46 percent of people think that 2023 will finally be the year in which the Irish men’s rugby team makes it to a World Cup semi-final, according to research carried out as part of Permanent TSB’s “Reflecting Ireland” series on consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Men (51 percent) are more confident than women (41 percent). It is one of the mysteries of Irish Sport that the team has not progressed to this point before but with the bookies having Ireland as fourth favourites to win the tournament we have to be hopeful.
Ireland are currently ranked number one in the world after a string of major victories in 2022, but have yet to win a single knock-out game in any of the 9 men’s World Cups that have taken place since 1987.
The team has lost 7 knock-out quarter-finals against Australia and France twice, Wales, Argentina, and New Zealand.
The confidence expressed by 46% of people is at odds with Ireland’s tough draw in the tournament.
It will have to emerge as one of the top two from a group featuring current Rugby World Cup holders South Africa as well as Scotland, Tonga and Romania – and then win a quarter-final that is likely to be against either New Zealand or France.
Still, if we can’t be optimistic in advance…
There is also confidence in the prospects of the Irish women’s football team, as they make history as the first senior Republic of Ireland women’s team to play in a major tournament.
They will compete against the host nation Australia, Nigeria and Canada and one in four people are backing the team to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament
Permanent TSB’s research also reveals a sense of optimism that Olympic boxing gold medallist Katie Taylor will finally get to fight in a professional bout on home soil, with 53 percent of people believing it will happen in 2023.
Most people expressed confidence that Croke Park would be the venue for her first professional fight in Ireland.
“It’s great to see so many people expressing confidence in Ireland’s World Cup prospects after the team has put away so many heavyweight teams in the last few months,” said Leontia Fannin, Permanent TSB Head of Corporate Affairs and Communications.
“Our research also shows a massive appetite – and an expectation – around Katie Taylor’s first-ever professional fight in Ireland, and we hope that the huge number of fans she has in Ireland will get their wish fulfilled and a chance to see her in action in Croke Park.”
“2023 will hopefully be a great year for all Irish sports fans but in Permanent TSB we’re really looking forward to 2024, as proud partners and title sponsors of Ireland’s Paralympic and Olympic teams. We want to wish all our Olympic partners every success in 2023 as they continue their preparations for Paris and we really can’t wait to see them raise the spirits of the nation in 2024.”
Reflecting Ireland is a quarterly research series from Permanent TSB which examines topical issues. The research was undertaken by Kantar in November 2022 amongst 1,000 adults.
