Could Ireland be better at world sports if it wasn't for GAA?

WumBuster

WallyGUFC wrote: »

PE in primary we wern't allowed play football, twas always Gaelic football or hurling. OT, if Ireland focused on just a few sports we'd do far better. I mean, we never have a chance at any athletics, any swimming, stuff like that. Focus on what we're good at and the medals would flow in.

Actually I dont know where you grew up but as a kid I was taken to Athletics clubs and meets, swimming lessons,Cycling, did some boxing at school, played soccer with the local team and of course GAA was the main sports promoted at school but there was plenty of opportunities for the kids to get into other sports too.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Sauve wrote: »

Absolutely. All the time.

Formations are constantly mixed up and switched around.
Many players can play very well in a number of different positions.
Same as most field sports.

Seriosuly? In which case, my bad - but when I played it (admittedly some time ago) if I strayed twenty yards out of a set position I was bollocked at and it was always that formation. Very zonal game, which I hated.

Sauve

WallyGUFC wrote: »

Well obviously not all sport is about winning, but Olympics is the the top of the mountain. I get what I want from football: a bit of craic and a bit of fitness. Olympians shouldn't be going over just for the craic, they should have a winning attitude. What's the point in sending a swimmer with glandular fever over to London ffs?

Oh yeah, I totally agree. The point I was trying to make was that we shouldn't take a kid away from a sport that they love, and railroad them into another, just because they'd have a chance of taking it to Olympic level.

kincsem

Duffy the Vampire Slayer wrote: »

Explain why, despite soccer's popularity in the region, no east African team has ever seen success in the World Cup. Explain why no West African has seen success in long-distance running. Its effectively been proven that different races have different amounts of fast and slow twitch muscle fibers meaning that they find success in different events.

The lazy way is to say it is genetic.
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/genetics-and-sports-performance-557

Xavi6

Rather than being defensive like the Gah heads here, I'll look at the OP's point objectively.

Take thousands of people playing indigenous sports, have them play other sports that are in the Olympics, increase the chances of being more successful at them.

Yep, the probability is sound even if the realism isn't.

Sauve

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

Seriosuly? In which case, my bad - but when I played it (admittedly some time ago) if I strayed twenty yards out of a set position I was bollocked at and it was always that formation. Very zonal game, which I hated.

Your position is going to be set, but you will often be switched positions and formations will be mixed up. Of course it makes sense to hold your position on the pitch, but sounds like your coach wasn't overly compromising either

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Sauve wrote: »

Your position is going to be set, but you will often be switched positions and formations will be mixed up. Of course it makes sense to hold your position on the pitch, but sounds like your coach wasn't overly compromising either

He was, in fairness. But even watching the game on TV, there doesnt seem to be the same movement you could get in soccer, its always been the same formation and I;ve always assocaited it with unbending tradition.

Wacker The Attacker

dan1895 wrote: »

I think the OP has a point. At international level we're very poor and constantly underachieve. Rugby is only taken seriously in a handful of countries and our football team is poor compared to similar sized countries, Denmark, Uruguay, Netherlands etc. There are potentially top class athletes who end up playing GAA but that's their choice and good luck to them.

Its unreasonable to expect Irelnad to truly compete at global level in any of the major team sports. They remain competitive though and thats as good as anyone can realistically expect

Sauve

Xavi6 wrote: »

Rather than being defensive like the Gah heads here, I'll look at the OP's point objectively.

Take thousands of people playing indigenous sports, have them play other sports that are in the Olympics, increase the chances of being more successful at them.

Yep, the probability is sound even if the realism isn't.

While we're at it, why not stop teaching kids anything other than sciene subjects. Let's breed a nation of the worlds' best scientists, woohoo....

Sauve

Ikky Poo2 wrote: »

He was, in fairness. But even watching the game on TV, there doesnt seem to be the same movement you could get in soccer, its always been the same formation and I;ve always assocaited it with unbending tradition.

