Irish Rugby Research Articles

Sporting shades of green: a comparative analysis of sponsored national mythmaking in Irish rugby and soccer

This paper derives from an ongoing study of how modern sports contribute to the (re)definition of national identities in the context of increasing marketization and mediatization of sport at different levels. In this paper, we examine the symbolic tensions surrounding Three Ireland’s concurrent sponsorship of the Irish international football and rugby union teams via an analysis of two television commercials commissioned by the sponsor. We suggest that although different signifiers of Irish identity are employed in the football and rugby commercials examined – and that each ostensibly represents a different ‘version’ of Irish identity – both campaigns draw largely from a common fund of cultural authenticity. Our analysis suggests that Three Ireland has constructed broad texts that comfortably accommodate differing signifiers of Irish identity and that permit the sponsor to trade in limited and controllable degrees of cultural difference. More broadly, our paper demonstrates how national identity can function as a ‘multi-directional symbol’.

Rushing to Judgment: The Evolution of Sports Disciplinary and Arbitral Bodies in Ireland

This article provides a review of judicial scrutiny of decisions of the leading sports authorities in Ireland. It focuses primarily on the Gaelic Athletic Association (‘GAA’), Ireland’s leading sports organisation, and the manner in which it has dealt with the increasing incidents of so-called ‘ambush injunctions’, whereby individual participants seek, primarily through the use of interlocutory orders, to circumvent playing suspensions. The GAA’s experience, which is all the more remarkable given that it administers fundamentally amateur games, has been reflected across the Irish sporting spectrum with the Irish horse-racing authorities (the ‘Turf Club’), the Football Association of Ireland (‘FAI’) and the Irish Rugby Football Union (‘IRFU’) facing similar ‘rushes to judgment’.An interim assessment of the GAA’s recently enhanced disciplinary mechanism – the Disputes Resolution Authority – follows this introductory context. The DRA, of which the author is a panel member, is an arbitral-based disciplinary tribunal, independent of the GAA’s central authorities, and hears disputes referred to it on an appellate basis only. The establishment of the DRA is of interest for Irish sports administration as a whole. It is suggested that a body of similar operational remit might be used as the basis of a national sports disputes tribunal for Ireland. This analysis of the DRA and the concomitant promotion of a soi-disant Irish Court of Arbitration for Sport, forms the central part of this brief review, throughout which frequent use is made of the persuasive authority of English law.

Irish rugby and the First World War

This article explores the relationship between Irish rugby and the First World War. When the war initially broke out, the response of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) was much in keeping with that of their English counterpart: fixtures were cancelled and clubs were encouraged to urge enlistment among players and members. The IRFU set up a Volunteer Corps from which a ‘pals’ regiment fought at Gallipoli. Yet for all this ostensibly selfless support, the game of rugby in Ireland, collectively, had a complex relationship with the War. Though rugby players in significant numbers signed up, the motivations for enlistment were complex and contingent upon multiple factors, many of which may not have been rugby-related. Nevertheless, the rugby establishment in Ireland attempted to carve out a special claim for the game of rugby union and its contribution to war effort. This was done mainly through sympathetic newspaper editorials highlighting the sacrifice of individual clubs and players, and making favourable comparisons between the war record of rugby union and other less ‘loyal’ sports. It is argued, ultimately, that the sport may have made exaggerated claims for itself and that these, in turn, were inspired by a hostile political context that threatened the position of southern Irish protestants, the group from which the rugby establishment was largely drawn.

A profile of rugby injuries in adolescent Irish rugby players

A profile of rugby injuries in adolescent Irish rugby players

Prevalence of and attitudes about concussion in Irish schools' rugby union players.

Youth rugby players represent 45.2% (N = 69,472) of the Irish rugby union playing population. The risk and consequences of concussion injury are of particular concern in these young athletes, but limited epidemiological data exists. This study investigated annual and lifetime prevalence of concussion in an Irish schoolboy rugby union cohort. An anonymous cross-sectional survey of youth rugby players was conducted. Diagnosed concussion was defined as an incident where diagnosis was confirmed by a health professional or coach. Demographics, prevalence, and attitudes to concussion were collated. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, chi-square test, t-tests, Mann-Whitney tests, and logistic regression. Overall, 304 youth (aged 12-18 years) responded. Lifetime prevalence of diagnosed concussion was 19.4%, with annual (2010) prevalence 6.6%. Approximately 25.4% of players with diagnosed concussions returned to play without medical advice. Internal motivation (11.8%) was the predominant factor in feeling pressure to play while concussed. A desire for further concussion education was expressed by 89.5% of participants. Reform is required to prevent and manage concussion injuries among youth players in the rugby union, including mandatory education specific to concussion and implementation of return-to-play protocols. These findings have relevance for governing bodies, coaches, clinicians, schools, parents, and rugby union players.

