Re: Six Nations

a hompphobe, a racist and an idiot --thats right redknapp classier than gattuso -what next -carlton palmer had a better engine

Im not a homophobe, i dont fear or hate gay people. Racist, I dont fear or hate other races. Idiot?? Nah mate I think you might be the idiot here, making statements matter of factly is a dangerous thing to do with absolutely no basis of fact.

Gattuso and Redknapp arent the same style of player at all, I dont think they can be compared. Classy would insinuate that he is an elegant player which I believe Gattuso is not, Redknapp was certainly more elegant.

Getting back to Saturdayā€™s game.

That was a smashing performance (I think). Highlights for me were Oā€™Driscollā€™s leadership, Horgan millling the lad early on, Oā€™Driscoll knocking Morgan into the middle of next week, Dā€™Arcyā€™s sublime back-handed pass and Dempseyā€™s finish and Shaggyā€™s catch and try.

Myself and raven agree on something hi5

I hate the way the rugby crowd are so polite. When they win they try to be gracious and stuff and it sickens me. Iā€™ve even been on the end of it once when we were in Cardiff for the weekend a while back and Wales beat us and everyone was so nice and polite. Fook that sport is all about rivalry and competition. When you beat your main rivals you should absolutely rub their noses in it and sicken them. I canā€™t understand why itā€™s not like that in rugby. I started a ā€˜Oh the England are shiteā€™ chant in the pub and the mortified looks on all the collars up brigade were hilarious.

I dont think its true to say Irish people were humming God save the Queen, there was just silence and then a belter of our anthem.

Funny thing at the match though. Ken Maginnis of the UUP was behind me at the game and he sang God save the Queen and then was as vocal any irish fan as anyone in the stadium!

On the match, absolutely outstanding performance. Absolutely dominant in every part of the match. Was surprised at how well we scrummaged. We have been criticised here for years but we absolutely mullered a big physical English pack. Just an outstanding day all round.

How can you say that no Irish people were humming GSTQ and then say that Ken Maginnis was singing away to it?

Predictable response followed by a predictable responseā€¦He sees himself as British

I hate that cock. He calls himself ā€˜Lordā€™ something or other. He was on BBC the night the Oā€™Loan collusion report was released saying he refused to accept its contents. You should have glassed him with one of those plastic beer glasses you get at matches.

What a load-of-crap article from Tom ā€œBegrudgerā€ Humphries in the Times today. Only he could find a downside to the game, that it wasnā€™t tight enough to see if Croke Park would test Wilkinson. He states ā€œ[With] the 5:30pm start on Saturday ā€¦ a little more roaring and bellowing should have ensued. Yet apart from reports of some early booing of Wilkinson as he lined up a kick, Croke Park never got to see the manā€™s legendary sangfroid being tested. Pity.ā€ Heā€™s obviously never watched a game of rugby in his life - he implies he didnā€™t watch Saturdayā€™s (ā€œIt was surprising to read in yesterdayā€™s sports pages that, after all the fanfare, Jonny Wilkinson had a quiet & unproductive day in Croke Park on Saturdayā€) - or heā€™d know that a proud tradition of rugby is not booing the kicker. And yes, this is yet another example of our ā€œpolitenessā€ too, I donā€™t apologise for the fact rugby fans have some self-control and donā€™t have to be segregated like fucking animals. If there was anyone booing, theyā€™re obviously blow-ins whoā€™ll hopefully learn to respect our traditions.

Shows how ridiculous it was giving him the front page to talk about rugby last time, glad to see heā€™s been relegated back to the back of the sports section again. Hopefully heā€™ll go back to talking about something heā€™s knows something about too.

I agree about Humphries in that heā€™s almost trying too hard to be glib and dismissive of the last two games and the occasion.

It is a shame about booing the kicker though. I was happy to note that it was creeping into the game over the past few years and was very prevalent in Landsdowne during the autumn internationals but it appears that a lot of people let themselves down on Saturday by being over-welcoming to the England team.

I canā€™t believe Irish supporters (Ken Magennis and his ilk excepted) applauded God Save The Queen though. I think they wanted to read about how well behaved they were in The Sunday Telegraph or something.

Weā€™d applaud any other anthem. Iā€™d rather not have the English feel theyā€™re something special by treating them differently. I disagree with German & Russian actions in the past too, but I wouldnā€™t boo their anthem.

