Horse I never once said anything about wanting childrens idols to be Robbie Keane,nor did I say anything about me begrudging O'Driscoll because he's from D4!!

I put unfortunately before his name because of the lifestyle he lives,he's always in the spotlight at different glamerous events!!Would it not be better for children to look up to amateur sportsmen and women like the GAA stars?

dubinlaois (Dublin) - Posts: 304 - 15/04/2009 13:56:07    257697

If the hurling and football interpros can only draw 2,000 people as well as 20,000 for the NFL finals, and this rugby interpro can draw 80,000 then you'd have to be blind to think that it isnt a challenge to the GAA.

I dont see it being a bad thing necessarily. The GAA could do with the competition: the fixture system for club GAA players is a joke.

My brother plays soccer with the local newly formed team and they have a match week in week out.

wingwonder (UK) - Posts: 535 - 15/04/2009 14:25:37    257752

Im not havin a go at you per se Dublinlaois - its a widespread phonomenon, this begrudgin attitude towards the leinster stalwart. the fact is that when it comes to making the hard tackles n takin the serious punishment odriscoll never backs down. I know you never mentioned robbie keane or s collins. the point im tryin to make is that odriscoll sets a great example of hard work and commitment as well as skill. on the other hand, keane is always diving and mouthing off to the ref, while collins took advantage of the brain injuries sustained by watson at the hands of eubank, to try to 'spook' eubank before their match. (remember his hypnotism spoofing) those two examples are to my mind much more worthy of the antipathy and even dislike that odriscoll is exposed to. those are genuinely unsporting actions, odriscoll is a genuinely sporting person. so what if he goes to the odd shindig with a model or actress. also, theirs plenty of gaa stars (in laois and every other county) who are not good examples to kids, no more or less than any other sport. theres no point in just picking a sport and saying that everyone who plays it is a great example.

Horse (Laois) - Posts: 1146 - 15/04/2009 14:39:45    257770

My understanding of all things Rugby would be fairly limited but was it not the case in the past that Rugby players only took up the game in secondary school?, and even then it was only in the select few schools that played it. While this was the case there was no real threat to the GAA as Kids were playing hurling or football in primary school and followed on into clubs, therefore they were practically established GAA players before they even heard of Rugby at secondary school level. This is not the case anymore!!....anyone who would bother to have a look at any Rugby club on Saturday mornings would see huge numbers of kids of all ages taking up the game and hoping to emulate a much publicised grand slam winner.Unlike our soccer friends Rugby has the facilities to cater for these kids and there families and to make it attractive to them to become part of there local club and most importantly they appear to have the financial clout to keep the progess going. RUGBY IS DEFINITELY A THREAT (In Dublin at least)

bluejay (Dublin) - Posts: 47 - 15/04/2009 14:50:07    257782

I think it is a small threat, but has been previously mentioned the GAA is in our blood and won't be let die. I agree 100% with wingwonder, the comment about the fixtures is spot on. You can go anywhere from 4-8 weeks without a competitive match in GAA, and then they try to squeeze 5 games into 3 weeks. With rugby, you are guaranteed your game a week. Proper organisation will draw more people to the game, although to be fair the numbers playing GAA are much higher and so makes organising a little more difficult.

On the greater scheme of things though, I think the GAA will remain as the strongest sporting organisation. I remember playing rugby back in school and a couple of lads turned down the chance to play with the Irish U-18 team to continue playing football. The love we have of playing our games (despite the sometimes shambolic image the organisation portrays!) is too big for another sport to really threaten, but at the same time more and more top quality players will jump at the chance to be professional if given the chance e.g. Gavin Duffy (Mayo), Niall Ronan and Shane Horgan (Meath), Rob Kearney (Louth), Tommy Bowe (Monaghan).

Bermuda_Bomber (Meath) - Posts: 101 - 15/04/2009 17:02:15    257988

Rugby is only a threat to GAA if its played on the same pitch simultaneously

dhorse (Laois) - Posts: 11374 - 15/04/2009 17:09:39    258000

Fair to say that rugby is for the posh part of Irish towns and GAA is the working class person's sport,the only way that rugby can compete with GAA is if they play the 6nations or the Heineken cup during the summer.

