"Better at Rugby than football": Fans react after IShowSpeed plays Gaelic football in Northern Ireland

YouTube creator Darren "IShowSpeed" recently tried out the sport of Gaelic Football during his visit to Northern Ireland on July 20, 2024. The creator played the sport, which generally involves 15 individuals in each team, alongside local players. The sport shares many similarities and differences with the normal form of football.

Gaelic football's most striking feature is its combination of carrying, kicking, bouncing, hand-passing, and soloing actions. Soloing or the toe-tap is a technique utilized to keep possession of the ball without fouling, as rules state that only a maximum of four steps can be taken without "playing" the ball. Following four steps, the player has to partake in either bouncing the ball, doing the toe-tap, or passing the ball along to other players.

Specifically, two types of scoring are possible, namely points and goals. A point can be attained by kicking or hand-passing the ball over the crossbar between two upright posts above the goal. On the other side, a goal is awarded for kicking the ball under the crossbar but into the net. However, the distinction is that the ball cannot be hand-passed into the net.

A few clips have been doing the rounds online, showcasing IShowSpeed trying out the sport and subsequently impressing netizens with his skills. One particular clip showed IShowSpeed trying to score a goal by getting through an individual guarding it.

The creator could be seen trying to dodge the player, and in the process, he made a move that caused the other individual to slip and topple over, making for much entertainment for the YouTuber who then thoroughly mocked the individual before shooting for a goal. He then followed through with Cristiano Ronaldo's signature celebration.

Despite his shortcomings in scoring actual points or goals even after repeated attempts, netizens were thoroughly impressed with IShowSpeed's agility, particularly when it came to propelling himself past individuals to get to the goal as fast as possible. Netizens even stated that the creator could try out other sports during his livestreams as well, such as swimming.

X users pointed out the relative proficiency of Speed within the sport (Image via Bidal4Life/X)

Although the sport was incorrectly labeled by one user as rugby, netizens implied that IShowSpeed was a better player in the rugby-styled sport than in actual football (soccer), of which Speed is a huge proponent:

"Na this sh**tttt is actually cold 😂😂 how is speed better at Rugby than football," wrote X user Bidal4Life

"An absolute freak of an athlete, man. Football, American football, Gaelic football.... I wanna see swimming next," said X user @d_dot_k

However, at the same time, many users were also quick to point out that the streamer had committed fouls throughout his play due to him taking too many steps without properly playing the ball.

"Would be a foul, has taken too many steps…" wrote X user @xc_thfc

"He actually travelled it would've got called for a foul," wrote X user @CFCAK

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What else did IShowSpeed do during his first time playing Gaelic football?

Another clip showed YouTube taking penalties while playing by charging up to the ball and kicking it. After practically kicking the ball directly to the goalkeeper's feet, Speed tried once more. Yet again, the creator could not manage to get the ball to pass through the goalkeeper.

Notably, positions within a team of the sport consist of one goalkeeper, six backs, two midfielders as well as six forward players, along with a varying number of substitute players.

Speed also tried to score a point by getting the ball over the crossbar by kicking it, but he failed to do that as well. He continued to try three times before giving up. The streamer then decided to temporarily abort the sport to chase after a young fan who had been shouting at him repeatedly from the bleachers.

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IShowSpeed was criticized by Andrew Tate in a recent post on X, where the latter called out the YouTube streamer for scaring a man's baby "on purpose" by screaming at it.