The Ubiquity of Rugby

pajunior

fissureseal wrote: »

Yeah silly me of course they 're not elitist , of course they welcome anyone to participate , provided of course you can pay the fees to get your little johnny into the private school where he can get the rugby education needed to be a top pro . You ever see the cost of getting tennis lessons for your kid who s interested in it ?? Yeah of course they 're not elitist , it's just if you can't afford to get the training needed to make it to the top then it's your fault not theirs . The fact that you see a few kids pull the rackets out of the lockers when Wimbledon comes round doesn't take away from the issue that for the vast majority of good young tennis and rugby players if daddy isn't pretty wealthy your career will start and end on your council estate lawn

By the way , I grant you I should have included the olympics in the list of summer sporting events of major Irish interest earlier but Roland garros is a bigger deal than the gaa ???!!! U got to be kidding me , says it all really ....,,,Stick to watching the cricket

I'm actually a big fan of the GAA but I was merely pointing out that in Global terms there are other big events on.

Also ever hear of Sean O'Brien he was last years European Player of the Year (Rugby) or Shane Horgan who played more Heineken Cup games than any other Leinster players. Neither went to a fee paying school. You are talking rubbish so why don't you check out your facts.
Tennis is a tricky one since it requires huge amount of training from a very young age but this is no different to most individual sports, swimmers would be similar in that someone from a working class background is unlikely to ever reach the top unless they live right beside a decent swimming pool with good coaches or else their parents literally sacrifice everything for it.

pajunior

Here is a question to everyone who says Rugby involves no skill but is only about being big and fast.
Why do the best team consistently win? If both the Irish team and New Zealand team are full time pro's and would be conditioned to the same extent why do NZ keep on beating us?

Surely you must see that it comes down to their superior tactics and skills?

Dravokivich

DebDynamite wrote: »

I know a few people who travelled over to Twickenham the other week for the Heineken Cup final and none of them were at the game in the Ospreys RDS at the weekend.

Gee, I wonder if it could of been because they had spent a lot of money getting to London and just couldn't afford to go to the Pro12 Final after?

I really don't see why you are trying to poke at something there.

CucaFace

pajunior wrote: »

Here is a question to everyone who says Rugby involves no skill but is only about being big and fast.
Why do the best team consistently win? If both the Irish team and New Zealand team are full time pro's and would be conditioned to the same extent why do NZ keep on beating us?

Surely you must see that it comes down to their superior tactics and skills?

Or because they are bigger and faster than the irish team?

pajunior

Dravokivich wrote: »

Gee, I wonder if it could of been because they had spent a lot of money getting to London and just couldn't afford to go to the Pro12 Final after?

I really don't see why you are trying to poke at something there.

Or the fact that Twickenham holds 80,000 people while the RDS holds 18,000. Would be a bit of a squeeze to get half of Twickenham into it.

Dravokivich

pajunior wrote: »

Or the fact that Twickenham holds 80,000 people while the RDS holds 18,000. Would be a bit of a squeeze to get half of Twickenham into it.

Well, I'm not enitely sure, but I recon by quite an amount that not all of the 80,000 that were there were Leinster supports.

pajunior

Dravokivich wrote: »

Well, I'm not enitely sure, but I recon by quite an amount that not all of the 80,000 that were there were Leinster supports.

Hence why I said half

fissureseal

Monty Burnz wrote: »

fissureseal wrote: »

Monty Burnz wrote: »

fissureseal wrote: »

Yeah silly me of course they 're not elitist , of course they welcome anyone to participate , provided of course you can pay the fees to get your little johnny into the private school where he can get the rugby education needed to be a top pro .

Or join a club. Same with tennis, or cricket, or football, or hurling or whatever.