Ah no, it's better than that. It really is.
I know I'm mega-defensive of GAA sports, I'm the first to admit it but I'm not a bit apologetic for it either :P

Xavi6

Sauve wrote: »

While we're at it, why not stop teaching kids anything other than sciene subjects. Let's breed a nation of the worlds' best scientists, woohoo....

Again, the probability would increase so logically it's a sound idea.

Practicality is a different thing as I already said.

oppenheimer1

Xavi6 wrote: »

Rather than being defensive like the Gah heads here, I'll look at the OP's point objectively.

Take thousands of people playing indigenous sports, have them play other sports that are in the Olympics, increase the chances of being more successful at them.

Yep, the probability is sound even if the realism isn't.

It wouldn't have much effect actually. If you look at the UK as a case study, its not numbers of players that count in terms of elite success, but funding.

The argument that is more important is doe the GAA get too much funding. And should funding be proportional to interest or proportional to international prestige

M three

Genghis Khan. wrote: »

The GAA is not about sport but about expressing and forcing a culture upon the Irish people. It is a nationalistic organisation and nothing else. Irish kids should take up proper sports which they can earn a living from.

The gaa isn't forced on anybody, kids can take it up or not.

The majority of irish kids arent good enough at any sport to earn a living from it.
Ths same goes for the kids in any country.

Only a very small percentage of a population, Id say less than 1%, are actually making a living from sport

So for most people who participate in sport it's a great way of keeping them a bit fitter, and therefore healthier

flyswatter

Ms.M wrote: »

NIMAN wrote: »

I agree that we do punch above our weight, but of all those successes you mention I'd say that few of them played GAA sports. Imagine if the hundred of thousands of kids that concentrate on GAA each and every year put their sporting attention into other sports, how much better we'd compete.

Thats my point.

Katie Taylor played GAA and still plays soccer for the Irish team (though she hasn't for two years to focus on these Olympics). Roy Keane played GAA in his time too. So there can be a healthy overlap with a lot of sports. It's a pity there are social/cultural divisions that make some combinations that could compliment each-other unlikely. I'd be more worried about the untapped talent of the poor lil pudgesters who's parents have them doing f all however.

Good point, same for Shane Horgan and Rob Kearney who played GAA.

IrishAm

First off, its commonplace for young lads to play both GAA and numerous other sports. The problem isn't the GAA. The problem is other sports simply lack the funding. Some of the underage soccer facilities in the country are criminal. Get changed in half burned out builders containers, avoiding syringes and playing on pitches littered with broken beer bottles is the norm. Crazy stuff and soccer receives more financial support compared to other minority sports. So one can only imagine the conditions they have to put up with.

Secondly, the GAA is not the enemy of other sports(Unless you support Homeless FC). Them days are gone and buried. The GAA is one of Ireland's greatest success stories. Its a completely amateur organisation, which ignores class and creed. It brings together communities, both urban and rural. We have one of the best stadiums in Europe and it is a completely unique sport to Ireland. Any foreign friend or visitor I brought to a game was absolutely enthralled by it and enjoyed it immensely.

Hill 16. Big championship game. Amhrán na bhFiann belting out. Nowhere else I would rather be in this world.

Xavi6

IrishAm wrote: »

Secondly, the GAA is not the enemy of other sports(Unless you support Homeless FC). Them days are gone and buried.

Shamrock Rovers would beg to differ to be fair.

IrishAm

Xavi6 wrote: »

Shamrock Rovers would beg to differ to be fair.

The Homeless can fuck right off back to Milltown. They don't belong in Tallaght.

Theres only Thomas Davis.

Xavi6

IrishAm wrote: »

The Homeless can fuck right off back to Milltown. They don't belong in Tallaght.

Theres only Thomas Davis.