Concussion knowledge and management practices among coaches and medical staff in Irish professional rugby teams.

Self-reported concussion rates among U-20 and elite rugby union players in Ireland are 45-48%. Half of these injuries go unreported. Accurate knowledge of concussion signs and symptoms and appropriate management practices among coaches and medical staff is important to improve the welfare of players. Examine concussion knowledge among coaches, and management techniques among medical staff of professional Irish rugby teams. Surveys were administered to 11 coaches and 12 medical staff at the end of the 2010-2011 season. Coaches demonstrated an accurate knowledge of concussion with a good understanding of concussion-related symptoms. Medical staff reported using a variety of methods for assessing concussion and making return-to-play decisions. Reliance on subjective clinical methods was evident, with less reliance on objective postural stability performance. Overall, the coaches in this investigation have accurate knowledge of concussion and medical staff use effective techniques for managing this injury. On-going education is needed to assist coaches in identifying concussion signs and symptoms. It is recommended that medical staff increase their reliance on objective methods for assessment and return-to-play decision making.

The Pacific Islander in Irish Rugby: From Exotic ‘Other’ to Global Professional Colleague

This paper explores historical and contemporary connections between Irish rugby and the Pacific Islands. Tracing these connections from the first tours to the British Isles by Fijian rugby teams in the 1960s through to the contemporary professional era, this paper seeks to elucidate the evolving perception of the Pasifika within Irish rugby. Ultimately, it is argued that key contextual shifts in global rugby and Irish society from the mid-1990s gave rise to a clear shift in the function and perception of the Pacific Islander rugby player in Europe, and specifically of Ireland. A figure who was once seen as the exotic ‘other’ became a sought-after commodity in the global rugby transfer market.

THE PREVALENCE OF PATELLAR TENDINOPATHY IN ELITE ACADEMY RUGBY; A CLINICAL AND IMAGING STUDY WITH 12 MONTH FOLLOW UP

BackgroundPatellar tendinopathy (PT) is a challenging condition with variable outcomes. Injuries that are traditionally associated with training volume such as tendinopathies are less frequently reported in rugby but are likely...

Business Model Design as a ‘Patchwork Quilt’: The Role of Local Social Identity in Imitation Choices

This paper focuses on business model innovation (BMI) of a peripheral organization as a response to environmental uncertainty triggered by an abrupt industry-level change. Using a case study of the Irish Rugby Football Union, an organization that successfully transformed its business model after a regulatory change, we empirically demonstrate the fact that BMI within peripheral organization is a stream of selective imitation of practices from multiple external role models. We examine the dual role of local social identity in BMI as a filter in role model choice and as a driver of value creation and value appropriation in the new business model. Bridging experimentation-driven and experimentation-driven approaches to BMI, we explore to what extent trial-and-error learning is possible in a peripheral, resource-constrained organization and seek to shed the light on the debate regarding the choice of role models in inter-organizational imitation. Our exploratory case study brings together qualitative data from 33 interviews and participant observation with the analysis of quantitative performance data.

Anthropometric Profile and Body Composition of Irish Adolescent Rugby Union Players Aged 16–18

The literature suggests that one of the key determinants of success at rugby union international competitions is the anthropometric profile of players. The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) long-term player development (LTPD) model is a framework designed to guide the development of the tactical, physical, and psychological domains of sporting participation. In Ireland, the Train-to-Train stage of the IRFU model is a critical stage, whereby the next developmental progression would include the transition of players into professional academies. To date, no previously published studies have examined the anthropometric profile of Irish Schools' rugby union players at the Train-to-Train stage of the IRFU model. The anthropometric profile of 136 male adolescent rugby union players at the Train-to-Train stage of the IRFU model was assessed using total-body dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Significant differences in height, body mass, body fat percentage, fat mass, lean mass, and fat-free mass were observed between players assigned to the forward and back units, and for specific position categorizations within each unit. Direct logistic regression revealed that body mass was a statistically significant (p < 0.01) predictor of unit position classification, with an odds ratio of 2.35, indicating that the players with a higher body mass were twice as likely to be classified as forwards. The results of this study indicate that at the Train-to-Train stage of the IRFU model, forward and back units have distinctly different anthropometric profiles. Furthermore, anthropometric differentiation also exists within specific position categorizations within each of these playing units. Thus, anthropometric profiling should be carried out on a systematic and periodic basis, because this will allow for the evaluation of the effectiveness of the implementation strategies of the IRFU model on a national basis.

