Sir, – In response to Barry Dowling’s letter (February 23rd) concerning “an international soccer crowd”, I agree there is some truth in the suggestion that the rugby supporters possess the high moral ground with regard to some aspects of crowd behaviour.
Yet would it be too much to request for this superiority to be translated into something resembling an atmosphere at these rugby games? Never-ending renditions of the Fields of Athenryand "Ireland – Ireland" following the outrageous double anthem to include the horrific Ireland's Callin the interest of political correctness, are becoming quite tedious.
Maybe this is to be expected in a stadium with its naming rights sold and its national team playing with its jerseys adorned by a corporate sponsor.
If we wish to learn from our soccer team or our Welsh conquerors, perhaps we could start by trying to compete with their singing in the hope that the performance on the pitch and atmosphere catches up. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – In my days playing schoolboy rugby, alas long, long ago at this stage, I recall being told that soccer was a gentleman’s game played by ruffians and rugby was a ruffian’s game played by gentlemen. – Yours, etc,
Sir – Both Declan Bannon (February 21st) and Barry Dowling (February 23rd) are in danger of starting a completely unnecessary row about whether Irish rugby or soccer fans are better behaved. In this country we have a national fault that seems incapable of giving ourselves credit where it is due. Our international reputation in many areas is far higher than you would believe if all you could see was Irish media coverage.
In fact Irish fans of both soccer and rugby enjoy a deserved reputation for being extremely sporting, passionate and impeccably behaved. This was proved by both sets of fans in the same Paris stadium in the past few years. Whether our teams do well or badly our supporters represent us superbly. This is something that we can all be proud of. – Yours, etc,