[FONT=Calibri]I suppose I can be put in this bracket now. Picked up a ticket through a corporate gig in work and decided to pop along as I’d never been to a game before and wanted to see what all the hype/bullshit spewed in the media was about. Suffice to say I am now firmly at one with the vast majority of opinions put forth in this thread. Can’t think of 1 redeeming feature, it was a god awful experience from 1st minute to last. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]The game itself is the most un-spectator friendly I’ve ever attended, for the vast majority of the time you can’t see the ball. Which in turn contributes to the total lack of atmosphere, in fairness it’s difficult to get excited about a group of men rolling around the ground and falling on top of each other!! The odd time the ball did make an appearance the handling skills were enough to make Joe Hart look like the safest pair of hands in the Premiership last week. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]All through I had to endure a running commentary from any one of a number of “experts” who knowing I was a rugby virgin insisted on explaining the virtues of the crash ball, the off load, the up and under, taking it into contact, running the channels etc. Strangely enough when a penalty was awarded to either team very few were confident enough in their expertise to tell me what was going on. All apart from one lad who appeared to know exactly what the deal was with every decision. Grand says I, “I’ll have a chat with him at half time to try and make sense of proceedings” Unfortunately my fleeting flirtation with the oval ball was about to be consigned to dustbin of misadventure. It turns out yer man had purchased a gizmo called a Ref Mike on the way into the stadium which allows him to hear exactly what the referee is saying to the players. This quite naturally led me to the not unreasonable conclusion that no one sitting in my vicinity had a fucking clue what was going on out on the field. Christ how is it possible to derive enjoyment from a game that you don’t fully understand the rules of?[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]At this stage I gave up and decided to make the best of a bad situation and join the legions of people who just appeared to be there for the piss-up. It’s a phenomenon I have never experienced at an Irish sporting event before, but there was a constant flow of people coming and going all through the game. Primarily this appeared to be for the purpose of re-filling at the bar. It’s safe to assume said bar was doing a roaring trade as the average trip duration seemed to be in the region of 8-10 minutes. Now I enjoy the feeling of inebriation as much as the next lad but if I fork out €80 for a ticket I’m at least going to watch the game in its entirety. Fortunately, being on a freebie I had no such constraints of conscience and made it through the 2nd half through a combination of Guinness and Whiskey.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]I could go on but I’m rushing out the door to get a few swift ones in prior to the big one tonight. Hail Hail !!![/FONT]
The thing about the alleged experts throwing out phrases like crfash ball, off load etc etc is very true. I have a theory that none of them have any idea what any of it means, but everyone nods along in agreement, as none of them knoiw either. Rugby is a game destroyed by rules. I fear it will never return.
[quote=“Sidney, post: 736923, member: 183”]Bugsy Malone on the Anti-Rugby Football thread:
[FONT=Calibri]The game itself is the most un-spectator friendly I’ve ever attended, for the vast majority of the time you can’t see the ball. Which in turn contributes to the total lack of atmosphere, in fairness it’s difficult to get excited about a group of men rolling around the ground and falling on top of each other!! The odd time the ball did make an appearance the handling skills were enough to make Joe Hart look like the safest pair of hands in the Premiership last week.[/FONT][/quote]
This bit is absolutely spot on. I went to a few rugby games and this was exactly my experience of them. It is an atrocious sport to watch, with nothing but lads falling down on top of each other making up for 90% of it. Every now and then the ball would pop out, and some guy boots it over the sideline (to a round of applause) or some lad runs 10 yards with it which apparently constitutes sensational action.
The people who managed to successfully market this abortion of a game to the Irish public are geniuses, and deserve to be placed in high office in this country. They have managed to sell a product that by any reasonable assessment has no merit whatsoever. That’s more talented than anything the lumbering fuckwits on the field ever manage to produce.
[quote=“Watch The Break, post: 737049, member: 260”]This bit is absolutely spot on. I went to a few rugby games and this was exactly my experience of them. It is an atrocious sport to watch, with nothing but lads falling down on top of each other making up for 90% of it. Every now and then the ball would pop out, and some guy boots it over the sideline (to a round of applause) or some lad runs 10 yards with it which apparently constitutes sensational action.
The people who managed to successfully market this abortion of a game to the Irish public are geniuses, and deserve to be placed in high office in this country. They have managed to sell a product that by any reasonable assessment has no merit whatsoever. That’s more talented than anything the lumbering fuckwits on the field ever manage to produce.[/quote]
The people that were involved in putting rugby football into mainstream event junkieism are those ballsy guys that bankrupted the British Isles. Be careful what you wish for mate.
Bugsy has it spot on though. You can’t underestimate the morkesing fucks involved in rogbee though. In any other sport, the chance of a ref mike catching on as a must have accessory would be laughed at.
However it is an ingenius idea for rogbee where no-one seems to know the rules especially the followers in the stands. The bizarre interpretation of the rules confuses the players so translating it for the plebs watching makes perfect sense.
I experienced the phenomen of queues at the bar during the game at the Heineken Cup final a few years back, I also got a freebie just in case anyone is wondering. Not that the bar near us was packed but you would be queuing for 5-10 mins to get served. There was also a general hum of conversation during the game in the stadium.
