Would agree with that. The bandwagon really ramped up in 1990. But at the same time, no one really followed the soccer team with expectations that they would win all around them. The match in Rome in 90 was probably the pinnacle though.
The rugger buggers still using soccer as their defence 
Soccer is big time. You simply canât get away from it, it has to be brought up in every conversation about rugby. Unreal.
Rugbyâs grass roots are significantly inferior to soccer when you look at playing numbers. Just because they are a top 8 team in the world does not make it an achievement. Top 8 in rugby is equivalent to top 150 in soccer.
Iâd agree that comparing the national teams of Ireland in soccer and rugby isnât a good comparison.
The national soccer teams of Ireland have virtually no Irish players, and are based in Liverpool and Manchester.
The Irish rugby team is made up of Irish players, playing in Ireland.
10 of the 14 players involved against Poland were Irish born. All of them had Irish heritage.
Relay similar stats about the West Brit rugby team.
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No, mate, they played last night against Rubin Kazan.
There were no Irish players.
Incorrect - answer the question posed.
Bandwagons are great, mate.
Really? Is that why they constantly chanted âYouâll Never Beat The Irishâ and the team sang about âwhen we win the World Cupâ?
I donât ever recall the rugby supporters or team being anywhere near as deluded as that.
The old joke about the Eire soccer team used to go: âYouâll never beat the Irish, but theyâll never beat you.â
The Oirish were unbeaten at the 2002 World Cup.*
*According to your/Jeff logic
Eire were indeed unbeaten at that tournament, mate. Well spotted. Although despite the superb coaching of Mick McCarthy they still only beat the hapless Saudis, the worst team in the competition.
The rugby crowd canât have it every way.
- before the World Cup - âweâve a very strong squadâ
- after the World Cup - âa few injuries and the unfortunate suspension of Sean OâBrien after some French lad got a deserved box killed usâ
When they win they get all the credit. When they lose they get none of the flak.
You regularly see GAA and soccer managers badgered in interviews after bad defeats. Schmidt is on with tubrudy tonight and it will be a complete love in. âAfter such a poor start the players showed enormous courage and character to get back to within three points. Of course it was a pity Argentina, who are regularly hammered by the big three down south - then racked up twenty unanswered points but our players showed such leadership and determination to get themselves back into contention. Hopefully we can learn the lessons and take it into the Six Nations.â
No stern questions or a persistent line of questioning as to why they failed so spectacularly and underachieved yet again. Heâll get the kid gloves treatment whereas the likes of Martin OâNeill will be slaughtered should we fail to get past Bosnia.
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Incorrect. Others have brought up âWest Britsâ and âno Grassroots, just a bandwagonâ. It merits discussion when a group of lads go on and on about Italia 90 being the greatest Irish sporting achievement ever. If you want to talk about grassroots and reference the senior side, donât rely on an event where few of the players learned the game or played here.
Rugby has had a grassroots, pyramid structure throughout its history in Ireland. That grassroots built facilities the grassroots of Irish football couldnât and allowed football to use. Posh schools are grassroots too.
Were the members of the IRFU battalion from grassroots clubs when they got massacred by The Citizensâ Army in 1916?
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This is an anti rugby football thread. There have been numerous similar threads for the last few weeks. You, a person who doesnât like rugby, are one of the top 5 posters on the Official Rugby World Cup thread.
You donât see threads like this, in volumne or frequency, taking anti association football stances on predominately rugby forums or even GAA ones.
Iâm therefore curious to who needs who here?
Eamonn DeValera, rugby footballer of some renown in his youth, was commanding troops just down the road from Mount Street
He executed Republicans, mate.
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I didnât think my contributions to the thread were that good to be regarded as one of the top five contributersâŚ
Were the thousands of GAA members and association football players who fought for the British in World War I from grassroots clubs, pal?
What was less expected was the chutzpah shown by their sideline reporter, Sinead Kissane, when she interviewed OâSullivan.
Faced with an East Cork glare that looked capable of reversing global warming, Kissane twice asked the âreconsider your positionâ question and managed to secure a rather twitchy âNoâ from the Ireland boss.
âI take my hat off to Sinead,â grinned Glennon, who then indulged in the sort of nudge-nudge-wink-wink speculation with Trevor about the ârealityâ in the Irish camp that he no doubt would have condemned as wild speculation during his DĂĄil days.