And people wonder why there's often animosity towards Gah heads :rolleyes:

But yeah, football has nicely infiltrated Tallaght now. Must be grating for ya with that dirty foreign game on Thomas Davis territory

IrishAm

Xavi6 wrote: »

And people wonder why there's often animosity towards Gah heads :rolleyes:

But yeah, football has nicely infiltrated Tallaght now. Must be grating for ya with that dirty foreign game on Thomas Davis territory

I played soccer growing up and still support the LoI . Hating Homeless FC does not make one anti soccer. It makes one a rational human being.

oppenheimer1

Xavi6 wrote: »

And people wonder why there's often animosity towards Gah heads :rolleyes:

But yeah, football has nicely infiltrated Tallaght now. Must be grating for ya with that dirty foreign game on Thomas Davis territory

What has the Shamrock Rovers/Thomas Davis affair got to do with the topic in hand?

Xavi6

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

What has the Shamrock Rovers/Thomas Davis affair got to do with the topic in hand?

Reading the point I quoted will help with your question, but here it is again anyway -

Secondly, the GAA is not the enemy of other sports(Unless you support Homeless FC). Them days are gone and buried.

The days are obviously not gone and buried

Pride Fighter

The GAA is the only properly run sporting organisation in Ireland. Most of the other ones have a big jobs for the boys, spending their money on salaries for themselves rather than grassroots development in their sports. Some of it would go on in the GAA, but nowhere near as much as other sports and the grassroots gets well funded in the GAA.

Would Ireland be better if the GAA was not there?

I think we should be better, even with the GAA. New Zealand which has an equivalent population (also about 80% of the population are genetically identical) has won hundreds of olympic medals. That country has its own sporting passion comparable with the GAA in the form of Rugby Union.

The answer is not to scapegoat on of Irelands best sporting organisations. The answer is to weed out cronyism and corruption in most of the sports governing bodies and plough money into infrastructure and coaching.

oppenheimer1

Xavi6 wrote: »

Reading the point I quoted will help with your question, but here it is again anyway -



The days are obviously not gone and buried

I cannot argue with his statement there. The GAA is not the enemy of other sports in Ireland, and most people would see it that way - unless they were involved in some way in the Shamrock Rovers/Tallaght Stadium affair.

The GAA works with athletics, and pretty much all sports that it doesn't directly compete with for players. As Olympic events which the GAA facilities are of use are mostly individual events, this poses no issue for them.

Xavi6

oppenheimer1 wrote: »

I cannot argue with his statement there. The GAA is not the enemy of other sports in Ireland, and most people would see it that way - unless they were involved in some way in the Shamrock Rovers/Tallaght Stadium affair.

The GAA works with athletics, and pretty much all sports that it doesn't directly compete with for players. As Olympic events which the GAA facilities are of use are mostly individual events, this poses no issue for them.

You can't argue with a statement that says it doesn't happen yet in the same sentence you reference the Rovers affair where they did just that

IrishAm

Xavi6 wrote: »

You can't argue with a statement that says it doesn't happen yet in the same sentence you reference the Rovers affair where they did just that

I object to Shamrock Rovers parachuting into my local area, decimating local soccer clubs and receiving a brand spanking new taxpayer funded stadium. I object to their claims that they deserve the stadium more so than a local GAA team, a club that has been in Tallaght from the get go and a club that has invested a lot of time and effort in the local community.

I am not anti soccer. I love soccer. I am anti SRFC. I would love to see the GAA work more closely with the FAI and the IRFU. If we work together, we can all benefit in the long term.

Dyr

IrishAm wrote: »

I object to Shamrock Rovers parachuting into my local area, decimating local soccer clubs and receiving a brand spanking new taxpayer funded stadium. I object to their claims that they deserve the stadium more so than a local GAA team, a club that has been in Tallaght from the get go and a club that has invested a lot of time and effort in the local community.

I am not anti soccer. I love soccer. I am anti SRFC. I would love to see the GAA work more closely with the FAI and the IRFU. If we work together, we can all benefit in the long term.

Quite right, Tallaght has enough social disadvantage without also having those cornerboys foisted on the area.

Fishooks12

NIMAN wrote: »

I am not trying to slag off the GAA or anything here, but I got to thinking about our performance in the Olympics and how we struggle to get a handful of medals each Olympic Games.

Ireland has been so obsessed with the GAA, do you think it has hindered our success elsewhere in the sporting world? After all, we are great at it, but no-one else plays it!;)

How many of those supremely gifted athletes who perform week-in, week-out for their local football and hurling teams/counties would have made it at a high level in other sports such as soccer?

