The IRISH RUGBY thread

[gawa316]

Jeez by reading in here you'd think Ireland were shite. Top by 4 points with their 2nd and 3rd hardest games out of the way

Not allowed to enjoy it as we'll choke at the next World Cup anyway. Life is pointless.

How many 40 year olds did they have in the bench?

[Wildweasel74]

After this year, they need start gearing the panel for the world cup. We carrying 4 lads coming off the bench in their mid 30's, Experience us great and all, but we need give new guys. Few yrs leading up to the world cup from nxt yrs on. Need look at tight head, flanker, centre, likely a wing, plus 3 or 4 off the bench

[johnnycool]

Good performance but plenty to do yet. Scotland not that great are they  .Conan brilliant when he came on.Not seen much from baird yet but think there is a good one there too.Prendergast did fine although a way to go yet .Love James Lowe

Not that I'm complaining but Scotland were poor, especially their pack and back row in particular. Ireland dominated them so much it was unreal.

I thought O'Gara scudded them when he was asked for his opinion just before half time and he more or less said Ireland were in complete control of all facets of the game, he'd barely stopped talking and Ireland gifted Scotland the try just before half time.


Kinda hoping Scotland would be better than that and take a few points off either England or France, but that looks unlikely now.

France were very poor against England and left three tries behind them in the first half alone, with poor handling when through.
England rode their luck to get the win

[JPGJOHNNYG]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

[Milltown Row2]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

That won't fix the problem though

[SouthOfThe Bann]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

As a man that isnt too well educated on rugby a whole I have a genuine question?

Is the game of Rugby in bother?

Wales in a mess, England clubs struggling big time financially, game losing popularity in Australia, New Zealand not the force they were either.

Caveat to this is the game has never been healthier in the likes of Ireland France and South Africa.

[Tony Baloney]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

As a man that isnt too well educated on rugby a whole I have a genuine question?

Is the game of Rugby in bother?

Wales in a mess, England clubs struggling big time financially, game losing popularity in Australia, New Zealand not the force they were either.

Caveat to this is the game has never been healthier in the likes of Ireland France and South Africa.

Not dying, but in need of surgery.

Sales of Lions tickets in Australia had a good spike after their performance in the Autumn Internationals so NRL hasn't quite killed it off but I think it's a fair assessment that globally it's struggling. Anytime I hear this brought up people who know more about it than me say a global calendar is the answer but all the various unions and regional bodies have to sign up to it.

I get my RTE through Sky so it's geo-blocked (I know there are ways to resolve that) so for me to watch rugby (Edit: legally!) across a calendar year I'd need BBC, ITV, Amazon, TNT Sports, Premier Sports and Sky Sports (Channel 4 and Channel 5 dip in and out). I'm sure there are others. That can't be helpful!

[Truthsayer]

Find it hard to get excited bout Ireland these days. I remember huge excitement when they won a few triple crowns back in Ollie Campbell's day I think (before World Cup competition) and that first Grand Slam in decades in Wales. But now Six Nations success is common enough, the novelty has worn off... then huge anticipation before World Cup and invariably quarter-final exit. I know they gave all last time and so close to the All Blacks but it was same again.. Six Nations feels like a B competition and generally last four in World Cup are southern hemisphere. World Cup every three years be better. It's a long wait...

[thewobbler]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

As a man that isnt too well educated on rugby a whole I have a genuine question?

Is the game of Rugby in bother?

Wales in a mess, England clubs struggling big time financially, game losing popularity in Australia, New Zealand not the force they were either.

Caveat to this is the game has never been healthier in the likes of Ireland France and South Africa.

Rugby is always going to be a complicated financial proposition. Just to fulfil fixtures, clubs need to retain circa 40 player contracts per season and the guts of a dozen management / back room. So basically twice what a soccer club would need - plus you can't backfill your squad with youth players as they're not physically able for it.

