they are challenge/friendly games...same as any other sport...why are you dismissing friendlies or challenge matches?..you do realise test matches are exactly the same..stop trying to big up anything in rugby at every opportunity..the points you make arent constructive..its an online forum..people are entitled to post how they want..why do you post here if thats your attitude?...your the biggest keyboard warrior of them all!....gaa pulls in much bigger ratings..much of the test matches is simply a chance for the respective unions to make plenty of money..look at us...we wore guinness jerseys 1 year!!!..the fact remains an all ireland semin final deserves a lot more build up and coverage than 15 mins and certainly more than a 'test match' in a much smaller sport

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 17:44:53    1672083

I have nothing against rugby and enjoy watching it, but I was depending on radio last Sunday and the coverage of the provincial games was poor. They had reporters at a good few of the games but there was hardly any commentary. More from English soccer games and from a basketball match. Not even final scores on some games until they were over by half an hour. Mediaman is right in saying that the club games are important and are hugely popular. I would guess that with possible exception of Vincents in Portlaoise that all of the club inter provincials had bigger crowds than would have been had Cork/Limerick, Tipp/Clare, Wicklow/Kildare, Tyrone/Armagh, Galway/Leitrim, Mayo/Ros been playing early league matches. More people were at GAA club games last weekend than were in Aviva. Fact.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 13/11/2014 17:48:09    1672086

Ba ha ha hill16 15 mins before wasn't enough to note any team changes , give it over...

You may have had a point re sponsorship if it wasn't for the fact that these test matches have been played for over a hundred years!! Long before any sponsors . You clearly don't understand. It's about competing against another country - that's all the motivation needed - not points or silly plastic cups. Pure sport

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4663 - 13/11/2014 17:48:47    1672087

what is the difference bad monkey between a rugby test match and an international soccer friendly so bad monkey?..0...another wind up post by you...consistent at least

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 17:55:30    1672089

Watch the Ireland-SA test match from last weekend and then compare to Irish soccer teams last friendly match and you'll have your answer. If you still can't figure it out there's no hope of you ever understanding.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4663 - 13/11/2014 19:20:50    1672108

Rugby. Overhyped sport. Only 12 teams in world playing the sport and dont talk crap about emerging nations like canada and kenya. Big deal made about Ireland being european champions. There only 6 teams in europe. Rugby has less participants in Ireland.ie. playing for leisure than football hurling soccer cycling ladies football swimming running. As many kids in school playing basketball. RTE sport news should devote time according to popularity end of.

sceptical (Cavan) - Posts: 544 - 13/11/2014 19:44:18    1672111

you mean the teams in question are at a higher level in their respective sports?..what else?..what about the various hidings and awful test matches there is..what about us and georgia next week for instance?..or do you only prefer things which suit your own argument?

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 19:45:43    1672113

why dont we compare it to the ireland 'test match' v georgia?.

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 20:10:54    1672122

rugby is a physical sport so its obviously going to be a more intense match generally speaking

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 20:11:41    1672123

Hill16, an awful of very fair, valid points have been made about RTE's pro rugby bias. Ormond is the unable to answer those points because there is no answering them. However fair is fair. Ormond makes the point that the Autumn internationals especially the games against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are not friendlies and he is right. I wouldn't cross the sitting room floor to turn on the tv to watch the games v Samoa or Georgia. However I have attended many Six Nations matches and a number of Autumn internationals where we played New Zealand, Australia or South Africa.. There is no difference in terms of intensity between these games . The matches v the Southern Hemisphere teams are absolutely colossal contests and have to be acknowledged as so . Ormonds defence of RTE's bias towards rugby is misguided however he is absolutely correct to say the Autumn internationals are full blooded, competitive internationals which carry great meaning.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6192 - 13/11/2014 20:12:42    1672124

i disagree greengrass..they can be of high quality certainly but they are largely for sponsorship reasons...lots of soccer friendlies or gaa challenge matches can also be good games..doesnt mean they deserve bigger coverage than an all ireland semi which wont be forgotten for a long time.....we dont hear much talk about the tests down under often because we are well beaten in the majority of them...the northern hemisphere nations have a greater chance of winning here therefore receiving bigger coverage and more sponsorship involved..why did we wear guinness jerseys for a game can anybody inform me?....all money..no integrity...to dismiss challenge or friendly matches as somehow beneath so called 'test matches' shows a bias towards rugby

