I'd consider it to be a lot more skillful than soccer. I've never played it but behind hurling it's the one i follow most .Out of all mentioned above maybe just hurling is harder to field in, place kicking is the hardest to do, QB is the most skillful position out of the five sports and the linesmen job contains a fair bit of skill as well (again depends on what you consider skill).

RebelCork (Cork) - Posts: 789 - 18/12/2013 17:32:09    1525017

Soma
County: UK
Posts: 39

1525014
Joxer I fear for ya here if you are going to discuss the level of skill involved in rugby with Ormond. I attempted this in the rugby world cup thread but by the time he got to the idea that its not at all a game mainly about physical strength, but that spending most of your life being a shot-putter is great preparation for the sport, he had managed to suck the life out of me.
And Rebel, you can debate whether the skill in American football is more or less than rugby but surely you wouldnt put it near the other 3? The lads in the line of scrimmage are performing glorified sumo wrestling! They are very fast, and very strong, but that is not a skill. The quarterback has a great skill, and wide receivers moderate skill, but the rest of them have very little other than athleticism.
---------
Thanks for the tip. There are none so blind.... and all of that.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 18/12/2013 17:47:43    1525028

I have to laugh at you guys defining sports more skillfull then another.
How can anybody question that as its impossible.
Each sport has a skillset designed to play that sport so theres no way of saying one sport requires more skill then another!
Thats like saying it requires more skill to handpass a ball in hurling then to handpass a ball in football,but how?
One person might be able to do one better then the other and the next person might be able to do the other way around better.
If anything I would always say its easier to score in hurling than in football and thats coming from a person who is a forward in both sports but would be a better footballer then hurler.
the same goes for comparing rugby or soccer to hurling or football there all differant skill sets required to play each sport you cannot state one is more important then another or more skillfull then another.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 18/12/2013 18:19:36    1525054

hill16no1man
County: Dublin
Posts: 6821

1525054
I have to laugh at you guys defining sports more skillfull then another.
How can anybody question that as its impossible.
Each sport has a skillset designed to play that sport so theres no way of saying one sport requires more skill then another!
Thats like saying it requires more skill to handpass a ball in hurling then to handpass a ball in football,but how?
One person might be able to do one better then the other and the next person might be able to do the other way around better.
If anything I would always say its easier to score in hurling than in football and thats coming from a person who is a forward in both sports but would be a better footballer then hurler.
the same goes for comparing rugby or soccer to hurling or football there all differant skill sets required to play each sport you cannot state one is more important then another or more skillfull then another.
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Of course you can compare. Which sport requires more skill, golf or 100 sprint? Different sports require different levels of skill, or some none at all but athleticism, so it's easy to draw technical comparisons.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 18/12/2013 18:37:32    1525059

18/12/2013 16:48:51 Joxer
Oh Lord! So the key to rugby is avoiding tackles and this requires great skill. As kids we played tip chasing, same as rugby except without the oval thing, and this also required 'great skill' to avoid being 'tackled' yet as kids we didn't regard ourselves as having huge emphasis on skill. Rugby is a very simple game made complicated by the constant reworking of convoluted rules to try to make a game of glorified tip chasing more exciting for the viewers. Of the 4 or 5 field sports that I have played in my day I would rank it second from last in terms of skill with hurling requiring most skill..
Hurling
Soccer
Gaelic Football
Rugby
American Football
You can achieve a lot in rugby by being big and having a half decent pair of hands. That's it really.Not at all true that if big and with a half decent pair of hands could somebody achieve a lot. If that was the case then every person in the world who is any bit above average weight and height could do well in rugby which is not the case.
There is a great skill in avoiding getting tackled, at pro level, where defences are so organised and how its so much easier to defend than attack.
What are the "convoluted rules" in rugby? Also stop trolling by saying it is "glorified tip chasing". Have you ever played the sport? Do you know what its like to play rugby?
I would have rugby well behind hurling but as skilful as Soccer but ahead of Gaelic Football which could be a super sport but its rules and how its played and refereed make it an awful sport to play and ref.

