Caolán Scully
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
I don't know what your take is on it.
I think there is an oversaturation of rugby at times.
I don't think I need, like even me as a journalist, I can go and see Ulster Zebra if I have to for work, but I don't need it to be on.
There's other sports that could take that slot just as easily.
And I think rugby is probably grappling with that identity crisis of not being front and centre in everyone's minds.
Because as you probably would have seen, you know, Ireland were very close to qualify for the Football World Cup this year in dramatic fashion.
And if that had happened, and I maintain this, I think the Irish rugby bubble would have shrunk even more.
I think when you see the level of excitement that there was for football, and yes, it's the biggest sport in the world, I understand that, you just realise how much of the event junkie was going to hop over.
And even now, we've got the Katie Taylor fight coming up in September, her farewell fight in Croke Park.
No one's going to be talking about the URC returning literally two weeks after.
Do you know?
And like,
There's some good slate of games.
It's still a very well watched league on a kind of relative scale.
The Irish provinces do better than say they're some English counterparts, but we are an event junkie nation.
We love our sport, but we love sport more than necessarily just rugby.
And I will say there has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about Champions Cup model changes, URC changes, Anglo-Irish League, things like that, or British and Irish League, I should say.
I would be of the opinion that a British and Irish League is probably the natural end point.
Not to exclude South African teams, I would not be in favour of excluding them or the Italians.
I think they offer a lot.