Mourinho, Wenger etc are you listening?

gatland and wales

Reading this just epitomises everything that is over paid whinger about the PL….

whinger

Oh the ironing!

Link doesn’t work.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34563436

We don’t want to make any excuses. South Africa won… and we weren’t good enough to win,” said Gatland.
“At the end of the day South Africa did what South Africa do. They got one chance and they took it and that was the result.”

God bless those classy rugbyists

Junky – thanks, always iffy using my tablet.

Classy and honest. When was the last time either of the two managers named managed to display just one of these traits without adding but but but? Plenty of cash in the PL but it doesn’t buy class.

By all means applaud what he says but what is the point of I like rugby more than football threead – almost always started by a rugbyist
You can cite that I can witter on about steroids and bloodgate

Its meaningless. Its sports some of the participants are noble some are areholse

the shape of the ball is largely irrelevant.

Oh Christ. Not more tedious ‘Rugby is a noble sport played by gentlemen’ bollocks?

I like the Stuart Marconie quote:

“The only reason you’d ever watch rugby union is that you get the chance to see solicitors and off duty policemen get beaten up”

Is it over yet? 🙄

Anyway: listening to Jose lose the script, and ramble on like a paranoid madman is infinitely more entertaining

I like both sports. (Though to be fair, I’ve become increasingly disillusioned with the round ball game over the last few years.) Both have their drawbacks.

Thing is, football is a pantomime. Rugby isn’t. Football survives on the goodies, baddies, the outrage, the incorrect decisions from officials, etc etc. It wouldn’t survive without all that.

So either enjoy both for what they are or just enjoy yours and shut up about the other – if you don’t, you’ll only be throwing stones from your own glass house.

EDIT: And as if on cue, binners posts from his favourite cliché machine. It’s almost kinda cute.

Is it over yet?

Is it still going on? I thought it was over; the meeja have been very quiet…

some of the participants are noble some are areholse

the shape of the ball is largely irrelevant.

This is bollox.

Every generalisation hides a bunch of exceptions – but inevitably have their origins in valid observations.

The frequent harassing of the ref by PL players on the field and by the manager off it, their attitude to injury and general lack of graciousness in defeat or victory shows remarkably little class so very frequently.

It’s also great watching the supporters all mixed in together both in the stadium and to and from the stadium at rugby matches – kind of like how you’d expect grown ups to be able to behave and to want to be treated.

Those involved in professional football with a brain and a bit of integrity should feel a little bit ashamed when they look across at rugby.

football is a pantomime

I never really thought about it like that but you are probably correct – sort of WWF with a ball to kick about.

*I have very little interest in fondling or kicking anyone’s balls – looked on objectively from the outside of both.

By all means applaud what he says but what is the point of I like rugby more than football threead – almost always started by a rugbyist

Not even a Rugbyist; the sort of people who try to make these arguments only bother with Rugby Union (not the proper Rugby) when it’s a big event held in the UK and on their TV/in the papers. The same sort of people you’ll find at Centre Court cheering on Andy Murray at Wimbledon. Pseudo fans. You won’t find them at Craven Park on a Sunday afternoon watching Barrow play Doncaster.

Thing is, football is a pantomime. Rugby isn’t. Football survives on the goodies, baddies, the outrage, the incorrect decisions from officials, etc etc. It wouldn’t survive without all that

That’s it; it’s part of the game.

If you not keen on it then don’t bother watching it; trying to draw comparisons with Rugby Union is pointless.

I just wish football would sort the swearing, screaming and occasional assaulting of referees. I won’t be encouraging my son to play the game.

Not even a Rugbyist; the sort of people who try to make these arguments only bother with Rugby Union (not the proper Rugby)

Shut it pipsqueak!!!

If rugby is so great, why isn’t it more popular than football? Apparently football can learn so much from rugby and its participants, and it’s participants act like gentlemen, can you imagine the outrage if a footballer gouged another player..?

In Rugby it seems to be laughed off with a few game ban, in football they’d be banned for a season and there’d by inquests about the corrupting influence of spoiled players.

I sense a class undercurrent…

I sense a class undercurrent…

I suspect you are right when comparing football with union (edit – though as below that is area of the country specific). But are you saying football supporters can’t behave as well and be trusted to mix together and drink alcohol because they are more working class than union supporters? I hoped it wasn’t that simple.

In terms of social class, football and rugby league must be a pretty similar social demographic yet all the comparisons above are still valid. League is a far ‘classier’ sport than football on and off the field too.

Wrecker – the assaulting of referees? That’s surely limited to bonkers Italians 😆

At the end of the day, compared to footy, egg-chasing is just a little niche sport, that most countries don’t even bother with.

I think that the “class” comments are only relevant to certain areas of the country. Rugby in the south west (perhaps except bath) is hugely working class. Same in wales, the midlands and the north. It’s only really posh in the home counties, come down to bristol or gloucester for a game if you have any doubt.
Binners; every sport is small a niche compared to the massively commercial soccer.

Indeed. And I’d bet that if Rugby was as high profile as football, with the same stupendous amounts so money at stake, the so-called gentlemanly nature of the game (which is largely a myth anyway) would soon go right out of the window!