Concussion history and reporting rates in elite Irish rugby union players

ObjectivesTo determine the self-reported, seasonal rates of concussion and the reporting practices among Irish rugby union players. DesignDescriptive epidemiology study. SettingThe study was conducted at the training grounds of four professional Irish rugby union clubs. ParticipantsOne hundred seventy-two players (24.97 ± 4.11 years of age, 13.49 ± 5.79 years playing experience) gave consent to participate. Main outcome measuresNumber of concussions reported during the 2010–2011 season, reasons for not reporting, and positions of concussed players. ResultsForty-five percent of players reported at least one concussion during the 2010–2011 season, but only 46.6% of these presented to medical staff. The reasons for not reporting their concussions included, not thinking the injury was serious enough, and not wanting to be removed from the game. The relative proportion of concussions was higher for backs than forwards; however, the severity of injury was greater for forwards. Scrum-halves (12.0%) and flankers (10.9%) accounted for the majority of concussions reported. ConclusionsThe self-reported rate of concussion in elite rugby union players in Ireland is higher than reported in other countries or other sports. Many concussions remain unreported and, therefore, unmanaged. However, recent changes in concussion management guidelines by the International Rugby Board may impact future reporting practices of players.

Obituary of Patrick Gaffney

Patrick Gaffney was born in Cork, Ireland in 1934, and educated at the National University of Ireland, graduating with a BSc and first‐class honours in 1957. A year later, after working as a demonstrator, he was awarded an MSc, before moving to England, where he obtained a Diploma of Biochemistry at Reading University. After a research appointment with Lever Brothers, he went Ohio State University, where, in 1965, he was awarded a PhD for his work on fibrin polymerization. Patrick then obtained a postdoctoral fellowship in the American Red Cross Blood research laboratory, where he was an important member of the group that isolated hemoglobin Hammersmith, published in Nature in 1966. He then returned to the UK when he was appointed to the MRC staff at the abnormal hemoglobin research unit in the Department of Biochemistry of Cambridge University. In 1969, he left Cambridge after being appointed to the staff of the National Institute for Medical Research and the National Institute of Biological Standards and Control of the MRC at Mill Hill and South Mimms, where he remained until he retired in 1999. In the course of his long and distinguished career, he was awarded a DSc from the National University of Ireland in 1976 and an honorary MRCPath & FRCPath from the Royal College of Pathologists of England. He held visiting professorships at the University of Notre Dame in the USA, the University of Leuven in Belgium, the University of Dublin in Ireland, and Guys and St Thomas's in London. He was a founder member of the ‘Haemostasis Club’ and a member of the ISTH, the Biochemical Society, and the Atherosclerosis Discussion Group. He was on the committee of the ISTH and the chairman of various sub‐committees. He edited the Thrombosis Research for 13 years, and was on the Editorial Boards of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and Fibrinolysis for many years. He held two MRC project grants and a Wellcome project grant, and published over 200 original papers in peer‐reviewed journals, many in association with his PhD students and worldwide collaborators. Five of his papers were published in Nature and two in the Lancet, and many were published in the specialist journals Thombosis and Fibrinolysis. His major research interests were the standardization of the components of hemostasis and the molecular pathology of thrombosis, atherosclerosis and metastasis of malignant tumors. His work on developing and standardizing biochemical assays for the plasminogen activators underpinned many other studies on the basic mechanisms of thrombus formation and resolution and metastasis. Patrick was a staunch Catholic and had a long and happy marriage to Dianah, an Australian, with whom he had a large family and of whom he was immensely proud. He was a keen golfer and an avid Irish rugby supporter. He had a large group of local and international friends who all found his company both entertaining and stimulating. He was a genuinely good man of strong principles. He would not be involved in research utilizing tissue taken from human embryos. When he was bequeathed a house by a man who he had befriended, he gave a considerable amount of the proceeds to the church. Sadly, he developed malignant melanoma, and earlier this year faced up to his final illness with great courage, while always enquiring whether new treatments could cure his tumor. Patrick passed away on 1 March 2013. Patrick's unique sense of humor will also be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues. The author states that he has no conflict of interest.

