Shinty

[thejuice]

pity they couldnt bring over a commentator over from BBC Alba, Scots gaelic is still understandable for more Irish Gaelgeoirs.

[thejuice]

Lucky to be only down by 1 at the end. Scots were much better at creating chances. sets up the away leg nicely. Hopefully BBC alba will cover it. I think its on in 2 weeks time.

[Hardy]

The two points for a free off the ground makes a bit of a bags of it, I think. Enjoyable viewing, though.

[Aerlik]

What does the Irish jersey look like?  is it the same as the football jersey?

[Carmen Stateside]

Yeah think it was the same.

[laoisgaa]

Exact same jersey Aerlik - even had the International rules logo on it at the bottom!

[Banana Man]

What are the chances of the Irish team picking lads from the stronger counties and how much of a difference would this make? would they tank the scots?

[AZOffaly]

Dunno if they would or not, but it's supposed to be aimed at getting everyone to play. Tommy Walsh comes from a fairly strong county

I think it's that they didn't want to load it up with Tipp and Kilkenny lads. Let lads from Westmeath, Kerry et al play.

[bottlethrower7]

they picked a very strong side when they played in Croker about 10 or so years back. I remember DJ was captain.

Ireland hockeyed the Scots. Picking the majority from weaker counties was as much about giving the Scots a chance as well as allowing lads from weaker counties the chance to play.

I played one of these compromise games myself back in the day (my club side - intermediate at the time - played the Scotland under-17s). We thought we'd hammer them, seeing as they were only kids and all. We did beat them, but only just. Its quite something just how far they can drive the ball. And its not random either - they'll drive it every time.

Shinty is a fairly boring sport to watch in general. The compromise game (particularly the second half) was very entertaining I thought.

[Lamh Dhearg Alba]

they picked a very strong side when they played in Croker about 10 or so years back. I remember DJ was captain.

Ireland hockeyed the Scots. Picking the majority from weaker counties was as much about giving the Scots a chance as well as allowing lads from weaker counties the chance to play.

I played one of these compromise games myself back in the day (my club side - intermediate at the time - played the Scotland under-17s). We thought we'd hammer them, seeing as they were only kids and all. We did beat them, but only just. Its quite something just how far they can drive the ball. And its not random either - they'll drive it every time.

Shinty is a fairly boring sport to watch in general. The compromise game (particularly the second half) was very entertaining I thought.

There was one year (Im pretty sure it was the last time they played it as part of a double header with the Aussie Rules match and bizarrely used the same scoring system for the shinty-hurling resulting in a massive score) when Ireland won very easily with a strong team but throughout the 90's there were strong Irish teams who lost to Scotland. I'm not convinced Ireland with the best 15 hurling players would win as easily as you suggest.

Would disagree that shinty is a boring sport to watch too but clearly beauty is in the eye of the beholder . 

[the colonel]

Highlights on bbc alba tonight

[Banana Man]

There was a picture in Irish news that struck me, the Irish player was 'tooled up' with shin pads and a helmet and the 2 scots lads had naff all apart from a stick, rawer men than the Irish perhaps

What about the rule for hurlers having to wear helmets as a directive from HQ, i take it that it doesn't apply to shinty or just to the Irish players

(believe it or not I hurled for 4 years, you wouldn't think it listening to the questions I have on this game!)

[bottlethrower7]

There was one year (Im pretty sure it was the last time they played it as part of a double header with the Aussie Rules match and bizarrely used the same scoring system for the shinty-hurling resulting in a massive score) when Ireland won very easily with a strong team but throughout the 90's there were strong Irish teams who lost to Scotland. I'm not convinced Ireland with the best 15 hurling players would win as easily as you suggest.

Would disagree that shinty is a boring sport to watch too but clearly beauty is in the eye of the beholder .

I had a quick look for the team lineup that year and couldn't find it. I do recall it was the strongest ever team Ireland fielded for one of these games, and that as a contest it was a non-event.

I don't know if Scotland had the pick of their bunch on saturday, but given a team largely made up of division 2 and 3 players came within a point, its hard to imagine that Ireland's best team wouldn't hammer the Scots. But, as I said, perhaps they have a wealth of talent that didn't travel over.

What I found most boring about Shinty was the fact that there are only goals and no points. That makes it too like soccer in my book. Perhaps my opinion is too flavoured by a lifetime watching hurling where scoring is typically frequent. The skills of Shinty are beyond doubt - introduce points and then there would be a game worth getting excited about. In my humble opinion of course.

[bottlethrower7]

What about the rule for hurlers having to wear helmets as a directive from HQ, i take it that it doesn't apply to shinty or just to the Irish players

that rule was introduced as a kind of insurance measure (though the GAA did make a balls of it). Basically, you sustain a head injury while not wearing an 'approved' helmet, you can't claim medical costs from your insurance (which is usually part of your club subscription cost - though I'm sure county players can claim via alternative means available to county panels).

So, no, the rule wouldn't apply to the Scots, unless they specifically made it a requirement for the compromise series.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Caught this on BBC Alba last night, enjoyable enough, a lot of the Scots are handy golfers I'd say, the groundsman must have been tearing his hair out watching them though...