What a load of crap

Cienciano

Diego Maradona wrote: »

Really?

IRB World rankings


1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.43
2(2) AUSTRALIA 87.05
3(3) SOUTH AFRICA 84.87
4(4) ENGLAND 83.09
5(5) FRANCE 83.03
6(6) WALES 82.26
7(7) IRELAND 79.85
8(8) ARGENTINA 79.25
9(9) SCOTLAND 77.97
10(10) SAMOA 76.23
11(11) ITALY 76.03
12(12) TONGA 74.79
13(13) CANADA 72.30
14(14) FIJI 70.60
15(15) GEORGIA 67.95
16(16) JAPAN 67.93
17(17) USA 66.61
18(18) ROMANIA 64.54
19(19) RUSSIA 62.05
20(20) SPAIN 61.63
21(21) URUGUAY 61.13
22(22) NAMIBIA 59.24
23(23) BELGIUM 59.17
24(24) CHILE 58.32
25(25) KOREA 56.72
26(26) PORTUGAL 56.58
27(27) HONG KONG 55.49
28(28) POLAND 55.19
29(29) ZIMBABWE 54.70
30(30) UKRAINE 53.95
31(31) GERMANY 53.33
32(32) MOROCCO 52.35
33(33) BRAZIL 51.57
34(34) MOLDOVA 51.28
35(35) KAZAKHSTAN 51.28
36(36) LITHUANIA 50.90
37(37) SWEDEN 50.41
38(38) KENYA 50.28
39(39) CZECH REPUBLIC 50.16
40(40) PARAGUAY 48.84
41(41) UGANDA 48.76
42(42) MADAGASCAR 48.19
43(43) TUNISIA 48.18
44(44) CROATIA 48.06
45(45) MALTA 47.97
46(46) IVORY COAST 47.67
47(47) NETHERLANDS 47.66
48(48) SRI LANKA 47.60
49(49) BERMUDA 47.17
50(50) SENEGAL 47.14
51(51) PAPUA NEW GUINEA 46.55
52(52) SWITZERLAND 45.88
53(53) VENEZUELA 45.36
54(54) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 44.68
55(55) COOK ISLANDS 44.61
56(56) PHILIPPINES 44.34
57(57) ISRAEL 43.90
58(58) GUYANA 43.56
59(59) THAILAND 43.44
60(60) CHINESE TAIPEI 43.19
61(61) DENMARK 42.28
62(62) ANDORRA 42.21
63(63) PERU 41.64
64(64) MALAYSIA 41.37
65(65) CAYMAN 41.27
66(66) SINGAPORE 41.19
67(67) BARBADOS 41.01
68(68) INDIA 40.81
69(69) CHINA 40.73
70(70) SOLOMON ISLANDS 40.70
71(71) NIUE ISLANDS 40.45
72(72) LATVIA 40.16
73(73) SERBIA 40.14
74(74) COLOMBIA 39.59
75(75) MEXICO 39.38
76(76) ZAMBIA 38.87
77(77) BOTSWANA 38.65
78(78) PAKISTAN 38.38
79(79) BULGARIA 38.34
80(80) CAMEROON 38.33
81(81) SLOVENIA 37.76
82(82) JAMAICA 37.08
83(83) ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 36.84
84(84) AUSTRIA 36.84
85(85) HUNGARY 36.81
86(86) TAHITI 36.25
87(87) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 36.18
88(88) GUAM 35.70
89(89) BAHAMAS 35.68
90(90) SWAZILAND 35.63
91(91) NIGERIA 35.29
92(92) MONACO 35.17
93(93) NORWAY 34.55
94(94) VANUATU 33.45
95(95) LUXEMBOURG 32.62
96(96) FINLAND 27.03

Next time you meet a Moroccan, ask how his rugby team is doing. Chances are he'll say "what's rugby?"

ocnoc

Fishooks12 wrote: »

What a load of crap

I don't think they are being overly harsh. No one is saying that top level GAA players are not of a very high standard, but it would be interesting to see what they could achieve in other sports if they directed their energies to being elite in other disciplines.

