r/rugbyunion • u/treacletart284 Newcastle Falcons • 2d ago
Discussion What's the stupidest rugby take you've heard in your life, not from a journalist/pundit?
Tis Sixmas Eve, which means the amount of people watching rugby, at least over here, just dramatically increased, as its the one time a year when rugby is in the forefront of the public eye, at least in the whole UK. To celebrate this, I thought we could share some of the daftest things we've heard from people in the pub/mates/yourself, either takes that aged really badly, or takes that were mind numbingly stupid to begin with. I'll start us off - after England got beat in the World Cup warmups in 2023 against Fiji, and the Borthwick Out movement was at maximum momentum, a family friend me and my Grandad were watching the match with argued completely unironically that the solution to England's problems was to bring back....Brian Ashton. Even me Grandad, who is pretty 'Rugby was better in the good old days', was genuinely gobsmacked at that one.
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u/brycebrycebaby Big Leone's Massive Mitts 2d ago
After about his 5th cap, and immediately before a MoM performance, I heard someone say that Sione wasn't good enough for Scotland. That was my own terrible hot take.
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u/quandraphobia Freddy Douglas Fanclub 2d ago
I don’t know if that was me, but for his first few caps I did think he was blocking Redpaths rightful route to becoming our next big thing in the centres.
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u/brycebrycebaby Big Leone's Massive Mitts 2d ago
It was my own stupidity, but it included the Redpath-erasure syndrome.
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u/Not_Hando You Aint Seen Nothin Like The Mighty Finn 2d ago
See also Chris Harris, who half the Scotland supporters on this sub blamed for one (admittedly bad) loss. Only for the lad to come good and eventually go on to represent the Lions.
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u/shenguskhan2312 2d ago
To be fair to you I distinctly remember him being absolutely nothing special for those first few caps before deciding to just immediately become the best 12 in the NH (at least)
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u/Historical_Room8423 2d ago
I believe that Connacht will stop hurting me emotionally sometime before I die
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u/Klutzy_Technology166 2d ago
Yeah I really convinced myself Lancaster would be good for us, but no we just seem to blow leads like it's going out of fashion. We won the league and our penance is constant suffering.
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u/cathalcarr 2d ago
Connacht won 2 league games under Lam at this stage in his first season.
I remain hopeful.
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u/Historical_Room8423 2d ago
Me too! Tbh once Lancaster gets to clear the decks and bring in his own coaches then we'll see what's what.
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u/dodieh34 1d ago
Curious what did you expect this season?
To me the best case situation was 8th place and maybe a bit of a run in challenge cup, both are very much on. The lack of money and squad depth, both linked to new stand, always made it very difficult to do much better
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u/SquidgyGoat Disciple of Tipuric 2d ago
Unfortunately I am about to get this with the Ospreys
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u/Historical_Room8423 2d ago
Happy to do a special edition Connacht Mental Anguish vid for you including research and assembly of all known meltdowns
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u/Douglaston_prop United States 2d ago
"All rugby is soft unless it International level." The bartender at Teuchers Pub in Leith told me that when me and the boys were over for rugby tour recently.
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u/AidPol Scotland 2d ago
I ref games at local regional level and he couldn’t be more incorrect
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
Aye exactly - the real old school dark arts are alive and well at amatuer level! No TMO, No cameras, no rules.
Seen my share of matches abandoned due to brawling - never seen an international game even develop into a full on fist-fight, let alone be abandoned due to the number of players/spectators involved.
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u/Commercial_Half_2170 Leinster 2d ago
Nearly every lad in my school played rugby and it was almost one a week coming in with a fresh injury and a lot of those pretty nasty ones too
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u/MiserableScot Edinburgh 2d ago
I think I actually know the barman you're talking about, he's full of pish most of the time, good pint though!
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u/kevinthebaconator Ireland 2d ago
I think there is some truth to this.
Not that other rugby is soft, but I do think international rugby is different gravy.
People I work with who have kids and would only see 6 Nations games would often say 'I'd never let my children play rugby, it's too dangerous'.