Leinster,Ulster,Connaught & Munster are almagamated teams because the IRFU cant enough members,unlike we'll say Wales where they have Scarlets,Dragon's,Osprey's & Blues,that ammount of teams for such a small country

If rugby was so popular in Ireland you could see Limerick vs Dublin in the Heinken Cup semi-final in Croke Park not Munster vs Leinster

Duffy89 (Wexford) - Posts: 3320 - 15/04/2009 19:03:03    258159

Despite its growing popularity i dont think rugby is a threat to the GAA. In most countries different sports are played at different times of the year and most people will watch them all - ie america football,baseball and basketball. Most sports fans enjoy a variety of different sports. In Ireland rugby will be watched in the spring during the 6 nations & heineken cup, in summer people will watch the hurling & football championships.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 15/04/2009 20:23:25    258212

I do not believe Rugby to be a threat. A lot of media hype but then again the GAA has never needed the Times for its progress or success - thankfully. Apart from the National and Provincial teams there is not much to get excited about. My understanding is that there are more people playing ladies football than playing rugby. Enough said.

lochgarmanabu (Wexford) - Posts: 1022 - 15/04/2009 22:18:28    258352

15/04/2009 19:03:03
Duffy89
County: Wexford
Posts: 729

258159
Fair to say that rugby is for the posh part of Irish towns and GAA is the working class person's sport,the only way that rugby can compete with GAA is if they play the 6nations or the Heineken cup during the summer.

Leinster,Ulster,Connaught & Munster are almagamated teams because the IRFU cant enough members,unlike we'll say Wales where they have Scarlets,Dragon's,Osprey's & Blues,that ammount of teams for such a small country

Those 4 Welsh sides are amalgamations as well. Which illustrates your point even more Duffy, if Wales are struggling to keep a big interest, well Ireland have no chance.

patrique (Antrim) - Posts: 13709 - 15/04/2009 22:30:10    258377

The answer as far as I am concerned is no. The one thing that really makes me proud of how Irish rugby has performed in the professional era is that virtually all of our internationals play the game at home, in our own set up and unlike our footballers, athletes, swimmers, etc, dont need to move abroad to to acheive success. So rather than seeing rugby as a threat, look upon it as someting you can be genuinely proud of as an Irish man, I know I am.

brendtheredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 10897 - 15/04/2009 22:37:44    258386

Rugby will never be a threat to the GAA for players. The best GAA players would not even contemplate playing it. It has a huge hype at the moment for pub 'fans' and thats it. Those who turn to rugby from GAA would be, in most cases, those who are not able to kick,catch or solo with a ball so rugby is ideal for them,which is ok Now soccer is a skillfull game so a player who is handy with the feet may move over.I know a lot of GAA players etc. who follow the rugby but playing it, no, they would always put football a way ahead.

Real Kerry Fan (None) - Posts: 2957 - 15/04/2009 22:49:31    258401

Yes it is especially with the bad press gaa has been getting in the last few years and the great success of rugby... how many irish players played gaa and choose rugby in less successful times you might see this effecting gaa at senior level for a while but i would have no doubt it effecting underage teams already

Hag_and_Cheese (Tipperary) - Posts: 6103 - 15/04/2009 23:21:05    258463

Some of ye make great points and that more women play football than men play rugby is a fact. I would just be worried about rugby being seen as this "great" sport, what do alot of the forwards actually do in rugby? The GAA receives much more bad press than rugby it seems to me that many people are mad to bad-mouth the GAA.

ChungLad (Longford) - Posts: 351 - 16/04/2009 13:53:26    258961

Another point which is relevant is that the GAA got lambasted by the media for having Guinness as a sponsor but there is not a word about the rugby sponsorship which leans heavily towards drinks companies. Just goes to prove how biased the media are. Of course it is a bit rich now that the Heineken cup match is being played in Croker - rich is the word!!!

lochgarmanabu (Wexford) - Posts: 1022 - 17/04/2009 13:02:50    260179