[QUOTE=āchewy louie, post: 919237, member: 1137ā]Could some of the older stock on here tell us what the attendances for 5 nations matches in Lansdowne road were like before 2000? From what I recall and from Rugby Gold on TG4 it looks as though they always got bumper crowd, so it is hardly a case of rugby support springing up overnight
People will always go and watch the highest level of a sport available to them, it is hardly a new phenomenom. Same way loads of your average sports fans in Ireland would watch/attend Irish international or EPL football matches or intercounty games but wouldnāt have much interest League of Ireland or club championship.[/QUOTE]
I used get brought by my dad to all those games in lansdowne from the late seventies. Used love the day out. Train up and still remember the excitement at going to macdonalds when it opened on grafton street. Some function or other. The men all pinting away all day. Us gone free range. The match. The train home. Great great days.
To answer your question, they were always completely sold out. Iirc, it held 33000 , but had huge terraces and was often swelled way beyond that. I remember at a triple crown game against Wales, in particular they reckon there were at least another 10000 in on fake tickets.
When I was playing underage club rugby in Dublin we we always let in for free if we did programmes or ball boy. I played for monks town and it was not at all elitist. Just a city version of a hurling club.
[QUOTE=āTabby, post: 919303, member: 2142ā]Tom mcGurk is by far the biggest cunt for this rugby love in shit.
Thereās a serious amount of hyperbole around GAA too though Iād say those of us not brought up with it could point out.[/QUOTE]
Real hurling men like this post
Thereās a whole heap of fellas seething in this thread
Do any of ye lads ever express this opinion out loud In real life? Genuine question? If not why not?
Iv genuinely never met anyone who has expressed that view point to me. Lot of valid points, Iām not getting sucked into the argument mind you!
The only point Iād particularly disagree with is that the game is universally elitist in this country. Simply not true. Might be in pockets e.g fee paying schools in S Dublin. My own club at home would consist of primarily tradesmen, farmers, students handful of professionals; Iād say pretty similar demographic to TFK users really. Most club sides the same. Wonāt find doctors,dentists, solrs playing they just donāt have the time or canāt afford to break their hands.
Do any of ye lads ever express this opinion out loud In real life? ![/QUOTE]
Yep, on Saturday in Poland on a stag. Out of 11 lads, 7 went to the pub for the match and 4 of us stayed in the hotel room listening to Damien Dempsey, The Wolfe Tones and discussing how shit rugby is.
Of the lads in the pubs, Iād say 4 of them have zero knowledge or interest in sport in general besides jumping on a rugby bandwagon every now and then.
When we joined them later there were a few nasty arguments.
People donāt like you telling them that the thing they are ācelebratingā is a load of bollocks.
Also, had to tell all the men in work after a month or two. Most just assume youāll be a rugby fan. Eventually, I just saidā¦āehā¦I have to stop you thereā and told the truth. Again, offence was taken.
[QUOTE=ādancarter, post: 919349, member: 122ā]Thereās a whole heap of fellas seething in this thread
Do any of ye lads ever express this opinion out loud In real life? Genuine question? If not why not?
Iv genuinely never met anyone who has expressed that view point to me. Lot of valid points, Iām not getting sucked into the argument mind you!
The only point Iād particularly disagree with is that the game is universally elitist in this country. Simply not true. Might be in pockets e.g fee paying schools in S Dublin. My own club at home would consist of primarily tradesmen, farmers, students handful of professionals; Iād say pretty similar demographic to TFK users really. Most club sides the same. Wonāt find doctors,dentists, solrs playing they just donāt have the time or canāt afford to break their hands.
Anyways carry on![/QUOTE]
Iām fairly sure I shared my opinions with @Bandage[/USER] and [USER=24]@farmerinthecity out loud one lunch time. I was pleasantly surprised by their reactions.
Iāve said it to people in work too, even to those just making polite conversation and assuming I was enthralled on Saturday and ecstatic with the result.
I think the game is less elitist than it was but the structures remain built around maintaining the old selective model.