Take 110m Hurdles as an example. Its a very technical event.
So is hurling.

What sort of times would Irish runners be hitting if say Kilkenny hurlers were so obsessed with hurdling rather than bashing a ball about?

Fishooks12

ocnoc wrote: »

I don't think they are being overly harsh. No one is saying that top level GAA players are not of a very high standard, but it would be interesting to see what they could achieve in other sports if they directed their energies to being elite in other disciplines.

Take 110m Hurdles as an example. Its a very technical event.
So is hurling.

What sort of times would Irish runners be hitting if say Kilkenny hurlers were so obsessed with hurdling rather than bashing a ball about?

I was referring to the part of the post about the GAA being forced upon people.

We probably would do slightly better in other sports without the GAA, but it's the most popular sport in Ireland for a reason, people like it.

foxyboxer

Diego Maradona wrote: »

Really?

IRB World rankings


1(1) NEW ZEALAND 91.43
2(2) AUSTRALIA 87.05
3(3) SOUTH AFRICA 84.87
4(4) ENGLAND 83.09
5(5) FRANCE 83.03
6(6) WALES 82.26
7(7) IRELAND 79.85
8(8) ARGENTINA 79.25
9(9) SCOTLAND 77.97
10(10) SAMOA 76.23
11(11) ITALY 76.03
12(12) TONGA 74.79
13(13) CANADA 72.30
14(14) FIJI 70.60
15(15) GEORGIA 67.95
16(16) JAPAN 67.93
17(17) USA 66.61
18(18) ROMANIA 64.54
19(19) RUSSIA 62.05
20(20) SPAIN 61.63
21(21) URUGUAY 61.13
22(22) NAMIBIA 59.24
23(23) BELGIUM 59.17
24(24) CHILE 58.32
25(25) KOREA 56.72
26(26) PORTUGAL 56.58
27(27) HONG KONG 55.49
28(28) POLAND 55.19
29(29) ZIMBABWE 54.70
30(30) UKRAINE 53.95
31(31) GERMANY 53.33
32(32) MOROCCO 52.35
33(33) BRAZIL 51.57
34(34) MOLDOVA 51.28
35(35) KAZAKHSTAN 51.28
36(36) LITHUANIA 50.90
37(37) SWEDEN 50.41
38(38) KENYA 50.28
39(39) CZECH REPUBLIC 50.16
40(40) PARAGUAY 48.84
41(41) UGANDA 48.76
42(42) MADAGASCAR 48.19
43(43) TUNISIA 48.18
44(44) CROATIA 48.06
45(45) MALTA 47.97
46(46) IVORY COAST 47.67
47(47) NETHERLANDS 47.66
48(48) SRI LANKA 47.60
49(49) BERMUDA 47.17
50(50) SENEGAL 47.14
51(51) PAPUA NEW GUINEA 46.55
52(52) SWITZERLAND 45.88
53(53) VENEZUELA 45.36
54(54) TRINIDAD & TOBAGO 44.68
55(55) COOK ISLANDS 44.61
56(56) PHILIPPINES 44.34
57(57) ISRAEL 43.90
58(58) GUYANA 43.56
59(59) THAILAND 43.44
60(60) CHINESE TAIPEI 43.19
61(61) DENMARK 42.28
62(62) ANDORRA 42.21
63(63) PERU 41.64
64(64) MALAYSIA 41.37
65(65) CAYMAN 41.27
66(66) SINGAPORE 41.19
67(67) BARBADOS 41.01
68(68) INDIA 40.81
69(69) CHINA 40.73
70(70) SOLOMON ISLANDS 40.70
71(71) NIUE ISLANDS 40.45
72(72) LATVIA 40.16
73(73) SERBIA 40.14
74(74) COLOMBIA 39.59
75(75) MEXICO 39.38
76(76) ZAMBIA 38.87
77(77) BOTSWANA 38.65
78(78) PAKISTAN 38.38
79(79) BULGARIA 38.34
80(80) CAMEROON 38.33
81(81) SLOVENIA 37.76
82(82) JAMAICA 37.08
83(83) ST. VINCENT & THE GRENADINES 36.84
84(84) AUSTRIA 36.84
85(85) HUNGARY 36.81
86(86) TAHITI 36.25
87(87) BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 36.18
88(88) GUAM 35.70
89(89) BAHAMAS 35.68
90(90) SWAZILAND 35.63
91(91) NIGERIA 35.29
92(92) MONACO 35.17
93(93) NORWAY 34.55
94(94) VANUATU 33.45
95(95) LUXEMBOURG 32.62
96(96) FINLAND 27.03

