The IRISH RUGBY thread

[Dinny Breen]

Just looking at that Irish squad and wondering is there a co-relation between the GAA's massive funding of Dublin and the lack of Dublin players in the squad. Only Jack McGrath starting and Ian Madigan on the bench are Dubs, has Dublin GAA won the battle? or are these things cyclical but with a quarter of the population of this Island based in Dublin it's definitely not a proportional representation.

Don't believe so - the player pool is spreading wider and into more rural areas. With the demands placed on inter county players a lad talented at rugby and football/hurling at 14/15 is certainly more inclined to choose the professional route.

That Dublin team are as professional as the Leinster Rugby team and Academy players get pittance though so not as straight forward as you would think. The numbers are interesting though especially with the investment placed in schools such as Blackrock, Michaels and Belvedere. I do have issues with Leinster's ability to identify talent and their ability to develop talent though so perhaps it's more reflective of that than competition from other sports bodies.

Dublin however isn't your standard GAA side though. Take a lad say from Down or Wexford. Is he going to choose a chance at professional rugby or 10 years of slog with practically no reward!

I'm only interested in Dublin though, perhaps an increase in players outside the traditional areas might explain some of it.

[Bord na Mona man]

I'd say players who come from GAA backgrounds have an advantage when it comes to rugby skills. The catching and footwork would be better for starters. The ability to acquire skills may be superior because of exposure to different codes.

Part of the problem with the traditional South Dublin rugby culture is that it can be very mono. A lot of them I've known over the years are simply clueless about other sports and would never have kicked and O'Neills and maybe only done a sprinkling of soccer.

A rugby player playing in a sporting cocoon and within that, coached to do very specific positional tasks is probably not ideal material to work with as more advanced coaching comes into play in later years. I've no doubt Schools Cup is very focused on winning rather than holistic skills acquiring. And we wonder why our international tightheads have no ball handling skills.

The GAA has made inroads in rugby heartlands, though hardly enough to make a noticeable difference at the apex of the talent pyramid. Hurling is a sport that is appealing strongly to the Dublin middle classes, more so than gaelic football, which would have skangery connotations - Hill 16 et al. There are lot more names like Sneachta and Uachtar Reoite turning up on Dublin hurling team sheets nowadays and of course Cuala from Dalkey are the hurling powerhouse these days.

[Declan]

There are lot more names like Sneachta and Uachtar Reoite turning up on Dublin hurling team sheets nowadays and of course Cuala from Dalkey are the hurling powerhouse these days

Brilliant

[JPGJOHNNYG]

so wales gave it a go again for 50 mins. you always felt though nz had plenty in reserve. another defeat for gatland against the tri-nations. couldnt be happening to a nicer guy lol

[Dinny Breen]

Wales need more Liam Williams less Jamie Roberts, same game plan for the last 9 years. The game evolves and teams need to evolve with it.

[screenexile]

Anybody who thinks these are glorified friendlies should watch this England Aussie game it's phenomenal!

[Dinny Breen]

Anybody who thinks these are glorified friendlies should watch this England Aussie game it's phenomenal!

Remarkable defence from England, Phibbs was their best player though.

[screenexile]

Just made shit of the SA scrum excellent stuff... Even with the changes it's a continuation of last week!

[Milltown Row2]

At least one Irish unified team is playing well

[From the Bunker]

At least one Irish unified team is playing well

Of course the Rugby lads always do well in tournaments? 

[Milltown Row2]

At least one Irish unified team is playing well

Of course the Rugby lads always do well in tournaments? 

At least they are competitive.... Far smaller group to pick from than most countries

[Hardy]

They can win this at their ease. No threat at all from SA so far. They're a rabble.

[screenexile]

They can win this at their ease. No threat at all from SA so far. They're a rabble.

They've upped it bigtime this half... We'll de extremely well to hold on with the altitude fatigue beginning to set in!!

[screenexile]

JESUS!!!

[From the Bunker]

At least one Irish unified team is playing well

Of course the Rugby lads always do well in tournaments? 

At least they are competitive.... Far smaller group to pick from than most countries

Yeah, but they usually do crap in tournaments? We never get past the Quarters which is the measure of success with such a small pool of top teams.