But I donāt think thatās really the point I was making anyway. Itās the disproportionate attention it receives, which is certainly abetted, and always has been, by its appeal to those elite classes.
[QUOTE=āRocko, post: 919356, member: 1ā]Iām fairly sure I shared my opinions with [USER=9]
I think the game is less elitist than it was but the structures remain built around maintaining the old selective model.
But I donāt think thatās really the point I was making anyway. Itās the disproportionate attention it receives, which is certainly abetted, and always has been, by its appeal to those elite classes.[/USER][/QUOTE][USER=9]
Ah apologies wasnāt really referring to your post which isnāt really attacking rugby, rather peoples attitude toward it. Which are two entirely separate points. I love the game, agnostic on what surrounds it. Iv always just felt that the bandwagon serves a purpose in that it funds the game from the top down and itās possible that in a generation the band wagoners kids will be embedded in the game from an early age.
I just spotted that @dodgy-keeper had thrown in his tuppence worth, I didnāt read his posts but just assumed he was peddling the same wankology he has been for the guts of ten years.[/user]
[QUOTE=ādancarter, post: 919349, member: 122ā]Thereās a whole heap of fellas seething in this thread
![/QUOTE]
I do, regularlyā¦ but generally with the Johnny come lately crowd and silly bints (usually one and the same). I know plenty of genuine club rugby lads here in Limerick that are the opposite of what most of us are banging on about, as I have stated many times, I have no problem with those lads- They will still be found up watching their mates playing 2nds/3rds if they are not playing themselves or watching the senior team. The provincial scene doesnāt mean a whole lot to these boys, or their fathers-Itās just a booze up. But you know all about that yourself, kid.
That I do kid that I do. Only recently I was down your neck of the woods in the island field with Porky and the boys. Even Maryās are gone half posh with the new field
[QUOTE=ādancarter, post: 919349, member: 122ā]Thereās a whole heap of fellas seething in this thread
Do any of ye lads ever express this opinion out loud In real life? Genuine question? If not why not?
Iv genuinely never met anyone who has expressed that view point to me. Lot of valid points, Iām not getting sucked into the argument mind you!
The only point Iād particularly disagree with is that the game is universally elitist in this country. Simply not true. Might be in pockets e.g fee paying schools in S Dublin. My own club at home would consist of primarily tradesmen, farmers, students handful of professionals; Iād say pretty similar demographic to TFK users really. Most club sides the same. Wonāt find doctors,dentists, solrs playing they just donāt have the time or canāt afford to break their hands.
Anyways carry on![/QUOTE]
the pockets of fee paying school though is where its at, and thats another annoying thing. I lived and worked in a heartland of a school and club area, and the people themselves are arseholes, and their ego and attitude would sicken you. Yeah, there might be rugby played in the back ends of some county, but realistically, its the fee paying schools where its at, where the national side comes from, and where the media comes from. The coverage the Times gives the fabled Leinster senior cup is astonishing. Fair play to them in one sense, because at least there is some sort of history and heritage to that. But even with the likes of O Brien or the very few other āregular joe soapsā on the Irish team, the vast majority of the squad is still made up of players who went to fee paying schools, and that in itself creates the elitism.
I know a couple of lads from where I am from who are on a Leinster development squad. One of them is thinking of giving it up. All training is always in Dublin, and he said the clique and the shit he gets from the players up there isnt worth the hassle of the whole thing. Maybe Munster is different, or maybe this lad is just unlucky with a bad age group, but having seen some of the schools players when I lived in Dublin, it really doesnt surprise me he isnt accepted with them.
Look the rugby commentary and hype is merely a reflection of the narcissism of the country in general. Oooohh, everybody was watching us. Ooohh, we got mentioned by barak Obama. Oooohh we are the ābest boys in the classā. Ooohhh the Germans and the troika love Dublin. Makes me want to fucking vomit to be honest. The hype around the rugby in the Irish media is no different to the narcissistic shite about the country which is bilged across the airways and print media the rest of the time. Why is there a constant craving/need for attention and approval? Lke a spoilt child.
