The IRISH RUGBY thread

[weareros]

Not quite The Sun but Irish Times headline tomorrow

FOCKING ROBBED

[Owen Brannigan]

Seems nobody is looking at poor preparation of the application and taking things for granted.

IRFU would have considered that it was Ireland's turn to host a World Cup and that France would be second in terms of having its turn although they knew that France has it all in terms of finance, experience with large tournaments and stadiums.  I think SA only entered the race at the end because of financial issues.

So, maybe IRFU didn't make the grade on prep when France and South Africa took previous applications out of the drawer, dusted them down and updated the figures while IRFU said come to us and have 'wile craic".

[square_ball]

Worth reading Gordon D'Arcy who wrote an excellent article today in the Irish Times about the situation. Talked a lot of sense about lessons to be learned if there are to be any further bids.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/gordon-d-arcy-tough-day-on-lansdowne-road-after-rwc-hammer-blow-1.3275818?mode=amp

[magpie seanie]

I've seen it said that NZ came third in the appraisal for the 2011 RWC. If these criteria are used in a hard and fast way then only England, France and SA will ever get to host the tournament. What the document shows is that, while we may be 3rd of the 3 bids, all 3 could host an excellent tournament. We have been marked down in certain areas due to the risk of things that aren't in place failing to be put in place in time (where France and SA have these in place already). This could be saved by a full on assault by Varadkar and co publicly guaranteeing that certain things would be done by certain times. We shouldn't throw the towel in yet but yes - lessons should be learned.

Or maybe we shouldn't worry. After all Dick Spring told us that the votes were secured some time back......

[weareros]

Regarding the votes, reading the Gerry Thornley article, it seems to be a case of:

NZ - sure we voted for them in 2011, payback time
USA - strong Irish American influence
wales - fella Celts
Scotland - fella Celts although can't be trusted
England - hopefully they listened to Teresa May
Georgia - sure we played them in a friendly
Japan - 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Japan

Looks flimsy though Dick won a few tight, tense votes in his day so maybe knows something we don't.

[AZOffaly]

Problem here is this process was brought in to make everything transparent. If we turn around and win this vote, there'll be some amount of awkward questions to be answered.

[ardtole]

Regarding the votes, reading the Gerry Thornley article, it seems to be a case of:

NZ - sure we voted for them in 2011, payback time
USA - strong Irish American influence
wales - fella Celts
Scotland - fella Celts although can't be trusted
England - hopefully they listened to Teresa May
Georgia - sure we played them in a friendly
Japan - 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties with Japan

Looks flimsy though Dick won a few tight, tense votes in his day so maybe knows something we don't.

New Zealand have already announced they will follow the recommendation and vote for SA

[manfromdelmonte]

Bertie was the man who could have got this over the line!
to not have the wi-fi and other basic infrastructure working in a stadium before the assessment is just ridiculous and small time

some of the venues in NZ in 2011 were like parc tailteann with grassy banks

[seafoid]

Worth reading Gordon D'Arcy who wrote an excellent article today in the Irish Times about the situation. Talked a lot of sense about lessons to be learned if there are to be any further bids.

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/gordon-d-arcy-tough-day-on-lansdowne-road-after-rwc-hammer-blow-1.3275818?mode=amp

It is a long term play.

[Asal Mor]

Thought this was a superb piece from Ewan McKenna about the financial realities of hosting a World Cup.
https://m.independent.ie/sport/rugby/world-cup/ewan-mackenna-why-irelands-rugby-world-cup-bid-failure-should-be-celebrated-36283611.html

[Syferus]

What halfwit allowed the two teams to lineup in these jersies? Horrible colour clash.

[From the Bunker]

What halfwit allowed the two teams to lineup in these jersies? Horrible colour clash.

That's what happens when you have more interest in selling Jerseys than the game they are playing in.

[Syferus]

What halfwit allowed the two teams to lineup in these jersies? Horrible colour clash.

That's what happens when you have more interest in selling Jerseys than the game they are playing in.

The worst part is we have a maroon alternate jersey we could use if we really wanted to sell jerseies!!

[trileacman]

What halfwit allowed the two teams to lineup in these jersies? Horrible colour clash.

That's what happens when you have more interest in selling Jerseys than the game they are playing in.

The worst part is we have a maroon alternate jersey we could use if we really wanted to sell jerseies!!

The worst part is we have a maroon jersey.

[Capt Pat]

That jersey is a disgrace, I doubt it will sell much anyway.

The game is going well, 14-0 to Ireland.