Which ones in recent years? And as high profile as the 6 nations? You may argue against the 6 nations but it has a long tradition and has always taken a place in the Irish sporting calendar and therefore the public psyche, even for people with little rugby tradition.
By that yardstick, Eireās win over Germany was meaningless.
And so were their wins over England and Italy in 1988 and 1994.
And so was the win over Holland in 2001.
Thatās basically the whole history of Eire association football without a meaningful win.
Throw in Limerickās Munster title win in 2013. Utterly meaningless by your yardstick.
Did you celebrate that Munster title?
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He attributed it to choking much more so than over-celebrating pool stage games.
4 nations Cup.
How is the 6 nations high profile?
Itās a minority sport in every one of the participating countries.
How many of those tournaments did they have to qualify for? Itās absurd trying to compare the two sports reallyā¦ One is drawn from a small pool of players/ countries - the other is a world sport where Ireland are mere minnowsā¦ I wonāt even go into the technical/skill aspects of one over the other- All I will say is that one of Irelandās all time capped rugby players took up the game at 18/19ā¦
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Look, I get that you donāt like rugby for all sorts of political, socio-economic reasons etc. Whatever. Iām also happy to try and engage in a reasonably constructive debate.
Claiming the 4 nations is more high-profile than the 6 nations is just taking the piss though. This could easily be proven through the money around the tournament from broadcasters and sponsors, the amount of fans travelling and home, the demand for tickets etc
But hey - well done on the 4 nations cup victory - I hope you bought the commemorative t-shirt.
+1.
As Ewan says, crying after pool wins in an 8/9 team tournament is daft when getting to the quarter finals is the minimum expected.
Completely different context in a true global sport such as football.
I merely asked how was the six nations high profile. I made no comment on the profile of The Nations Cup.
Crying on reaching the quarter finalists would be perfectly acceptable for say Japan.
When you are ranked in the top 3 or whatever then itās retarded.
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Kidney was basically vilified in the media in the latter part of his tenure.
So was Eddie OāSullivan.
The Irish rugby team were ridiculed from 1987 when I first became aware of the game until 2000 when they started to win a few matches.
In all of that period and up to 2002, the Eire association football team received the mother of all soft-soapings from the media. A key feature of the Charlton years in particular was the nauseating fawning over the team and the mythology built up by the media. Draws were celebrated as if they were wins.
It puts any positive press the rugby teams (which have actually won titles, as opposed to the association football team, letās not forget), into serious perspective.
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I donāt really care enough either way to get into one of your pedantic arguments with you where you donāt even believe your own side.
Your comparison between Irelandās rugby wins in pool games and the soccerball teamās win over Germany et al is dumb for a number of reasons, particularly the relative strength of the teams, relative expectations, and what was at stake in the games.
I was actually disappointed the Ireland rugby team lost. But if they were to lose at this stage it was nice to see them get hammered, which is the fault of the media fawning rugby receives in ārugby countryā.
Actually Iām a modern man. I donāt mind crying.
Shitting the togs was their problem, as FotF Ewan correctly points out. A great piece by the 2012 Sports Journalist of the Year.
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The usual spurious football references thrown in here in response. Our soccer team generally over achieves. Itās just a far more difficult sport to have global success in. There are more soccer players in New York than there are rugby players globally.
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Trapās Carling Cup or Carling Trophy or whatever it was called was more valuable than the rugby football teamās 4/6 Nations wins.
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The reality is that Germany were coasting and didnāt particularly care about losing because they knew qualification was assured in any event.
I know thatās a difficult reality to stomach for Eire fans, but thereās no point in deluding yourselves, is there?
Ok. All the games are carried live on television to substantial viewing figures. The broadcast rights are worth over Ā£50 m/year based upon a quick google. Sponsorship figures I didnāt bother to google but are obviously substantial.
Almost all games sold out and very difficult to get tickets for. Substantial travelling support with corresponding knock-on on flight and hotel prices. Apart from Paris/London, clearly a substantial impact on bars, restaurants etc.
High viewing figures consistently for games. Acknowledged as high-profile sporting events to be kept on terrestrial television etc.
Broadcast in many countries outside those taking part.
And most importantly - always feature in RTE sporting montages of previous national glories ā¦
When have they over achieved?
Great use of āknock-onā.
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Iād agree itās a more competitive sport. Iād question whether we over-achieve though - or if we do, why increasingly the average soccer support couldnāt be arsed going to watch his over-achieving national team? Also, why do they get fairly average press for this consistent over-achievement?
People are stupid, is my opinion.
Media/marketing manipulation makes mugs mythologize rugby football mediocrity.
All sorts of gimps get giddy at the prospect of going to rugby football matches.