A national survey of clubs medical personnel, facilities and protocols in Irish Rugby Union

Rugby Union is one of the most popular sports in Ireland. Participation in all sports carries risk, and there is an onus on governing bodies and those involved in sport to minimise this risk using injury prevention and management programmes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the current status of medical personnel, facilities and equipment in Rugby Union clubs in Ireland. A nationwide cross sectional survey of affiliated clubs in Ireland was undertaken at the beginning of the 2011-2012. Clubs were surveyed on a range of variables including their medical personnel, facilities, equipment, policies and concussion. 47.7 % of those surveyed responded. The majority reported involvement of appropriate medically qualified personnel, having a dedicated medical area/room, a first aid kit and defibrillator, and a demand for first aid courses. This survey provided key information on the current medical status of clubs in Ireland to the governing body. Many clubs have adequate medical resources in place, however a large number do not have medical professionals working with them or own basic medical equipment. The results of this study have lead to the development and implementation of a rugby specific injury prevention and management programme for medical and non-medical personnel at all levels of the game in Ireland.

Diaspora and Rootedness, Amateurism and Professionalism in Media Discourses of Irish Soccer and Rugby in the 1990s and 2000s

Diaspora and Rootedness, Amateurism and Professionalism in Media Discourses of Irish Soccer and Rugby in the 1990s and 2000s Marcus Free (bio) This article explores the tensions between conceptualizations of the nation in terms of diaspora and rootedness, and between amateurism and professionalism, in Irish media discourses of Irish soccer and rugby in the 1990s and 2000s. Given the article’s broad scope and limited space, detailed theoretical elaboration and extensive examination of discursive data will not be possible.1 Rather, the article offers a tentative overview of how these tensions have been manifested in Irish print and broadcast media, and of how they have evinced fantasies and anxieties about sporting achievement as indicative of collective national achievement. The popularized notion of diaspora in Irish society in the 1990s facilitated the transformation of Ireland’s history of emigration into a narrative of emigrant success in the global economy. Emigrant professional [End Page 211] footballers were seen as exemplars, their success indicative of “native” qualities rooted in national community. A peculiarity of Irish sport is the overwhelming popularity of the amateur Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), whose games are not played internationally.2 Although soccer and rugby lag behind GAA games in levels of domestic participation and spectatorship, their international contests attract considerable media and popular attention in Ireland.3 The Republic of Ireland soccer team’s participation in the 1988 European championships and the 1990, 1994, and 2002 World Cup tournaments with teams composed exclusively of emigrant or emigrant-descended players coincided with the popularization (and was cited as exemplary) of the concept of diaspora at this time and with a reimagining of Irish emigrant history as a narrative of success rather than economic and cultural failure.4 However, paid sportsmen make unstable heroic objects of investment. Extensively publicized refusals of national selection by high-profile players have highlighted the fragility of projections of national heroism and shown how the economic power and cultural significance of clubs as employers conflict with those of international competition. By contrast, Irish success in international club-rugby in the 2000s has generated sporting heroes whose success is traced to amateur commitment to place and community despite rugby’s professionalization in 1995. This attribution offered a vision of a nationally sustainable professional game where player professionalism was driven by local rootedness, despite the provinces’ regional rather than traditional club status. Journalists and other commentators in the Irish media depicted rugby’s crossing of amateur/professional, middle/working-class, urban/rural, and North/South divides as the successful national integration of multiple masculinities, a narrative that contrasts with predominantly working-class emigration to British professional football. Hence there arose an ideologically loaded [End Page 212] parable of “native” masculine achievement despite the catastrophic decline of Ireland’s economy beginning in late 2007. “Cherishing the Diaspora”? Greeting the Irish soccer team on their “homecoming” from the USA ’94 World Cup, President Mary Robinson showed them the candle in a window of Áras an Uachtaráin, placed there on her inauguration in 1990 to represent the Irish diaspora. In acknowledging their emigrant and emigrant-descended status,5 she compounded her inaugural speech’s recognition of the self-identified 70 million people worldwide claiming Irish descent, and prefigured her 1995 “Cherishing the Diaspora” speech to the Oireachtas.6 In Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) television news bulletins (7 July 1994), as the players shuffled uneasily behind Robinson, reporter Charlie Bird enthused that “never have a nation’s scattered children and grandchildren provoked so much pride at home.” Fintan O’Toole similarly claimed that the team’s composition symbolized a nation “capable of turning its most painful wound, emigration, into an asset.”7 However, as the paradox of the team’s “homecoming” as a staged event en route to their actual homes in Britain suggests, though ostensibly accepting of “hybridized, deterritorialized identities,”8 the concept of diaspora as employed in Ireland coexisted with an enduring definition of the nation-state as a geographically bounded entity. Embedded within this apparent progressivism there was in evidence a degree of anxiety concerning the boundedness of national identity and ambivalence toward professional soccer players [End Page 213] as emblematic of Irish identity. After all...