The nature of professionalism suggests a need to create as many revenue channels as possible (ie games) but the very nature of rugby's physicality means games the frequency should be limited. So we currently have men playing 30+ times a season, to meet the payroll demands, whereas NFL players for example play 17-21 games. And all those games mean medical and insurance costs spiral. And all the coaching that goes alongside, tends to produce less interesting matches, thereby reducing interest levels apart among from the besotted.

Then the cherry on top is that so many people within the upper echelons of the game believe that the most strategic way to improve things is to expand the game globally. Which means their premier tournament has for the most part become a series of pointless and boring drubbings that hammer home just how far away developing nations are from competing, and with a key outcome of each game of ensuring that better players don't pick up knocks.

The 6N has been very watchable this year by the way. The sport can be very enjoyable. It's just going to be very complicated to make it sustainable as professional entity without some serious downsizing.

[nrico2006]

Why is there such a big fuss about the Lions still when it's the best of 4 countries going to play a side that could potentially be beat by any of the countries individually?

[Milltown Row2]

Why is there such a big fuss about the Lions still when it's the best of 4 countries going to play a side that could potentially be beat by any of the countries individually?

That hasn't always been the case though, without looking on Google I'm assuming that it's even enough or even the host nations are on top?

[dec]

Why is there such a big fuss about the Lions still when it's the best of 4 countries going to play a side that could potentially be beat by any of the countries individually?

History. It has been going on for over 100 years.

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Wobbler - some decent points I hadn't thought of before, decent read

Lions - I put this alongside the Ryder Cup in that it had its place as important to some but not many until the age of SkySports elevated to new levels. Don't get me wrong I was caught up in the last to an extent, now I would take a bit of an interest, no more.

#mytuppence

[trileacman]

Gatland has gone, no surprise Wales have been dire

As a man that isnt too well educated on rugby a whole I have a genuine question?

Is the game of Rugby in bother?

Wales in a mess, England clubs struggling big time financially, game losing popularity in Australia, New Zealand not the force they were either.

Caveat to this is the game has never been healthier in the likes of Ireland France and South Africa.

Rugby is always going to be a complicated financial proposition. Just to fulfil fixtures, clubs need to retain circa 40 player contracts per season and the guts of a dozen management / back room. So basically twice what a soccer club would need - plus you can't backfill your squad with youth players as they're not physically able for it.

The nature of professionalism suggests a need to create as many revenue channels as possible (ie games) but the very nature of rugby's physicality means games the frequency should be limited. So we currently have men playing 30+ times a season, to meet the payroll demands, whereas NFL players for example play 17-21 games. And all those games mean medical and insurance costs spiral. And all the coaching that goes alongside, tends to produce less interesting matches, thereby reducing interest levels apart among from the besotted.

Then the cherry on top is that so many people within the upper echelons of the game believe that the most strategic way to improve things is to expand the game globally. Which means their premier tournament has for the most part become a series of pointless and boring drubbings that hammer home just how far away developing nations are from competing, and with a key outcome of each game of ensuring that better players don't pick up knocks.

The 6N has been very watchable this year by the way. The sport can be very enjoyable. It's just going to be very complicated to make it sustainable as professional entity without some serious downsizing.

I've said it before but for its own sake and to save what it is as a sport Rugby needs to become amateur again. The over coached nature of top level rugby is killing it, much like Gaelic football. Rugby and GAA hit that sweet spot in the 2000s where the fitness and skill levels were professional but the tactical analysis wasn't.

What do you advocate doing with the World Cup if not including the weaker teams? Exclude the minnows and you'd also have to exclude the Welsh and Scots given their showing at the last World Cup.

[trileacman]

Why is there such a big fuss about the Lions still when it's the best of 4 countries going to play a side that could potentially be beat by any of the countries individually?

The nature of the team make up adds an awful lot to the Lions interest too. Essentially you've stars and egos from 4 nations battling to get in the team and then there's the accusations of favouritism and prejudice from a manager who is connected to 1 of the 4 countries.

If Arsenal and Liverpool named a combined 11 to play a Barca/Real 11 in a 3 match contest, I don't think anyone would fail to recognise why people would get excited/interested by the proposition.