23/02/2015 19:25:33
MesAmis
GAA and soccer a long way ahead of rugby. Both are sports for all which helps them I think. Rubbish. Rugby is a game for all. Where are people stopped from playing? Who stops anyone from playing rugby? Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes and accommodates everyone

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 23/02/2015 21:04:06    1696150

He means socially Ormond. Rugby has no presence in huge parts of the country; most of Dublin, Belfast, Derry cities for a start and very little in most rural parts of Ulster west of ban.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 23/02/2015 21:22:23    1696156

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 9309

1696150
23/02/2015 19:25:33
MesAmis
GAA and soccer a long way ahead of rugby. Both are sports for all which helps them I think. Rubbish. Rugby is a game for all. Where are people stopped from playing? Who stops anyone from playing rugby? Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes and accommodates
everyone

Ill give you that one Ormo.

AthCliath (Dublin) - Posts: 4347 - 23/02/2015 21:24:21    1696159

he quite clearly meant socially ormond...it is certainly for all shapes and sizes

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 23/02/2015 21:41:45    1696170

23/02/2015 21:22:23 hurlingdub
He means socially Ormond. Rugby has no presence in huge parts of the country; most of Dublin, Belfast, Derry cities for a start and very little in most rural parts of Ulster west of ban. Most of Dublin? Really? There isn't clubs everywhere but the game is accessible to most people across the country.
23/02/2015 21:24:21 AthCliath
Ill give you that one Ormo. could you not have some decency and call me by my correct name. I can then stop whinging about it. Which is better? Me whinging or people calling me Ormond and no whinging?

ormondbannerman (Clare) - Posts: 13473 - 23/02/2015 21:56:07    1696187

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 9312

1696150
23/02/2015 19:25:33
MesAmis
GAA and soccer a long way ahead of rugby. Both are sports for all which helps them I think. Rubbish. Rugby is a game for all. Where are people stopped from playing? Who stops anyone from playing rugby? Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes and accommodates everyone

You're very protective of the auld rugby Ormond!

Maybe at J2 level it still is a game for all shapes and sizes but at the elite end it's a different story. The physicality has increased massively, I blame the insidious influence of Ulster football personally!

Seriously though- Rugby is more of a threat to GAA viewing figures than our playing base. It's becoming like the NFL in the States which is a massive spectator and televisual event but is really the preserve of athletic monsters, gladiators. The NFL enjoys more than double the TV audience as the NBA but there are nearly 3x as many people playing Basketball as compared with American Football. With the concussion issue gathering real momentum how many parents are going to be encouraging their kids to take up rugby?

roundball (Tipperary) - Posts: 2514 - 24/02/2015 08:36:18    1696198

Will be in MacHale Park myself Sunday and will watch the second half of the Rugby in the local. All those of you with the GAA season tickets will be there anyway.

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11539 - 24/02/2015 09:12:38    1696206

ormondbannerman
County: Clare
Posts: 9312

Rubbish. Rugby is a game for all. Where are people stopped from playing? Who stops anyone from playing rugby? Rugby is a game for all shapes and sizes and accommodates everyone

It's not rubbish. A huge proportion of professional rugby players come from affluent backgrounds and went to fee paying schools which helped in their development as rugby players. The same is not true of a huge proportion of soccer and GAA players.

That creates an impression that rugby is for the elites like yourself.

Until we see a situation where 90+% of rugby players came from normal backgrounds then it will not be seen as a sport for all. Maybe the situation is changing but I don't see it yet. The majority of rugby players in Dublin, or even Leinster generally, are still coming from the same background. If it were a sport for all the majority would be coming from normal schools with a tiny minority coming from fee paying schools. At the moment it doesn't mirror society.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13792 - 24/02/2015 09:44:11    1696211

