You can't stop the Irish!

[Maggie]

IRELAND 27 - WALES 12

What a great game!!!

Quote www.independent.ie  Sunday March 14 2010
A touch of class!

Ireland continued their dominance over Wales with a comprehensive win at Croke Park yesterday
which marked the 100th cap for Brian O'Driscoll.
The captain will move into fifth place in the world order if he can get through the rest of the calendar year in one piece.
 And his team will pick up another Triple Crown -- their fifth in seven seasons -- if they can beat Scotland at Croke Park on Saturday.

[shankdee]

   Is this Rugby  or Hurling??  I can't tell...I enjoyed reading that newspaper, and i like those sliding ads..

shankdee

[meganelize]

Rugby!

[Maggie]

  Is this Rugby  or Hurling??  I can't tell...I enjoyed reading that newspaper, and i like those sliding ads..

Yes it's Rugby......you can see the player holding the oval ball in those photos.

In Hurling, each player would be carrying a hurley, and the round ball is called a sliotar,
slightly bigger than a tennis ball, you can see it in this pic of an overweight Tipperary man who should be in the gym:



This explains Hurling, the World's oldest field game:
http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/our-games/hurling/

Hurling is one of the GAA National games of Ireland, Rugby started in England, spread to Wales and Scotland,
and now the Irish are beating them at their own game!

PS - The New Zealand All-Blacks are pretty good at Rugby, too.
They try to intimidate the opposition with the Haka, here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_CaSu-fnGg

However, when they came to Dublin, the Irish stared right back at them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fg4FyhZ-Kg&feature=related

[shankdee]

  OH OK  t h a n k  y o u !  !!,,,believe it or not, the Military plays Rugby over here, and I don't see how they let them
      as  they could get laid  up for a while and not be "mission ready"...I will look at the Links at home...
       since You tube is blocked here...thanks..
       On the Hug thread I posted an Irish blessing...it took me three times to get it  posted correctly, feel free to send
       to your Irish Group...sounds like you will be busy this week..There is a Parade and Celebration here.. C S

[lifeismusic2009]

Wow!! 100 caps is a great accomplishment! Go Brian and go Ireland!!!

[kingcobradude (Clay S.)]

isnt hurling where they whack at each other with the bat things?

[Maggie]

I already gave a link to the GAA which explains Hurling.

Back to Rugby....I've been asked about the photos in my first post in this thread.

....the men in red shirts are from Wales. (Like the Irish, they are also Celts, but couldn't swim)

They are attempting to stop the big Irishman from Limerick in the green shirt,
as he sprints for the try line to score a touch-down.

In Rugby, you have to place the ball on the try line to score a try - 3 points.
It is not enough to simply reach the "end zone".
Then you get the chance to "convert" it by kicking the ball over the crossbar for another 2 points.

You will notice the absence of any form of protective wear and helmets.
Rugby players see such things as a hindrance in a true "full contact" sport.

I was taught about Rugby when I was about 5 years old. My 2 big brothers were pretty good Rugby players,
Terry went on to teach sports and coach Rugby. It was part of my self-defense training!

As you can see in the 2nd picture, Keith Earls ( #11 for Ireland) is not about to let the Welshmen stop him.....
one of them rolls on the turf, while the other only managed to kiss Mr Earls "bye bye".

The outcome was....TOUCHDOWN!


The Ireland Rugby Team are family men, and as with all sport in Ireland,
children are much in evidence:

[Maggie]

 
Oh Dear! The Scots beat the Irish today by 3 points..... 23-20.
This means that France is the Six Nations Champion 2010.

Congratulations to them......we'll get you next year!

Here's the report:
http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/sixnations/2010/0320/ireland_scotland1.html