to be 100% at it after such a long season.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts:1008 - 06/11/2016 15:13:07

you lad might not be followers of rugby but in rugby a test match matter A LOT - look at the emotion on the irish teams faces and the dejection on the all blacks faces -whats rare is wonderful so let enjoy it

seeing ireland beat the all blacks in another box ticket, next one ... an all ireland!

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 06/11/2016 23:12:03    1932208

riverboy that sounds like a great pub tell them a few facts and the natives are converted, where is it i wanna go there ,

by the way ireland never beat ireland to win a grand slam under gatland (not in final game)

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 06/11/2016 23:15:33    1932209

and by the way in 50 years time the gaa will still be strong and i hope to be around then to keep enjoying it

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 06/11/2016 23:21:50    1932212

I fail to see the beef, the seasons don't coincide and to be honest I've seen more hype in Dublin for an All Ireland final then a six nation decider.

I've played both as well, never a problem, in fact compliment each other quite well.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 06/11/2016 23:57:50    1932220

. Look it, when we needed to perform in the world cup last year our so called superstars were found out. 11jm11 (Kildare) -wouldnt say they were found out - they were just beaten by a better side, same as kildare in 98 and limerick in 96 bear in mind ireland had a hugely draining game v france the week before (argentina had easier game) and we had oconnell omahoney and obrien missing1

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 07/11/2016 09:48:21    1932259

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) -
If I had children I wouldn't let them near playing Rugby my lads play rugby and hurling football and soccer my lads play it and hurling football and soccer , there are huge benefits to be had from playing the sport

It's a sport competed by 10 counties you could make the same point about all ireland hurling -

and yet for winning a meaningless challenge match
an internation in rugby is never meaningless - look at the emotion on the players faces after the game

Rather than what it was which was a victory over a tired team who aren't anywhere near as good as they were last year.
this years all blacks are better than last year due to the form of beauden barrett , read and sam cane

Do you not remember the ridiculous level of hype after beating Australia in the 2011 world cup or France in 2015 only for Ireland to be well beaten in the next stage.

i do and i also remember ridiculous levels of hype when limerick , laois and westmeath won provincial titles in recent years , and all three were beaten at the next stage, when something thats rare happens in sports it gets celebrate - whats the point in playing sport if you cant celebrate a great result

I wouldn't panic just yet lads. The GAA has a way to go to catch upon the marketing of the games but overall the product is superior so time will tell. Croke park is the only venue for GAA that really does the corporate thing well. Once a few more grounds are giving that option then there will be a chance of parity on that front. Its actually not that difficult. Look at how the dog and horse tracks provide some form of hospitality at events even the smaller tracks.
Structures are a problem. Its very hard to sell a season ticket for a county that are in division 2,3 or 4 and likely to only play 2-3 games in the championship. There is no tapping into the corporate market for those counties and no media outlet is going to get exited about it.
Also the irregularity of the games and the Sunday afternoon slot just doesnt appeal to the fairweather supporters. I'm sure all of us dont mind going out at 2:30pm to watch our county team on a cold march sunday in a ground with a few hundred cold concrete seats and a small shop selling mostly sweets and if you are lucky a polystyrene cup of tae or a cup-a-soup. It dosnt appeal to the masses im afraid.

jpcampion (Laois) - Posts: 194 - 07/11/2016 10:42:44    1932283

I think the GAA will be okay as regards the 'rugby onslaught'.

Rugby has undoubtedly gotten more popular, mainly down the country, in the last 20 years or so. There was a lot of hype last week regarding this game, more so than any All-Ireland final tends to get, which bugs people I think. I mean I know it was a "test' match or whatever but even if rugby does take these things more seriously than all other sports, it still amounts to an exhibition match.

Despite rugby's growth over the last 2 decades it still lags well behind the GAA and soccer in terms of clubs/players throughout the country. I'm sure there has been growth but I think there are only about 200 or so rugby clubs on the whole island which is only a small fraction of the amount of GAA clubs. So even with the amount of media coverage, largely positive in comparison to GAA and soccer, and the success of late rugby still has a long way to go to match the two dominant sporting organisations on the island.