18/12/2013 17:17:01
arock
"Leinster is not "just another sports brand". Leinster Branch of IRFU was founded in 1879 and Leinster have been playing officially since." What a strange statement what has that got to do with anything?
Certainly not the the multi million pound Leinster sports brand? The current Leinster "profile", that is the one on TV is the only meaningful profile on the Northside of Dublin, it is a brand, like Man U et all, means absolutely nothing on the ground.
My point is, there is NO infrastructure for Rugby on the Northside of the city, too few clubs and too few schools. Its going nowhere unless it breaks into mainstream post primary but thats not going to happen. So despite its winning Brand unfortunately its just attracting the armchair brigade like Man U. Unless the IRFU spends some serious money its not going to happen on this side of the Liffey.
But kids playing sport (even Tag Rugby), is a good thing. That has everything to do with it. If you cant comprehend that sentence then you are fairly..... and I wont try explain it to you again.
Leinster is not just a sports brand like Man u or anything like them. Leinster rugby is part of IRFU and they run/organise all rugby in Ireland. Manchester United is a private limited company. The IRFU is nothing like that

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 18/12/2013 18:38:43    1525060

How do you calculate the numbers of Dublin GAA supporters and the numbers of Leinster Rugby supporters in Dublin when their seasons dovetail? Just comparing the GAA to the championship season (I know many go to League games, not slagging!), May to September and the rugby season is, more-or-less, September to May, the supporters don't overlap. Some Dublin supporters will know figures better than me but there has to be a fair few Dublin GAA supporters who take a trip to to the RDS or Aviva to watch the Leinster Lions in the GAA league and championship off season and a smaller few that would go to league matches and also the rugby. Probably a few taking trips to Old Trafford, Emirates, Anfield etc. Fair play to them if they can afford it !

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8171 - 18/12/2013 18:44:16    1525064

Ah hill16 sure there is no definitive answer but it can still be enjoyable to discuss which sports are more skillful regardless! From experience - hurling for me no question, then rugby , then soccer , then gaelic football. Never tried my hand at american football so cant really comment.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4655 - 18/12/2013 18:45:06    1525065

Its very easy to state some sports are more skillful than others! Balancing a small ball at the end of a piece of ash whilst running at full speed while at the same time having that ball attempted to be dispossessed from you is infinitely more skillful than running with an oval ball whilst carrying it. While it may be difficult to state than some sports are better than others, as this infringes on the area of personal choice, i think a consensus can be reached that hurling is more skillful than rugby! You can simply do so by defining which task is harder to do.

In my opinion brute force is the underlying variable in Rugby as once the skill set has been acquired to the highest level it probably tends to win out. Fatigue is critical in this game and taking repeated hits from bigger players takes it toll. Of course skill matters as it does in every sport. If your goal kicker is on an order of magnitude better, or your backs are much better you stand a better chance. But at the highest level in Rugby you expect most teams to have excellent kickers and backs so with this in mind i'd expect the more powerful side to win out more times than not. All this comes down to how possession in rugby is utilised, the tackle, rucks and scrums etc, how it is acquired through grabbing and tackling. This is a game that focusses of power and physicality to win where rewards are gained by either running or powering yourself alone or with help over a line. Sheer power along with errors and as joxer rightly added convoluted rules adds another dimension to scores from penalties.

Your winning requirements are not confined by your ability or inability to hit a target from distance under pressure, nor is it confined by how good of a shot or stickmanship you hold. Power and force is key in my view, and some teams hold advantages in this area over others!

American Football on the other hand is more of a tactical game. It is based on pre ritualised plays than occur in very short bursts of time. It has similarities to rugby but is very much a planned game!

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1663 - 18/12/2013 18:47:58    1525066

Of course you can. It's like practicing carpentry, you'll never make a cabinet maker, but a cabinet maker will do carpentry with his eyes closed. The same, you practice hurling, maybe the most difficult sport in the world, is not the same as practicing picking up a ball and trundling into another fat guy (a la rugby) . Some sports are inherently more skillful than others.

flack (Dublin) - Posts: 1055 - 18/12/2013 20:05:07    1525091

joxer
Of course you can compare. Which sport requires more skill, golf or 100 sprint? Different sports require different levels of skill, or some none at all but athleticism, so it's easy to draw technical comparisons.

well golf requires more hand to eye skill and concetration skill
100 metre sprint rquires more speed and strength skill
so how do you define which is more skillfull when they both require differant types of skill?

