Who do you support at international Level?

First topic message reminder :

Just a short article in the lead up to the world cup, also trying to gauge how many differant Rugby playing nations are represented here.

I hope I have covered all the bases, and you can only vote once, but feel free to post other nations you have a soft spot for.

Scotland are my Main team, but I also have a soft spot for Wales, and I love watching New Zealand play.....well who wouldn't?

Also I am a massive fan of the B&I Lions.

biltongbek wrote:

Notch wrote:South Africa has a far smaller population than the NH nations? I would have thought you had a similar population to England or France

I am not talking about per country, I am talking collectively.

SA 49 million GDP 500 billion
NZ 4.5 million GDP 114 billion
Australia 22 million GDP 1.235 trillion
Fiji 850 thousand GDP 4 billion
Samoa 180 thousand GDP 1 billion
Tonga 100 thousand GDP 800 million
Argentina 40 million GDP 642 billion.

A collective population of approximately 118 miilion with a GDP of 1.8 trillion.

vs the European rugby playing nations ( only the western european nations.

France 65 million GDP 2.1 trillion
England 59 million GDP 1.9 trillion
Ireland 6 million GDP (can't find it on wiki)
Italy 60 million GDP 1.7 trillion.
Scotland 5 million 124 GDP 124 billion
Wales 3 million GDP 85 billion

Thus a collective of approximately 200 million and a GDP of close to 6 trillion.

What has overall population and GDP got to do with rugby? Surely the reality is that SA have a massive player and supporter base, a good rugby playing gene pool and favourable rugby playing weather conditions?

If the above stats were relevent to rugby the Italy would wipe the floor with NZ.

It seems a few of you are struggling with the concept.

I started off by saying I support the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE and love the fact that they dominate world rugby.

I didn't say I just support SA.

What has money and population to with rugby.

Well kids, you always mention that the money is in Europe, Yes SA has a big player base, but NZ, OZ, Fiji, Tonga, Argentina and Samoa doesn't.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:I love watching Japan play in World Cups. It´s like watching a car in an uncontrolled slide on black ice. You know what´s going to happen but just for a brief moment you think somehow they´ll pull it off.

Brill comment, funny and so so true!! LOL!

Support wallabies, then the kiwis, even though no kiwi woudl ever support their cousins cross the ditch!! Then boks, England and France.

Really looking forward the the Baltic states and Eastern Europe and Russia taking rugby to heart, I think there's a vast untapped super team in the making with them. their drilling I woudl think wil be perfect and the sheer size and strength of some of them would make an awesome side!

biltongbek wrote:Well kids, you always mention that the money is in Europe, Yes SA has a big player base, but NZ, OZ, Fiji, Tonga, Argentina and Samoa doesn't.

Actually the money was in Europe. Bar Germany we're all broke.

England and France have a big player base but Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Italy don't.

Some teams appear to punch above their weight like NZ, Australia, Argentina and perhaps Ireland whereas others appear to underachieve like France and England, however there are other factors to consider other than just population and player numbers.

OZT - are you saying that Russia and Georgia etc are likely to form a Super Rugby team. Surely breaking into the European competitions is more likely.

no, I meant super as in 'super'... not super rugby....

super as in superior..

Ah right yes I agree. I think that Eastern Europe will be the next big growth spurt for rugby maybe followed by the expansion of the Italian teams and the arrival of Germany. Japan is possible too.

I don't see Africa or the Americas really ever getting into it.

Scotland and the Lions.

Otherwise I tend to side with the underdog whoever is playing, and always enjoy seeing a scalp or two taken (a mindset that comes with being a Scotland fan I guess).

If Scotland don't win the World Cup, I'd like to see another NH team win it.

Greybeard, who are you asking?

I was asking you, it was supposed to be a quick witty message.

Of course, wit is in the eye of the beholder I'll leave it to the professionals

Ah, I see. It was the absence of the that confused me!

It does strike me as strange that someone would base their opinion of an entire nation on the behaviour of some posters on an internet forum, but each to their own.

Ah, could be worse. Some people base their sex lives on the invented personalities of other people on an internet forum.

Wow, I knew there was quite a few of us Irish but are we really the biggest number on the rugby section?

Aye there is a really big chunk of Irish posters here. Nearly more than double the 2nd best supported team.

Sad to see so few Scotland Supporters on here. I know a lot of you like us as a "2nd" team but sad to see only 7 here

Only seven that have bothered to vote anyway, Radge!

Scotland aren't my second team. Let us beat you a couple of times at Murrayfield, and maybe you'll get there.

MBTGOG wrote:Wow, I knew there was quite a few of us Irish but are we really the biggest number on the rugby section?

I bet theres a few Plastic paddies as Neil Francis would say . It's probably a sign of the demographics with lots of students, unemployed or people who work in front of a PC all day.....

I'd be happy to give scotland a vote but we're only allowed one vote , besides there's probably a few more if you count the Ulster- Scots contingent

wales.
but you need another option- whoever england are playing

Australia (NSW...but happy for the Reds this year)
NZ (Mum's from there - Southland/Canterbury/Otago)
Ireland
England
Scotland
France

I also have a soft spot for Wales (although no ancestry there as far as I know), and PI nations & Argentina

Very healthy respect for SA but usually support the underdog, except when they play the ABs.

My nation is England and I'll support them through thick and thin. But I also watch out for Ireland too as my family are from Donegal.

Interesting Cumbrian, I have links to Donegal (Mulligan's) and Devon.

England, followed by France/Australia (family ties), followed by Ireland.

It's interesting family history to me. My Grandmother's family name is Harkins and they left Donegal a little while before she was born. It's somewhere I'd love to visit but haven't quite got round to it yet.

Wales, as I'm Welsh. Soft spot for Fiji, just because of the way that they play the game. Wish they'd stop beating us though

Cumbrian wrote:It's interesting family history to me. My Grandmother's family name is Harkins and they left Donegal a little while before she was born. It's somewhere I'd love to visit but haven't quite got round to it yet.

Where in Donegal are your family from Cumbrian? There's a lot of Harkins up this direction.

I hope all you ex-donegal bog men support Ulster too!

Am sure that there's more than 7 of us, Radge - you, me, FES, InjuredYetAgain, Gaelic-Warrior, MrScotland27, Dotty_M, Tattie Scones, Boston, RDW, ImperialBD, RiskySports, IanBru, 21st century schizoid man .... Off the top of my heid, and I'm sure I've missed a few.

Great result for the U20s yesterday, a good win over Tonga, so definitely no ignominy of relegation and now playing for 9th place vs Argentina Weir and Hogg have made a big difference, and players like Kennedy, Gilmour, Gossman and Tyas have stepped up

luckless_pedestrian wrote:It does strike me as strange that someone would base their opinion of an entire nation on the behaviour of some posters on an internet forum, but each to their own.

Especially a forum where it was so easy to register fake accounts. Says it all really.

Anyway, I'm Welsh (sorry Craving), so I support Wales. I did like Ireland as a second team, but after registering on 606 V2, I've done a complete 180.

roddersm wrote:

Cumbrian wrote:It's interesting family history to me. My Grandmother's family name is Harkins and they left Donegal a little while before she was born. It's somewhere I'd love to visit but haven't quite got round to it yet.

Where in Donegal are your family from Cumbrian? There's a lot of Harkins up this direction.

I hope all you ex-donegal bog men support Ulster too!

To be honest, I'm not to sure. My Grandmother believes that the family are from one of the towns/ villages of Inishowen, but we lost contact with our remaining relatives in Ireland. It's a bit confusing because she did some research and thinks there are/ were still some of our family in West Donegal and Leitrim too. It's a bit vague for my liking, I'll pick up the trail myself one of these days.