Join a club , as easy as that Monty eh ?? Strange then how nearly all our top rugby and tennis internationals just happened to have had daddys with deep pockets who could afford to put them through the private schools in terms of the rugby players or who could bankroll them on the tennis circuit , But of course thats all just a coincidence according to you , everyone being equal and able to get a fair shot by "joining a club " , Sorry to ruin your naive utopian vision of the ( rugby) world but god monty you really need to pull your head out of the sand

You understand all that stuff about correlation and causation, right? No? Well I'm sure you'll find something about it in Wikipedia.

Many thanks monty for your patronisingly cryptic message , of course a simpleton like me would need to revert to wikipedia to be able to live with a man of your intellect

Ceegee I never said all the top internationals went to fee paying schools , I said nearly all went , of course you can cite the fact that a small few didn't but the fact remains that over the last 20 years the vast majority did
And by the way our most high profile tennis player of the past few years just happened to have a dad who was a top eye surgeon in Limerick who was able to fund his training trips abroad as a kid , funny that ...........

Mairzydoats

It has to be all about marketing. Having been to many games, it's strange that the crowds are becoming much less knowledgeable about the game than they were when I was going to AIL games. I guess people latch on to whatever's popular.

paul_mcshane

DebDynamite wrote: »

I was in a pub in Dublin 4 on Sunday having a bite to eat. We left as the second half of the Leinster v Ospreys was well under way. Up the road we drove past a pub where tables and benches were set-up outside. At a quick glance, I saw 4 people sitting out in the sun , having a beer, wearing Leinster jerseys, while the game was being shown inside the pub. I know a few people who travelled over to Twickenham the other week for the Heineken Cup final and none of them were at the game in the Ospreys RDS at the weekend.

I work with doctors and they are so into the rugby, with most of them not having a interest in any other sport. The rugby does seem to attract quite a few casual fans, to whom it’s more of a status symbol than anything. I’m not saying they’re all like that of course.

I’m from Leinster and my boyfriend who’s from England couldn’t understand when I couldn’t really have cared less that Leinster won the HC cup the other week. I just never got into the rugby, being from a small town in the country and not going to a private school, it was just never part of my life and don’t feel that the Leinster team represents me.

rugby does seem to be on a sizeable number of middle class professionals checklist

Dravokivich

pajunior wrote: »

Hence why I said half

Dam you and yer maths! :mad:

:pac:

But hmm, from that can only really say 7,500 were reserved for Leinster as finalists. Wouldn't have a clue how many had bought before it would of sold out.

paul_mcshane

Bad Panda wrote: »

No.

I found it boring. No freedom to express yourself in rugby like in soccer. I'm fairly skillful and I enjoy a challenge...which is why rugby wasn't for me.

good word there express

rugby is not an expressive game , its a conservative orthodox game which demands you sit up straight in class and learn a complex set of rules

soccer is a game where its brightest stars are free spirited , rebelious and independant minded

paul_mcshane

pajunior wrote: »

I'm actually a big fan of the GAA but I was merely pointing out that in Global terms there are other big events on.

Also ever hear of Sean O'Brien he was last years European Player of the Year (Rugby) or Shane Horgan who played more Heineken Cup games than any other Leinster players. Neither went to a fee paying school. You are talking rubbish so why don't you check out your facts.
Tennis is a tricky one since it requires huge amount of training from a very young age but this is no different to most individual sports, swimmers would be similar in that someone from a working class background is unlikely to ever reach the top unless they live right beside a decent swimming pool with good coaches or else their parents literally sacrifice everything for it.

i think horgan went to a fee paying school , he certainly looks and sounds like he did

o brien is a card carrying muck savage from the country , he,s the successor to john hayes , rugby playing farmer

paul_mcshane

pajunior wrote: »

Here is a question to everyone who says Rugby involves no skill but is only about being big and fast.
Why do the best team consistently win? If both the Irish team and New Zealand team are full time pro's and would be conditioned to the same extent why do NZ keep on beating us?