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 18/12/2013 20:54:38    1525114

18/12/2013 18:47:58 seany16
Its very easy to state some sports are more skillful than others! Balancing a small ball at the end of a piece of ash whilst running at full speed while at the same time having that ball attempted to be dispossessed from you is infinitely more skillful than running with an oval ball whilst carrying it. While it may be difficult to state than some sports are better than others, as this infringes on the area of personal choice, i think a consensus can be reached that hurling is more skillful than rugby! You can simply do so by defining which task is harder to do.
In my opinion brute force is the underlying variable in Rugby as once the skill set has been acquired to the highest level it probably tends to win out. Fatigue is critical in this game and taking repeated hits from bigger players takes it toll. Of course skill matters as it does in every sport. If your goal kicker is on an order of magnitude better, or your backs are much better you stand a better chance. But at the highest level in Rugby you expect most teams to have excellent kickers and backs so with this in mind i'd expect the more powerful side to win out more times than not. All this comes down to how possession in rugby is utilised, the tackle, rucks and scrums etc, how it is acquired through grabbing and tackling. This is a game that focusses of power and physicality to win where rewards are gained by either running or powering yourself alone or with help over a line. Sheer power along with errors and as joxer rightly added convoluted rules adds another dimension to scores from penalties.
Your winning requirements are not confined by your ability or inability to hit a target from distance under pressure, nor is it confined by how good of a shot or stickmanship you hold. Power and force is key in my view, and some teams hold advantages in this area over others!
American Football on the other hand is more of a tactical game. It is based on pre ritualised plays than occur in very short bursts of time. It has similarities to rugby but is very much a planned game! Im sorry to say but you are clueless if you think brute force is underlying variable.
If brute force was that important then skills would be decreasing and the game would be slowing down but in fact the pace of game is increasing, skills are improving and abilities of players are much better
Hurling is more skilful than rugby. Cant deny that. Hurling up with most skilful sports worldwide.
Sorry but you are clueless about rugby if you think the tackle, rucks, scrums etc and possession through them is obtained through grabbing and tackling. Its about speed, power, technique which is most important as someone with super technique can stay in position even competing with much more powerful, bigger players
18/12/2013 20:05:07
flack
Of course you can. It's like practicing carpentry, you'll never make a cabinet maker, but a cabinet maker will do carpentry with his eyes closed. The same, you practice hurling, maybe the most difficult sport in the world, is not the same as practicing picking up a ball and trundling into another fat guy (a la rugby) . Some sports are inherently more skillful than others.

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 18/12/2013 20:56:16    1525115

bad.monkey
County: USA
Posts: 3646

1525065
Ah hill16 sure there is no definitive answer but it can still be enjoyable to discuss which sports are more skillful regardless! From experience - hurling for me no question, then rugby , then soccer , then gaelic football. Never tried my hand at american football so cant really comment.

if anything gaelic football requires the most skills to play the sport then any of the others you named so I cannot see how you have at the bottom? rugby would probably have the least skills needed per individual playing the sport as nearly every position has a job each so you wouldnt need all indivuduals to be skilled at a certain thing.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 18/12/2013 20:59:25    1525119

seany16
County: Dublin
Posts: 1235

1525066
Its very easy to state some sports are more skillful than others! Balancing a small ball at the end of a piece of ash whilst running at full speed while at the same time having that ball attempted to be dispossessed from you is infinitely more skillful than running with an oval ball whilst carrying it. While it may be difficult to state than some sports are better than others, as this infringes on the area of personal choice, i think a consensus can be reached that hurling is more skillful than rugby! You can simply do so by defining which task is harder to do.

but you have an indivudual who has grown up with a hurl in hand will find it easy to run with a sliotar on a hurl,but give him a rugby ball in hand and ask him to run with it while getting tackled by guys twice his size and he will struggle to hold onto the ball or stay on his feet!
then take the guy who has grown up throwing a rugby ball he will find it easy to run with a ball in hand and take a tackle and lay it off but ask him to run with a sliotar on his hurl and he will struggle to balance it or have the technique!
therefore its all an indivdual thing you cannot define hurling is more skillfull then rugby.

