Author Archives: dementedmole

Munster, Leinster And Their Experimental Teams

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And then you chop-block the defensive end, Moose

Munster and Leinster have named ‘experimental’ teams for their upcoming fixtures in the Pro 12. Joe Schmidt has gone for a 5-5-5 formation, picking two scrum-halves and three out halves in midfield to try and control possession in a move that owes much to the influence of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona. Tony McGahan has named only 11 players in his starting line-up, and will spring the remaining four one-by-one at five minute intervals from the fifteenth minute onwards. Continue reading →

The Provincial Draft

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With the second pick of the first round, Connacht select Ian Nagle, Munster Academy

Afficionados of American Football will be familiar with the NFL Draft. Each year in April, the best players from college are distributed amongst the 32 NFL teams in a manner designed to maximize competitiveness in the league: thus the team with the worst record gets the first choice in the first draft, and the team who won the last Super Bowl gets the thirty-second choice. It runs over seven rounds, so 224 players are selected. The last player selected is cruelly titled ‘Mr Irrelevant’, but funnily enough, that’s totally irrelevant to this article.  Continue reading →

Shit Continually Hitting The Fan At St Boshingtons

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Moodos threatened to skip the First XV photo for the annual!

More than six weeks after St Boshington’s School for Oversized Louts lost their last cup match, their report cards have finally arrived at parental homes. If the English rugby public are not disgruntled by this stage, they’re a long, long way from gruntled.  Continue reading →

Pass Or Fail

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Eoin O'Malley doing that thing that he does ... what's it called again?

Eoin O’Malley didn’t start against either Munster or Montpellier. Fergus McFadden was chosen in the No13 jersey for those games in the absence of Drico, and while he didn’t set the world alight, he certainly had his moments. There’s every likelihood that he would have started the HEC fixture against Glasgow if he hadn’t injured his leg. As it went, O’Malley got the start and grabbed his chance with both hands … and then passed it. Continue reading →

Ted, Meet Evil Robot Ted

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Kev McLaughlin and Jean Bouilhou: they don't just look alike

Kev McLaughlin could be Leinster’s version of Toulouse’s Jean Bouilhou, a player for whom the Mole has a whole heap of time. Bouilhou got his first cap for France back in 2001 as a 22 year old down in New Zealand, then got a second two years later in 2003 on tour to Argentina before the World Cup … and that’s the sum of his international career. Continue reading →

Pools Become Shark Pits

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Mallinder is the swimmer

So now, after just two weeks, there are only seven teams left unbeaten and some of the Pools are being to look tasty. Toulouse are still France’s finest, whilst Harlequins hold the flag for St George. Munster and Leinster are still there for the ‘oul sod’, but the Welsh continue their great start with all three still unbeaten – even if it took a 50m last minute kick from 20-year old substitute Matthew Morgan on his Heineken Cup debut to keep Ospreys afloat in Italy against Treviso. Continue reading →