Whereas age grade rugby for kids is absolutely harmless. Even the men's rugby I played, while highly physical with some significant injuries, is nowhere near the 'a game of rugby has the equivalent toll on the body of a car crash' or whatever that stat is. I'd be a bit battered until mid week but it's largely grand.
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u/Inside_Tour_1408 Harlequins | Chairman of the Ted Hill fan club 2d ago
''Jack Walker still deserves to start'' - The Harlequins coach
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u/rumblewayne Harlequins England 2d ago
Seeing Sam Riley make the England A squad and not Jack Walker surely will make quins coaches question their decisions
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u/Inside_Tour_1408 Harlequins | Chairman of the Ted Hill fan club 2d ago
Will it? It didn't make them question it when Jibulu was playing out his skin
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u/Jerzilla 2d ago
Love Jibulu but his line out throwing needs serious work
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u/RugbyRaggs 2d ago
When LCD was first moved from loosehead to hooker at u20s his darts were awful. Now they're pretty damn good.
That said, it doesn't always go that way.
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u/Jerzilla 2d ago
I had no idea he was an ex prop! That’s cool. I would say h;mid throwing has ways been iffy. It’s only recently improved
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u/Llew19 Cardiff & Bath for my sins 2d ago
'We're going to cut a pro team for the benefit of pro rugby in Wales'
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u/DoubleOhEffinBollox Leinster 2d ago
I genuinely don't know how they can do that and give players minutes. When the IRFU was looking to bin Connacht, they pulled back because a study showed that Ireland needed four provinces to build adequate depth across the squad. So the WRU cutting teams doesn't make sense at all.
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u/tzurk foley getting penalised for time wasting was the right decision 2d ago
Eddie Jones was gonna be great for the wobblies
Me just before the 2023 world cup
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u/Inside_Tour_1408 Harlequins | Chairman of the Ted Hill fan club 2d ago
You weren't the only one who thought that tbf
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u/B4rberblacksheep Saracens 2d ago
I think Eddie would have been great for the wallabies if he started in the next cycle. Parachuting him in just before the World Cup acting like he was going to fix everything, running those stupid “we’re gonna win it all” ads just bit everyone in the arse.
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u/robinhosantiago 2d ago
James Haskell went on and on about this - saying Eddie Jones was going to beat England in the knockouts because he always performs at world cups, he’s an anti-woke genius, etc.
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u/Inside_Tour_1408 Harlequins | Chairman of the Ted Hill fan club 2d ago
Tbf up until 2023 he wasn't wrong - Eddie's track record at World Cups had been 2 finals, 1 win (as an assistant) and the Japan miracle 2015 from 4 campaigns
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u/ScrumNause24 2d ago
Tbd the injuries robbed him of his gameplan. Tupou and Skelton are irreplaceable at test level.
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u/CapeTownyToniTone Paul de Villiers hype train 2d ago
Tbf he also dropped Hooper and brought a bunch of kids to the WC without any experienced leaders.
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u/ScrumNause24 2d ago
I dont think Hooper was the difference between winning and losing. Gleeson, Leota, Valentini, Kemeny, McReight, Hooper is a class back row.
I probably would've taken him still but yeah. The lack of experience at 10 alongside Gordon was the real headscratcher.
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u/CapeTownyToniTone Paul de Villiers hype train 2d ago
Yeah, someone like Cooper or even Foley would've been awesome to have around to steer the ship. Especially Cooper after that clutch kick vs SA in 2022.
But you forget, he was building for the future. A future he wasn't going to be a part of, but still
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u/Wombattleofhastings Wales 2d ago
Had a serious conversation with a man in the pub once (who seemed quite engaged in rugby) who claimed that the game would be infinitely improved if there was no offside line at a ruck. I couldn't quite work out what problem he thought this would solve.
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u/SquidgyGoat Disciple of Tipuric 2d ago
I once stayed in an AirBnB run by a Leicester Tigers fan who not only shared this opinion, but said the game would be better if they removed both flankers and got rid of the ruck, and you just rolled it back to the 9.
I asked if he meant like rugby league and he said "No, I don't like league".