There are only 5 or 6 countries that play Rugby well.

Cienciano

foxyboxer wrote: »

There are only 5 or 6 countries that play Rugby well.

I notice bermuda is on the list. My mate plays rugby at his local club who are pretty rubbish. He moved to bermuda and made the national team. He was injured and he said the guy to replace him was a 44 year old who had no cartilage in his knee.
This is a team that's in the top 50.

foxyboxer

I think the point the OP is trying to make is how we are not competitive in the central sports. The gun goes off, you run or swim a prescribed distance as fast as possible then you stop. Not exactly rocket science is it?

You can argue that some sports in the Olympics are niche events and wouldn't get sufficient funding or indeed sufficient interest. (sailing, bmx, archery etc)

But take the central sports in the olympics. Track and Field and Swimming. We are not competitive at all in those sports with no realistic medal prospects. They are not exactly complex sports that require huge investment.

dyl10

The answer is fairly straight forward - yes, we probably would.
It's like asking if all our soccer and rugby players played GAA instead. would the standard of GAA be higher - yes it would.

If soccer had the GAA's organisation and player we would really be flying, especially in terms of domestic teams competing in Europe.
It is a pity that GAA is not an international sport but having indigenous games is of great cultural value in itself.

Sunnyisland

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Good sports, horrible organization. It will fall like the catholic church and Fianna Fail. I only found out that they had the Quarter finals of the all irelands yesterday. They sell out about 3-4 games a year so its on the fall.

Obviously your favorite sport is trolling and I must admit your not bad at it

Cienciano

I'm not a GAA fan, but if I could get rid of one sport in ireland, it would be horse racing. It's more an excuse for gambling than a sport. If gambling was banned, our race tracks would look like the Duff Brewery in the simpsons when alcohol was banned.

Richard Hillman

Fishooks12 wrote: »

I was referring to the part of the post about the GAA being forced upon people.

We probably would do slightly better in other sports without the GAA, but it's the most popular sport in Ireland for a reason, people like it.

Football is the most popular sport in the country and GAA is an amalgamation of different sports. If we were to go by amalgamating a bunch of sports and throwing it under one umbrella then Olympic Council of Ireland is the most popular sport in Ireland and that just sounds silly.

Sunnyisland

Whats with it with some Irish people,they knock our most supported games,Give out about our successful Irish boxers,They must have **** all to do in there small little worlds they rotate in.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Interestingly enough in the early days of the GAA they incorporated Athletics in their programme, this included an attempted revival of the Tailteann Games. They aimed to become a rival to Britain's AAA.

Fishooks12

realies wrote: »

Whats with it with some Irish people,they knock our most supported games,Give out about our successful Irish boxers,They must have **** all to do in there small little worlds they rotate in.

Begruders my boy, one thing we seem to have in abundance here.

Usually most of it is born out of jealousy

foxyboxer

I have a feeling we'll be having this argument again in about say.....four years time.

Sea Filly

Fishooks12 wrote: »

I was referring to the part of the post about the GAA being forced upon people.

We probably would do slightly better in other sports without the GAA, but it's the most popular sport in Ireland for a reason, people like it.

It's not forced upon people but in a lot of primary schools that and soccer are all that is offered.

