well it seems it isnt just their ranking as to why you dont like them keeper..but the reality is the soccer team have achieved more than the rugby team in world cups and thats a fact despite a far more difficult field...the soccer team has regularly punched above its weight for years in soccer and i dont see how anybody could not be proud of them considering some of their achievements

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 04/03/2015 12:15:49    1699094

04/03/2015 12:10:37
fabio8
County: USA
Posts: 1527

1699091
whats the point of saying there is more than 10 when theres not?..who else is there?..sure you will start trying to claim the likes of georgia and romania matter.

THATS LIKE SAYING DIVISION 3 AND 4 AND EVEN SOME DIVISION 2 FOOTBALL AND MOST HURLING TEAMS SIDES DONT MATTER - IT MATTERS TO THE PLAYERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THOSE COUNTRIES

..people who take shots at our soccer teams ranking have no idea how tough it is in soccer to be on the elite level especially if you are in europe or south america...in rugby scotland have always been a top 10 side no matter how terrible theyv been over the last number of years and that says it all really..there is no depth in rugby...the 6 nations sides the 4 in the southern hemisphere and thats it really

THERES ALSO TONGA -BEAT FRANCE IN 2011 RWC
FIJI SAMOA AND CANADA HAVE ALL REACHED QUARTER FINALS IN WORLD CUPS FIJI PUT IT UP TO THE BOKS BIG TIME
EVEN CANADA PUT IT UP TO THE ALL BLACKS IN 1991-BEAT WALES IN 1993 IN CARDIFF
GEORGIA GOT 54000 FOR A GAME AGAINST RUSSIA LAST YEAR -
NAMIBIA BEAT IRELAND TWICE IN 1991 - JAPAN BEAT WALES (ALBEIT DEPLETED) IN 2013
USA FILLED SOLDIER FIELD AGAINST THE ALL BLACKS LAST YEAR
KENYA ARE COMPETITIVE AT SEVENS
MADAGASCAR HAVE GOT 40000 TO SOME INTERNATIONALS
LITTLE BIT MORE DEPTH THAN YOU THINK - BUT YES IRB /WORLD RUGBY COULD DO WITH SPREADING IT MORE

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 04/03/2015 12:24:46    1699100

valley84
County: Westmeath
Posts: 793

Win an All Ireland - well done, but how tough was the actual competition?

VERY TOUGH - ALL IRELANDS ARE VERY HARD ONE - YOU BEING FROM THE LAKE COUNTY AND ME FROM SHANNONSIDE BOTH KNOW THAT!!

janesboro (Limerick) - Posts: 1502 - 04/03/2015 12:26:13    1699103

the pacific islands can sometimes be good but they lose so many players to other countries and the more structured and defensive rugby is getting is going to do them no favours..the ease in which players qualify for other countries doesnt help..the irb are biased against them as evidenced by the scheduling of their games in their world cup group last time round compared to wales or south africa..they dont want them to succeed

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 04/03/2015 12:40:16    1699109

If some people don't like rugby, that's fine, but why do they feel the need to run down the sport? The criticism that rugby is only played at the highest level by 10 or so teams can equally well be levelled against hurling - so what? Americans certainly couldn't give a damn that the rest of the world is neither much good at, nor all that interested in, their 2 most popular sports of baseball and football. Like many GAA fans, I was delighted with the rugby team's win and am hoping they complete the grand slam and go far in the world cup.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 996 - 04/03/2015 13:47:55    1699138

It amazes me why so many on this forum negate the talent we have for rugby by comments on it being a minority sport et cetera. Strip it down, it really doesn't matter. When our nation excels at something, aside from political incompetence, we should take pride in it. Rugby is a sport that many in this country follow, enjoy and play….and it continues to grow.

There have been 20 soccer world cups. 8 different winners and realistically the list of nations with any chance, at all, of winning is about 10 (and I am being generous with that). If it's so competitive, why do the same teams keep excelling in international soccer?
There have been 8 rugby world cups with 5 different winners. It's true, there are only likely to be a few teams with a chance at all but understand…..we are one of them now. Years ago, you would have been laughed out the gate for suggesting that.

We are poor at soccer, we have been pretty good in the past but never near the tournament winning standard. We now excel in rugby. A large part of that is our football, the professional status of the game which has led to even more playing. Growing up I didn't really follow rugby, it was something that appeared in the spring and you paid little or no attention to it. Now the game has improved and broken in to areas where it was never overly popular. Look how many of those lads have played football at some stage, even to a fair high standard. Those skills transfer better to rugby than soccer. Our own Tommy Bowe is a case in point and frequently advocates his GAA past as a big part of his success.

The Gavin Duffy point made was pathetic. The lad is past his best for rubgy and football. Naturally he cant come in at this stage and display skills akin to that of a top player, that should be obvious. What he did prove was his fitness was at the required level if not higher. Horan said that himself.