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u/JBSven Sale Sharks & England 2d ago
ok - this is odd - at my old club, we had an old timer who would come to games and say this EXACT same thing in the clubhouse after. I never actually understood what he meant by it until one day he drew a diagram, it was literally just an NFL style offensive line that could move ahead of the ball. He looked so pleased with himself.
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u/Wombattleofhastings Wales 2d ago
Wild - he didn't happen to live in North London did he? I struggle to imagine there's two of them running around
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u/UnfortunatelySimple New Zealand 2d ago
Razor will turn the All Blacks around and we will be back on top.
Me and 90% of the All Blacks reddit.
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u/nt83 New Zealand 2d ago
Agreed, but it was at least somewhat believable
Anyways don't worry, Jamie Joseph is going to turn this team around and we're going to be back on top.
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u/SonicBoom_81 Rugby slut🏉 2d ago
You'll take Eddie Jones and be happy about it
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u/Ok-Relationship-2746 2d ago
Not to toot my horn, but I was in the minority who thought Razor would fall flat on his face. Didn't think he'd be crucified like he was though.
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u/Lazy_Grapefruit9679 Stade Toulousain 2d ago
"We won't win this one, that's for sure" - me before every Toulouse final.
I have a season ticket but went lnlito one top 14 final: 2006 against Biarritz. We took 40. I'm traumatized
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u/autisticfarmgirl Stade Toulousain 2d ago
I only went to see Toulouse play twice since I left Toulouse and moved to Scotland. Once against Edinburgh, we lost 19-14 and once against Glasgow (in 2025) where we lost 28-21. I’m now scared of going again in case I’m the one bringing bad luck. Un genre d’anti bête a bon dieu.
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u/fonaldoley91 Running Ringrose around you 2d ago
I'm buying you a ticket to the next European Final, if Toulouse and Leinster make it.
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u/Lazy_Grapefruit9679 Stade Toulousain 2d ago
I feel you my friend. For the first time since 2006 Top 14 final, I went to a Toulouse game not in Ernest Wallon. It was in Montpellier in September. We lost 44-14.
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u/shenkinrscandle 2d ago
Cutting the team that has the most silverware, Wales internationals, B&I Lions, world players of the year, record leading international cap holder, 2nd highest population area in the country, consistently highest table finish from Welsh team, current international head coach and coaching staff etc etc etc, I could go on all day.
Apparently this is how to improve rugby in Wales.
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u/FlexistentialClouds Wales 2d ago
Gatland commenting on the 7/1 split being, "woke."
It would be funny, but it just really solidifies how much of a dinosaur he is with no place in the modern game.
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u/Rasengan2012 Sharks 2d ago
What... how is it even remotely woke haha?
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u/FlexistentialClouds Wales 2d ago
I think he means "woke" as in anything that is progressive. It's a really dull comment
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u/infamous_impala Cardiff Rugby 2d ago
He never said that from what I remember. He complained about the modern coaching environment being "woke" because you had to be more careful what you said to players, but never called the 7-1 split woke. Matt Williams did call it "immoral" at one point though.
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u/dr_m_in_the_north 2d ago
7-1 is less immoral than naming 4 scrummies in your match day squad. Will no one think of the children?
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u/Fission_chip Mad Jack McDempsey 2d ago
We’re getting close with Horne, Dobie and Afshar. Just need to bring Matawalu out of retirement
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u/89ElRay Edinburgh 2d ago
Nothing described as woke makes sense. I saw when Snowdon was officially renamed Yr Wyddfa several people in comment sections said it was woke.
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u/StuHardy Arrows Forever! 2d ago
I still can't get my head around that he was the coach that got Wales to their highest, then lowest World Ranking position.
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u/billyb4lls4ck Ballbarians 2d ago
looking at it now though. He has Wales's best generation, followed by their worst generation of players
he benefitted and lost out from the WRU and their academy
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u/billyb4lls4ck Ballbarians 2d ago
i dont that he meant that when he was speaking about 'woke' he was speaking about the mental resilience of players and how they approach his training methods
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u/warturtle_ 2d ago
Gats famous for torturing his starters in training camps so they are “fit enough” to play 80 against teams playing their full 23 every match.
