Will Andy Farrell get the adoration Jack Charlton got?

What’s bollòcks is your contention that there is a conscious effort on the part of the “elites” as you called them to exclude everyone else. Total rubbish.

As has been explained already the preponderance of private school players is a function of tradition and coaching. They’ve simply been playing rugby for far longer than new coming schools.

Why are Kilkenny so good at hurling? Are they genetically different to the average Irish person?

No. It’s because hurling is the main sport there and people grow up playing it and their grandfathers and fathers and uncles and cousins all probably played too. They are steeped in it from a young age - this provides a positive feedback loop in that there are a lot more people that can coach and train other people to a high level. It’s something that’s very difficult to replicate in a short period of time for other counties, but it can be done.

It’s the same with the private schools - some of them have been taking rugby very seriously for 100+ years, of course it’s going to take a while for formerly non rugby schools and clubs in non traditionally rugby areas to catch up. But it will happen as time goes on.

Your idea that people in rugby deliberately exclude others because of background is total nonsense. Everyone is happy to see the sport grow as much as possible and to see the best players play regardless of their background. What you’re saying is close minded, ignorant rubbish.

That post makes no sense.

It's clear you have an agenda. What, I don't know...actually I have a good idea.

Inferiority complex perhaps. Hatred of unusual proportions to those who've done absolutely nothing to you.

Such unbelievable reverse snobbery and complete horseshit.

The number of schools providing players to the Irish Rugby team is growing annually with more and more non fee paying schools represents. Even Leinster, where the private schools were in the ascendancy are seeing more and more players form non fee paying schools (eg. Henshaw, Furlong).

The bulk of the Munster and Ulster squads would be from non fee paying schools.

Yes, they tend to be on average form more privileged backgrounds. That's not a reasonable reason not to support them though. You want to take care of your back, carrying around all those chips.

You can argue away but that doesn't mean you are right. This is total nonsense.

I won't even bother asking you to explain the thousands of people going via train/plane/automobile over to France, with and without tickets.

FYI: You only have to watch a programme for one minute to be deemed a viewer, but if the programme is, say, 30 minutes long, then this single minute only counts for 1/30 of the programme. So the published "ratings" are actually an average for each of the minutes of the programme.

And here we go again.

High profile rugby games get big viewing figures, but that vanishes once you drill down.

How many are watching a URC game between Connacht and some Italian team on a random Friday night in February ?

Rugby people constantly fall into this trap of thinking that just because the high profile stuff is popular the whole sport is popular.

It's not.

No only rugby supporters live in D4

In regards to the manager, as I posted already both Charlton and Farrell are gruff no nonsense Northern Englishmen. If they met each other they would probably be best mates.

When did I apologise to you? or do you have two accounts?

Still waiting for the answer by the way.

You’re obviously blinded by prejudice of people you don’t even know and it’s clear you’re not very informed on the sport in general with that conspiracy theory level analysis you’re giving.

Happy to leave it there.

I will leave this here

Declan McBennet for who is head of sports department in RTE went to Queens and started his career in Northern Sound in Monaghan

Also a keen GAA player

I am not a rugby person, I'm a GAA person, but I can spot horsehit. What would the comparable figures for URC and National league be on TG4 be for example? 2022 NFL final between Mayo and Kerry had 228k viewers, and 2021 rugby game between Leinster and Munster had 229k.

Niche

Seen it before, very good. Point is 90 percent of players through the granny, residence rule in rugby,, soccer are here for the money and to play sport at the highest level. I can't see the problem with it myself once it improves the team but some posters think CJ stander, bundee aki, are as Irish as bacon and cabbage. They are here for the money simples

its this or work 🤣

if you take the Leinster v Munster match over Christmas the number are normally higher as you have a captive audience. The URC viewing numbers over the season are increasing which is the main point.

the numbers playing rugby at all levels is increasing, it will also massively increase if Ireland can get to a semi or final.

Rubbish, every Irish players playing professional soccer in the UK for a few years are all English now and CJ stander is Irish because he lived here for a few years ? I lived in the UK for 10 years and don't consider myself British . Roy Keane has lived in England all his professional life is he English ?. Typically rugby shite talking the high ground of who's more Irish , laughable stuff

In the Munster v Leinster semi final match, which was important game the numbers tell a different story.

Also Munster seem to get higher viewers than other provinces, strange for a sport that we keep getting told is Dublin and D4 only

https://www.munsterrugby.ie/2023/07/10/munster-are-most-watched-side-in-urc/#:~:text=Munster's%20semi%2Dfinal%20win%20against,audience%20of%20the%20entire%20season.

Is it always necessary to twist an argument to suit your point? No one said CJ Stander is Irish because he lived here. But once resident for an extended period of time here and being fully committed to jersey, why could he not represent Ireland when folks who have no link at all to the country other than a grandparent can?

And this argument is a distraction because it is been presented as being much of the team when it is actually only 3 players. And the requirements are now 5 years residency, same as to become a citizen. Are you suggesting naturalised citizens should not be allow to represent the country?

I don't think your argument is portraying the narrative you think it does. The counties involved in the gaelic football match are of course just just two; Mayo and Kerry. Whereas, the counties involved in the rugby game are theoretically 18.

In the gaelic football match you have a captive audience from their support base of Mayo and Kerry of: 280k

In the rugby match you have a captive audience from their support base of Munster and Leinster of: 4M

So despite the captive audience being 142 times bigger for the rugby match it had exactly the same as the TV audience for the football. The fact that the audience numbers are more or less the same says it all about the lack of interest beyond the national team.

A rugby game between Leinster and Munster in the URC is probably about the third teir of Irish rugby, it's behind internationals and European cup games in the pecking order.

A GAA football league final is much further down on the GAA pecking order, behind All Ireland finals, semifinals, quarter finals, Munster hurling championship provincial final, Munster hurling championship round robin games, provincial football finals.

So as I keep saying, rugby support is not deep, after you get past the high profile games the numbers fall off a cliff.

Actually, and this is something I posted here a few years ago, the first Munster v Leinster URC game back after stadiums were allowed full capacity post COVID failed to sell out Thomond Park.

Meanwhile, there were 8,000 at a McGrath Cup game,a pre season competition, in Killarney around the same time.

Rugby is niche.