By the way, Hurling is a minority sport.

seanfinn (Monaghan) - Posts: 360 - 04/03/2015 13:53:43    1699139

Tommy, Robbie, Zebo et al are the best marketing materials the GAA could have. You hear the foreign press on about how Ireland can play the tactics they do because of all the Gaelic Footballers in their ranks. I for one am proud of this fact and yes the skills you learn playing Gaelic certainly help in rugby and what you learn in rugby does not necessarily suit a 15 a side game but does a smaller sided game like 7s. In Gaelic your hands are constantly always on the ball so your hand to eye is trained from an early age. Timing the flight of a ball for a catch, space awareness all are become natural skills much earlier in Gaelic than many other sports. The Duffy one is funny - Mayo contested two All Ireland is a row i.e. the second best team in the country and here is a lad who hadn't played in how many years and lads expected him to get into the team - how many County minors from his year group were still playing on the Mayo team? however saying that I am sure he would have got on quite a few county teams.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1805 - 04/03/2015 15:48:12    1699181

Fabio,

Only once since 1987 did Ireland not reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. The soccer team has been fairly poor since the Charlton era, I think. The FAI are a joke for what they do for soccer in the 26 counties. The League of Ireland is one of the poorest in Europe. And 67th in the World Rankings is a disgrace.

keeper7 (Longford) - Posts: 4088 - 04/03/2015 17:33:12    1699227

seanfinn
Im sure Horan was being nice, hed hardly come out and say duffy was too fat and slow. Theres no way any rugby player would come in from the blue and make a serious intercounty team, or player from any sport for that matter.
Although i never watch rugby, and wouldnt recognise a single rugby player if i was talking to them, youd have to admit that "team Ireland" (or whatever they call themselves) are streets ahead of the soccer team at the moment

flack (Dublin) - Posts: 1054 - 04/03/2015 18:05:15    1699243

at the moment but the fact remains we have achieved a lot more in soccer in worlds cups than we have in rugby..in rugby we have achieved nothing..the rugby world cup groups are generally terrible..look how bad our world cup group this time is for instance...we are top 10 in rugby by default..why are my posts not being allowed through?

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 04/03/2015 18:20:19    1699250

@flack....Its just Ireland. Only the soccer team has the confusing name. Horan made comments around Duffy's fitness not skill. Nothing nice about it. He was complementing his professionalism and fitness if anything he strayed away from the football skills. As i said, there would be no way he could match a season intercounty player, that is obvious. He was fit enough, just not enough practice. Remember he was not eligible to play until January of this year.

Maybe start watching rugby and see for yourself the role he would have played, its obvious how skills from football benefit. It worked for Bowe too.

seanfinn (Monaghan) - Posts: 360 - 04/03/2015 18:51:32    1699260

Subject seems to have strayed way off topic but while we're there I have to strongly disagree with you fabio when you say it's a disgrace that Ireland have fallen to 67 or whatever, in FIFA ranking. Not at all -- it's just a reflection of reality and is the kind of level at which an Irish soccer team should expect to be rated. The Charlton era was a blip due to all the quality players playing for Ireland at the same time. Today our players range from moderately good to ordinary to mediocre. They have reached the level where they deserve to be. We will never again see an Irish soccer team ranked in the top 20 because it's unlikely we will ever again have that number of quality players available to us. The change in structure of English soccer -- mainly the development of the Premiership--means that Irish soccer is destined to be permanently in the doldrums. The top clubs dont develop young players anymore --they buy in top international stars tostead of developing raw talent. It is why young Irish players tend to end up in the lower leagues and why so few of them of any quality make it in the Premiership with the better clubs. This has a very negative effect on the fortunes of our international team

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1904 - 04/03/2015 19:15:05    1699269

Subject seems to have strayed way off topic but while we're there I have to strongly disagree with you fabio when you say it's a disgrace that Ireland have fallen to 67 or whatever, in FIFA ranking. Not at all -- it's just a reflection of reality and is the kind of level at which an Irish soccer team should expect to be rated. The Charlton era was a blip due to all the quality players playing for Ireland at the same time. Today our players range from moderately good to ordinary to mediocre. They have reached the level where they deserve to be. We will never again see an Irish soccer team ranked in the top 20 because it's unlikely we will ever again have that number of quality players available to us. The change in structure of English soccer -- mainly the development of the Premiership--means that Irish soccer is destined to be permanently in the doldrums. The top clubs dont develop young players anymore --they buy in top international stars tostead of developing raw talent. It is why young Irish players tend to end up in the lower leagues and why so few of them of any quality make it in the Premiership with the better clubs. This has a very negative effect on the fortunes of our international team

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1904 - 04/03/2015 19:17:30    1699270