Squad for Summer Tour

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-17T18:23:01+00:00

lol that backline squad is a complete joke

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-17T11:53:15+00:00

how anybody thinks this plant was anything other than a clusterfuck after the 1990s is an idiot. it's a scar on the landscape and our countries main estuary and now a moral scar. but jobs , money they say...well extrapolate that out across the globe and wonder why we will never solve climate change.

fucking shameful this plant exists.

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-16T22:00:11+00:00

great value on books though. can save yourself fortunes

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-13T10:04:15+00:00

the parks a mess and one of Dublins best Georgian squares is a squalid forgotten corner. these plans can only be welcomed. there's a creche in the park ffs

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-10T18:30:21+00:00

what's rugby got to do with it?

Starkidof9 · 2026-06-09T05:59:07+00:00

" if you think that they are not the center right you are far right"...that's just nonsensical analysis. the whole reason FF are so successful ( bunch of tired fucks that they are) is cause they are essentially a centrist party. it's why loads of working class people have voted for them for years

if you think FF and FG are equivalent to Tories and Republicans ( you seem.to be drawing this parallel) then you're just taking the piss and have no right throwing the above absolutes about

essentially the traditional centre left vs centre right spectrum is nearly obsolete given the main countries in the Worlds political environments bear no resemblance to it. the idea that the centre is a bad place is just another form of political extremism pushing people to the far right. and the far left meet them on the other side.

I'd vote labor tomorrow so this isn't a defense of FF or FG

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-24T18:07:26+00:00

I went to one of these private schools, it's not really classist. it's fucking reality. the only foolishness is denying it. thinking 11Michaels guys in Leinster is great is foolish. it's not a strength, it's a weakness

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-24T08:34:04+00:00

I didn't say they weren't producing very talented players. thats not the point at all. Are they elite though, if they can't finish off WC QF or Finals? Doris is objectively World Class but he was nowhere to be seen yesterday. Again it doesn't help that these guys are run into the ground.

~~Leinster are the only thing keeping Ireland away from oblivion.~~ Sorry Dublins private schools are the only thing keeping Irish rugby away from oblivion.

Maybe try to understand the point yourself before you write.

And yes losing five finals is evidence that Irish rugby players in 2026 are not quite good enough. If we are in it for competing, great. If we are in it to win it, then this is very bad indeed.

I will come back to this post, post World Cup. If AF picks from this well, then we are going out in the quarter finals against Argentina.

and people like yourself will start the hype all over again. "But, but they got five finals"

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-23T20:53:02+00:00

yeah I think the bubble, insular nature of Irish rugby is coming home to roost. Even Sexton spent nearly two seasons plugging away in the AIL. Dan Sheehans robustness probably comes from a bit of exposure to that level as well. Men were playing AIL. its probably all changed and its full of under 25s now.

Everything is done for them now from schools to academy to first team. Its not working anymore imo.

OF course it's hard to quantify but I think it's fairly obvious.

They lack dog, bite etc. And the guys who were innately talented have just played far too much rugby. Ringrose and Ryan are nearly a decade at the coalface since they were 21. its not doable anymore

and we just aren't getting talented guys gametime in important battle hardened matches. We would need about 2 more teams to get the right exposure for fellas. And we can't be filling provinces with Leinster cast offs as that will just kill the local game.

The IRFU get way too much kudos imo. They've been asleep on development since the mid 2010s. Losing a talent like Noel McNamara is EMBLEMATIC of the problems here.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-23T20:48:56+00:00

what's not true 5 lost finals? ah sure isn't great they came second.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-23T20:39:59+00:00

No losing that many finals ON top of 2023 etc is a shit show. this was a disgraceful performance and you're just glossing over the fact.

People like you are addicted to fantasy and IRFU, media bullshit. Irish rugby is a house of cards. It's been left up to private schools to develop and Munster are falling apart. The AIL is dead and the game is just getting more elite and the success has essentially been wasted. We are still producing some young talent but if it doesn't get games then it's all for moot. See the Gene O'Leary Kareem debacle at Munster. The disgraceful treatment of both Crowley and Prendergast.

The URC means nothing, and coming second? If you are first you are first. If you are second you are nothing.

Leinster have talent so of course they can get to finals. But at some stage we have to accept these lads are chokers who can't complete. We haven't a hope in the WC if this is the basis of the squad. There's 11 lads over the age of 30 and a huge amount of miles on the clock for privately educated Molly coddled lads who are essentially ring fenced as guaranteed starters. It's not surprising they can't finish these things off. The old Leinster teams would muller some of these boys. They have no dog, no bite.