Surely you must see that it comes down to their superior tactics and skills?

rugby is the 3rd most popular sport in ireland

rugby is more popular than eating or sex in new zealand

the more serious you take something , the better you tend to be at it from winning elections to creating art

paul_mcshane

Mairzydoats wrote: »

It has to be all about marketing. Having been to many games, it's strange that the crowds are becoming much less knowledgeable about the game than they were when I was going to AIL games. I guess people latch on to whatever's popular.

ive only ever been to one rugby match in my entire life , new zealand v australia in a tri nations match in christchurch over a decade ago , the atmosphere at the match was like a funeral compared to your average GAA match , i dont go to premier league matches but ive heard from people who do that they dont compare to the buzz when ballygohome is playing mullinacow in a junior B hurling league semi final

all about the parish in GAA

Dravokivich

paul_mcshane wrote: »

good word there express

rugby is not an expressive game , its a conservative orthodox game which demands you sit up straight in class and learn a complex set of rules

soccer is a game where its brightest stars are free spirited , rebelious and independant minded

Not a strong point on a team based sport. I don't like seeing when a soccer player holds that "me, me, me" attitude. And rugby players with it tend to fall foul of their teams.

Clanket

fissureseal wrote: »

Many thanks monty for your patronisingly cryptic message , of course a simpleton like me would need to revert to wikipedia to be able to live with a man of your intellect

Ceegee I never said all the top internationals went to fee paying schools , I said nearly all went , of course you can cite the fact that a small few didn't but the fact remains that over the last 20 years the vast majority did
And by the way our most high profile tennis player of the past few years just happened to have a dad who was a top eye surgeon in Limerick who was able to fund his training trips abroad as a kid , funny that ...........

Serious chip on your shoulder

paul_mcshane

Dravokivich wrote: »

Not a strong point on a team based sport. I don't like seeing when a soccer player holds that "me, me, me" attitude. And rugby players with it tend to fall foul of their teams.

that sounds more like an idealogical possition more than anything specifically to do with sport , from my POV , just because rugby is more team orientated is irrelevant to the aesthetics of the game which is what matters to me most

pajunior

paul_mcshane wrote: »

rugby is the 3rd most popular sport in ireland

rugby is more popular than eating or sex in new zealand

the more serious you take something , the better you tend to be at it from winning elections to creating art

Exactly my point, they are better because they put more effort in and hence are obviously more skillfull, have better tactics, not because they are bigger or faster.

Dravokivich

paul_mcshane wrote: »

that sounds more like an idealogical possition more than anything specifically to do with sport , from my POV , just because rugby is more team orientated is irrelevant to the aesthetics of the game which is what matters to me most

Anything with a team should be team orientated. Otherwise what's the point?

I didn't say all soccer players did it, I made a comment about some who do.

pajunior

paul_mcshane wrote: »

i think horgan went to a fee paying school , he certainly looks and sounds like he did

o brien is a card carrying muck savage from the country , he,s the successor to john hayes , rugby playing farmer

Horgan might have a different accent than you would think but he's a regular bog hopping football playing rugger head. If Sean O'Brien is the successor to John Hayes than Shane Horgan could have been the successor to Mike Galway if he hadn't of gone pro. Horgan played minor football for Meath and with such amazing physical talents it's hard to imagine him not playing senior if he had of kept it up.

Most people would be surprised where Leinster players are from. A very tiny minority are from the same post code as the stadium.

paul_mcshane

pajunior wrote: »

Exactly my point, they are better because they put more effort in and hence are obviously more skillfull, have better tactics, not because they are bigger or faster.

they have a bigger pick , brazil is better at soccer than ireland because they have a bigger pick and the game is a bigger passion for brazilians , same deal with nz and rugby

paul_mcshane

pajunior wrote: »

Horgan might have a different accent than you would think but he's a regular bog hopping football playing rugger head. If Sean O'Brien is the successor to John Hayes than Shane Horgan could have been the successor to Mike Galway if he hadn't of gone pro. Horgan played minor football for Meath and with such amazing physical talents it's hard to imagine him not playing senior if he had of kept it up.

Most people would be surprised where Leinster players are from. A very tiny minority are from the same post code as the stadium.

im aware of the fact that plenty of the irish rugby team or the leinster team were born outside D4 but they exude a D4 vibe none the less

gordon darcy is from wexford , you wouldnt think it

geordan murphy is from kildare , you wouldnt think it

tommy bowe is from monaghan , you wouldnt think it


thier is nothing wrong with not having a regional accent but assimilating into a particular kind of middle class lifestyle and charechter seems to be part and parcel of rugby culture , even this talk of how fans and players get on like a house on fire and how this makes rugby better , thats irrelevant to me in sport , in fact i see the fierce ( borderline hostile ) attitude between soccer fans as evidence of the genuine passion people have for the game , their is a smugness about the whole everyone gets along well in rugby line of thinking , it isnt appealing to me in sport and reminds me of the journalist declan lynch,s line about rugby

rugby doesnt really matter at the end of the day

ormond lad

paul_mcshane wrote: »

i think horgan went to a fee paying school , he certainly looks and sounds like he did

o brien is a card carrying muck savage from the country , he,s the successor to john hayes , rugby playing farmer

Horgan went to school in St. Marys Diocesan School, Drogheda.

paul_mcshane wrote: »

ive only ever been to one rugby match in my entire life , new zealand v australia in a tri nations match in christchurch over a decade ago , the atmosphere at the match was like a funeral compared to your average GAA match , i dont go to premier league matches but ive heard from people who do that they dont compare to the buzz when ballygohome is playing mullinacow in a junior B hurling league semi final

all about the parish in GAA

Its all about the club in rugby. go to a munster/leinster/ulster heineken cup game and you will find a great atmosphere and a good number of these fans do support their local clubs

paul_mcshane wrote: »

they have a bigger pick , brazil is better at soccer than ireland because they have a bigger pick and the game is a bigger passion for brazilians , same deal with nz and rugby

New Zealand has between all kids, teenagers, men and women about 1000 more registered players than us according to the IRB website

Sindri

paul_mcshane wrote: »

i think horgan went to a fee paying school , he certainly looks and sounds like he did

o brien is a card carrying muck savage from the country , he,s the successor to john hayes , rugby playing farmer

Horgan didn't go to a fee paying school.

paul_mcshane wrote: »

rugby is the 3rd most popular sport in ireland

rugby is more popular than eating or sex in new zealand

the more serious you take something , the better you tend to be at it from winning elections to creating art

It's not actually as popular as is let on.

paul_mcshane wrote: »

good word there express

rugby is not an expressive game , its a conservative orthodox game which demands you sit up straight in class and learn a complex set of rules

soccer is a game where its brightest stars are free spirited , rebelious and independant minded

Complexity only applies to the cognitive limitations of the perceiver.

The rest of that is a load of bollocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGMuoxihmu4

paul_mcshane

ormond lad wrote: »

Horgan went to school in St. Marys Diocesan School, Drogheda.


Its all about the club in rugby. go to a munster/leinster/ulster heineken cup game and you will find a great atmosphere and a good number of these fans do support their local clubs

New Zealand has between all kids, teenagers, men and women about 1000 more registered players than us according to the IRB website

something wrong there , rugby in ireland competes with soccer , hurling and gaelic football and kiwis are more into playing sport than irish people are IMO

pajunior

paul_mcshane wrote: »

something wrong there , rugby in ireland competes with soccer , hurling and gaelic football and kiwis are more into playing sport than irish people are IMO

You're correct there, the number of registered players is way way off for both countries. The IRFU much like the GAA and FAI bloat their figures to get more public funding.

flyswatter

bullvine wrote: »

Is the PRO12 final not a back door system?

Kind of. It's a playoff final between the top 2. Leinster came top of the league by 10 points this year and eh still lost it!

Dravokivich

flyswatter wrote: »

Kind of. It's a playoff final between the top 2. Leinster came top of the league by 10 points this year and eh still lost it!

Just so happened to work out that way. There's playoffs between the top 4.

1st V 4th
2nd V 3rd

Winners of those go through to the final. Highest league position gets home advantage in each playoff.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Pherekydes wrote: »

For many years, Dublin were not afforded that second bite! Kind of makes a mockery of the back door system.

How do you mean? Dublin were always treated the same. The back door system in hurling has been in place since 1997 and by 2005 had evolved to its current format.

The football qualifiers were introduced in 2001, there were a few tweakings in 04 when division 4 times weren't given the second game but I can't remember this affecting Dublin at the time.

Pherekydes

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

How do you mean? Dublin were always treated the same. The back door system in hurling has been in place since 1997 and by 2005 had evolved to its current format.

The football qualifiers were introduced in 2001, there were a few tweakings in 04 when division 4 times weren't given the second game but I can't remember this affecting Dublin at the time.

For many years (still in effect, as far as I know) the provincial winners did not get a second bite. One loss and they're out. Dublin were the worst affected country. They won the Leinster crown 6 times in the 00s and were eliminated from the All-Ireland Football championship each of these years after just one loss.

Monty Burnz

paul_mcshane wrote: »

good word there express

rugby is not an expressive game , its a conservative orthodox game which demands you sit up straight in class and learn a complex set of rules

soccer is a game where its brightest stars are free spirited , rebelious and independant minded

What a weird point. I think you are thinking of creativity in finding gaps in the opponent's defence, rather than 'freedom of expression'? Yeah, that exists in just about every sport, not just football and rugby. Everything from boxing to hockey to badminton.

mikemac1

The rugby player lines up for their kick and the place goes deathly quiet

A Tipp hurler lines up for their free and it's non stop roaring and cheering and heckling

Do that a rugby game and you'll be hushed or not considered a real fan

But obeying some unwritten rule and etiquette doesn't make you superior

Non stop threads in rugby forum over this issue
And as I understand other rugby playing nations don't bother with the silence, the fans go wild if they want

Monty Burnz

paul_mcshane wrote: »

im aware of the fact that plenty of the irish rugby team or the leinster team were born outside D4 but they exude a D4 vibe none the less

gordon darcy is from wexford , you wouldnt think it

geordan murphy is from kildare , you wouldnt think it

tommy bowe is from monaghan , you wouldnt think it


thier is nothing wrong with not having a regional accent but assimilating into a particular kind of middle class lifestyle and charechter seems to be part and parcel of rugby culture , even this talk of how fans and players get on like a house on fire and how this makes rugby better , thats irrelevant to me in sport , in fact i see the fierce ( borderline hostile ) attitude between soccer fans as evidence of the genuine passion people have for the game , their is a smugness about the whole everyone gets along well in rugby line of thinking , it isnt appealing to me in sport and reminds me of the journalist declan lynch,s line about rugby:

rugby doesnt really matter at the end of the day

Football or hurling or tiddlywinks don't matter either, at the end of the day. I find your reverse-snobbery attitude a bit baffling; you sound like Dev or someone from a hundred years ago who thinks we should all be merry Irish pixies dancing at the crossroads, drunk all day, and shouting at each other in some pronounced local dialect. That's not how the world is; the way you speak is influenced by many things - where you grow up, what radio and TV you listen to, where your parents come from, your level of education. I'm sorry if some people's accents don't conform to the stage-Irishman style that you would prefer, but accents have nothing to do with rugby either. Come down to Munster and tell everyone they are affecting a certain accent for rugby reasons (?) and see how long you last.

marienbad

mikemac1 wrote: »

The rugby player lines up for their kick and the place goes deathly quiet

A Tipp hurler lines up for their free and it's non stop roaring and cheering and heckling

Do that a rugby game and you'll be hushed or not considered a real fan

But obeying some unwritten rule and etiquette doesn't make you superior

Non stop threads in rugby forum over this issue
And as I understand other rugby playing nations don't bother with the silence, the fans go wild if they want

Try watching a game in France- even the home kicker would be un-nerved if there was silence- different places, different customs.

That is all it is in Ireland - a custom and agreed ,sometimes we are too precious about it (imho).

Monty Burnz

mikemac1 wrote: »

The rugby player lines up for their kick and the place goes deathly quiet

A Tipp hurler lines up for their free and it's non stop roaring and cheering and heckling

Do that a rugby game and you'll be hushed or not considered a real fan

But obeying some unwritten rule and etiquette doesn't make you superior

Non stop threads in rugby forum over this issue
And as I understand other rugby playing nations don't bother with the silence, the fans go wild if they want

It's a part of Irish rugby culture. We don't do the Haka. We don't bring live chickens to games (France). None of these things make anyone superior or whatever, but it's a tradition in Irish rugby - like it's traditional for the soccer team to play eye-melting ugly football. Sure, you could abandon the traditions of the game (like opposing teams clapping each other off the pitch) but why bother?

Brain Stroking

Pherekydes wrote: »

For many years (still in effect, as far as I know) the provincial winners did not get a second bite. One loss and they're out. Dublin were the worst affected country. They won the Leinster crown 6 times in the 00s and were eliminated from the All-Ireland Football championship each of these years after just one loss.

The Qualifiers are in place to give teams a second chance if they lose a match in their provincial championship. Dublin didnt and got medals. Everyone else in Leinster did and got one more chance in the qualifer system. The All-Ireland series is a separate competition with provincial winners and 4 qualifiers getting in.
What was the detrimental effect on Dublin? If anything the stat i've emboldened shows how completely gash Leinster was in the 00s

The_Kew_Tour

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Football or hurling or tiddlywinks don't matter either, at the end of the day. I find your reverse-snobbery attitude a bit baffling; you sound like Dev or someone from a hundred years ago who thinks we should all be merry Irish pixies dancing at the crossroads, drunk all day, and shouting at each other in some pronounced local dialect. That's not how the world is; the way you speak is influenced by many things - where you grow up, what radio and TV you listen to, where your parents come from, your level of education. I'm sorry if some people's accents don't conform to the stage-Irishman style that you would prefer, but accents have nothing to do with rugby either. Come down to Munster and tell everyone they are affecting a certain accent for rugby reasons (?) and see how long you last.

You do realise Dev was massive rugby fan?

recylingbin

Things most people can't stand:
knobheads;
unearned, undeserved sense of entitlement;
arrogance;
lack of humility;

these things are ubiquitous to rugby.
This is why I have no time for fans of the game.

I have no time for the game because it is boring and played by people who would be playing soccer or gaa if they had any talent.

Tox56

recylingbin wrote: »

Things most people can't stand:
knobheads;
unearned, undeserved sense of entitlement;
arrogance;
lack of humility;

these things are ubiquitous to rugby.
This is why I have no time for fans of the game.

I have no time for the game because it is boring and played by people who would be playing soccer or gaa if they had any talent.

Is the irony of this post intentional?

pajunior

recylingbin wrote: »

Things most people can't stand:
knobheads;
unearned, undeserved sense of entitlement;
arrogance;
lack of humility;

these things are ubiquitous to rugby.
This is why I have no time for fans of the game.

I have no time for the game because it is boring and played by people who would be playing soccer or gaa if they had any talent.

The childishness of that post is laughable. Honestly how many famous soccer players out there could we name that match everyone of those attributes.

I played under age soccer and there were loads of people like this, and in work there are loads of people like this and down the pub there are loads of people like this. (pro tip: some people are w**kers).

marienbad

pajunior wrote: »

The childishness of that post is laughable. Honestly how many famous soccer players out there could we name that match everyone of those attributes.

