The Anti-Rugby Football Thread

[anon25556527]

Ewan McKenna isn’t anti rugby or soccer or gaa. He is anti anything the vast majority of people support. The man is an utter cunt.

[Nembo_Kid]

Teams don’t dominate possession in rugby, Tim. They are too busy kicking the ball out of play and gifting it back to the opposition as a tactic.

[Tim_Riggins]

@Nembo_Kid

Yes the League of Ireland didn’t decide to split out the country into four teams and enter into a domestic league with an amalgamation of other countries.

How many pro leagues are there in Rugby in Europe. 4? Thats probably less than the number of pro leagues in English football alone.

What is your point here?

The 50% I talk about aren’t even the ones who went to British Academies in their teens. These are guys like Ray Houghton who learned to play football on his estate in Glasgow, went to London to train in an Academy and only landed in Ireland because Scotland wouldn’t pick him. Even though the “project players” in rugby is too short (though notably FIFA used to have it for 2 years), those players actually have to come into Ireland and play and develop their games in Ireland. The residency qualified internationals in Ireland number about 10 so far.

Ray Houghton, scorer of the two most famous goals in Irish football history has never lived here, didn’t learn the game here, played professionally overseas and his connection to Ireland these days comes from picking up cheques for commentating and going to Liverpool old boy events in Dublin.

Why should rugby football sit back and take abuse about their grassroots when they actually have one and that grassroots has a defined thread up to the very top of the sport?

The grassroots of Irish rugby plays for the country, win or lose
The grassroots of Irish rugby built their facilities throughout the country, which the negligent FAI failed to consistently for their entire history until Bertie did them a favour

[Tim_Riggins]

@Nembo_Kid

Teams don’t dominate possession in rugby, Tim. They are too busy kicking the ball out of play and gifting it back to the opposition as a tactic.

Rugby is about territory and possession. Territory is more important than it is in football.

[Nembo_Kid]

10 of the 14 players who played against Poland were Irish born. I’d check your sums, guy.

[Rocko]

@tallback

The rugby team get an easier media treatment than some other Irish teams but it’s probably on the back of success in recent years (all be it in the 6 n and at club level) rather than just the sport itself. When Leinster were performing poorly they were regularly called “ladyboys” etc in the press which is hardly fawning treatment. Similarly, I don’t remember the crap rugby teams of the late 90’s getting much positive press. When Ireland had poor six nations in recent years, the knives were quickly sharpened for previous media darlings such as Eddie O’Sullivan, Declan Kidney, Ronan O’Gara etc.

Isn’t that the point many of us have been making for months and years though? Rugby was obviously always over-represented in the media. That’s a function of the social classes who play it.

But in the last few years this has gone from over-saturation to unprecedented levels of fawning and hyperbole.

There’s no doubt that Italia 90 wasn’t too dissimilar but in general that was less nauseating because:

1. Qualifying for the tournament was a worthwhile achievement in itself.
2. Getting to the last 8 was a magnificent achievement.
3. There was a far higher percentage of people watching and talking about the games who:
   a) knew what they were talking about or
   b) had played the game

The actual achievements (winning a “tournament” on points difference - a new phenomenon that wasn’t a measure of that “tournament” for the vast majority of its existence; and some amalgamated clubs winning the European cup) don’t translate into real achievements for the national team, which has consistently under-delivered at the top level. And embarrassingly so.

[Nembo_Kid]

So your initial point was null and void.

[Tim_Riggins]

@Nembo_Kid

10 of the 14 players who played against Poland were Irish born. I’d check your sums, guy.

McClean was developed in Northern Ireland. He played underage football for them and turned his back on the country who helped develop him. He played for Derry City for 3 years which is the only credit he should be to Irish football.

And 7 of the 11 who played against Italy in Italia 90 were not born in Ireland, the so called “greatest achievement in Irish sport”.

I would expect the number of these players to decline over time as the emigrant flow to Britain which was almost continual for 100 years has become more patchy in the last 25 years. It does not invalidate the point, check the ROI team over the last 20 odd years vs the rugby football team. One was built on an overwhelming foundation of grassroots developed players, the other wasn’t.

[TreatyStones]

@Tim_Riggins

McClean was developed in Northern Ireland. He played underage football for them and turned his back on the country who helped develop him. He played for Derry City for 3 years which is the only credit he should be to Irish football.

And 7 of the 11 who played against Italy in Italia 90 were not born in Ireland, the so called “greatest achievement in Irish sport”.

I would expect the number of these players to decline over time as the emigrant flow to Britain which was almost continual for 100 years has become more patchy in the last 25 years. It does not invalidate the point, check the ROI team over the last 20 odd years vs the rugby football team. One was built on an overwhelming foundation of grassroots developed players, the other wasn’t.

James McClean is on the Army Council of the IRA

Deliberate your/you’re mistake below

[Rocko]

@Tim_Riggins

And 7 of the 11 who played against Italy in Italia 90 were not born in Ireland, the so called “greatest achievement in Irish sport”.

You think Ireland’s greatest achievement was a loss? Weirdo.

[Nembo_Kid]

Don’t be so partitionist, McClean is Irish.

[Tim_Riggins]

@Rocko

Isn’t that the point many of us have been making for months and years though? Rugby was obviously always over-represented in the media. That’s a function of the social classes who play it.

But in the last few years this has gone from over-saturation to unprecedented levels of fawning and hyperbole.

There’s no doubt that Italia 90 wasn’t too dissimilar but in general that was less nauseating because:

Qualifying for the tournament was a worthwhile achievement in itself.
Getting to the last 8 was a magnificent achievement.
**There was a far higher percentage of people watching and talking about the games who:a) knew what they were talking about orb) **had played the game

The actual achievements (winning a “tournament” on points difference - a new phenomenon that wasn’t a measure of that “tournament” for the vast majority of its existence; and some amalgamated clubs winning the European cup) don’t translate into real achievements for the national team, which has consistently under-delivered at the top level. And embarrassingly so.

The bolded is anecdotal gibberish.

The media report what rates.

The only sporting league in Ireland which is overrepresented in the Irish media is the League of Ireland. Nobody attends it but the FAI have been forced to take knockdown rates on sponsorship and other media rights for the national side to support it. It is subsidised because fuck all of the famous Irish association football fans support it.

How is Italia 90 and “Irish” achievment? How many of that side’s grassroots was funded by Ireland? How much of their Youth Careers? How much of their professional careers?

It was an achievement of British soccer clubs, which we enjoyed the fruits of because of the emigrant train there for a century.

The IRFU are a credit to Irish sport, just like the Irish boxing team have been. They have built the first proper professional structure for Irish sport. They avoided the fate of Scottish rugby and to a lesser degree Welsh club rugby by keeping most of their players at home and this side who played on Sunday was for the most part brought through Irish systems.

Some no mark troll like Ewan moaning about lack of ambition in relation to players releasing emotion after a big win from behind his keyboard is just laughable.

[Fagan_ODowd]

[myboyblue]

I’d say its more than ankle straps he needs to drag that around a field for 80 minutes.

[Tim_Riggins]

@Nembo_Kid

Don’t be so partitionist, McClean is Irish.

We are talking about grassroots here. Northern Irish soccer players are, barring a stint with Derry City, brought through by NI clubs/NI Association and NI schools. They do not get their funding from Dublin.

[thedancingbaby]

Who is that

[Nembo_Kid]

Partitionist.

[TreatyStones]

@Sidney

Your having a meltdown

[Tim_Riggins]

@Nembo_Kid

Partitionist

Keep signing the praises of the 26 county operation bud

[Horsebox]