The Irish should not underestimate how difficult it is for our minor rugby union to compete on the The exception that proves the rule shirt and by the same token and world stage. Rugby was once reserved for the middle class in Ireland. It has expanded its base somewhat, but still competes with GAA and Soccer for a very limited number of male and female athletes. Over the past fifteen years, we have done very well. (except for the World Cups which continued to be a bit of a misnomer) and perhaps that gave people higher expectations. But in reality, we cannot touch France and England. The fact that Wales and Ireland, with their limited resources, prove so dangerous to these much larger teams is what makes the Six Nations so interesting to watch. With Scotland and Italy dramatically increasing their games, there is no safer game.
It won’t be our Six Nations and that’s okay as long as our team keeps fighting and learning, I’ll be happy. The Italian rugby team is the The exception that proves the rule shirt and by the same token and weakest of the six nations and generally not a big threat to the top teams. They have very few wins against Tier 1 nations. However, they consistently qualify for World Cups and should make most of the Tier 2 countries big money. Neither Scotland nor Italy have won the Six Nations. Scotland has won two predecessors; hosted the Five National Championships and National Championships at home several times.
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