Let's make Croker a fortress again!!!

[Donny B]

Let's be honest, the Irish Crowd during the last Six Nations championship were pretty awful. At the Italian match things were so bad that a few thousand Italian fans comfortably made more noise. I watched that beside a South African who was at his first ever game in Ireland and he asked me if Irish rugby crowds were always so quiet. The Scottish match was a little bit better, well once they started scoring a few tries, but normal service was reduced against Wales with another muted effort. It was a massive difference from the previous season against France and particularly England.

Now admittedly it was the last days of the Eddie regime and the dissatifaction with him was a contributing factor, but a friend of mine from Munster also wondered aloud if all the inter-provincial rivalry had gone too far and it was poisoning the Ireland experience.

So tomorrow let's start over and make Croke Park the fortress of noise it should be. Let's park the inter-pro stuff for a day and get behind every single player no matter where they're from. Don't wait for a player to make a mistake just so you can shout to your mates "I told you he shouldn't have picked that feckin' Ladyboy from Leinster/ Turnip from Munster/ Todger from Ulster / Westie from Connacht" (select as appropiate). If you want to slag players in the pub afterwards, that your right but for eighty minutes we're all IRISH!!!!

We won't be in Croker too much longer, soon we'll be back in Lansdowne and we'll probably be watching the match in the pub while the corporates take all the tickets. So while we have the chance lets show the All-Blacks how much noise 80,000 Irish people can make and really get behind the lads.

C'MON IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

for eighty minutes we're all IRISH!!!!

Don't be ridiculous.
The White Knight is British and proud. God Save the Queen!

[The Fonz]

Keep the politics under control lads

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

C'MON IRELAND!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jackie Brown]

You CAN be both White Knight, like being Scotich and Bristich, English and British and Welsh and British.

Can I just enquire, apart from the England game a couple of seasons back has Croker ever been a fortress? The atmosphere for Rugby is pretty appauling!

[WhiteKnightoftheWeld]

nah...
take it from the inside out.

get them playing brit sports in there first

[Royster]

An Irish and Leinster fan makes a fairly sensible and innocuous appeal to get behind the Ireland team tomorrow and immediately he is assaulted by the horlix talkers on this site.
Don't worry Donny B, the kick off time alone (1715)almost certainly guarantees that the fans will be well liquored, and with inhibitions lowered will make Croke Park a cauldron of support for Ireland tomorrow evening. Count me in.

[GMAC]

for eighty minutes we're all IRISH!!!!

Don't be ridiculous.
The White Knight is British and proud. God Save the Queen!

White Knight, I don't see what is ridiculous about it. I'll certainly be Irish for 80 minutes (plus stoppages)- As an Ulsterman,a native of an Irish province-and a British citizen. I can and will support Ireland-even the Turnips on the team (remember its a GREEN shirt you liigiinnds).

WKOTW Hard to believe you would come out with a statement like that after the amount of indignation and sh*t stirring you started over Dirty Betty and impugning the fine men, women and undecided of the FRURSC.

Donny B pay no heed, he's only trying to make MF.com 's eejits look reasoned and articulate

[Rooster]

Good post Donny B, last years games were grim, at times you would have thought it was a funeral we were at and not a rugby match, come to think of it I have been at funerals with a better atmosphere
Too many corporates and free loaders present at International games this past few years, atmosphere has been lost and II doubt it will ever return to the same standard as a good league match.

[Shan]

I must agree about Croker.Apart from the England game it has been disappointing atmosphere-wise.Unfortunately I won't be in attendance tomorrow but I would hope the atmosphere will be up there with the England game.The Haka might help a bit in this regard and also the fact we are facing a flying NZ team with some degree of hope with the team management changes.

[Jackie Brown]

Well again, bar the first ten minutes, the atmopsher was pish, but if the team can't show up then why should the support. Glad i didn't pay the money to go see them now and I won't be hunting for an Argie ticket either at €80 a pop.

[ColinS]

SS Moore have some argie tickets starting at 28 euro

[Rooster]

Well again, bar the first ten minutes, the atmopsher was pish, but if the team can't show up then why should the support. Glad i didn't pay the money to go see them now and I won't be hunting for an Argie ticket either at €80 a pop.

Always thought it would be like that with a nothing game not being taken really seriously by Ireland and a crowd of ticket scroungers and corporates, best game of the series will as usual be the Argie game, a lot at stake for Ireland and an Argie side that always play to the best of their ability plus genuine fans that understand the game.

[Jackie Brown]

Since Scotland lost both their games does the Argie game not become meaningless in regards to point scoring for our world cup seeding position?

[cables]

Scotland have lost a few (decimal) ranking points, so the gap between us and them has widened slightly.

Scotland next play Canada. Due to the points difference between them, there is no scenario where Scotland can improve their ranking points.

Ireland however play Argentina. The ranking system places Argentina as favourite. Only an Argentina win can reduce our ranking points. Any win by Argentina will reduce our ranking points by more than the gap above Scotland.

Irrespective of the finer points, all well documented in the press, MB's and by PR people, no matter where a team finishes in the rankings this month they still have to do the job in THREE YEARS TIME at RWC irrespective of the opposition.