Our very own Georgie winning the Ballon D'Or?
Ireland's Greatest Ever Sporting Achievement
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Winning the Rugby World Cup probably would be the greatest sporting achievement. I don't think this quite cuts it. They were debating on 2nd Captains whether or not it topped the 2009 six nations Grand Slam win so it's not necessarily the best achievement of the Irish Rugby team.
And agree on the Quarter final. Going out at that stage would not top this at all.
I can 100% guarantee that Ireland making the semi-final of the rugby World Cup will not be seen as a greater achievement than this test series win by me, or by any rugby pundit anywhere on the planet.I hope your mad stance here doesn't stop you loving it when they do pull through. I mean it'd be even better if it were against NZ too, because you'd stubbornly have to accept it's not greater than a pretty pointless test series to prove an odd point
We'll re-open this when it happens. Because it will... at some point.
Boxing has been much worse historically than UFC as regards meritocracy in fairness. And for all the ills that the UFC's near-monopoly on MMA has brought, at least it leads to the biggest fights being made eventually more often than not. Collins' super-middleweight run is a case in point as to how fractured boxing can be in comparison. You had that burgeoning British/Irish scene with Watson, Benn, Eubank that Collins then gatecrashed so brilliantly, but they barely overlapped at all with their great American contemporaries such as Roy Jones Jr and James Toney (except for the ill-fated Benn vs McClellan fight). Collins seems to have desperately wanted the Roy Jones fight, in contrast with the emerging Joe Calzaghe who he had little interest in, but it never came to fruition.
I'd say McGregor had a much stronger claim to be the global top-banana in his division than Collins ever did, certainly at featherweight. Boxing obviously has a much richer history than the still very young MMA though. Taylor probably has the best claim of the lot. A true trailblazer, and not for celebrity wankery like McGregor, proper role model, and proper best-in-the-world calibre in women's boxing overall. Only argument against that I can think of is the relative paucity of depth in women's boxing at this stage of its development.
You absolutely can't guarantee that, even for yourself, forget the pundit part. I mean if they knock NZ who are are still a force out in some France 99 style comeback after another 8 fails at the QF's in a World Cup being hosted in Ireland.... you'd still see that test series that meant little 30 years ago as a bigger achievement? Yeah... I struggle to believe that.
I've gone berserk with the wildest low probability outcome, but you are 100% guaranteeing something from the future, which itself is just as berserk. There would be pundits who would say it next year. Especially given the toughness of that side, and the strong likelihood that they will play NZ in the Quarters anyway, if not, then it's France in France.
Like I said, I'll see you then.
Can you even call it a World Cup when only a small percentage of countries even have teams? I say no.
lets ban rugby from all sports discussions and focus on the real sports like football, basketball, boxing, cricket, eSports etc.
lets ban rugby from all sports discussions and focus on the real sports like football, basketball, boxing, cricket, eSports etc.
No ones going to be cheering from the rooftops if we win a quarter final. It'll be a bit of a monkey off the back but we'll all be disappointed if we go on to lose the Semi.
.... and darts
David Healy's winner against England.
That time Aldo told the linesman to feck off.
The disrespect given to a test series win in NZ is ridiculous. Like I said in the Rugby thread, it's arguably a bigger achievement than winning the Rugby World Cup. I think non-Rugby fans don't realise just how dominant NZ are in the sport - and how that dominance skyrockets when they're at home. It's like playing Pep's peak Barca at the Nou Camp, and beating them 2 out of 3 times.
I'd say Katie Taylor being the best female boxer in the world probably, or one of the olympics achievements maybe. I'd personally rank a few of the football things above the rugby, but I don't give a shite about rugby, so I'm probably being biased. Seeing Robbie Brady bury that header live means more to me than some glorified friendly(I literally know nothing about rugby
).England losing in the Euros final has to be well up there.
Reaching the World Cup final darts
Exactly.
It's not though is it? It's barely like beating Tata Martino's Barcelona. It's a team that were great and who still have some great players at their lowest ebb in a long time (they're currently at their lowest ever world ranking) in a fringe sport. It's not close to getting to the quarter finals of the world cup in the world's most popular sport, even if the run to get there wasn't the toughest.
Craggy Island beating Rugged Island 2-1 in the All-Priests 5 a side Over-75s Indoor Challenge football match must be up there.