I agree binners, and that’s why it’s good that rugby is largely “niche”. IMHO, there is too much money at stake in soccer and it’s affected the purity of the game which, when played right (no diving/crying etc) is absolutely fantastic.
WRT gentlemanly conduct, I don’t think that there is even a comparison between the fans. Has there ever been a stabbing at a rugby game (off the field!)?

Stabbings? Maybe in Turkey!

You don’t ever see violence at football matches, and haven’t done for a long time*, But I do love the intense rivalries between rival footy fans, it makes for a great atmosphere. And a lot of the chants are (very non PC) comedy gold!

* maybe at Engerland games. But who bothers watching them?

Aren’t a number of games (including Cardiff/Swansea) still “bubbled”?

Every generalisation hides a bunch of exceptions – but inevitably have their origins in valid observations.

You are right and its true that black people are lazy with ginormous members
They are actually rather musical
Irish people are in fact stupid

Everyone knows that all stereotypes are basically true and accurate

thanks for bringing it to our attention

Another generalisation with an element of truth – ‘big hittesr’ are mostly argumentative tools who like to subvert the bleeding obvious for a cheap ‘internet win’ 😉

Feel free to report as is your want.

I was rather hoping that you would actually reflect on how daft it was and change your opinion but i guess we will need to settle for your shooting the messenger and playing the edinburgh defence

Seems I’m a boring tv watching rugbyist when in reality I’m definitely not the second or third but seemingly guilty of the first!
My point wasn’t which sport is better but how nice it was to see class in defeat rather than the petulance of some highly paid individuals in the PL (is there a top sport where obvious petulance is more common?).

Again, if we didn’t have petulance from managers and fines of £50000 for bringing the game into disrepute (disrepute FFS? Look at FIFA/UEFA…disrepute my arse!) we’d be gutted. The sport needs it as a distraction from the league that actually isn’t a league at all.

ITs a fair point that you cannot bring the game into disrepute

The French weren’t good enough either. I don’t know what their mgr said afterwards but I did see one of their players get sent off for all of ten mins for punching a man lying on the ground. “He just pushed his fist through the other guy’s face” said the commentator, so not a punch it seems. Very gentlemanly.

Gentlemen sometimes throw punches. What they don’t do is fall over like they’ve been shot and cry their eyes out until they get a free kick when the life threatening injury suddenly disappears.

And another. Watching this, I’m begging for one of them to actually throw a bloody punch!

Punches? Pfft! Kung fu kicks are still where it’s at. Behold… God! Watch and learn…..

😀

mtbfix – Member

The French weren’t good enough either. I don’t know what their mgr said afterwards

Apparently he’s a class act too in this context:
France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre: “Of course they [fans] are disappointed. I think we did the maximum, we tried and today New Zealand were much better than us.

“We worked hard for the last three months to be in this World Cup but each time we made a mistake New Zealand punished us.

“When the result is like this you have nothing to say and just congratulate New Zealand.”

The frequent harassing of the ref by PL players on the field and by the manager off it, their attitude to injury and general lack of graciousness in defeat or victory shows remarkably little class so very frequently.

It’s interesting that the role of the ref in football is more or less perfect, in a technical sense, but is marred by some disrespectful interactions. [If you watch football, rather than just read about it on the internet, you’d know that this is nowhere near the problem it is made out to be. But it does exist].

Whereas rugby union has excellent interactions between players and ref, but is badly broken with respect to the role of the ref in running the game. The clusterfk of RU regulations concentrated in the hands of one man has vastly overpowered the ref’s position – Official at centre stage, and teams having to adjust to one particular official’s idea of the game [laughable to think of this happening in football]. Can only think of boxing out of any other sport where one official’s interpretation of the ‘rules’ has such a central and decisive effect.

So work to do for both sports on how the game is refereed on the field of play.

The frequent harassing of the ref by PL players on the field and by the manager off it,

OP might want to read the reaction to the Scotland game

OP might want to read the reaction to the Scotland game

So some fans and ex-players on Twitter are unhappy about some decisions.

Was the ref harassed on the pitch? Did he have players surrounding him when he gave decisions against him? Did he have forty thousand home fans singing about his proclivity towards masturbation? Oooh…a bit of booing…because that’s just as bad as what football refs have to listen to…and that’s just from the parents on the sideline. 😀

Come on JY, let’s not seize on the odd example here or there to try and make out that that the two sports are equal in terms of how the referee is treated by players, fans and team management. You’d have to be pretty desperate to make a point to do that…or even score cheap points by posing on a thread about a sport that you either dislike or have no interest in. I’m sure you wouldn’t do that kind of thing though…would you?

…a page of criticism of the ref after reading this thread…

Yeah, that’s pretty strong – shocking stuff. But not an answer to my question. And, in a way, that’s answer enough.

As I dont really follow rugby which you clearly know, I cannot really do a comparison between the two so it was a pointless question you asked

you however could have answered as you read both threads

Just listened to Moanrinho after their latest defeat and great listening to him suggest they were again the better side in defeat, the referee was to blame and no credit to the opposition.

In fairness, they were the better side, until the last 30 mins when Liverpool should have been down to 10 men, and Benteke’s goal was offside. Not a Chelsea fan btw.

I only listened on the radio but the commentators (inc Pat Nevin who I assume hasn’t got a massive downer on Chelsea) seemed to think that Liverpool had been the better side almost throughout

on the OP subject, it’s a big MEH from me

Liverpool were easily the better side.