Apathy towards the egg.

Having been born a very long time ago at St David's Hospital it was natural to be a Bluebird and also have some sentiment towards the Egg.

My first love has always been the City but I'd be lying if I didn't admit to seeing Wales in the 70's at the Arms Park.

The changes (and not for the better) within the WRU, the regions and the clubs have contributed to the mess that the Egg now find themselves in plus the fact that all the negative PR around head injuries etc. means rugby is not a sport you would want your kids or grandkids playing. Watching rugby is frankly dull, they can't get the rules right and it's now about big blokes and stonewall defences. Far too many scrum resets, ping pong kicking, video ref reviews and not much entertainment.

In recent years I've not even bothered watching the Egg and yesterday's beating was of no consequence. I bet Gatland wished he'd not taken on this challenge and frankly the future looks very bleak.

In contrast my blood is Blue and the Ipswich result was magical. I really hope now that confidence is on the up and I for one am prepared to eat some humble pie as I've been somewhat critical of Bulut.

Now trying to work out which game next at the CCS.

:ayatollah:

I've hated the rugby for time.
To see where Welsh football is in comparison makes me very happy.
I remember a long time ago now being at a family party and my dad having a disagreement with an in law about the sports the other bloke was so one eyed he told my father that they should ban football in Welsh schools !
Oh yeah his occupation was a school teacher !

It’s an old argument I know, but I read a piece on the current state of Welsh rugby on the BBC website over the weekend and the thing which struck me most about it was that it called rugby Wales’ national sport - I honestly can’t think of a time in my life when that seemed less true.

All us catholic’s were brainwashed into rugby and I suppose during the 70’s, we enjoyed the success of the team.

But now it’s just 15 fat fellas against 15 fatter fellas

Done my head in a couple of years ago, when at a scrum, the scrum half put the ball in at 45%, I said penalty, but I was told that it’s legal now to not put it in straight !!!!!!
What’s the point of the scrum then ?????

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Originally Posted by insider

I've hated the rugby for time.
To see where Welsh football is in comparison makes me very happy.
I remember a long time ago now being at a family party and my dad having a disagreement with an in law about the sports the other bloke was so one eyed he told my father that they should ban football in Welsh schools !
Oh yeah his occupation was a school teacher !

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Sounds like he was one of my many rugby loving PE teachers in the 80’s….one of the reasons I hate it. Hope the wru go bust and relocate all matches to Llanelli where it has some meagre support still…:thumbup:

Looking from the outside in. What do people know about wales. Number one Tom Jones then ryan giggs, shirley bassey, welsh rarebit, swansea, k z jones, wrexham (new entry) sheep! gareth bale and the other bale, dylan thomas, roald dahl. In no particular order.

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Originally Posted by goats

Sounds like he was one of my many rugby loving PE teachers in the 80’s….one of the reasons I hate it. Hope the wru go bust and relocate all matches to Llanelli where it has some meagre support still…:thumbup:

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I was in secondary school in the mid-60's and there was no option to play soccer.

For winter sports If you weren't big enough to play rugby you had to go cross country running. It was also said that 'real men' played rugby and implied if you didn't want to then you were effeminate.

They will get what they deserve!

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Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire

I was in secondary school in the mid-60's and there was no option to play soccer.

For winter sports If you weren't big enough to play rugby you had to go cross country running. It was also said that 'real men' played rugby and implied if you didn't want to then you were effeminate.

They will get what they deserve!

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Same with me in the 70's , if you even mentioned wanting to play football instead of rugby in PE you were usually scoffed at by the teacher and made to do 20 press ups in the mud. I think a lot of the apathy for the games is due to the ticket prices, a family of four for yesterdays game would have set you back nearly 500 quid :shrug:

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Originally Posted by ToTaL ITK

Looking from the outside in. What do people know about wales. Number one Tom Jones then ryan giggs, shirley bassey, welsh rarebit, swansea, k z jones, wrexham (new entry) sheep! gareth bale and the other bale, dylan thomas, roald dahl. In no particular order.

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Caroline Street

Rugby's a good game to watch

But six nations sin bin is the reason why a huge bomb on the bloody nonsense and high spirits that goes with it would be great

You can't but fail to be impressed with the skills of jpr , Barry John etc but in Wales these days the game is eclipsed by all the cowboy hats and talk of football as wendyball

Football used to be a far bigger game in Wales , not just in terms of players

There's a book on it out there somewhere

Reaping the rewards of regional rugby.Remember when the two Pontys supplied players for the Welsh team.
Local Derbies gone.

I played rugby for about 8 years and if im honest it was the best game in the world to play but i prefer to watch football. I missed the city while playing but always made sure i was there if our game was called off. Still watch the Wales games though but city comes first.

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Originally Posted by dandywarhol

Reaping the rewards of regional rugby.Remember when the two Pontys supplied players for the Welsh team.
Local Derbies gone.

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Absolutely! A terrible decision. It's not even regional rugby it was all about creating super clubs. This undermined all the traditional club support.

I used to follow rugby, not as much as football, but I used to go to the occasional match at Rodney Parade and always watched the 5/6 Nations on the telly. No interest in any of it now.

