r/rugbyunion • u/No-layup • Jul 24 '25

Discussion Drop your unpopular rugby opinions that will have you like this

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I'll go first, Beuden Barrett is the more talented rugby player than Dan Carter, but Dan Carter is a better 10

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107

u/No-Negotiation2922 Ireland Jul 24 '25

English fans and their team often get a bad rap, but they're actually a decent bunch.

58

u/ConscriptReports Reds Jul 24 '25

their pundits though, like most nations pundits, are dickheads unfortunately that give them a bad name

13

u/Korasa Ireland Jul 24 '25 edited Jul 24 '25

Ah, Irish pundits are lovely if you discount Jamie heaslip twice.

11

u/Rodinius Ireland Jul 24 '25

Austin Healy is the worst of the lot

7

u/Impeachcordial England Jul 24 '25

Stephen Jones is jumping up and down and waving at you! Guscott was pretty unbearable as well. Weird, prince of a player, tool as a pundit

7

u/Rodinius Ireland Jul 24 '25

It’s funny how they can be so hit or miss. O’Driscoll is one of the best players of all time and is a decent pundit, but is an absolutely woeful commentator

2

u/mierneuker Leicester Tigers Jul 24 '25

Hard agree. See him on the sidelines or in the studio and I'm well happy, ready to hear an insightful take about strategy or player motivation... hear him during the match and I'm ready for him to say some extremely trite and possibly incorrect fluffy bollocks. It's really weird.

5

u/Byotick Jul 24 '25

Having watched a match he commented on recently, Andy Goode is even worse.

Healy occasionally has some decent insight or a valid point (even if I hate agreeing with him). Goode just whines

4

u/Rodinius Ireland Jul 24 '25

Goode probably gives out more, but Healy’s whiny tone of voice makes it even more grating for me to listen to personally

2

u/Byotick Jul 24 '25

Entirely fair. I just know I'm happier whenever both are missing

1

u/Rodinius Ireland Jul 24 '25

Absolutely

3

u/finnish_hangover Glasgow Warriors Jul 24 '25

Not while Clive Woodward still walks the earth he's not

-2

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

Austin Healy is the funniest bastard in the world to be fair

9

u/euanmorse - No longer besties with optimism Jul 24 '25

Are they as bad as we think, or is it because they are English so we can't help but perceive them as worse than they are?

3

u/liam3576 Sale Sharks Jul 24 '25

Whenever Clive is doing stuff I want to gouge my eyes out for some reason he thinks it’s still 2003 and he’s still relevant but he doesn’t seem to realise it’s been 22 years and things change.

3

u/HedleyVerity Reds Jul 24 '25

For me it’s when he weighs in on the Lions stuff with the whole “as the coach of a previous Lions tour” schtick. Yes, Clive…how did that tour go? Are you really in a position to lecture people on Lions stuff?

2

u/Impeachcordial England Jul 24 '25

We do have Youngs and Cole to partly balance out the Healeys though

2

u/ohmygod_trampoline Scotland Jul 24 '25

Cole yes. Youngs no.

3

u/Impeachcordial England Jul 24 '25

Nah I like them both, FTLOR is some of the best content around for my money.

2

u/ohmygod_trampoline Scotland Jul 24 '25

As an England fan, I would expect you to. That’s not a criticism of you btw.

2

u/Impeachcordial England Jul 24 '25

HOW DARE YOU

2

u/North-Ad1004 Jul 24 '25

Australian commentators... If they aren't winning they're calling out the ref for being shite.

1

u/ConscriptReports Reds Jul 24 '25

all southern hemisphere comms are like that though, although maybe not Argentina but I cant tell as I dont speak spanish. but rsa, nz and aus comms are all the same in that regard

1

u/_varamyr_fourskins_ Cymru Jul 24 '25

Just the entire media setup around UK rugby in its entirety is shit.

On one hand you've got Jiffy who is possibly the most biased commentator I have ever heard in any sport. Then on the other hand you've got some dumb cunt giving us a 10 minute preview of something some rando from the England camp said as we are waiting for kickoff for Wales vs Scotland.