I played under age soccer and there were loads of people like this, and in work there are loads of people like this and down the pub there are loads of people like this. (pro tip: some people are w**kers).

I think you will find though that the under age kids that were like that were useless at soccer and so ended playing rugby !

Monty Burnz

The_Kew_Tour wrote: »

You do realise Dev was massive rugby fan?

I'm not entirely sure how that relates to the point I'm making one way or another...

Monty Burnz

marienbad wrote: »

I think you will find though that the under age kids that were like that were useless at soccer and so ended playing rugby !

We seem to have gone away from a rational discussion of the merits of the games and arrived at 'my Da is bigger than your Da' territory. We can do better, folks.

pajunior

marienbad wrote: »

I think you will find though that the under age kids that were like that were useless at soccer and so ended playing rugby !

You have got to be kidding me . . .

There is no way you are not taking the piss, or else are clutching at straws. Maybe I should ring up every a**hole I know and ask if they currently or have every played rugby.

So marienbad every played rugby

marienbad

Monty Burnz wrote: »

We seem to have gone away from a rational discussion of the merits of the games and arrived at 'my Da is bigger than your Da' territory. We can do better, folks.

I knew I should have put in the smiley- joke folks - lighten up.

marienbad

pajunior wrote: »

You have got to be kidding me . . .

There is no way you are not taking the piss, or else are clutching at straws. Maybe I should ring up every a**hole I know and ask if they currently or have every played rugby.

So marienbad every played rugby

Of course I am kidding you and the inane post that prompted my post ! But just in case :);):rolleyes: lol rofl

ceegee

paul_mcshane wrote: »

pajunior wrote: »

Horgan might have a different accent than you would think but he's a regular bog hopping football playing rugger head. If Sean O'Brien is the successor to John Hayes than Shane Horgan could have been the successor to Mike Galway if he hadn't of gone pro. Horgan played minor football for Meath and with such amazing physical talents it's hard to imagine him not playing senior if he had of kept it up.

Most people would be surprised where Leinster players are from. A very tiny minority are from the same post code as the stadium.

im aware of the fact that plenty of the irish rugby team or the leinster team were born outside D4 but they exude a D4 vibe none the less

gordon darcy is from wexford , you wouldnt think it

geordan murphy is from kildare , you wouldnt think it

tommy bowe is from monaghan , you wouldnt think it


thier is nothing wrong with not having a regional accent but assimilating into a particular kind of middle class lifestyle and charechter seems to be part and parcel of rugby culture , even this talk of how fans and players get on like a house on fire and how this makes rugby better , thats irrelevant to me in sport , in fact i see the fierce ( borderline hostile ) attitude between soccer fans as evidence of the genuine passion people have for the game , their is a smugness about the whole everyone gets along well in rugby line of thinking , it isnt appealing to me in sport and reminds me of the journalist declan lynch,s line about rugby

rugby doesnt really matter at the end of the day

Murphy hasnt a d4 accent, he sounds like that because hes lived in England half his life.

Bowe doesnt sound d4 to me either. Again he hasnt lived in Monaghan for a few years so you'd expect a more toned down accent.

D'arcy has got a d4 accent but again, hes lived there nearly as long as he did in wexford. Its not like these players get off the bus up and suddenly change accent.

Plenty of Irish soccer players develop slightly English accents, McDowell in golf sounds like a yank. It happens in any job when youre away from home and surrounded by a different accent, you adapt, some more than others

Paparazzo

Who gives a shít what accent some players have? A soccer fan saying he dislikes rugby because they're "all posh from d4" is no different to a rugby fan saying soccer is for knackers cos they're all from tallagh or finglas.

marienbad

Paparazzo wrote: »

Who gives a shít what accent some players have? A soccer fan saying he dislikes rugby because they're "all posh from d4" is no different to a rugby fan saying soccer is for knackers cos they're all from tallagh or finglas.

No they are not - they are from Moyross and the Hyde Road:)