No wonder that Georgian lad tried to break his arm at the end of it
The Mole was in Bordeaux four years ago when the French neutrals got behind a Georgian team threatening to upset Ireland in the group stages. All you could hear in the velodrome that night was “Georgie! Georgie! Georgie!” Continue reading
Superstar, coming through
Mole got up with a pot of coffee to watch SA v Fiji on Saturday morning with memories of a glorious summer’s day in Marseille in his head. That game had been one of the highlights of the 2007 World Cup. The prospect of a repeat performance was quite enticing, if a little unexpected, given South Africa’s tepid display against Wales in the opener. Continue reading
Plenty of quality centres are missing from the World Cup. Some are the victims of well-stacked strength in their position, some have suffered due to their age profile, and others have been left behind because their coach is bonkers. Continue reading
Inaugural meeting of the IRB's founding fathers
These are without doubt, post-prandial musings, basking in the satisfaction of Ireland’s win against the Wobblies, but the Mole cannot help wonder what the RWC would be like if several other nations had been extended the same, splendid treatment that we in Ireland have acquired from the IRB. Continue reading
No photoshop required
Wales came through their match against bogey side Samoa, but they didn’t come through unscathed. Continue reading
Stirling Mortlock and George Smith Catch Up
A lot of Australian fans are hell-bent on blaming Robbie Deans on absolutely everything that goes wrong for the Wallabies: he’s the head-coach, and a Kiwi head coach at that. The Mole just doesn’t subscribe to that. Deans is a good coach. However, he does have some blind spots. Continue reading
The phrase ‘men against boys’ carries with it certain connotations, and not all of them were borne out by performances of the Irish and Australian teams. Continue reading
Jeremy Guscott was known for his razor-sharp incisiveness and inventive lines of running. He brings those attributes to his career in rugby punditry: Continue reading
The Mole has been pretty surprised by the attitude of quite a few Aussie fans: Continue reading
In this installment of The Team That Never Travelled, we look at the scrum-halves and out-halves who could have made all the difference. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 