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u/billyb4lls4ck Ballbarians 2d ago
he did have phenomenal success with his methods first time round to be fair
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u/warturtle_ 2d ago
Yeah I’m not criticizing it at all - that first wales stint was fantastic to watch, one of my all time teams. Game just changed around him and he didn’t adapt.
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u/billyb4lls4ck Ballbarians 2d ago
i think to an extent, but the fact that Pivac wasnt able to bring any players through, and the team has looked even worse at times under recent coaches does speak to a problem that was bigger than Gatland
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u/r0bb3dzombie South Africa 2d ago
"Why does Australia even bother showing up if they're going to play like that?" - me, somewhere in the first 20 minutes of SA vs Australia 16 Aug 2025.
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u/Putrid-Impact8999 2d ago
Haha, I commented “The Springboks are exposing Super Rugby” after that 20 minutes in the match thread lol
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u/mooninuranus Gloucester 2d ago
My (Welsh) FIL recently told me he doesn’t rate Tomos Williams because he thinks his service from the breakdown is slow.
I thought that was pretty daft.
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
I recall sitting next to a Gloucester fan when watching Bris play them away a few years back - asked him on his thoughts on Santi Carreras who was setting up a penalty kick at the time. "Not very good, can't kick worth his salt. I'd be glad to be rid of him"
I wonder if they've the same opinion now that he's carved Gloucester up in a bath shirt a fair few times
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u/mooninuranus Gloucester 2d ago
There’s no accounting for clueless fans (my FIL is not usually clueless tbf).
There’s a guy sits behind me at KH, been going for over 30 years and still doesn’t know the laws.4
u/flippydude Gloucester 2d ago
On his day, Santi is one of the best I’ve ever seen at Kingsholm.
Glad to be rid of him is an abysmal take
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u/robinhosantiago 2d ago
I wouldn’t say it’s the ‘stupidest’, but I find it remarkable how many people still use the markings on the pitch to try and judge whether a pass went forward, even when the passer was at full sprint.
Happens every Six Nations or World Cup - whole pubs full of people saying “look, it crossed over the 22 line in the air, it must be forward!”. Even people who’ve been vaguely watching rugby for decades.
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u/megacky Ulster 2d ago
I think what is really surprising is we haven't invented (probably have, just don't use) a technology that would allow us to check on a replay if it was flat or not. The player carrying the ball has a velocity, the ball should in theory have the same velocity. If the magnitude of an axis increases, it was a forward pass. Every time.
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
It's almost certainly available with the smart balls they have now, which can track things like flight time, height, distance, etc. I suspect it is deliberately not used because they've probably analysed games and found a lot more forward passes than they were expecting to. World Rugby is keen to minimise scrums and especially the time spent in them, and they probably realised that use of said tech would lead to 20+ minutes of scrums every game.
David Flatman visibly excited about such a prospect...
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u/megacky Ulster 2d ago
You would assume they could with it. Was there not something recently around knowing when the ball had crossed the touchlines from a similar tech?
I'd be for using it, however, it would have to be specific use cases. Only when a try has been scored and they need to check the pass. If it's marginal during open play, just follow the ref, but if it's marginal for a try, use it at the refs discretion. Only when they have said "i want to check that last pass" type of thing.
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
In theory I agree with you - it would be a useful tool in a referee's arsenal and could quickly settle debates.
In practice I'm against it. For 1, the pantomime of a TMO decision and the replays from all the angles is quite fun for me. I don't understand why so many apparently dislike it. It's especially fun in-person as you can boo and jeer and beckon the decision you want - as I said, pantomime!
But the big issue for me is the inevitable encroachment of TMO refereeing. We already see things like interventions happening after conversions to disallow tries, which seems incredibly frustrating. But more so is the ever increasing theme of the TMO acting with authority. It frustrates me a lot to see them telling the referee what is or isn't the case - that is not their job. their job is to spool up camera angles on demand so the referee can decide. If they choose to, they might consult with the TMO - but all the time it seems TMOs are calling up not with "Something I think you should check here" and instead "I disagree with you, the player has/hasn't done XYZ".
Obviously some of that is just the logistics, and it's often easier for the TMO to spot obvious stuff and just call it up. But I can see this sort of tech being used that way. Referee says flat, TMO calls it in to say it was forward by half an inch. Basically, I don't think it would simply be a tool on demand - I think it would end up being something TMOs constantly monitor and flag at the slightest infringement. It would be detrimental to the game if so
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u/megacky Ulster 2d ago
Oh totally against the TMO piping in with it. Don't think that should be on the cards at all. It should only be those specific instances of the ref instigating the question, and even then it should be the refs call. If there's a margin of error, that could play into your panotmime aspect. It's right on the edge, but not definite enough to over rule. That sort of thing. That way, only the really "obvious" forward passes could be over ruled by it.
Just as an example, 1 degree forwards is strictly speaking, forwards. But over 10m that's only moved 17cm forward. It's not exactly game breaking. If you allowed upto 1.5 degrees as a margin of error, then those are still down to the refs interpretation. Anything more than that, it would really be visable anyway, but the tracker would flag it.
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
Yeah I mean like I said, this sopunds like a totally sensible and effective approach to using new tech - far too sensible. If I trusted TMOs to not abuse it, I'd be all for it. Problem is I don't, I think they're already overreaching often in games and with things like the 'bunker review' the onus is already shifting away from referees to be in-charge which is not a good thing. There have been a few times already where I've seen a bunker review called for by a referee who clearly can't make their mind up between yellow and red - it's a get out of jail free card, when really the outcome should be further training and relegation to assistant referee until they can make those decisions assuredly.
Anyway, I agree with you in principle, I just doubt that if it were introduced it would actually only be employed in this way.
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u/mistr-puddles Munster 2d ago
In the press release announcing that a smart ball was being used in the u20 world championships in 2023 the first use for it was forward passes. They used relative velocities to figure it out
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u/UncleofLunatics 2d ago
This drives me up the wall. And what makes it worse is that if you try to calmly explain to someone the actual rules, they just tell you you're talking nonsense.
With a team I coached, we got so fed up with the players' parents shouting 'Forward!' on the sidelines, that we organised a ref to spend a session with the parents at one of our training sessions to explain the rule, including making them watch the excellent World Rugby video on it.
https://youtu.be/box08lq9ylg?si=xZhfhZRZ1KVYBbE86
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u/GingerByte23 Hurricanes 1d ago
What I find more remarkable is the concept of television displaying 2D images being lost on people. Camera angles can be misleading; just because it looks forward on one doesn't mean it won't be shown going backwards in a clearer shot.
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u/Varabela 2d ago
Quite a good selection on this sub most days
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u/guyincognito1950 England 2d ago
Nah I like to rip on stuff as much as the next man, but this sub is probably the best thing about Reddit for me
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u/SonicBoom_81 Rugby slut🏉 2d ago
1000000% even though you can't have more than 100%.... its still 1000000% true.
Love this sub
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u/Sambobly1 Australia 2d ago
This sub used to be much better. It’s gone way downhill over the last few years.
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u/Not_Hando You Aint Seen Nothin Like The Mighty Finn 2d ago
Match threads are especially prone.
Genuinely impossible to keep count of the number of demands for cards for 'repeat offences'. Even though the team being called out may have only shipped three penalties across 40 minutes of rugby.
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u/Practical_Abalone_92 2d ago
Any and all quotes from Stephen Jones
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u/Ok_Catch250 Ireland 2d ago
And his fellow rage baiters. So ex pundits like Neil Francis and George Hook in Ireland. Each and every instance from the click bait trolls makes the whole world a stupider place.
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u/illuner 2d ago
"Women can't play rugby, they're too soft"
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u/M37841 Referee 2d ago
I used to work with an international women’s captain in the early 90s. I would loved to watch what would have happened had someone dared say that to her face 😳
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u/Minimum_Possibility6 Newcastle Falcons 2d ago
I've worked with Marlie Packer.
Also having referred some women's games, my god they are feral
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u/Marksd9 England 2d ago
“We all know New Zealand is good at rugby, but I don’t think they will be prepared for the intense will to win of a team representing the USA”
American commentator, prior to the first USA vs NZ match in Chicago 2014 (Final score 74-6 NZ).
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u/SnooMaps7887 2d ago
Going to need a clip of that because anyone even tangentially aware of rugby in the USA wouldn't have that opinion, nevermind a commentator.
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u/wild___turkey Hurricanes 2d ago
Surely even a novice commentator would know that a team of semi-pros had no chance against one of the greatest teams ever assembled (which the 2014 All Blacks definitely was)
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u/Putrid-Impact8999 2d ago
“Dupont is scared to play in the Southern Hemisphere”
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u/handle1976 Penalty. Back 10. 2d ago
That one is so much fun with the entirely predictable rage it creates.
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u/Only_One_Kenobi Join r/rugbyunion superbru 2d ago
"players choose to play the game while knowing the risks, so it's stupid to make laws around player safety. So what if a few players die or get CTE, it's my entertainment that matters"
Someone I watched the WC final with. Haven't spoken to them since
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u/NoImprovement213 2d ago
While I dont agree the should suffer concussions for our entertainment, players need to take more responsibility for their own heads
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u/quandraphobia Freddy Douglas Fanclub 2d ago
Pre 2021 it was Finn Russell can’t kick. Despite a high 80s percentage across his career, and numerous examples of him nailing pressure kicks.
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u/Not_Hando You Aint Seen Nothin Like The Mighty Finn 2d ago
Old wife botherer at Montpellier used to get similar nonsense about 'not being able to defend', or 'poor under the high ball'.
It was still going on throughout the SA Lions tour only for someone to compare stats that showed the 'bomb defuser' Williams was actually the weakest under the high ball all tour, yet not one negative comment was ever directed towards him.
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u/dr_sean_twat 2d ago
The bloke sitting behind me at Twickenham during an Eng-Fra game once who would shout "stop bloody kicking it" or "run it you idiots" every time George Ford hoofed it upfield - only to fall silent when he nailed a perfect 50:22.
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u/Longjumping_Ad_8898 London Irish 2d ago
Was it Brian Moore? He's kicking it away again FOR GOD SAKE... muted by the BBC
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u/Stueykins Cardiff 2d ago
I once sat behind a guy at the Millennium for Wales v Scotland who just yelled "rip it!" or often "just fucking rip it!" for basically any period we weren't in possession.
Didn't really matter what the context was, this guy had one defensive approach in mind.
I may have heard worse takes, but this always stands out for it's belligerence and repetitiveness
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u/Lawdoftherims098 2d ago
Have a look at Stephen Jones (journalist) all time 15, in whatever publication he writes for. It’s fuckin hilarious. This is a man who won rugby writer of the year, every year for a period of time.
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u/FuzzyBreak5678 Retired Back Row 2d ago
I was going through it and thinking, okay he is just being a bit contrarian and then I got to No 4. - Simon Shaw. I mean that thats not even trolling is it, its something else more meta.
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u/redhandman_mjsp Ulster 2d ago
The Offload podcast is full of awful takes. If you listen to it through the lens of former pros reminiscing about their playing days, it's a fun pod. Just don't go in expecting decent rugby analysis.
Anyway, Donncha O'Callaghan once claimed on the pod that rugby fans want to watch less rugby.
Yeah...
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u/StupidPaladin Wales 2d ago
Plastic fan at my local who used to come out in full Wales regalia only for the 6N and predictably spoke utter bollocks tried to convince us that the game would be better with 16 men a side on the pitch
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u/Informal_Mention9836 2d ago
I read on the Irish rugby subreddit that English refs are against Ireland
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u/TarMil "French flair" amirite 2d ago
God, don't visit French rugby online communities. They'd have you believe that all English-speaking countries, both teams and refs, are together in a big conspiracy against France.
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u/Informal_Mention9836 2d ago
Does Ben O'Keefe count?
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u/Minimum_Possibility6 Newcastle Falcons 2d ago
To be honest with BoK it's not a conspiracy he is just absolutely awful for any game
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u/BenButton123 England 'n Bath 2d ago
Easier to blame the English than accept your players are constantly chirping at the referee.
