You dont wanna read it mate.
It seems fairly obvious to me that the key to an atmosphere in a stadium is a close, competitive game where there is something at stake which draws a near full capacity crowd.
Croke Park is shit for large amounts of the Leinster Championship, in one-side games and when itās half full. Croke Park is electric in close run knock-out games with 65,000+ punters.
Similarly, Lansdowne Road with rugby is buzzing when its Ire vs Eng/Fra/NZ/SA etc but can be lacklustre in other Leinster/Ire games when the result is fairly certain before kick-off.
Itās not much more or much less than that.
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You donāt actually believe that do you?
Hon Tadhg!
Ha! I seen that! Man dreamt of putting on red and yellow jersey.
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I couldnāt get over how pumped the Scots were for a game against Fiji last weekend. Theyāre absolutely ravenous for any kind of success it seems. I donāt think theyāve even won more than 3 from 5 at any stage in the 6 nations era since 2000. Youād have to admire the enthusiasm to be fair.
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I heard a very very nasty story about a visit by London Irish to Ulster some years ago, and the reception certain of their players received. Im actually surprised and disappointed even taking into account it was Ulster.
Van der Flier got world player of the year.
Iād have given it to the Frenchie.
Fine achievement for the lad, always thought he was disrespected earlier in his career when Dan Leavy was getting all the hype. Its an odd thing that I reckon he could walk down the main street of most Irish towns on a busy Saturday and not be recognised. Even in the local town here, which has a big rugby club, I reckon he could walk down the street in his full Irish kit and he wouldnāt be recognised by many.
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I think DuPont has had a poor year by his standards.
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I thought Dupont would win this. He is easily the best player in the world and its not particularly close. I think the red card against South Africa cost him dearly. I see France only got 2 players on world team of the year with Ireland getting 4 and SA getting 3. This despite France being only the 2nd or 3rd team in history to win every game in a single season. Bizarre. Plenty grist for the mill for them ahead of world cup next year.
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While I have absolutely no information on this, I would speculate itās because the southern hemisphere saw more of Ireland and saw them beating NZ in the series there. They always seem to dismiss or not see northern hemisphere achievements, like that time OāDriscoll should have gotten player of the year but didnāt.
Iām a massive DuPont fan. Iād pay the entrance fee just to watch him play. But his form did dip slightly compared to year previous where he was an absolute freak.
Iām delighted for VdF. Heās the most natural out and out 7 weve ever produced on this island. Wallace was a hybrid of positions and Gleeson, the only other real natural 7, was Aussie.
VdFs had big injury set backs to overcome. Heās added a lot to his game with outstanding carries to go with the absolute fucking nuisance he is at breakdown. Heās come a long way to hitting this achievement.
Weāre blessed to have him and others coming through in what is such a hugely influential position on the pitch.
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Iād pick ardie ahead of him every time though. And kolisi.
The amount he has improved is sensational. He was a grand player for Leinster who was probably beneath international level even until fairly recently.
Ardie at 8.
Definitely not much between him and the Bok captain. Be interesting to see what their stats are like and does Kohlisi benefit from having a larger profile
Ardie Savea is the best player in the world and by a country mile. The fact he wasnāt even nominated makes this a bit of a farce although happy for Van der flier heās had a great year.
Start the clock