The IRISH RUGBY thread

[Milltown Row2]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

[marty34]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

[johnnycool]

The front page of the New Zealand Herald on Sunday

That's the winning mentality of the All Blacks.

Ah, they are a real Rugby nation. Truth be told countries like Ireland toy with the idea.

There is no tolerance of glorious defeats in NZ and they're highly critical of anything other than excellence.
That's the harsh environment for a NZ manager and player. They all know it and embrace it for what it is.

Maybe that's why they are so consistently good.

England all the same were magnificent at all facets of the game and whilst much will be made of Ford and the backs the MOTM for me was the lad Curry in the back row. He was phenomenal throughout, must have won three or four turn overs himself alone.

SA were monstrous in the tackle yesterday and the Welsh crash ball tactic (much like Irelands) was just getting hammered back time and time again meaning there was little for Biggar to work with and he was poor enough himself but the doggedness of the Welsh kept them in the game till the end.

SA just about deserved the win.

As much as that wee shít Matt Dawson was ranting on five live on Saturday morning about how great England were and just give them the cup now type attitude it really is hard to look past them but can they hit those highs again and wee Eddie was right about getting the recovery right, that'll be as much mental as physical this coming week.

NZ remind me of Kilkenny hurlers.
The pursuit of excellence.

And the key thing is modesty - very grounded lads.

You can be nothing but modest when you know you're only gifted that jersey until someone better comes along and everyone is busting their balls to get that jersey from you.

Everyone is expendable.

[marty34]

The front page of the New Zealand Herald on Sunday

That's the winning mentality of the All Blacks.

Ah, they are a real Rugby nation. Truth be told countries like Ireland toy with the idea.

There is no tolerance of glorious defeats in NZ and they're highly critical of anything other than excellence.
That's the harsh environment for a NZ manager and player. They all know it and embrace it for what it is.

Maybe that's why they are so consistently good.

England all the same were magnificent at all facets of the game and whilst much will be made of Ford and the backs the MOTM for me was the lad Curry in the back row. He was phenomenal throughout, must have won three or four turn overs himself alone.

SA were monstrous in the tackle yesterday and the Welsh crash ball tactic (much like Irelands) was just getting hammered back time and time again meaning there was little for Biggar to work with and he was poor enough himself but the doggedness of the Welsh kept them in the game till the end.

SA just about deserved the win.

As much as that wee shít Matt Dawson was ranting on five live on Saturday morning about how great England were and just give them the cup now type attitude it really is hard to look past them but can they hit those highs again and wee Eddie was right about getting the recovery right, that'll be as much mental as physical this coming week.

NZ remind me of Kilkenny hurlers.
The pursuit of excellence.

And the key thing is modesty - very grounded lads.

You can be nothing but modest when you know you're only gifted that jersey until someone better comes along and everyone is busting their balls to get that jersey from you.

Everyone is expendable.

Not sure - look at Real Madrid for example, a crowd of superstars but full of egos.  No modesty at all!

It's only in certain teams - Kilkenny, Dublin footballers, Barca, and New Zealand etc.  It's about the culture of the team.

[GetOverTheBar]

The drop in form in less than 12 mths was incredible and only surpassed by an even faster and greater drop in form in 2007
We still dont know wtf happened then and Im not entirely sure wtf has happened this time either!

It was coming.

Too many lads have had too many dinners and their best days were behind them.

Joe wasn't ruthless enough early enough or he really didn't fancy those coming through the ranks.

How Farrell goes about the 6N's will be interesting.

Does he keep some of the old guard to bed in new blood or go for broke with lads who'll be in their prime come 2023?

Time to try something different, time to be ruthless. I think we all knew Best was fairly finished coming into the tournament....sentiment and probably if we are honest, lack of competition brought him there. Easy to say now, but look at England with Dylan Hartley/Jamie George.

I don't want to stick the knife into the Irish team because nobody expected the NZ loss to be as absolutely destructive but the questions have to be asked, would Tom Curry have made the Irish starting 15 coming from nowhere less than a year before the WC? I really don't think he would have and you have to ask if Schmidt was too loyal to some (Earls is another one who's been on easy street unchallenged for a good few years without justifying it).