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 18/12/2013 21:05:32    1525122

Agree with Seany and Flack above. Ormond - if you reread my post you will see that I listed sports that I have played, rugby included, and yes I have on the odd occasion attended the RDS with friends who are into Leinster, more for the pints than the spectacle I hasten to add but you have to know the rules to spar with these guys, including 'coming through the gate' and the various forms of offside, what constitutes binding and what doesn't and so on.

I'm not trolling by calling it a game of glorified tip chasing. The comparison is valid I believe. You again state that avoiding tackles requires great skill. Perhaps you mean athleticism or body flexibility. There are two technical skills in rugby, throwing the ball (passing, line out and put-in) and kicking. Both hurling and soccer are far more technical and require greater skill to master. That's an indisputable fact IMO but again just my opinion and you are entitled to yours.

By the way better to try debating the topic with valid arguments than to resort to attempting to belittle other posters with comments like 'have you ever played rugby' or 'do you know anything about rugby'.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4748 - 18/12/2013 21:37:10    1525129

if anything gaelic football requires the most skills to play the sport then any of the others you named so I cannot see how you have at the bottom? rugby would probably have the least skills needed per individual playing the sport as nearly every position has a job each so you wouldnt need all indivuduals to be skilled at a certain thing.

Just my view having played them all regularly, much more skill and technique needed in playing rugby than Gaelic football which is quite a simple sport to play and very enjoyable.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4655 - 18/12/2013 21:45:02    1525136

That is interesting bad.monkey. What skills would you say you struggled with in rugby and were there any at all you couldn't master in the more basic game of gaelic football?

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 18/12/2013 21:59:11    1525144

I couldn't say I mastered any of the skills! But the basic skill set of kicking and catching was far more difficult in rugby due to the oval ball, the round ball is far easier to kick and catch. I found passing a rugby ball far more technically difficult than any passing in gaelic. A big difference is the tackling - in rugby is far more technical and skillful. This is just based on my experience, not trying to have a go at gaelic football at all, I played for many years and loved playing it but basic athleticism and fitness will get you a long way and the round ball is much easier to play with.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4655 - 19/12/2013 08:17:56    1525147

u know whats really wrong here? This assumption by some of ye that your either a GAA Man or a Soccer man, a Rugby man or a GAA Man....
what a load of BS
there is nothing shameful or wrong with being an avid Dubs fan and a hardcore Leinster Fan and a regular St Pats/Bohs/Rovers fan
Nothing
And people like on here trying to say there is will ultimately only cause people to walk away from the GAA, thus losing ground to all sports on a grand level

Get ye're heads out of ye're pompus ***** and stop assuming anyone who follows rugby cant be a GAA man too

The 1950's called, the Bishop wants ye to knock into him on way back.......

Liamwalkinstown (Dublin) - Posts: 8170 - 19/12/2013 09:38:15    1525166

So what you are saying is that the skills required to play gaelic football at an entry level are easier than the skills required to play rugby at a basic entry level? I wouldn't even agree with this but at least it is debatable, however it isn't much of an indication really of which game is more skillful. There is a massive difference between the skills required to be able to play a sport badly and the skills required to be very good at a sport, it is the number and variety of skills required to play a sport at the top level that really should be used to determine how skillful it is Id say. And in this regard I would say gaelic football is much more difficult and skillful than rugby.

Anyway the franchises in Dublin is a much more interesting debate, we should probably stick to that in this thread.

Soma (UK) - Posts: 2630 - 19/12/2013 10:06:24    1525175

Bad Monkey

More skill in holding the ball and throwing it

Rather than bouncing it up to yourself at speed, tapping it up into your hand at speed, switching foot if necessary

Picking the ball up with your foot at speed, and if you're any use being able to flick it up to chest hight without bending your back

All of the above is just to keep the ball in your possession

Then of course there's the kicking bit... curling the ball, slicing the ball, Long pass, short pass, ball into chest, switching feet when needed

Then of course there's the hand pass... several different techniques most of which happen at speed if you're any use

In terms of necessary skills in order to score , pass, control, bounce by using a ball... Gaelic football is far down the road from rugby

Imagine how easy Football would be if you could just throw it to each other...

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20763 - 19/12/2013 10:12:07    1525177