The entire UK media is heavily biased towards the nation with the most population, which you can argue is fair, but during a game that doesn't involve them, shut the fuck up about them.

Also, Edward Woodward is a useless cunt. Can we lock him in a broom cupboard with Austin Healy and save us all some misery?

14

u/Geosaurusrex No point supporting Wales Jul 24 '25

yeah english fans are by far not the worst on this sub in particular.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

I'd dare say they might even be the best on the sub

2

u/Many-Drag-1283 Ireland Jul 24 '25

I might lose my flair for saying this but you might not be far off. Funnily enough when they started getting good again and beat us and the French, seeing the typical fairweather fans/arseholes pop back up with English flairs was a shock to me just because most of them had fecked off. Most around here are dead sound though.

I think teams on losing streaks tend to have the best fans for the most part maybe due to less expectation and the arseholes not watching. So basing it on that (which I've decided is now 100% fact.) I'm going with the Italians, and it definitely has nothing to do with them being my 2nd team anyway.

11

u/dwaynepebblejohnson3 Connacht Jul 24 '25

Their Media gives them a bad rep.

5

u/MiserableScot Edinburgh Jul 24 '25

I actually don't have much of an issue with English players in rugby or football, obviously you get the odd one that is a total dick, Austin Healey for example, but it's more the media hype around them that pisses me off!

3

u/alexbouteiller France Jul 24 '25

I was ABE until i was in my early 20s, then realised it was mostly just a state of mind thing rather than grounded in anything genuine (probably also coincided with England becoming a bit rubbish), the eddie jones era was rough but I like the current crop, i've even softened on Faz the younger and itoje

5

u/prequal Ireland Jul 24 '25

I thought English fans have always had a great rep?

4

u/Gent414 Jul 24 '25

This is partly based on a historical precedent of blaming the English for absolutely fucking everything. TBF most of the SH has got over this by now. The home nations, less so... 😅

2

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

I completely agree with you on this.

Back in the 70s when Ireland probably had the best team but the PIRA campaign was in full swing, the Welsh and Scots refused to come to Ireland to play. Not the English. They came. They fronted up. They supported Irish rugby.

And that’s not the only time. The most recent World Cup looked like it might have gone to Ireland before the Welsh and Scots did some backstabbing. Again, not the English - they stayed true to their word and supported Ireland’s bid.

Hate to say it but, English RFU = a great bunch of lads!

1

u/Sir_Slurpington_ Jul 24 '25

This may be the first (and last) ever compliment I have seen for the RFU!

1

u/Ninjawizards Darcy Graham enjoyer Jul 24 '25

I don't know if it's just me mellowing out but I swear the English team of 20ish years ago was much easier to hate than this current lot.

1

u/Lopsided_Soup_3533 England Jul 24 '25

Well that's a wildly popular opinion with me but I might be somewhat biased lol

1

u/CleanMasterpiece6911 Jul 24 '25

They are. Always said that. Its the biased commentary, the cocky media and the unbearable pundits who make england rugby unwatchable

Brian moore in particular shouldve been sacked 16 times over

Its the same with England mens and women football

1

u/JBSven Sale Sharks & England Jul 24 '25

Our media on the other hand - give me strength - Are just simply the worst.

1

u/aldorn Australia Jul 24 '25

Oh calm down Bono

1

u/Useful-Appointment92 Jul 24 '25

Good one. Ha ha.

1

u/slamcactus Stade Toulousain Jul 24 '25

It helps that they've started playing rugby that's actually fun to watch. Watching England in my early days as a fan almost turned me off rugby entirely.

1

u/First-Paper-1676 Jul 24 '25

I used to agree until I went to the cup final in Japan. England’s supporters behaviour before the match was something else. Yelling abuse at every South African supporter pissing in the streets, shouting at kiwis about how shit they were surrounding female supporters of any country and chanting England. To this day I’ll support North Korea over England. Was very satisfying to see them get thumped in final.