Ireland are a damn good rugby nation but they've absolutely had shocker in past 12 months. Perhaps they fell into the trap of becoming too one dimensional?

One year ago I would have been confident Ireland could win the World Cup, I mean you can never be sure but they were at their absolute peak. Farrell was there, he knows what went right and what went wrong. Personally I'm of the belief a six nations is a six nations, they are yearly - our cycle must be a World Cup one.

I'm in agreement with you but say Farrell does discard some of the older ones or maybe uses them sparingly and some results aren't great, do you think he'll get time to change the players and even the game Ireland play?

Think we have to be realistic, nobody really likes saying it but England have (so far) cracked it. They were 5th in Six Nations just two years ago. I went to Wikipedia there to look up their team during that tournament, they have changed maybe 5-6 starters in two years (those being the older kinda guys, Brown, Hartley, Haskell, Robshaw etc). But the one thing caught my eye - the Ireland team that actually played that tournament was pretty much the exact same team as our World Cup team - I think just on first glance Van Der Flier was the only difference really in the starting 15.

I probably sound ageist, but time waits for no man in professional sports - except Alun Wyn Jones. He is eternal.

I mean I didn't have a problem with any of the Ireland team a year ago as I said prior but I think the squad went stale....I know we don't have a massive pick but we maybe should have realised that some races were ran and made the hard calls that Eddie Jones and Gatland to an extent (Jamie Roberts was hard for Gatland to drop for example) did.

It's hard to call, I think upon appointment a coach should be given his four years no matter what....I mean obviously a 5th place finish in a six nations like England had, will have people looking Farrell binned but you have to commit to the cycle surely.

[seafoid]

The drop in form in less than 12 mths was incredible and only surpassed by an even faster and greater drop in form in 2007
We still dont know wtf happened then and Im not entirely sure wtf has happened this time either!

It was coming.

Too many lads have had too many dinners and their best days were behind them.

Joe wasn't ruthless enough early enough or he really didn't fancy those coming through the ranks.

How Farrell goes about the 6N's will be interesting.

Does he keep some of the old guard to bed in new blood or go for broke with lads who'll be in their prime come 2023?

Time to try something different, time to be ruthless. I think we all knew Best was fairly finished coming into the tournament....sentiment and probably if we are honest, lack of competition brought him there. Easy to say now, but look at England with Dylan Hartley/Jamie George.

I don't want to stick the knife into the Irish team because nobody expected the NZ loss to be as absolutely destructive but the questions have to be asked, would Tom Curry have made the Irish starting 15 coming from nowhere less than a year before the WC? I really don't think he would have and you have to ask if Schmidt was too loyal to some (Earls is another one who's been on easy street unchallenged for a good few years without justifying it).

Ireland are a damn good rugby nation but they've absolutely had shocker in past 12 months. Perhaps they fell into the trap of becoming too one dimensional?

One year ago I would have been confident Ireland could win the World Cup, I mean you can never be sure but they were at their absolute peak. Farrell was there, he knows what went right and what went wrong. Personally I'm of the belief a six nations is a six nations, they are yearly - our cycle must be a World Cup one.

I'm in agreement with you but say Farrell does discard some of the older ones or maybe uses them sparingly and some results aren't great, do you think he'll get time to change the players and even the game Ireland play?

Think we have to be realistic, nobody really likes saying it but England have (so far) cracked it. They were 5th in Six Nations just two years ago. I went to Wikipedia there to look up their team during that tournament, they have changed maybe 5-6 starters in two years (those being the older kinda guys, Brown, Hartley, Haskell, Robshaw etc). But the one thing caught my eye - the Ireland team that actually played that tournament was pretty much the exact same team as our World Cup team - I think just on first glance Van Der Flier was the only difference really in the starting 15.

I probably sound ageist, but time waits for no man in professional sports - except Alun Wyn Jones. He is eternal.