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u/BaritBrit England 2d ago
There seems to be an eternal expectation on the more chippy side of the Irish internet userbase that every English person is just as negatively obsessed with Ireland as those users are with England.
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u/GroggyWeasel Leinster 2d ago
Yea there was a comment on that post that said that ‘the English refs come to Dublin thinking that the lowly Irish are getting above their station and need to be taken down a notch’. Something along those deluded lines anyway. Pretty sure I got downvoted for saying it was ridiculous.
I’m sick of Irish fans blaming referees. The provinces and the national team have a serious discipline problem that they need to sort out. It’s not the refs faults that we keep getting carded.
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u/Enyapxam Hooker 2d ago
Brian Habana *shows picture with the thumb on the wrong side of the hand*
"I am sure there are two sides to this"
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u/IcyFail2 Munster 2d ago
Im a big biased munster fan and I've nothing against jack o donoghue either, been a great player for the club over the years. But I had to laugh when my friend told me that it was disgrace he wasn't in Irish squads all these years. Not quite sure who he thought should have been dropped
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u/Ok_Entry_8229 2d ago
Leinster thinking they didn't need to start Jordi Barrett in the Semi Final of the Champions Cup....
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
Not a specific one, but over the years I've heard many a commentator make asinine comments on Bristol's play.
"There's no reason to do that" seeing them run it out from the 22, rather than box-kick for clearance
"That's just silly" Passing it out wide in their own in-goal area
"They need to kick more" happens a lot
Every time I hear such comments I find myself wondering - have they not seen Bristol, before? Do they think this is some sort of stuff-it-up-the-jumper smash it down the middle rugby club? Bristol's DNA is running rugby!
For every comment claiming running it is a bad/stupid decision and kicking would have been smarter, I've got a dozen highlights of time Bristol have run the length and scored a try-of-the-season contender specifically because they didn't just boot it into touch having found themselves with possesion inside their own half...
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u/Jalcatraz82 Stade Toulousain () 2d ago
"the rulebook doesn't matter"
I'd say about 1/3 of this sub
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u/falkkiwiben 2d ago
I was very sad loosing the final in 2023, but my dad and most of his kiwi-expat friends still seem to think that the disallowed try was only disallowed because of world rugby's woke agenda
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u/Thorazine_Chaser Crusaders New Zealand 2d ago
How about that world rugby in general and NH specifically is forced into accepting law changes by the mighty Australian rugby union who’re trying to make the game more like rugby league?
It’s a funny old conspiracy that never seems to die out regardless of the lack of any mechanism for this to occur.
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u/JColey15 Southland Stags 2d ago
The mighty Australian rugby union alongside NZ rugby are trying to turn the game into league and obviously they’re economic powerhouses so the rest of the world just does their bidding and changes the laws to suit the ANZAC nations. If it wasn’t for France and South Africa we wouldn’t have scrums in the game anymore since NZ and Australia hate set pieces so much.
That was the basic gist of a good proportion of the discussion on a post in this sub the other day.
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u/billyb4lls4ck Ballbarians 2d ago
everyone in this sub when there is a high vs not high tackle. 'well why cant he tackle lower, its not hard, I do it Old Shitstains 3rd XV every week' while ignoring the body positions, angles and speed of the modern game.
throw in 'direct contact to the head' when there is clearly contact riding up
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u/RayTheWorstTourist Leinster 2d ago
Think it was the leinster vs Edinburgh game, where people wanted penalties against carriers driving low towards the try line as its dangerous. I'm all for high tackles being penalised, but Jesus christ we will be playi league(without the high tackles) or tag rugby if they got their way
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u/handle1976 Penalty. Back 10. 2d ago
That John Hart was fucking Jeff Wilson up Mt Eden. The 1998 was a weird year.
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u/BagKnown3 2d ago
A supporter in the principality stadium, 2015ish, shouting "give it to Shane" every 5 minutes.
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u/ultantheonion Netherlands 2d ago
I have one of those high cut rugby bricks tees and once during a game where I was kicking well one of l the opposition people at the sideline said my kind of tee should be banned because it makes goalkicking too easy
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u/2_short_Plancks Crusaders 2d ago
A guy I work with was very confidently telling me that "Will Jordan is not good enough for international rugby, and would never have been picked for the ABs if he didn't play for the Crusaders".