Why should we change times for this other sport. Supporters make decisions all the time in what they want to watch. If someone wants to watch the rugby then so be it, I know I'll be in Ballyshannon watching Donegal v Cork. Personally I can't see the attraction of rugby and I don't think we should be moving games to accommodate another sport. Rugby may have moved on in other parts of Ireland but ask most people in Donegal about rugby and you will find that the general feeling is that it is played by the more elite of society and financially backed by the business class. I also don't buy into the fact that it is a sport for everyone, although they might not exclude everyone, it certainly doesn't suit everyone. Most people use soccer, athletics, GAA, golf etc. at all ages and of all abilities as a form of exercise as well as competitively but that cannot be said for rugby.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1677 - 24/02/2015 09:45:49    1696213

Meaths game is switched to accomadate the large Royal Support for the Oval Ball game and to relive the great moments at Croke Park when Horgan and Sheridan scored those famous tries......

kikfada (Louth) - Posts: 2091 - 24/02/2015 09:51:39    1696216

Ormond, rugby does have an appeal as a spectacle. I enjoy watching it myself. Mes Amis is however correct regarding its lack of penetration in Dublin at least. I honestly don't know anyone who plays club rugby but know hundreds who play or have played football, hurling, soccer, boxing.

Interesting point about NFL Roundball. There is indeed a school of thought in US that outside of the colleges and the pro ball circuit that it is no longer the sort of game someone would play on a Saturday morning. Basketball is much lower maintenance and safer and therefore does have far more people playing. Like soccer you can play basketball anywhere basically whereas a gridiron game requires huge organization even at basic level so people don't play it in the park, other than messing about.

NFL remains by far biggest TV and live spectator sport so perhaps that is the way of sport in the future. Still need to get players all the same.

hurlingdub (Dublin) - Posts: 6978 - 24/02/2015 09:52:48    1696217

dont agree gaa should change times to benifit any other sport
for anything other than advice from the gardai maybe for traffic or general infrastucture reasons
but didnt ireland play england a few years back the same night dublin played kerry in the league in croker
in front of the largest spring series attendance of 46 thousand

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 24/02/2015 09:56:56    1696218

rugby on he northside of dublin is only in upper class areas
I remember as a kid growing up not even knowing where nearest rugby pitch to me was.
sutton,clontarf and malahide I now know of that exist within driving distance
and all 3 of them have house prices as charlie haughey would say way beyond our means

hill16no1man (Dublin) - Posts: 12665 - 24/02/2015 10:00:36    1696220

I knew a lot posters wouldn't be in favour of moving the games to suit rugby but even as some who considers Gaa as his first sport I still love rugby and I'm delighted our game was moved so I can soak in both.

Htaem (Meath) - Posts: 8657 - 24/02/2015 10:33:07    1696236

Why don't the Rugby move their game so it doesn't clash with our native games?

daytona11 (Kildare) - Posts: 4012 - 24/02/2015 10:49:40    1696240

There's no harm in moving it but I'd say there'll be a few who won't go to the game as it is on earlier as well as those who'll travel now because it won't clash with the rugger goys.

Sunday morn is a huge time for GAA club activity. 1pm throw in might come a little too early for some people to make the match.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13792 - 24/02/2015 11:17:18    1696244

Don't mind the NFL I've a junior B division 6b league football match at 3 on Sunday. Commitment.

gaafarmer (Wexford) - Posts: 280 - 24/02/2015 11:24:16    1696248

hill16no1man
dont agree gaa should change times to benifit any other sport
for anything other than advice from the gardai maybe for traffic or general infrastucture reasons

They are doing it for their own benefit also. Plenty who wouldn't bother going to the match because they want to see the big rugby match, now have the option to go see it - and pay in to do so... It is also for the benefit of their own fans, who they acknowledge have an interest in other sports. Everybody wins here.
Get off your soap box.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 24/02/2015 11:36:57    1696253

Lets start a poll, this Sunday will you go support your county in the NFL or watch Ireland v England in the Rugby?

A - GAA

B - Rugby


Il start of and answer A

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11539 - 24/02/2015 12:23:54    1696267

Laois all the way. I don't really like rugby that much anyway. Might or might not watch it if I was at home.

ExLaoistalk (Laois) - Posts: 25 - 24/02/2015 13:29:12    1696296