Ulysses Gaze

Cienciano wrote: »

I'm not a GAA fan, but if I could get rid of one sport in ireland, it would be horse racing. It's more an excuse for gambling than a sport. If gambling was banned, our race tracks would look like the Duff Brewery in the simpsons when alcohol was banned.

Too much money in horse racing - from the bloodstock industry through to gambling.

The GAA is part of Irish History and Culture and while I'm not a big fan of Gaelic Football, hurling is, for me, one of the most exciting and skillful sports in the world.

Why would we want to get rid of it?

Interestingly enough in the early days of the GAA they incorporated Athletics in their programme

Pity this didn't work out.

swimming in a sea

GAA never becomes popular until the bigger games that are on in the Dublin and province finals, go to any of the first round games and you'll see f*ck all supporters. Just like the big crowds that follow the Irish football team but know one goes to league of Ireland games.

Olympics is another great excuse for this glory hunting Irish supporters, at my work they setup tv's for some women boxing yesterday, i did not go no interest in boxing and weather the boxer is from bray or mongolia makes no odds to me.

But i'll watch two pub\prem\LOI\laliga etc teams playing football for 90mins when ever i get the chance as its my favourite sport.

Fishooks12

Cienciano wrote: »

I notice bermuda is on the list. My mate plays rugby at his local club who are pretty rubbish. He moved to bermuda and made the national team. He was injured and he said the guy to replace him was a 44 year old who had no cartilage in his knee.
This is a team that's in the top 50.

Rugby doesn't have the same competitive spectrum as soccer, that's a given. But what sport does?

Most team sports only have a core group of about 10 or 11 top tier teams. Cricket, basketball, hockey

It's interesting looking at the rugby WC in comparison to the soccer tournament. It's easily arguable that only 3 or 4 teams in each competition stand a realistic chance of winning it

It's a purely Irish thing that we have to constantly talk ourselves down anytime it's mentioned that we're good at rugby with stuff like "sure only 4 or 5 teams play it anyway"

Defiler Of The Coffin

swimming in a sea wrote: »

GAA never becomes popular until the bigger games that are on in the Dublin and province finals, go to any of the first round games and you'll see f*ck all supporters. Just like the big crowds that follow the Irish football team but know one goes to league of Ireland games.

Olympics is another great excuse for this glory hunting Irish supporters, at my work they setup tv's for some women boxing yesterday, i did not go no interest in boxing and weather the boxer is from bray or mongolia makes no odds to me.

But i'll watch two pub\prem\LOI\laliga etc teams playing football for 90mins when ever i get the chance as its my favourite sport.

That's nice you were able to get all that off your chest but it has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Which is complete nonsense anyway.

books4sale

I would say yes, Ireland could be better on the international stage only for GAA. I think it takes talented kids away from international sports from an early age, international sports that they could make a career out of later in life.

Playing at the top level in the GAA is not a sports career, its a lifestyle.

If you want to compete in sport then the world stage is the place to do it, competing against the best.

Taking a look down through the Olympic medals table and you might be surprised with some of the countries that have secured a few medals. Ireland still has diddly squat. Pathetically sad for a developed country.

Fishooks12

books4sale wrote: »

I would say yes, Ireland could be better on the international stage only for GAA. I think it takes talented kids away from international sports from an early age, international sports that they could make a career out of later in life.

Playing at the top level in the GAA is not a sports career, its a lifestyle.

If you want to compete in sport then the world stage is the place to do it, competing against the best.

Taking a look down through the Olympic medals table and you might be surprised with some of the countries that have secured a few medals. Ireland still has diddly squat. Pathetically sad for a developed country.

we have five medals actually

And we actually punch well above our weight in the olympics compared to countries with a similar population to ours

But don't let facts get in the way of your snide post

Ash.J.Williams

Genghis Khan. wrote: »

The GAA is not about sport but about expressing and forcing a culture upon the Irish people. It is a nationalistic organisation and nothing else. Irish kids should take up proper sports which they can earn a living from.

that's not what sport is about!

martingriff

We do very welll in the Para olympics and the Special olympics. But back to the other olympics it is not down to te GAA we do bad but because of Money and facilities. Nothing else.