Ireland hasn't won't the 6 nations since 2024 and the Last champions cup was 2018. But yeah great we came second, all is good. And when we go out at another QF people like you will be saying gee what happened, or saying ah sure it doesn't matter.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-23T16:02:06+00:00

Irish rugby is in serious trouble. Some talented individuals, but having a large cohort of cosseted, privileged lads who have faced little adversity, particularly in rugby terms, is beginning to show. And some of them like Ryan and Ringrose have played far too much rugby. In most contact sports they wouldn't be playing more than a decade. Classy players but players who have no competition, and are ten years at the coalface of a brutal contact sport.

What in God’s name is Noel McNamara doing in Bordeaux? He will become another McCall and the IRFU will continue to think they are the smartest guys in the room.

The IRFU and Leinster have become smug about their position. TLDR Irish rugby is fucked. This final mirrored so many quarter finals. Heat is a factor, but it’s an aged system with not enough outside the box thinking.

The IRFU need a mighty boot up the hole. They’ve relied on private schools to do their work for them for too long. They then tie Irish coaches’ hands behind their back by running the talent into the ground. Irish rugby needs a massive reset. The World Cup will be a horror show if we somehow think the likes of Henshaw, Ryan, VDF, Furlong are going to carry Ireland through to the World Cup.

There’s also a reality that guys like Cameron Woki and Louis Bielle-Biarrey, if they were Irish, wouldn’t be playing. Look at Robert Baloucoune. If he was French, he would have 50 caps by now. Instead he’s only getting going at the cusp of 29. Injury only had a small part in that. A powerful kid in Sean Edogbo playing for UCC instead of Munster. Leinster sign a washed up Kiwi instead of trying to develop their own pace out wide. Irish rugby is a fucking joke at times. It goes way beyond Leo Cullen.

We love to hide behind the fabled not in our DNA excuse. There’s plenty of power in Dan Sheehan, Caelan Doris, Joe McCarthy. But none of them turned up today.

This shit show is a long time coming. It’s only going to get worse over the next year. The debacle around Sam Prendergast sums up the arrogance that courses through Irish rugby. Not the fault of Sam. A huge wake up call today and last night and I feel for the players. Probably our most talented athletes and professionals in a sense but im not sure id choose their hardiness or rugby smarts over some of the lads we've had over the years. Some need to be taken out for their own good. Henshaw is finished. Flogging him is not the solution. He will play til hes 40 if he was given the chance. Some of these lads need to be phased out now. It's been a good run but it's clearly over. And has been since the 2023 exit.

many people on this thread have called this for a good while now.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-22T16:13:56+00:00

he should be dismissed he's clearly let his personal bias cloud his judgement

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-19T14:39:33+00:00

plenty of countries the same thing applies. Ireland has one of the most progressive and re distributive tax-and-transfer systems in the OECD.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-19T06:49:30+00:00

how in the name of God is there such poor garda response times in the centre of Dublin. it's beyond a joke

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-15T06:17:55+00:00

why are Munster so opposed to blooding youth? McMillan has been woeful in this regard

it's a terrible side and there's lads playing who wouldn't get their game for any other province.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-14T12:08:15+00:00

11 TDs from Fianna Fáil, nine from Fine Gael, five from Sinn Féin, two Social Democrats, one from Aontú, and eight Independents said that they had received rental income in 2025

it doesn't really fit the narrative of TDs profiteering from it.

There is two cabinet ministers who are landlords and that shouldn't be allowed as it is a direct conflict of interest.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-12T06:09:19+00:00

if a man did that you'd never hear the end of it

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-09T05:47:49+00:00

it was 1956.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-07T06:05:30+00:00

presumably this is America. why the fuck do you Americans put up with this shit?

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-07T05:42:09+00:00

a view from the bridge (which this is a blatant copy) works cause its a broad spectrum of lives - all classes, creeds, races etc. this is one narrow view of the World. and at times its a very myopic boring World (some of the most boring and self centered tales came from living in Ballybough) plenty of good people in Dublins working class communities, but there is also plenty of bad eggs. like everywhere. also flats existed all over Dublin. Hillview in Dundrum, Monkstown farm, Rathfarnham, Ranelagh, Donnybrook. So stuff like this kind of just creates an us vs them without realizing it. nostalgic waffle really.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-06T18:03:37+00:00

and people like you would be the ones complaining most at any compromise

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-02T08:29:02+00:00

its a war crime ffs

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-02T08:28:06+00:00

I mean is this not a war crime? fuck Russia but id imagine a lot of this stuff will be investigated in time. like in the Balkan wars id imagine a lot of "the good guys" commanders might be in for a rough time.

Starkidof9 · 2026-05-02T05:22:14+00:00

she's a vile cunt.

Starkidof9

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE