'Soccer-like crowd' coming to the rugby?

I certainly hope not. I must say though, the behaviour I saw in Hill 16 was great. Silence during the kicks (bar one or two eejits shouting out stuff, but they were quickly shussed by the rest of the crowd.) I had some munster fans shake my hand and congratulate me as a leinster supporter, when leaving. Didn't see any trouble whatsoever.
The last thing rugby needs is to become like soccer to the point, where fans have to be segregated, and standing is banned. One of the things I like most about Rugby is the fact you can passionatly shout and sing for your team, during the match but still have a laugh with the oppositions fans afterwards.

I have to say that me and a mate have been going to a lot of rugby in the last 10 years and we thought the same thing about Premiership type fans but they were wearing both blue and red.

As the supporter base widens so quickly for the sport you are bound to end up with people who aren't in tune with the culture of the game and just turn up get pissed and make a fool of themselves.

I really take my hat off though to the way the seats were allocated with pockets of blue and red spread around the ground. I thought that was a really nice touch. Where else in the world could you get 82 000 rival fans in such a highly charged game sitting side by side? Here's hoping that never goes away.

I was in the Lwr Hogan, Hill end and didn't notice. I take your word for it though. I think this says more about Irish society than anything else rugby-related.

Nothing but respect and good wishes from any Munster folk I met there.

danthefan wrote: »

I would say it would be almost a unique occassion in the history of mankind to bring 82,000 people together (consider for a moment just how many people that is) without a few belligerent idiots among them.

82,202 I think it was were all world record holders im looking forward to getting my guinness world record medal in the post hope it comes soon

Soccer like crowd? You mean a very large crowd?
Don't worry. It won't last much longer.

82,208 fans at the match, 82,200 absolutely silent during the minutes silence and the kicks.

If you individually vetted people before selling them the tickets you'd still get some problems.

I was in the canal end lower, a bit of an "incident" when d'arcy scored the try when a leinster fan accidentally hit munster fan with their flag but an apology and nothing further happened. I was sitting between two of my friends, both of them leinster fans, me a munster fan, 3 leinster fans behind us and 3 munster fans in front of us. Not a bother during the whole game, all of them falling silent while I updated them with ref radio when incidents happened.

Great view of the first try, not as good of the 2nd but the big screens are really great for replay's!

Great Game, Great Atmosphere, nothing you can really do about a few "scum bags" who want to ruin it other than try and ignore them.

Regards
Ian

Stev_o wrote: »

When you pack 82,000 people into any stadium you'll bound to get one or two scummers.

as for the OP with his/her "Soccer like crowd" remark ....

Please !!! ..... its not the different type of crowd ...its the actual people (modern generation of fans/people are a lot more vulgar and manners are lost on them, its not the rugby/soccer element coming in ...its society breaking down)

the scum are inheriting the earth !!!

thomond2006 wrote: »

Thankfully imo this problem has not spread to Thomond Park. Crowd always respectful to kickers and opposition.

When Contepomi missed all his kicks at TP, we "cheered" the life out of him but he has always been a special case. :D

[edit]Just to make it clear I'm a 100% munster supporter myself![/edit]

I dunno if I agree with this 100%. I've been to most of the recent matches in TP and to be honest I've noticed an increased level of "banter" from some munster supporters. I actually brought my brother to his first game in thomond for the magners league game against leinster recently and there was a group of adult munster supporters who were screaming abuse at the leinster players right in our ears.

Friendly banter I am all for but this was filthy language and aside from my brother there were 5 other young kids all beside us. Give it another 5 years of that kinda exposure and these kids are gonna think it's fine to hurl abuse at opposition players and sure what's the harm in chucking something at one of the players, that'll get a laugh.. It's a slippery slope and I do worry that it's not quite as harmless as it used to be. What's worse, I worry that it's just going to get worse if we excuse it when we do see it.

Sydney Steelers wrote: »

Soccer is a game played and supported by the absolute scum of the earth, the complete dregs of society.

Rugby is a sport for civilised and respectable upper-middle class individuals. If the day comes where even 10% of people in attendance at rugby games are soccer scum who should have stayed in their working class slums, then I will never attend another game, and go take up polo or some other sport which has not been tarnished.

Get.Over.Yourself.

I am deeply offended by your remarks. It is very prejudiced against soccer fans and is just plain wrong.

Just a natural consequence of rugby going super-nova in Ireland over the last 4 years. You've now got lots of people coming to games who've never played rugby and have had very limited exposure to the culture of the game. They'll never have seen their local club play, many won't even know where their local club is and are interested in rugby only through the national and provincial game. Just a side effect of its popularity, and tbh as someone who can remember attending interpro games in Thomond 15 years ago when there were about 3-4,000 people max in the place (and that was a good day)...well its all good.

Rugby is now the marquee sport in Ireland. It's the one every business wants to be associated with and every advertiser wants a piece of. remarkable, when you consider the times that are in it. The IRFU is, along with undertakers, about the only recession proof organisation in Ireland..fair play to them and long may it continue...remarkable from a sport which is allegedly in the ha'penny place after Gaelic, hurling and soccer..They'll be writing theses on it yet.

The more the merrier, and this legacy won't be pissed away like say that ruined by the FAI post Charlton, because the provincial structure and national team have such strong local roots..

And tbh, a little bit of soccer style enthusiasm and chanting wouldn't go awry. A rugby league game is a half way house between a soccer atmosphere and a Kick 'n' Clap crowd and its got alot to recommend it....

toomevara wrote: »

Just a natural consequence of rugby going super-nova in Ireland over the last 4 years. You've now got lots of people coming to games who've never played rugby and have had very limited exposure to the culture of the game. They'll never have seen their local club play, many won't even know where their local club is and are interested in rugby only through the national and provincial game. Just a side effect of its popularity, and tbh as someone who can remember attending interpro games in Thomond 15 years ago when there were about 3-4,000 people max in the place (and that was a good day)...well its all good.

Rugby is now the marquee sport in Ireland. It's the one every business wants to be associated with and every advertiser wants a piece of. remarkable, when you consider the times that are in it. The IRFU is, along with undertakers, about the only recession proof organisation in Ireland..fair play to them and long may it continue...remarkable from a sport which is allegedly in the ha'penny place after Gaelic, hurling and soccer..They'll be writing theses on it yet.

The more the merrier, and this legacy won't be pissed away like say that ruined by the FAI post Charlton, because the provincial structure and national team have such strong local roots..

And tbh, a little bit of soccer style enthusiasm and chanting wouldn't go awry. A rugby league game is a half way house between a soccer atmosphere and a Kick 'n' Clap crowd and its got alot to recommend it....

+1 its inevitable really

however, there definitely was a certain hint of nastiness in the air at Croker that i had not really encountered before. I think the overdrive hype from the media over the last few weeks did not help.

In our area of the Cusack stand most people reacted and acted as you would expect, happy gloating leinster fans and subdued, frustrated munster fans....but...there was one idiot (pissed as a fart) in blue who spent more time looking around at munster fans gesturing and making comments than watching the match

the 5.30 also allowed for a lot of drinking time which never helps.

I do agree though that it was a once off occassion of that type

Question re: crowds -

During the Cardiff/Leicester shootout there was an incredible amount of whistling, jeering etc when opposition players were taking their kicks. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't rugby seen as a gentleman's game which is more respectful to players than for example football? I have to say I was surprised at the noise level as I always thought there was a commonly upheld hush during such situations.

Would that have happened during the Leinster/Munster game? Can the noise at the Cardiff/Leicester game be, as the OP suggests, be attributed to this new wave of soccer fan? Or are they merely going OTT?

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Soccer is the only major sport that segregates the fans afaik.

Only major sport that's globablly popular too.

Shan75 wrote: »

Yeah I witnessed that racist chanting from a group of little filthbags in the Nally.They were shouting out abusive things about the Leinster players through the game as well until they left with 15 minutes to go.They were also giving some young Leinster fans in front of them dog's abuse and trying to intimidate other Leinster fans.Maybe this was the group the OP is on about although I didn't see any actual fighting although they all went mad at one point jumping up and down and fist pumping so perhaps something did happen.

Anyway they are a shower of horrible wasters and I think it's a shame that things are going like this.It was always great going to rugby matches as none of this type of thing happened and I can only hope these types remain a tiny minority.

Thing so. They were mentioned on Munster Fans as singing something about Munchins or something. Sounded lovely anyway.

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't want to see it go like Soccer either. I find chanting horrible to listen to, rather listen to a group singing. I find the laughing at a miss by a player pathetic. Booing a former player is another regular occurrence at soccer matches. Crowd violence is another thing thats been more common in Soccer than other sports, I don't see that ever becoming too common in Rugby.

The passion of football fans is at a level beyond rugby. Noticed on the Leicester Tigers forum they're moaning that the football team is now the 47th in ENgland and are still more popular than the Tigers.

Watch Italian teams, hell some ENglish teams, their fans are unreal. I've had the chance to see teams playing in South America and the fans there are just on another level to us. They're not all bad.

Football (none of this soccer shíte) is not a bad sport, nor are it's fans thugs and morons. No need to badmouth football.

toomevara wrote: »

Just a natural consequence of rugby going super-nova in Ireland over the last 4 years. You've now got lots of people coming to games who've never played rugby and have had very limited exposure to the culture of the game. They'll never have seen their local club play, many won't even know where their local club is and are interested in rugby only through the national and provincial game. Just a side effect of its popularity, and tbh as someone who can remember attending interpro games in Thomond 15 years ago when there were about 3-4,000 people max in the place (and that was a good day)...well its all good.

Rugby is now the marquee sport in Ireland. It's the one every business wants to be associated with and every advertiser wants a piece of. remarkable, when you consider the times that are in it. The IRFU is, along with undertakers, about the only recession proof organisation in Ireland..fair play to them and long may it continue...remarkable from a sport which is allegedly in the ha'penny place after Gaelic, hurling and soccer..They'll be writing theses on it yet.

The more the merrier, and this legacy won't be pissed away like say that ruined by the FAI post Charlton, because the provincial structure and national team have such strong local roots..

And tbh, a little bit of soccer style enthusiasm and chanting wouldn't go awry. A rugby league game is a half way house between a soccer atmosphere and a Kick 'n' Clap crowd and its got alot to recommend it....

I've written morkeshing essays on the rise of rugby, not a thesis but still.

And I'm not even sure who my local club are, I live within a mile of about 4 AIL Clubs. Maybe even 5 or 6...

And my school traditionally follows another. Though I'd be honest and admit I don't give a fúck.

Rugby in this country has benefited more from other sports doing badly than anything else. People in this country have ludicrous expectations, in 2002 even without Roy Keane, we ended up being knocked out by Spain on penalties. We were rated amongst the top dozen or so nations in the world. And people expect that to be sustainable! We've a dying domestic league, a tiny pool of players and people genuinely think we should be competing amongst the world's top 20 or so teams!

Into that breach step the rugby teams, namely Ireland and then Munster who do something that Ireland's not used to - they win things. Took Ireland a long time to get the 6 Nations, but we were all delighted with the first triple crown.

For a long time rugby's been the only show in town, and until the national football team pulls itself together rugby will remain on top.

And as an aside, does anyone know the average weekly attendance for Eircom League football in Ireland? Be interested in knowing how it compares to Magners League attendances.

Funny enough, I'd imagine that the silence makes it more intimidating for the kicker.

Can you imagine a high pressure situation with 80,000 people staring silently at you, to see if you miss?