willie wacker (03-06-16)
When Munster and Ulster were dying see us turfed out of the professional game, Leinster stood by us!
The greatest achievement in the history of Connacht sport!
BTW The IRFU offer to Madigan of joining Connacht was put on the table post him aggring to join Brive, otherwise he would be in The Sportsground! Great to see him going on the Summer Tour, even though he was threatened with banishment for going to France!
Last edited by The Libertarian; 02-06-16 at 22:51.
Ride them on the beaches!
willie wacker (03-06-16)
Funny how the IRFU kinda gave sexton their blessing and castigated Madigan
Double standards.
I always use to support Munster as my second team but I seen over a period of time they were no friends of Connacht rugby.
Moving one of our games to cork, playing a weakened team against ulster when we needed them to beat them for us.
The 3 times we played in the H cup was due to Leinster nominating us , we get a lot of extra players from Leinster too
Last edited by willie wacker; 03-06-16 at 12:20.
" WE ARE CONNACHT "
I have to say a few points have been made there which are incorrect. Leinster never "nominated" Connaught to compete in the Heineken cup, Connaught qualified by virtue of an irish team, mostly leinster, winning European competitions. Schmidt made it quite clear a few years ago when leinster were getting a bit of grief for pinching connaughts best players that connaught should be grateful to leinster for that fact. Secondly leinster have been pinching connaughts best players for years, just because they have been sending some of their younger players to Connaught, as if it were some type of feeder club, they feel they have the divine right to take whatever decent player comes along, Cronin, McCarthy, and now Henshaw, just to name a few. They were only letting fellas go to Connaught because they were deemed not good enough to play for Leinster. I believe it was ulster which were the main protagonists when it came to the prospect of Connaughts demotion to a semi professional outfit, and leinster weren't far behind them. Munster would have had some sympathy for Connaught because we were always looked down upon by the D4 crew. Maybe the Munster branch made some poor decisions, I doubt decisions on the pitch were ever made deliberately to the detriment of Connaught, If Connaught had a guaranteed home semi final with a game to spare i'm sure they would field a weakened side too. We didn't get too many players out of Connaught either. Warwick was a free agent as I recall, we certainly didn't get too many irish internationals. And by the way, Madigan is going to Bordeaux, not Brive.
That said, I had the good fortune to be in Galway during the week and there was still a great buzz around the place, I say it again, I do not mean to patronise, most Irish rugby supports were backing Connaught this year the same way they were backing munster 10-15 years ago. Genuine rugby fans are a bit more open minded to be fair. I look forward to seeing the Connaught guys get their chance at international level this year, they deserve it.
blue rebel (03-06-16), The D Man (04-06-16), willie wacker (04-06-16)
Cortez (03-06-16)
willie wacker (04-06-16)
At no stage I'm I having a go at any rugby fan from any Province , if I'm pointing a finger it's at the IRFU officials and the hierarchy that have a lot to answer for.
I don't believe there was or is any rugby fan in Ireland who ever want to see Connacht disbanded 13 years ago, any I ever talked to were appalled at the idea.
I hope that clears it all up as I do not want to insult any rugby fan here
" WE ARE CONNACHT "
willie wacker (04-06-16)
Not really true
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fields_of_Athenry
Sporting anthem[edit]
The song was adopted by Republic of Ireland national football team supporters during the 1990 World Cup and subsequently by Celtic supporters in the early 1990s.[8][9]
Celtic Football Club in Glasgow has a large following in Ireland and among people in Scotland of Irish descent.[10] During the Great Famine in Ireland during the 1840s, 15,000 Irish famine victims emigrated to Glasgow. When Celtic's long serving Irish goalkeeper Packie Bonner had a testimonial match in 1991, he invited Pete St John to attend the event and speak to the crowd before the game. St John began by thanking Glasgow for looking after the famine victims, and then began to sing Fields of Athenry, accompanied by thousands of fans. He later described it as one of the most memorable moments of his life.
The song's popularity, due in part to its use at sporting events, has helped to attract tourists to Athenry. In recognition of this, the town's officials invited Pete St John to a civic reception and presented him with a mace and chain as a token of their appreciation.
The song is also associated with the Connacht, Munster, London Irish and Ireland rugby union teams.[11] It's also seen by many as Galway's county song, sung at the various GAA matches when the county is playing.[12]
Fans of Cork City F.C. adopted "The Fields of Bishopstown" to the same tune, with lyrics changed from the original version. It is sung regularly at home games.
"The Fields of Anfield Road" was adopted by Liverpool supporters to the same tune, but with adapted lyrics referencing their history and stadium.[11]
At the Beijing Olympics Boxing Final featuring Irish boxer Kenny Egan, Tom Humphries of the Irish Times noted, "By the time Egan and Zhang emerged the great rhythmic roars of "Zhang! Zhang! Zhang!" competed to drown out the lusty warblings of a large Irish contingent who returned to singing of the problems of social isolation in rural Athenry."[13]
During the UEFA Euro 2012 group stage game against Spain, the Irish fans started singing the song roughly 83 minutes into the game and sang for the last six minutes of regulation, as well as past the full-time whistle, knowing that they were going to be eliminated from the group as they were down by four goals and had failed to accrue the points necessary to remain in the tournament. Multiple commentators fell silent and stopped commenting for the final minutes, leaving the crowd's singing as the only voices heard.[14] The display of support was noted in media in Denmark,[15] Canada,[16] the Netherlands, Indonesia,[17] Spain,[18] Austria,[19] the United Arab Emirates,[20] Poland (where the match took place), the United Kingdom,[21] Belgium, Armenia,[22] Portugal, China,[23] Germany[24] and many more where the song's provenance was explained.[25]
" WE ARE CONNACHT "
blue rebel (04-06-16)