theunderstudy Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 No Scotland got flattened by Ireland in the opener. Ireland will still win it IMO. England Wales and France Ireland will be massive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 France will beat Ireland. They enjoy spoiling the party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I have absolutely no idea which France will turn up. That's the clincher. France have the talent, as they always have and probably always will, to turn anyone over. Ireland don't tend to take their foot off the gas in these situations though. They're favourites for sure (they're top, for one). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Anyone But Wales 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Anyone But Wales I've liked this because I can't stand the Welsh. But I hate watching the Irish celebrate winning things, always acting the plucky underdog. They've a bloody good team there, but if they do win it it'll be them "overcoming the odds". Perhaps it's a media issue. Whenever England win this it seems to be job done lads, on to the next one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted March 3, 2014 To be honest, any event in which Ireland beats both England and France where England and France take the event rather seriously, has to be considered something of an upset. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 To be honest, any event in which Ireland beats both England and France where England and France take the event rather seriously, has to be considered something of an upset. Based on what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 3, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted March 3, 2014 England and France each having populations of on the order of 10 times Ireland's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MessiWillSignForVilla Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 That's a flimsy argument, especially in a sport that has been dominated for roughly 100 years by a country with a population of ~4.5 million. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 England and France each having populations of on the order of 10 times Ireland's. That doesn't take into account the popularity of the sport in each country. It's a bit like saying in any sport where the USA don't dominate etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted March 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted March 4, 2014 England and France each having populations of on the order of 10 times Ireland's. That doesn't take into account the popularity of the sport in each country. It's a bit like saying in any sport where the USA don't dominate etc etc. Is rugby five to ten times more popular in Ireland than in England or France? And the US could reasonably be expected to be in the mix for a championship in every sport, considering the population and wealth.England and France each having populations of on the order of 10 times Ireland's. That doesn't take into account the popularity of the sport in each country. It's a bit like saying in any sport where the USA don't dominate etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Yeah, that's a bit of a rubbish argument really. India play rugby and have a population of billions. They're awful. Same as in football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa89 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) That doesn't take into account the popularity of the sport in each country. . Rugby is the 4th most popular sport in Ireland whereas in England and France I guess its the second. The playing populations of rugby in England and France dwarf Ireland so in general Ireland will always be the underdogs. Fro example Ireland have won once in Paris in 42 years. Edited March 4, 2014 by villa89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dont_do_it_doug. Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 Quantity =/= Quality. Regardless, Ireland have a very good side. So of they win it won't be the underdog victory it will be sold as. Back to talking about Rugby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MessiWillSignForVilla Posted March 4, 2014 Author Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) I think this massively points out England's problem. We have a huge amount of people who play rugby in this country, but they only really play mini's and junior rugby, by the time they reach senior level, most stop playing and move on. We have the lowest percentage of senior males there, and whilst it is still much higher than anyone else, it kind of shows that we lack the coaching and enthusiasm to keep these players going on. I must have played with 30 odd people between Club and School rugby - at Junior level - which no longer play. About 9-10 players from my age group made the step up to senior rugby at my club a few years ago, when the club had probably only gotten that many juniors carry on to senior rugby in the last 10 years, yet alone 1. And I'd bet it wasn't only the biggest influx of young players in the last few years, but probably for the last few decades. We just don't take it seriously enough in this country imo, and I think that's why we'll rarely ever compete with Oz/SA/NZ. The reason teams like Ireland and Wales are so close to us despite the population differences is that they take it much, much more seriously. Edited March 4, 2014 by MessiWillSignForVilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted March 4, 2014 Share Posted March 4, 2014 (edited) That's a pretty much perfect explanation I think. Totally agree. Rugby just isn't the religion in England that it is in other countries. Edited March 4, 2014 by JB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MessiWillSignForVilla Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Huge win for Ireland, I think their points difference now makes them the favourites, unless one of the other three get a bigger win this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Yep fair play, they didn't mess about and racked the points up in the second half. I'm hoping France turn up against the Scots so they've got something to play for against Ireland next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Classic France! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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