Poster 48 Incidence, Knowledge, and Management of Concussion in Irish Rugby Union

Poster 48 Incidence, Knowledge, and Management of Concussion in Irish Rugby Union

THE RED THREAD OF HISTORY

The modern Munster rugby phenomenon emerged from cultural and structural changes that occurred in Irish rugby in the wake of the game's transition to professionalism and resultant commercialisation in the mid-1990s. The on-field success of the team, particularly in the European Rugby Cup, saw Munster quickly garner mass popular support and symbols such as flags, songs and the team's home ground in Limerick provided cultural cohesion and a shared sense of provincial identity. Much of the often hyperbolic media comment that has accompanied these developments has focused on celebrating the apparent distinctiveness of the game's social appeal in the province and particularly in its cultural hearth in Limerick. This article will assess the extent to which media comment and representation have mythologised Munster rugby and created a series of narratives that see the early-twenty-first-century success as being part of a historical continuum. Foundation myths such as the 1978 victory over the All Blacks and the apparent clash of cultures and classes that characterise the Munster/Leinster rivalry will be assessed in terms of their respective media treatments before and after the onset of professional rugby. Newspapers as well as various commemorative media such as documentaries, books and plays will comprise the material under analysis with their ability to create and propagate myth, being the central concern of the article.

A Day Out in Dublin at the Hurling: The All-Ireland Hurling Final 2005, Cork vs. Galway

A Day Out in Dublin at the Hurling:The All-Ireland Hurling Final 2005, Cork vs. Galway Paul Rouse (bio) I Best day of the year. No doubt about that. Doesn't matter who's playing. Doesn't matter who wins. All-Ireland hurling Sunday is the best day of the year. The city is different, taken over by the country. People from everywhere heading for the match. Looking for mythical shortcuts to beat the traffic and getting lost in Stoneybatter. No shortcuts today. Back into traffic on the quays. Should have taken the special train and stopped into Ned Rea's of Parkgate Street and genuflected before the photos of Christy Ring on the wall. Or maybe even cycled. Fifty years ago, streams of bikes used to come across the country to Croke Park, meeting on the North Circular Road like so many tributaries flowing into a broadening river. Definitely going to cycle next year. Definitely. My brother can make the sandwiches. Egg and onion as usual. Abandon the car at the first chance. Pay some young lad—or not so young lad—€5 to "look after it." It's fairly legally parked. The city council's clampers seem to pride themselves on squeezing easy money out of GAA supporters on Sundays. You have to love that. Really classy. Forgot to say we wouldn't be back for the car until Tuesday—€5 doesn't seem so bad now. Head into Barry's Hotel for a pint (only the one) and then down O'Connell Street. A Cork crowd are singing "The Banks," and down further, "The Fields of Athenry" is being murdered by a busker. And then by another one. There's three lads with beards and banjos and fiddles playing "The Black Velvet Band," and down a bit [End Page 205] further a lad on a piano accordion is playing "The Merry Blacksmith." The crowd are in good form and the money is sparkling in the sun as it drops into the hat. There's twenty, thirty, forty people carrying signs looking for tickets. A lad in a Galway jersey carries a "Ticéad ag taisteáil" sign. How does your man with the John 3:7 banner always get a ticket? You just know you're going to meet someone who hasn't been at a match all year. Bastard. Some waste of a ticket. Especially when Mike can't get one after going to matches the whole year. You want to say something, but you bottle it. The crowds push through Mountjoy Square, past the clampers still circling in their vans, down Fitzgibbon Street. Take a detour into Gills pub on the corner of Jones' Road. Apartheid Irish style: real glasses for the Guinness drinkers, plastic for the lager crowd. The air is filled with speculation and gossip. "What do you reckon?" "Well?" "Will we do it?"And you always know the lads who've been up in Dublin since Friday, making a weekend out of a day. Big sick heads on them, nursing a long pint and wondering why they talked themselves into coming up so soon. Never again. Never again, again. Bring the pint outside and stand against the wall, listening to stories and telling lies. Watching the crowd go down Jones' Road. A lovely way to spend an hour. Cork draw a few notables with them. First up are the Irish rugby boys. Frankie Sheahan in some class of a red-and-white rugby jersey with the collar up, Donncha O'Callaghan and Peter Stringer right behind. The rugby boys will be back to play in Croke Park in early 2007 while their own home, Lansdowne Road, is being renovated. Some lad remarks that the GAA managed to do up Croke Park without having to threaten to bring their big matches to Wales or to England. Nothing like the bit of a cut even when the sun is shining and there's joy in the air. And then, a bit later, Sonia O'Sullivan comes along and there's applause and a bit of yahooing. You think of the silver medal at the Sydney Olympics and wonder about the lost gold in...

