Rugby boys are seriously rattled, resorting to comparing its popularity to GAA.
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga provide much of the raw material for New Zealand rugby to thrive as it does, also provide players to Australia, and provide lots of players for the European club scene.
Fiji and Samoa have made multiple World Cup quarter-finals and performed very respectably each time. Fiji are current Olympic champions at sevens rugby.
Tonga beat France at the 2011 World Cup.
Japan beat South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.
Laois, Offaly, Carlow and Westmeath haven’t got within an asses roar of beating a serious hurling county in years and are nothing but cannon fodder. In fact Offaly are a lesson for the tenuous nature of hurling’s popularity even in “strongholds” - they’re a former marquee name who have been reduced to minnow status.
In rugby it would be like England suddenly declining to the level of Georgia or Canada.
Much like Ireland it’s unlikely any have won a knock-out match at the business end of the Championship.
In fairness, even since Offaly became a minnow, they’ve still beaten Limerick in the qualifiers a few times.
But Limerick would be a serious hurling county in the same way that Italy is a serious rugby country.
You’re the one that compared the popularity of hurling v rugby. In relative terms hurling is more popular than rugby. In real terms neither sport is popular.
Fiji beat Scotland last weekend
Ireland have won lots of Championships.
120 m people watched the Rugby WC final pal. They sold 2.5 m tickets to the games in the UK. 25 m people watched one game in Japan alone.
And Scotland beat Australia the week before that.
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The Rugby World Cup in England outdrew the last major football championship in England and last years European Championships.
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Wow. Never knew that. Great stat Tim
Indeed. Hurling is more popular with people who marry their cousins.
What you should have said was, a team representing Dalkey but from everywhere else
Where exactly are each of the starting 15 from?
So 120 million watched RWC Final out of 8 Billion, approx 1.5%.
900,000 watched the 2015 Hurling final out of 4.65 million, approx 20%.
Case closed.
Are these “Championships” the makey uppey ones like the Wooden Spoon and Triple Crown? There are nearly more trophies than teams in the 5 Nations.
That’s unreal Tim. When you consider that most of the competing countries in the euros could have gotten a bus to the games that’s amazing