This just puts into perspective their utter dominance. That has to stand for something as well
Conor mcgregor?
Before getting to football vs. rugby...
The following teams, in the history of the sport, have won a test series in NZ:
South Africa 1937
B & I Lions 1971
Australia 1986
France 1994
Ireland 2022
It has only happened 5 times in the history of the sport. And when looking at back to back losses by NZ in NZ:
South Africa 1937
Aus 1949
France 1994
SA/AUS 1998
Ireland 2022
These stats are just ridiculous. No matter how low NZ are in the rankings, to win a series in NZ including back to back wins is almost impossible. Coming from South Africa where rugby is so dominant, beating NZ is the pinnacle. They may not be the best right now, but to win two in a row is a massive achievement.
Then football vs. rugby...
Well all you need to have a look at is some of those nerd xG threads - you can definitely get lucky in football and win a game you not supposed to. So to get to the football QF, you really only need a couple of lucky wins and you'll make it.
Nothing, they are Test matches. It is not the same as a friendly in football, played with far more intensity and treated as seriously as a game in the 6 Nations or the Rugby Championship.
Before this series Ireland had never beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand, let alone win a series. After being 1-0 down in the series they won two in a row, breaking their duck in wins and series wins. Yes, this All Blacks team isn't the world beating one we know but that is still a fantastic achievement. I say that as a jealous Scottish rugby fan, as we have never beaten them full stop. Wales haven't beaten them since the 50s (I think?). So in my opinion, this is a marvellous achievement and should be treated as such, and potentially the greatest Irish sporting achievement.
It's a sport played to any standard in about 10 countries where New Zealand are ranked 4th, they're a pretty average side right now. Being in the last 8 of a sport played globally is a much bigger deal.
Ireland haven't even won the 6 Nations since 2018, they're not some juggernaut (the odds are they will get trounced in the quarters next year again), so this is much more of a reflection where the All Blacks are currently. It also lacks context to use historic results because a lot of the factors around travelling there aren't such a big deal now and this is the worst they've been in the professional era.
If we’re being honest he is right near the top but feck him.
Still say Steve Collins myself.
Oh, come on! This isn’t a vintage New Zealand team by any means. Even I, a very casual rugby-watcher, can recognise that.
It’s akin to beating Souness’ 1993/94 Liverpool side two out of three times at Anfield, nothing more. New Zealand’s slide down the current world rankings attests to that.
EDIT: I have subsequently read @RORY65 ’s replies to your OP, which pretty much make the same argument as I have.
yeah but its not Irelands greatest ever achievment in sport
It reminds me of when England won the Ashes in cricket a few years ago for first time ever. Its a series that gets played every few years. You dont need to qualify for it, law of averages will suggest one day you will probably win it.
I don't believe it was Ireland's greatest sporting achievement but let's not pretend this was a feckin tap-in.Yes, NZ weren't at their best but the fact is they do not lose at home very often and they rarely lose test series.
Before the tour, Ireland were expected to maybe win one of the tests if they were lucky and played some of the best rugby an Irish team has ever produced at times. This was a fantastic and historic achievement.
Before the tour, Ireland were expected to maybe win one of the tests if they were lucky and played some of the best rugby an Irish team has ever produced at times. This was a fantastic and historic achievement.
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Well that’s bollox. Law of averages would mean evenly matched sides win it about as much as each other. The All Blacks play test series’ every year against all the best teams in the world and very very rarely lose at home. A handful of times over the last century. That’s what makes this such a remarkable achievement.
I wouldn't have it anywhere near the top, but then again I can't stand the rugby coverage in Ireland. The fact people are even suggesting it annoys me more than it should.
Higgins winning in 82 was special.
Easily ignored. I can’t stand golf or horse-riding and they’re massively popular in Ireland but all the coverage goes completely over my head.
At least golf is a global sport that more than a few posh fecks in 10 odd countries care about.
It’s still shit. A global sport for posh white fecks.
Popularity is a crap barometer of quality anyway. Hence GAA is brilliant entertainment even though nobody else plays it.
Yeah golf as a spectator sport is pretty shit. I've played once or twice and it was entertaining enough even though I was fairly useless.
Is golf not posh now?
It is but there's posh cnuts from like 150 countries!
Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever played any sport I didn’t enjoy at least a bit. Even golf. Loads of sports I would never watch someone else play. With golf top of the list.