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 20:28:07    1672128

and we both know greengrass that a certain pro-rugby poster is going to try and argue that internationals against the likes of samoa georgia and romania are proper 'test matches' superior to friendlies or challenge games in other sports

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 20:36:02    1672135

You're missing the point Fabio. I have been involved at inter county level. There is absolutely no comparison between an inter county challenge match and a full blooded championship match. I have attended plenty of Six Nations matches and Autumn internationals v New Zealand, South Africa and Australia. There is no difference between these matches in terms of the brutal intensity levels and the pace at which the games are played. The Autumn internationals are full blooded, colossal contests. I appreciate your point about generating revenue but any sporting organisation that did not fully exploit it' s capacity to generate revenue is not serving it's sport well. You are also absolutely correct when you speak about RTE only affording the game between Mayo and Kerry fifteen minutes of a build up in comparison to an hour for the game v South Africa. Once again RTE's pathetic bias is shown up for what it is. I wonder how long will the build up to the Georgia game be. That however is a separate point entirely to the one about Autumn internationals being challenges. They're not.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6192 - 13/11/2014 20:42:22    1672137

8.30pm. Thursday. Four hours ago, of the top twenty stories on the RTE Sport website, only one was hurling or football related. Even that is gone now. And the number 1 story - an analysis piece written about a friendly rugby match from 5 days ago. The site continues to ignore the club football and hurling championships indeed RTE only broadcasts one club match every year. You guessed it - it's the Division 1 Rugby League decider which by my reckoning is the 7th tier of Irish rugby. Post All-Ireland Finals RTE is a virtual no-go area for football and hurling.

mediaman (Antrim) - Posts: 355 - 13/11/2014 20:43:24    1672138

they are friendlies greengrass..why arent the end of summer tours treated the same?...im not disputing the intensity or anything like that...at the end of the day they are still friendlies and often are used to try new players and combinations..of course they are better than the majority of matches as south africa new zealand and austrailia are generally much better sides than a team in the 6 nations barring a few exceptions

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 21:36:38    1672150

there will be plenty of intensity when scotland play england in a friendly international for instance..same with us when we play england...its all dependant on the standard of the teams you are playing against

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 21:38:55    1672151

They're not friendlies. No inter county challenge comes anywhere near them for intensity. No soccer challenge comes anywhere near them for intensity. Challenges in soccer and Gaelic games are mickey mouse affairs in comparison to competitive matches in those codes. Not so with the autumn internationals . Experimentation is at a premium. South Africa fielded an unchanged team against us from the team that played and beat New Zealand. You'll see experimentation and squad rotation this weekend. Have you ever been to these autumn internationals ? Go and see them and if you still think they are friendlies then I worry for you my friend. They are also a cracking day out for the supporters.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6192 - 13/11/2014 21:51:27    1672153

They're not friendlies. No inter county challenge comes anywhere near them for intensity. No soccer challenge comes anywhere near them for intensity. Challenges in soccer and Gaelic games are mickey mouse affairs in comparison to competitive matches in those codes. Not so with the autumn internationals . Experimentation is at a premium. South Africa fielded an unchanged team against us from the team that played and beat New Zealand. You'll see experimentation and squad rotation this weekend. Have you ever been to these autumn internationals ? Go and see them and if you still think they are friendlies then I worry for you my friend. They are also a cracking day out for the supporters.

Greengrass (Louth) - Posts: 6192 - 13/11/2014 21:51:30    1672154

i have been at them..rugby is a very intense and physical sport..they are the same thing...attend an ireland match against samoa or georgia and come back to me...what side will we put out then?...its easiest to talk about their importance when we are playing a good side but if the irish soccer team were playing brazil or england or somebody we would put out our best possible side...again i ask you what about the end of summer tours?..are these somehow different because we get hammered in a lot of games?

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 13/11/2014 21:59:11    1672157

test matches are competitive matches. Challange games /friendlies are not. Its that simple really. Not everything has to be set up like GAA & soccer.

Of course there are one sided test matches but that happens in every sport. A team turned up to play Crossmaglen in the Armagh Senior Championship this year with lads wearing jeans and runners. One fella took a phone call on his mobile during the match! Crossmaglen ended up doing training exercises in one half of the pitch as the game was being played. Does this mean all championship games are a farce?. No of course not.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4663 - 14/11/2014 08:27:25    1672158