Why should we boo the kicker? Iā€™d boo players guilty of cheating or dirty play, Iā€™d boo the ref if he made a bad call, but the kicker is just doing his job, Iā€™ve no antagonism toward him. If he puts over a kick from the touchline Iā€™ll say ā€œfair playā€. And thereā€™s no evidence that booing would put anyone - especially Wilkinson - off his kick; indeed thereā€™s a great story of Grant Fox being so stunned by the silence once that he missed. I dispute that it was very prevalent in the autumn internationals, thereā€™s always a bit of noise from the schoolboysā€™ section but thatā€™s all.

A separate point. Keith Duggan (again, whatā€™s he doing talking about rugby??) on the front page of the Irish Timesā€™ sports section states ā€œWill Carling ā€¦ made the point on Saturday morning that it would be wrong if the current England team were somehow made to feel guilty about an atrocity that came in the wake of the first World War. And that never happenedā€. Is Carling claiming that Bloody Sunday never happened? Or is Duggan??

He is also Irish. Thatā€™s why he was there supporting Ireland.

While Humphries doesnā€™t really know what heā€™s talking about regarding rugby heā€™s not afraid to admit that and he has written before that he doesnā€™t like rugby and he doesnā€™t like the Ryder Cup. For that reason Iā€™m happy to see him put his true feelings on paper regarding these events, far better than if he adopted a false gr for these big sporting events like so many other people in this country.

I think your issue is with where his articles are located (i.e. Geraldine Kennedy) and not what Humphries has written himself, which is a truthful comment piece.

For what itā€™s worth the silence that greets kickers has been noticeable in Ireland in recent years because itā€™s dying out nearly everywhere else. Iā€™d prefer there was silence but if it annoys Tony Ward when people boo (and it does) then Iā€™m happy to take that as a consolation.

Hereā€™s some raw emotion, pity its the BBC coverage. Imagine they had unleashed Johnny Hayes straight after the anthem rather than having to listen to that bloody Irelands Call, killed the mood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ6-bYixpYE

[quote=therock67 ]
Iā€™d prefer there was silence but if it annoys Tony Ward when people boo (and it does) then Iā€™m happy to take that as a consolation.[/quote]
Agreed.

[quote=therock67 ]
While Humphries doesnā€™t really know what heā€™s talking about regarding rugby heā€™s not afraid to admit that and he has written before that he doesnā€™t like rugby and he doesnā€™t like the Ryder Cup. For that reason Iā€™m happy to see him put his true feelings on paper regarding these events, far better than if he adopted a false gr for these big sporting events like so many other people in this country.

I think your issue is with where his articles are located (i.e. Geraldine Kennedy) and not what Humphries has written himself, which is a truthful comment piece.[/quote]

Pretty much agreed; his ignorance still annoys me (i.e. presuming that the silence for opposing kickers is due to apathy, rather than tradition as is the case), but I suppose one canā€™t expect him to know everything, and the fault there is probably with the sports editor for not letting him know heā€™s making a fool of himself.

Iā€™ve just heard that Kilkenny College beat Blackrock College 14-13 in either the Senior or Junior Cup.

"Brian Oā€™Driscoll, Hugo McNeill, Bob Geldoff, Fergus Slattery, Craig Doyle, Ryan Tubridy, are you listeningā€¦your boys took one hell of a beating. Can you hear me now Doyle? Can you hear me?ā€™ā€™

Brilliant excerpt from the Irish Times:

ā€œIt will be a long time before these young Kilkenny men fully comprehend the magnitude of this result. It may just be a glance from a team-mate on some far-flung university campus or, even sweeter, when meeting one of the Blackrock players 10, heck 20, years from now.ā€

Truly laughable.

Thatā€™s a magnificent paragraph. In bits laughing at that.

You forgot one ā€œRock boyā€ in your list - Gavin Cummiskey, who wrote the article in the Times, through his tears Iā€™d imagine. Although only someone with Blackrock-bred arrogance could think their exit from the Cup merited half a page of coverage.

Picture the scene; itā€™s Dublin airport in 2022. An ex-Kilkenny College flanker strides purposefully to the check-in desk and spies one of his old Balckrock foes. They stare at each other, however nothing is said. They both know. The awkward silence continues. The Blackrock man turns and sheepishly walks away. He couldnā€™t bare to look at the Kilkenny man any longer. Will he ever be able to get on with his life? Or will Donnybrook, 2007 haunt him forever?