Will Andy Farrell get the adoration Jack Charlton got?

Sorry I laid the trap and you walked straight into it. Do you know what most people would describe Farrell as?

A gruff no nonsense English northern.

Ireland has moved on from the 90's, we had no real stars then, plus everyone lived in England that we would class as famous.

Andy lives in Dublin

Rarities though not very common, the Rugby crowd is by and large a different demographic to the masses, in Dublin it is East Dublin basically along the Dart line for example. There is the odd exception in Rugby such as Trevor Brennan known as the 'Milkman'.

The heads in Munster, Cork Con/Shannon etc. Munster is the exception massive cross over in all sports in Munster only have to look at Limerick - Football, Soccer Hurling Rugby. But for most of Ireland Rugby does not really 'grab' all communities it is very niche. Nevermind a nation. It is part of the reason Charlton managed it, he transcended the sport itself. Farrell has some job to turn that around.

Given where Rugby fits in the sporting hierarchy in Ireland, and the perception that some have that it is a sport for privately educated posh boys (rightly/wrongly). It is going to be extremely hard for Farrell to get that nationwide adoration Charlton received.

"Soccer isn't more competitive, it's just easier for smaller teams to compete with the big boys....y'know, the dictionary definition of the word competitive"

😀

No trap at all it actually proves my point more-so

Which according to the premise of this thread, can Farrell get the same adoration as Charlton?

Would the average man on street know who Farrell is to be honest? Would they even care? This is in age unlike Charlton's time where info can be found at the push of a button. But still Farrell would be unknown or at best half known in my parts of Ireland. He does not have a Jack Charlton profile of personalty.

Rugby is a different world in Ireland. Bubbles of interest. I remember going to a Rugby match in the AVIVA. There was big club GAA matches on the same day Semi Finals. Could not find a place that showed before the Ireland game. Instead they had England Italy on all the televisions/big screen (6 Nations). I was shocked.

And the further you got away from Dublin 4 the less the casual person on the street would know there was a Rugby match on. I learnt my lesson the next time a GAA match clashed with a Rugby one. I tore off afterwards to a city centre 'rustic' northside pub that I knew would be showing the league final between Dublin and Kerry. It was on the same day as Ireland played England in the AVIVA.

So with all this division and clique type stuff Rugby has it makes Farrell's task of Charlton adoration, ether extremely difficult or virtually impossible.In my opinion.

You are taking it from the angle Farrell will replace Charlton. Nobody is suggesting that. Based on the millions watching the rugby and thousands going to France I would expect they do know who Farrell is

Next time, go into the pub, ask the barman to stick on the GAA game and they will stick it on or tell you go watch it in the bar etc. I don't see what relevance a game on TV has? most bars will stick on what the first person asks for.

I was at a rugby game and walked out into Sandymount hotel and watched the GAA once. Yes the big screen had the rugby on but it was on in another TV room

In any sport the better side nearly always wins. Thats why it's called an upset and you have the underdog.

A striker is only as good as the winger who can cross or the midfielder who can pass the ball to him. Hence why they are team sports

"tournament played at an elite level by a handful of teams"

Unlike the soccer world cup that has had 8 winners out of 22 tournaments you mean?

Rugby has 4 out of 9.

I'd say its more about him getting us to #1 in the world?

Yes, that was the whole point. Its why Farrell cannot have the same impact.

The comparison between Farrell and Charlton is what this thread is about!!!!! 😀

The question the OP posits is would Farrell recieve the same adoration Charlton received I think the answer is simply NO -

Why?

1) Charlton's personality - larger than life transcending the sport - the little old dears suddenly were wondering if McGrath was playing in midfield or defence

2) The difficulty of the sport of soccer in comparison to Rugby - a true global concern

3) The lack of previous sporting international success Ireland had in Charlton's time

4) The downtrodden nature of Ireland at the time etc - dreary 1980's recession hit Ireland - mass emigration and unemployment etc

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In contrast to now -

1) Ireland is now more upwardly mobile more educated - there is less of need for a 'saviour' like Charlton to take their minds off the grind of daily life is not there

2) People involved in Rugby - are certainly not of the downtrodden demographic - they don't need to look to be 'lifted'

3) But there are still whole communities in Ireland that are untouched by Rugby. It is viewed as 'other' in such places

4) I don't think Farrell has the personality to transcend his sport - to be 'loved' in Ireland like Charlton

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Your point about Rugby growing is a complete irrelevance to the question would Farrell get the same adoration Charlton received. In you going on the more general point about Rugby, it proves Farrell has the impossible task to get the Charlton levels of adoration, in my opinion.

Player with access to better coaching improves his chances of playing professionally, shocker.

You clearly have quite a chip on your shoulder with these embittered rants

You’re trying to make this into a social standing/classism thing with the schools and “access” to professionalism - it’s nothing about attending the “right” school that gets you picked. The preponderance of private schools players in Irish professional rugby is simply explained by the fact that these schools have decades longer traditions of playing the sport than most others and focus heavily on it.

Plenty of private schools that are useless at rugby - their players don’t get to play either, because they’re not very good.

If you’re good enough you play, regardless of your background or whatever.

Fair enough I don't know much about Farrell's personality, but if he ends up being more adored than Jack Charlton fair dues to him. What it the phrase Keith Wood says?

'It's a tough ask'.

Like most Irish fans I ignore most games but watch all the big ones, and I couldn't tell you a single thing about Farrell beyond him being English and his son being a current player.

He may well be charismatic in person, but he certainly doesn't transcend his sport in any way whatsoever.

FYI the 6 nations that Ireland won earlier in the year, a Grand Slam, is the equivalent of the European Championships in soccer terms. As close as you can get because it is a yearly tournament and the Euro's are every 4 years, but it's the best teams in Europe against each other.

Unfortunately people close to Rugby in Ireland don't really realise how small it is as a global sport. It is way down the pecking order compared to Baseball, soccer, Basketball, Cricket and many other sports that have far bigger audiences and much higher numbers of professionals competing. Ireland have done really well due to our excellent structure but the elite club game is really struggling in Wales, Australia, Scotland and even South Africa. Even if we win I can't see Farrell getting the same adulation as Charlton.