I'd imagine rugby has become a lot of people's second or third sport though that they support and they should be commended for that. It's main struggle seems to be ridding itself of its elitist tag, particularly in Dublin. Until it can do that it will struggle to grow anymore I think.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13707 - 07/11/2016 10:43:15    1932284

cuederocket (Dublin) - Posts: 5084 - 07/11/2016 11:10:49    1932300

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5012 - 07/11/2016 11:36:49    1932314

Jeez an awful lot of pettiness in this thread. Couple things I've seen said:

1. The build up to the NZ game getting "more coverage than an All-Ireland final"... are you actually serious
2. "It's a friendly" - just pure ignorance. It's a different sport, comparing like with like is stupid. All Test matches have significance for World Cup seeding. That win will be huge for Ireland not only because they've finally beaten NZ, but because it boosts their ranking and we've a chance now to overtake South Africa which will hopefully then mean avoiding a group of death in the next WC (see: England, Wales, Australia in the last World Cup, that was because of Wales' poor results in these "friendlies").
3. But if you want to compare like with like, "only 10 countries take it seriously" - eh hurling? And that's our national sport, for shame.

Stop whingeing about rugby and focus on what the GAA are doing (or not doing as the case probably is). The GAA have to do more for games development across the country, take the Dublin model and apply it nationwide, have targets for weaker counties to breed some success at underage etc. Yes you have to compete with rugby and soccer but for me they are not the main enemies of the GAA, it's the top brass being complacent and happy with money making while neglecting the clubs and smaller hubs of gaelic games. Gaelic football and hurling are our national games, we treasure them so I can never see the will not being there to play these games. It's up to the administration to facilitate and encourage kids to get involved, to take enjoyment from the sport and make it as easy as possible to continue playing through to their adult lives.

JoeSoap (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 07/11/2016 11:41:39    1932316

Also anyone who thinks the media are biased towards rugby really need get out of the poor me cycle. All of Ireland's sports media - ALL OF IT - are intensely reactionary and negative. Just look at the criticism Schmidt got after this years 6 Nations, the criticism he got for picking Rob Kearney before Saturday's game. Some of our media were saying he wouldn't be a great loss if he didn't sign a new contract for crying out loud.

Then look at the criticism Martin O'Neill gets every international cycle, the lack of coverage for LoI (though Dundalk are slowly changing that).

If anyone thinks that the media target GAA for negativity and only the GAA you're well off the mark.

JoeSoap (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 07/11/2016 11:44:47    1932317

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts:766 - 07/11/2016 09:53:44
my lads play it and hurling football and soccer , there are huge benefits to be had from playing the sport

Huge dangers to playing rugby though, there are much safer sports that can be played and have the same effect.Concussion is a serious issue and with the increasing size of players and intensity of the game increasing it's a pretty dangerous sport because of the potential for very serious long term negative affects from it and it will only get worse.Also there is the elephant in the room surrounding the "supplements" being taken by rugby players and the fact that the rugby authorities don't really want to know too much about what teams are really up to in order to be able to play so many matches at such a high intensity.

uibhfhaili1986 (Offaly) - Posts: 1296 - 07/11/2016 12:21:21    1932332

i didnt even know Ireland were playing the all blacks til somebody told me the score.

SaffronDon (Antrim) - Posts: 2385 - 07/11/2016 13:43:56    1932367

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1903 - 07/11/2016 14:24:44    1932379

bricktop (Down) - Posts: 2503 - 07/11/2016 14:32:53    1932387

Soccer friendlies which are now glorified kickarounds where players invariably try to avoid injuries are a lot different to rugby test matches. Historically (& geographically), before the RWC began in 1987, there was only the Five Nations or Tri Nations for these teams to compete in which is why the summer/autumn tours/test series' came into being so there's a vastly different culture & significance about them. I do think there is more than a hint of rugby bias in our national media. Many of our mainstream sports journalists went to rugby-playing schools, for starters. However, you'd have to be a total cynic not to be able to savour vanquishing the all-conquering AllBlacks.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 07/11/2016 15:22:33    1932399