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Post by g7vikings on Oct 2, 2015 21:54:03 GMT
England is seemingly split into areas that follow football and areas that follow rugby. It can even be a class thing. Whereas in Wales and Ireland it seems more of the people's game and they're much more patriotic on the whole anyway.
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Mycon
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Post by Mycon on Oct 2, 2015 21:57:06 GMT
Yeah I don't get the NFL obsession at all. Only thing I can think of regarding no interest in rugby is that rugby union is not really a northern sport. Sale Sharks are the only team in the Premiership from the north. Quite a lot of northerners here. But then I don't know anyone into rugby league here either. www.theguardian.com/sport/ng-interactive/2015/sep/04/chasing-the-chariot-in-search-of-the-soul-of-english-rugbyI thought this was a great article on the anatomy of English rugby. It can be kinda regional like club rugby would be quite low down on my list of favourite sports things to watch although I don't mind it. Really because the Ulster team is very linked with Northern Ireland and I don't care for Leinster or Munster that much. Whereas if I lived in Limerick, I'd be a big Munster supporter. Same with hurling/gaelic, wouldn't watch that much hurling.
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Post by ChappyHova on Oct 2, 2015 22:08:51 GMT
I played Rugby for Middlesbrough for around 5 years. It's for posher people and just isn't very good.
It's a decent watch but there are a lot of things I'd rather watch than Rugby. NFL is so much better to me.
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Post by g7vikings on Oct 2, 2015 22:26:57 GMT
Yeah Mycon. Union is a southern sport. But then the north is split into football and rugby league towns really. St. Helens, widnes, Wigan & Warrington are all very close close to me but I've never once played a game of rugby. Casual or otherwise. Just not a sport we are brought up with here at all.
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#FreeBTS
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Post by #FreeBTS on Oct 3, 2015 1:09:27 GMT
For me there's way more exciting action in your average NFL game than there is a rugby match, especially at top level where it just seems at best a 3 times table match so often. I don't mind watching it but I just couldn't get into it. And given there's far more to talk about in NFL generally and it's more widely shown it's not really surprising a 99.9% British and Irish forum might discuss it more anyway, it's always been a forum that grabs onto club level more than international I'd say
per capita tho
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Oct 3, 2015 6:13:36 GMT
Well if we're actually gonna talk about it...
I love rugby. This is just personal experience but I come from a part of Ireland where people are more interested in Celtic v St Johnstone than anything else that day so growing up I wouldn't have any real connection to rugby. My province would be Ulster but historically rugby is a Unionists game in Ulster and a lad from the backarse of Donegal wouldn't get into it (it's different now). Then down south in Leinster the perception is similar to what Chappy said about posh boys, it's all the private schools that play rugby everyone else plays GAA and soccer. Except for Munster - Limerick is a massive rugby stronghold and nobody would call it posh. So I wouldn't really have a team, I mean I'd choose Connacht over any of the other provinces but rugby in Ireland is all geared towards the national team anyway.
But essentially it boils down to what Stu said. Rugby is hugely popular in Ireland now and it's because we have one of the best teams. Irish people are pretty sports mad and if you show us a team that are competing and suddenly doing really well, people get behind them. Look at cricket for example.
I also think having Brian O'Driscoll in your team right when rugby is becoming more marketable... Like if your country has one of the best players to ever play the game, you're gonna get a bit excited. I've always found the English attitude to rugby a bit strange but I guess it goes back to literally everything else in England - class.
Re: NFL v rugby. I love both sports but feel much more of a connection to rugby. I think rucks/mauls/scrums are very boring/confusing to someone who is a casual viewer, or even nuances in defence or attack. Rugby is a deceptively technical game and is actually so similar to NFL, it just doesn't have stoppages. Players talk about defensive reads and timing and all the things that are important in NFL, it's just as a viewer recognising what's happening can be much more difficult. I love it though, like I love when I call a guy being offside, or turning it over in the ruck or whatever, it's like a little thrill for me. I also tend to seek out rugby matches, regardless of whether Ireland are involved:
Sidenote - have never understood why you'd prefer league over union.
But anyway, GAA is the future.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Oct 3, 2015 6:23:02 GMT
that's a brilliant article
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Post by ChappyHova on Oct 3, 2015 8:50:43 GMT
Rugby Union shits on League I think. Maybe biased because I played Union though.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2015 9:45:47 GMT
I went to a well known Rugby playing privite school. Rugby is a great sport to play, a lot more social then football.
its definitly a posh boys sport here too although so is Cricket, that doesn't seem to be the case in the UK
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Post by you give me rrrroad rrrrage on Oct 3, 2015 11:27:47 GMT
The rugby boys at uni dipped their genitalia in each other's lip balm for personal amusement. Very social indeed.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2015 13:39:53 GMT
Lol Stoo only said rugby was shite and lgig fell apart more like Stu fell apart when Corrie wasn't on
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Stu
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Post by Stu on Oct 3, 2015 13:50:43 GMT
i made one post, you went looking for articles and started calling out every other sport in the world
gg tho
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2015 13:59:30 GMT
what articles did I go looking for? and I.only called out cricket, everything else is fine.
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notpropaganda
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Post by notpropaganda on Oct 3, 2015 15:15:09 GMT
Japan are great
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Post by The Quito Diet on Oct 3, 2015 15:58:06 GMT
Aye, loved the try at the end of the first half.
Think Rugby in Wales and Ireland is vastly different to how it is in England tbh, over there you can come from any school system and any family background and get yourself to the top. Over here it's very much a public school boy sort of thing, think Ben Dirs had a great article about it on the BBC recently and, surprise surprise, got hounded from a lot of the posh boys about it.
Main thing I hate about rugby fans over here is that they're mostly the sort of ignorant middle class Daily Mail reading cunts who CONSTANTLY dig at football and swoon over rugby players for being real gentlemen when they've got a reputation around the town for acting up as the absolute LADS that they are.
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