Fly my pretties, fly. Just don't try to maul it.
A few things have stood out for the Mole after the first round of matches:
Firstly, the Rugby World Cup is a Good Thing. Yes, it overshadows traditional tournaments, disrupts the season, the politics of who gets the tournament is not transparent and hoteliers gouge fans but the atmosphere, sense of occasion and opportunity to see rugby cultures collide in competitive test matches is great. Continue reading
Five Italians in his wake, hot-tempered larrikin James O'Connor gets over for a try. Bonzer.
Australia filleted the Italians with a second-half display of accuracy and precision that’d impress surgeons and intimidate future opponents. Continue reading
No miracles passes here baby
Interesting comments from Gamblor in today’s Irish Times:
‘In leaving behind the bonus point, O’Gara said: “That’s the big difference between European and Test rugby: we were probably looking for a miracle pass here and there; I said to Paul inside there, you get flashes of genius in international rugby in one of three games. Continue reading
Given the performance of all the other under-dogs – and the conditions – Ireland’s first half performance was reasonable enough bar missed goalkicks. Continue reading
Huge performance, no result
When the Mole is wrong, boy is he wrong. The Welsh tore into the South African pack from early on in the game until about the hour mark, and were the dominant team for much of the match. Continue reading
If you’d backed the underdog on the handicap so far in this tournament, you’d have done well. There are generally few surprising results in RWC games but a gradual levelling of standards has led to closer games. Japan were only four points down at one stage in the second half and got the crowd right behind them. France pulled away towards the end but failed to convince for long periods of the game. Continue reading
Zen master points automaton Jonny Wilkinson had a hard to believe off day with his place kicking. Fortunately for the White Orcs, temporarily decked in black, so did Dr Phil and full back Rodriguez. Argentina missed most of their kicks before England did and it is difficult to see how England would have come back from a 12 point second half deficit. There have been a lot of missed kicks so far in this tournament and it will be interesting to see if kickers get more used to the new Gilbert ball as the games progress. Continue reading
Matt Williams has been vocally suspicious of Taff hopes in recent days, and it’s pretty funny just how dismissive he is of them. However, one of the writers on the excellent ESPN Scrum.com has made the very valid point that the Welsh are coming into the tournament without the usual hoopla or barely-veiled truckload of acrimony that usually forms the body of their luggage. Continue reading
By providing the Rugby World Cup with undoubtedly the worst finalists in the tournament’s history in 2007, England proved that they know more than a thing or two about thriving in cup match rugby. A big scrum and an incredibly reliable place-kicker maintaining both physical and scoreboard pressure can get you an awful long way. Continue reading
Maradona heads one in against Angleterre in a typically unemotional sporting encounter between the two countries
England don’t have many options but to pick a huge pack, and they haven’t veered very far from the form book. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 