This week’s Gossip From The Mart is brought to you by the letter X.
X is for Xylophone 
(from the Greek words ξύλον — xylon, “wood”[1] + φωνή —phonē, “sound, voice”, meaning “wooden sound”) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden (not steel) bars struck by mallets. Continue reading
Ulster take on perennial contenders Leicester in fortress Ravenhill this evening. Ulster’s stunning 33-0 victory a number of years ago has been mentioned frequently in the build up to this game but does that have any bearing on events this evening? Continue reading
Possibly based on the same perception as the Lonely Planet colour writers who visited Ireland, the Mole has a long streak of fatalism when it comes to anticipating rugby results for favoured Irish teams. Continue reading
The Mole wrote a series of bad-tempered pieces relating to the IRFU document regarding future policy towards non-Irish eligible [NIE] players before Christmas. Quite baleful [bile-fuelled?] stuff, actually, and not entirely concomitant with the holiday season. As a result, they never saw the light of day. UNTIL NOW … Continue reading
The choke tackle: comes in both green and red for all you colour-blind rugby fans
While the Munster vs Treviso game wasn’t a ‘must-see’ by any definition, there were some intriguing elements to it. That should be qualified to ‘intriguing elements for Irish fans’, because the interest came more in the selection than the action. Continue reading
Clint Newland having the last laugh
Poor old Clint Newland has recently been repeatedly brought up as a byword for the sort of useless NIQ players that the selfish old provinces foist on the IRFU. Continue reading
The Mole remembers the first time he saw Martin Johnson play. It was in Donnybrook in 1993 in the A international. Johnson had already been capped that season and would go on to play two of the Lions’ tests against New Zealand a few months later. There was already talk that he was one to watch but what sticks in the Mole’s mind was seeing the full England team walk past on their way to the stand. They were all in their civvies with no tracksuits and certainly no iPods. Continue reading
One is a tyrannical despot who hates foreigners, the other etc.
Oui, c'est vrai
France look set to emerge as the pre-eminent force in Europe under Philippe Saint-Andre. While The Mole had an awful lot of time for Marc Lievremont as a person, there were always huge question-marks over his selection policy, how he dealt with his players and fellow coaches … in fact, there were question marks over pretty much every aspect of his management during his time at the helm. Continue reading
C86 was an NME mix tape that catalogued the emerging British music scene in 1986. 'C' stood for cassette, and 86 ....
The Mole was second-guessing himself over the holiday season. Was it The Fear? Partially. It was also the feeling that he can be a little bit too harsh on certain elements of the Munster set-up. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 