[quote=“KIB man, post: 737127, member: 208”]The people that were involved in putting rugby football into mainstream event junkieism are those ballsy guys that bankrupted the British Isles. Be careful what you wish for mate.
Bugsy has it spot on though. You can’t underestimate the morkesing fucks involved in rogbee though. In any other sport, the chance of a ref mike catching on as a must have accessory would be laughed at.
However it is an ingenius idea for rogbee where no-one seems to know the rules especially the followers in the stands. The bizarre interpretation of the rules confuses the players so translating it for the plebs watching makes perfect sense.
I experienced the phenomen of queues at the bar during the game at the Heineken Cup final a few years back, I also got a freebie just in case anyone is wondering. Not that the bar near us was packed but you would be queuing for 5-10 mins to get served. There was also a general hum of conversation during the game in the stadium.[/quote]
Rugby is only a mainstream event in a handful of provincial market towns in the British Isles, like Cardiff, Belfast, Limerick, Leicester, Northampton, Dublin and Gloucester. I was in London the day of the Heineken Cup final in 2012 and you would honestly not have known that it was on.
I experienced the phenomen of queues at the bar during the game at the Heineken Cup final a few years back, I also got a freebie just in case anyone is wondering. Not that the bar near us was packed but you would be queuing for 5-10 mins to get served. There was also a general hum of conversation during the game in the stadium.[/quote]
I was at the Heineken Cup final in 2009 and started queueing for a pint just after the half-time whistle sounded. By the time I got served and back to my seat it was 20 minutes into the second half.
To be fair Twickenham is way out in West London. In a city of 8m people, you might be lucky to get away with not bumping into them, same as if West Ham had a game on you probably wouldn’t see much of them in the city.
On the other hand, rugby union is very much a complete minority sport in Australia yet they win ‘World Cups’ regularly. There has been no talk of this loins shit yet, when is it on?
[quote=“KIB man, post: 737134, member: 208”]To be fair Twickenham is way out in West London. In a city of 8m people, you might be lucky to get away with not bumping into them, same as if West Ham had a game on you probably wouldn’t see much of them in the city.
On the other hand, rugby union is very much a complete minority sport in Australia yet they win ‘World Cups’ regularly. There has been no talk of this loins shit yet, when is it on?[/quote]
As I’ve said before. the way the game is structured (ie high profile national team and a couple of provincial teams) has gone a long way to making it the sport of choice for those annoying watercooler chats. You have basically three teams that anybody gives a toss about - Leinster, Munster and Ireland. That it’s always those same teams playing the high profile matches makes for a very high recognition factor of certain players amongst women ie O’Driscoll, O’Gara, Sexton. Women (especially the type that work in offices in Dublin) see association football as the game of the guttersnipe and GAA as the game of the bog. Rugby has the socially aspirational element to it. Therefore it’s the sport of choice for women and it’s where the sexes feel they can share a conversation on sport, even if the people talking about it don’t really care that much about it (which they usually don’t).
[quote=“KIB man, post: 737134, member: 208”]To be fair Twickenham is way out in West London. In a city of 8m people, you might be lucky to get away with not bumping into them, same as if West Ham had a game on you probably wouldn’t see much of them in the city.
On the other hand, rugby union is very much a complete minority sport in Australia yet they win ‘World Cups’ regularly. There has been no talk of this loins shit yet, when is it on?[/quote]
Kib man. On the day in question Blackpool were playing in the championship playoff and the Nfl game was on in Wembley the next day. London was alive with fans for these two events.
[FONT=Calibri]This begs a serious question, do many people actually part with any of their own cash to go to a rugby game? The majority of people I spoke to both before, during and after the game on Sunday were there as part of some kind of junket. True enough I was hob knobbing it with the elite of the country in The Berkley Court, so perhaps the ordinary Joe Soap pays his way!![/FONT]
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[FONT=Calibri]Thanks for the nomination Sidney – would this award be as prestigious as “The Cunt of The Year”?[/FONT]
Wouldn’t be a big follower or fan or rugger myself. Might watch an occasional game, or partial game. I don’t even know all the rules, and couldn’t even name the positions that each player plays.
However, I think Bugsy’s post is the biggest pile of steaming self absorbed shite and represents the zenith of the stupid “I dislike something so much I will spend interminable hours letting everybody know this fact on internet forums” that pollutes TFK.
Look lads, it’s fairly easy, if you don’t think something is much of a sport, why would you bother your arse watching it? And why in the name of fuck would you surrender a chunk of your Saturday afternoon to attending such an event?
Just to give you an example… I wouldn’t have much time for Cricket. I think it’s a retarded pastime in fairness. Therefore, if there is a Cricket match on, I will not watch it. It’s unlikely I will know it’s on in the first place. If it’s being plastered all across the media, like Ireland are playing the Pakis or Brits in some world cup shit, then I will glad for the advance warning, lest I accidentally stumble on it and be prepared to deflect any retarded comments I may get in passing daily encounters from retarded bandwagoneers.
They same would go for Darts (which obviously isn’t a sport, but that’s neither here not there), you won’t find me venturing into darts threads spending countless hours telling all and sundry that darts is fat Cockney cunts throwing needles at a wall.