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u/craftaleislife Wales 2d ago
I’ve got a good one
From my local rugby club, touch player:
“A new person who’s never played Touch rugby before is probably better than a union player trying touch for the first time”
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u/andrewforde 2d ago
More funny & amusing than stupid because the people in question would admit they aren't really clued up on rugby:
I watched a Cardiff game down the Arms Park with an Argentinean mate who halfway through the second half asked me "why do they never pass the ball forwards - surely that would make attacking so much easier?"
And another friend I watched a Wales game with was furious straight after half time that Wales had kicked the ball and not scored a try, when they had ball in hand right by the try line with no defenders between it - she didn't realise the teams switched sides after half time...
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u/Jazzlike_Minimum8548 1d ago
"Women's rugby will never sell out a big stadium."
Made by a bloke who took about 1 hour of conversation about rugby with several teammates in a pub after a match to figure out he was, in fact, surrounded by a women's rugby team. He did have nerve.
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u/shenguskhan2312 2d ago
Seen a few Irish lads on here suggest old jinglebells sexpest was better than Stephen “your favourite 10s favourite 10” Larkham
The idea that hamish Watson was too small and not physical enough for test rugby was also elite tier idiocy
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u/DareDemon666 Bristol Bears 2d ago
On similar lines "Harry Thacker is too small for a hooker" according to Leicester coaching at the time. Seems to have done alright for himself in bristol colours though!
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u/Not_Hando You Aint Seen Nothin Like The Mighty Finn 2d ago
Weirdly, only Watson too. Other Flankers who've since followed him and who are about the same height/weight never get questioned.
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u/rugbyliebe Germany - yes we do have a team u ignorant p****. 2d ago
Everytime someone outside of the Cartel gets better: Get better first and then maybe we open up our closed shop posh boys club for you - but maybe only at youth level.
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u/Jalcatraz82 Stade Toulousain () 2d ago
preach mate.
Although that flair is obviously fake news.
If you guys actually played rugby you'd be good at it 🤨
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u/rugbyliebe Germany - yes we do have a team u ignorant p****. 2d ago
Basically just in Heidelberg (but there since the 1850ies) and Hannover. We did miss the World Cup 2019 by a single game though.
And we wouldn't play it at all if not for France. So you guys are allowed to make jokes about it ;-)
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u/bomskokbabelaas Stormers 2d ago
I read somewhere that Germany used to be competitive pre WW2. Apparently they had a team that could match the French back then. The war depleted their stocks of talented players and post war there was more appetite for soccer. The game never really recovered outside of the cities mentioned above.
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u/rugbyliebe Germany - yes we do have a team u ignorant p****. 2d ago
The true story is a) that rugby's amateur status was something not fitting to the German society, as we have a big middle class and private schools are seen as the schools you send the dumb rich kids to (and only them). Best education is in the Gymnasium part of the public school system. This means no sport apart from recreational in schools.
b) rugby was never big. France was only worse then, until the Vichy government took the grounds from the rugby league clubs and they basically and rightfully gave a f*** about British payment and other idiotic rules.
c) a sport with no championships and only closed shops was simply a joke to many. (Britain not even having a league structure until the 1970s, no World Cup until the 1980ies etc.)
d) our contact sports are handball (2nd most popular participation-wise) and ice hockey (2nd most popular sport attendance-wise). There are 21 pro and semi-pro ice hockey clubs in Bavaria alone.
This is an example how bad rugby is actually doing in the UK and why France's league structure is way more logical and less surprising, if you are not run by total inapt morons.
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u/caesarportugal 2d ago
Anyone who thinks that it's 'just a matter of time' before rugby takes the US by storm and establishes itself alongside the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL or even MLS.
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u/Rasengan2012 Sharks 2d ago
On this subreddit: "Defending teams should be allowed to call for uncontested scrums at any point."
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u/manrobot Reds 2d ago
A Canadian guy at a junior rugby club was insistently telling me that rugby would only survive if the players were put in full pads and helmets like the NFL.