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Originally Posted by Dorcus

Absolutely! A terrible decision. It's not even regional rugby it was all about creating super clubs. This undermined all the traditional club support.

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Aberavon, Abertillery, Bridgend, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Llanelly, London Welsh, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Swansea all fed the Welsh team in the 70's and had decent crowds.

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Originally Posted by alfie

I played rugby for about 8 years and if im honest it was the best game in the world to play but i prefer to watch football. I missed the city while playing but always made sure i was there if our game was called off. Still watch the Wales games though but city comes first.

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Number 8 or second row?

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Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire

Aberavon, Abertillery, Bridgend, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Llanelly, London Welsh, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Swansea all fed the Welsh team in the 70's and had decent crowds.

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It also killed the opportunity and ambition for less traditional clubs to reach the top. It was great to see the likes of Caerphilly, Treorchy and Dunvant in the Premier.

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Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire

Aberavon, Abertillery, Bridgend, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Llanelly, London Welsh, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Swansea all fed the Welsh team in the 70's and had decent crowds.

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The Barbarians Easter tour included Penarth on Good Friday

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Originally Posted by alfie

I played rugby for about 8 years and if im honest it was the best game in the world to play but i prefer to watch football. I missed the city while playing but always made sure i was there if our game was called off. Still watch the Wales games though but city comes first.

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Me too, used to really enjoy playing rugby in the mid late 70s but always preferred watching football. Our school rugby team would play 38 games a season and the school football team about 5 games a season!

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Originally Posted by BLUETIT

All us catholic’s were brainwashed into rugby and I suppose during the 70’s, we enjoyed the success of the team.

But now it’s just 15 fat fellas against 15 fatter fellas

Done my head in a couple of years ago, when at a scrum, the scrum half put the ball in at 45%, I said penalty, but I was told that it’s legal now to not put it in straight !!!!!!
What’s the point of the scrum then ?????

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All comprehensive schools were like that. That’s why I dislike the game. If they didn’t have a scrum they’d have to call it rugby league.

I was in the same boat in Ponty Grammsr, rugby, feck all football. Hated rugger ever since.
Seems to be continuing the same way down West, where I now live. Grandson's junior school all rugger. Told him to refuse to play the stupid game.

Carrying on from the theme above, I didn’t play competitive football until after I left school. The school was entwined with the local rugby clubs, so there was zero opportunity. I watched & supported City from the age of 9, so the effective ban on football, made me resent rugby.

The situation in my extended family is very gender divided. The lads are all football oriented, the girls rugby.

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Originally Posted by Taffy Blue in Berkshire

Aberavon, Abertillery, Bridgend, Cardiff, Ebbw Vale, Llanelly, London Welsh, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Pontypool, Swansea all fed the Welsh team in the 70's and had decent crowds.

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Crosskeys. South Glamorgan Institute. Newbridge. Plus Cardiff RFC would have Bath and other top English clubs home and away. Wasps. Harlequins.

Domestic rugby is a bit of a joke. What should have happened is a total merger of the English and Welsh leagues 25 years ago, with the best rising to the top. The lack of promotion and relegation makes the league a real struggle. That said, I do enjoy watching Cardiff Rugby, but mainly cos it's a special ground and nice to stand with mates and watch it

I love international rugby. No fan of the WRU though. It's been an absolutely fantastic six nations and when rugby is good it is a very entertaining game in my opinion

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Originally Posted by JamesWales

Domestic rugby is a bit of a joke. What should have happened is a total merger of the English and Welsh leagues 25 years ago, with the best rising to the top. The lack of promotion and relegation makes the league a real struggle. That said, I do enjoy watching Cardiff Rugby, but mainly cos it's a special ground and nice to stand with mates and watch it

I love international rugby. No fan of the WRU though. It's been an absolutely fantastic six nations and when rugby is good it is a very entertaining game in my opinion

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Cardiff Rugby seems very white middle class

Solicitors, Accountants , Dentists , Medics

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Originally Posted by Des Parrot

Carrying on from the theme above, I didn’t play competitive football until after I left school. The school was entwined with the local rugby clubs, so there was zero opportunity. I watched & supported City from the age of 9, so the effective ban on football, made me resent rugby.

The situation in my extended family is very gender divided. The lads are all football oriented, the girls rugby.

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Wales international games have become a ‘girls event’. The photos you see the day after games seem dominated by women in various pseudo Welsh themed regalia gurning at the camera. Strange how the supporting of those international days have turned out, I won’t say how supporting rugby as a sport has turned out because barring Wales games I doubt they realise that there are club fixtures throughout the season. It’s become a 5 or 6 times a year women’s piss up.

I only caught the tail end of the “amateur” era but the older I get it’s the club game I wish still existed in its previous form. Of course it’s still there, I enjoyed a cold afternoon out watching Pontypool v Newport over Xmas with a few thousand others at Pontypool Park.

At the top level, played in the right spirit, it still can have its moments. The France/NZ game at the WC recently for example.

But something about professionalism has changed the game, arguably not for the better. Sheer physicality, focus on defence, bit of a quagmire on rules to compensate, serious health concerns for players safety, etc.