I mean I didn't have a problem with any of the Ireland team a year ago as I said prior but I think the squad went stale....I know we don't have a massive pick but we maybe should have realised that some races were ran and made the hard calls that Eddie Jones and Gatland to an extent (Jamie Roberts was hard for Gatland to drop for example) did.

It's hard to call, I think upon appointment a coach should be given his four years no matter what....I mean obviously a 5th place finish in a six nations like England had, will have people looking Farrell binned but you have to commit to the cycle surely.

England hammered Ireland in the 6N
https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/international/five-things-we-learned-ireland-outplayed-in-kicking-game-1.3781449
"Ireland lost the vast majority of the collisions, the evidence obvious to the naked eye and starkly illustrated in one of the data measuring tools. During the 80-minutes England made well over 40 dominant tackles to Ireland's eight, a graphic illustration of which team bossed the collisions.
As a rule of thumb on the day, Ireland's ruck ball was slow, which meant that they had to send numbers in to rescue the ball and were therefore at a numerical disadvantage as they sought avenues to attack. England could accelerate off the line in defence and were able to win the contact more often than not against stationary or slow moving Irish ball-carriers."

That set the tone for the year and it never improved.
Some of the players are past it.
Plus Ireland need a new playing style.

[Itchy]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

[marty34]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

Gaelic football is heading like rugby - more time in gym, all sideways passing and ball goes back to opposition and it all starts again.

[GetOverTheBar]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

You might be surprised what your average GAA club player would test for.....

[bennydorano]

Correct, recreational and PEDs. I wouldn't be lambasting other sports while thinking the GAA's shit don't stink.

[Itchy]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

Gaelic football is heading like rugby - more time in gym, all sideways passing and ball goes back to opposition and it all starts again.

I agree it is, more reason to avoid it. Plus the teams at the top like Dublin are not playing like that.

[From the Bunker]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

Gaelic football is heading like rugby - more time in gym, all sideways passing and ball goes back to opposition and it all starts again.

Not forgetting both games are bombarded with rule changes.

[marty34]

What makes you think they'd have anywhere near the ball skill to play GAA. Like I've said before, skillset for rugby has a much lower bar than soccer, Football or Hurling.

GAA football has to be the easiest to learn, catch, hand pass, kick towards a 3m target! Helps if you're fit too

I'd say rugby would be hard enough to learn - skills needed. People probably think it's just about strength but some of the offloads in the tackle is super.

I always wonder why gaa players complain about a weeks break in championship matches and then they have to play the following week.

I know rugby guys are pros but the physicality is something shocking.  The body takes a serious pounding in comparsion to gaa or soccer or other sports.  It's pure physical hits but yet they're out again the next week.

All brainless beef, bashing into each other. It is the one sport I'd advise young kids against playing if they want to be good footballers. Add to that the amount of steroids in it.

Gaelic football is heading like rugby - more time in gym, all sideways passing and ball goes back to opposition and it all starts again.

Not forgetting both games are bombarded with rule changes.

The thing about rugby is everybody knows and understands the rules.  Nobody chats back.

They are, for rugby people, very easy to understand.

In gaelic football, nobody has a clue what a proper tackle is and after a game, everybody talks about the referee.  He's the scapegoat, the easiest person to blame.

Referee should speak to teams before game and say just play the game.  A lot of the frustration is games comes down to the rules especially the tackle.

[Itchy]

This refereeing comparison sickens my hole too. Two completely different games to ref. I'll give you theres is total respect for ref in rugby that all sports should learn from. However, rugby has to be the easiest to referee, as vast majority of contact is tight beside the referee and mostly its very slow moving.

[marty34]

This refereeing comparison sickens my hole too. Two completely different games to ref. I'll give you theres is total respect for ref in rugby that all sports should learn from. However, rugby has to be the easiest to referee, as vast majority of contact is tight beside the referee and mostly its very slow moving.

Every sport should be easy to referee but gaelic is dynamite - too much slabbering from players.  Game is too slow nowadays - all sideways passing..boring.