Spinal injuries in Irish rugby

This study assessed the frequency of acute injury to the spinal cord in Irish Rugby over a period of ten years, between 1995 and 2004. There were 12 such injuries; 11 were cervical and one was thoracic. Ten occurred in adults and two in schoolboys. All were males playing Rugby Union and the mean age at injury was 21.6 years (16 to 36). The most common mechanism of injury was hyperflexion of the cervical spine and the players injured most frequently were playing at full back, hooker or on the wing. Most injuries were sustained during the tackle phase of play. Six players felt their injury was preventable. Eight are permanently disabled as a result of their injury.

Implications and Applications of Training Specificity for Coaches and Athletes

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Message: Thought you might appreciate this item(s) I saw in Strength & Conditioning Journal. Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague. Some error has occurred while processing your request. Please try after some time. Export to End Note Procite Reference Manager Save my selection Article: PDF OnlyImplications and Applications of Training Specificity for Coaches and AthletesGamble, Paul PhD, CSCS Author Information Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, United Kingdom Paul Gamble is the former strength and conditioning coach for London Irish Rugby Football Club. Strength and Conditioning Journal: June 2006 - Volume 28 - Issue 3 - p 54-58 Free Abstract summary Specificity of training is widely established as an integral aspect governing training responses. This article explores the various ways in which specificity is manifested. Guidelines are given detailing how to derive the benefits of training specificity when designing strength and conditioning programs. © 2006 National Strength and Conditioning Association Source Implications and Applications of Training Specificity for Coaches and Athletes Strength & Conditioning Journal28(3):54-58, June 2006. Full-Size Email + Favorites Export View in Gallery Email to Colleague Colleague's E-mail is Invalid Your Name: Colleague's Email: Separate multiple e-mails with a (;). Message: Thought you might appreciate this item(s) I saw in Strength & Conditioning Journal. Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague. Some error has occurred while processing your request. Please try after some time. Related Articles Export All Images to PowerPoint File Add to My Favorites Email to Colleague Colleague's E-mail is Invalid Your Name: Colleague's Email: Separate multiple e-mails with a (;). Message: Thought you might appreciate this item(s) I saw in Strength & Conditioning Journal. Your message has been successfully sent to your colleague. Some error has occurred while processing your request. Please try after some time. Export to End Note Procite Reference Manager Save my selection Article Level Metrics Related Links Articles in PubMed by Paul Gamble, PhD, CSCS Articles in Google Scholar by Paul Gamble, PhD, CSCS Other articles in this journal by Paul Gamble, PhD, CSCS Article Keywords Keyword Highlighting Highlight selected keywords in the article text. specificity testing strength training metabolic conditioning psychological constraints Search for Similar Articles You may search for similar articles that contain these same keywords or you may modify the keyword list to augment your search. specificity\r, testing\r, strength training\r, metabolic conditioning\r, psychological constraints Related Videos Data is temporarily unavailable. Please try again soon. 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Making Sense of Emerald Commotion: Rugby Union, National Identity and Ireland

Sport is an important arena for the construction, maintenance, and challenging of identities. This article aims to explore, using a figurational sociological perspective, the complex inter-relationship between sport, culture, and national identity with particular reference to rugby union in Ireland. The theoretical framework for the analysis of national identity put forward here seeks to make sense of national identity by considering a series of key "processual" social dynamics to shed light and raise questions on the dynamic double-bind between sport and national identity. A case study of rugby union in Ireland since 1945 is employed here to demonstrate how various sources of evidence can be "triangulated" to help unravel the relationship between rugby union and a specific "nation." Rugby union (as a global team sport now with a recognised and established World Cup) is arguably the most significant sporting arena whereby the imagined community of Ireland can become "real." This temporary union of two politically distinct nations through sport provides an interesting context for the researcher of national identity. This context will be explored by considering "official" historical accounts of Irish rugby, British media portraits of Irish rugby union, and the views of contemporary international Irish rugby players.