I like the Ulster lot, always been good laugh when they've come over to Bath.

Inishowen is a great place, just up the road. Good luck in your search tracing your routes .

Wales first and foremost, then scotland (great supporters), France (because they are either the best or worst team in the world). I like watching the aussies play too. Other than that i tend to support the underdog.

Dont like the kiwis they have worst supporters :run1:

roddersm wrote:

biltongbek wrote:

Notch wrote:South Africa has a far smaller population than the NH nations? I would have thought you had a similar population to England or France

I am not talking about per country, I am talking collectively.

SA 49 million GDP 500 billion
NZ 4.5 million GDP 114 billion
Australia 22 million GDP 1.235 trillion
Fiji 850 thousand GDP 4 billion
Samoa 180 thousand GDP 1 billion
Tonga 100 thousand GDP 800 million
Argentina 40 million GDP 642 billion.

A collective population of approximately 118 miilion with a GDP of 1.8 trillion.

vs the European rugby playing nations ( only the western european nations.

France 65 million GDP 2.1 trillion
England 59 million GDP 1.9 trillion
Ireland 6 million GDP (can't find it on wiki)
Italy 60 million GDP 1.7 trillion.
Scotland 5 million 124 GDP 124 billion
Wales 3 million GDP 85 billion

Thus a collective of approximately 200 million and a GDP of close to 6 trillion.

What has overall population and GDP got to do with rugby? Surely the reality is that SA have a massive player and supporter base, a good rugby playing gene pool and favourable rugby playing weather conditions?

If the above stats were relevent to rugby the Italy would wipe the floor with NZ.

I'm not really interested in the affairs of the other NH rugby nations to be honest. As I said my team is Ireland, my second team is Argentina. If I'm being honest I have soft spots for Italy and Scotland as well but I'd never base my choice of team to support on Hemisphere!

And I don't really understand why anyone else does to be honest with you. But- to each their own! Just remember that the GDP/Population argument is only really applicable to France and England. Not Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Italy. Ireland and Wales definitely punch above their weight, and Ireland's abilities and record are all I'm interested in. Most of the time when you guys are playing France and England I want you to win!

I think GDP is a red herring. What's important is how much money is actually being spent on rugby; government grants, money made by merchandising and ticket sales (for both the national side and any professional sides) and of course investment attracted from the private sector (like TV deals and sponsorships); that is the major financial driver behind rugby at the top level, with government spending, spending from the Union and fan's spending (club fees, fundraising etc) being more important to the grassroots.

Even though Italy has a far superior GDP to New Zealand I'm willing to bet the Kiwis buy more replica shirts, go to more games, get a higher proportion of investment into rugby facilities from their government etc. I mean, just in terms of TV deals the All Blacks, SupeRugby and ITM Cup are broadcast all over the world by the Murdoch media. The only TV station in Italy that carried coverage of their two professional sides went bust in the middle of the season. And in Italy you're lucky if you get 5,000 to an Aironi or Treviso game.

BridgendBoyo wrote:Wales first and foremost, then scotland (great supporters), France (because they are either the best or worst team in the world). I like watching the aussies play too. Other than that i tend to support the underdog.

Dont like the kiwis they have worst supporters :run1:

Careful mate . I've only just finished "tidying up" that Irishman with the NZ-sounding name's comment about the Welsh ...

All good banter so far folks, but please be careful with the sweeping nation-based generalisations. Some of the more patriotic out there may get upset .

Apologies, only read as far as the first page and decided to stick my oar in

"Ireland 6 million GDP (can't find it on wiki)"

You can't find it because I think the Irish GDP is currently zero....

Hong Kong, then England, then Ireland.. I also support anyone playing Wales.

Risca Rev wrote:

Breadvan wrote:Ospreys are my club side but a true saesneg at heart

Blinking heck, HERSH is back

Yeh great. Thanks for that Risca!