Scotland face into their final pool game with only the slimmest of hopes of eliminating England from the tournament and progressing to the quarter-final themselves. To do they will have to beat England and score more bonus points than them or simply win by more than 41 points, so unless Chris Paterson can find his Monsieur Cent Pour Cent form from the 2007 World Cup and England are penalised off the park, you would think that one would preclude the other. Continue reading
Bismarck Back for Boks. Bish Bash Bosh*?
Crazy Piet has made a few headlines over the years with his post match comments. You know the kind. As with many appointments in post-Apartheid South Africa, there was some consternation that he had been appointed partly because of his colour rather than his ability. However, PdV is no fool. Continue reading
Excuse me, can you tell me the way to final please? Oh no, it's OK, I remember now.
Scotland v Argentina marked the beginning of cup match rugby is this year’s World Cup. The laws and the balls are still the same but the game changes from here on in. The stakes are higher and the drops are steeper. Games become less attractive from a try scoring point of view but far more compelling. Continue reading
The Mole: arch-conservative or reactionary? Both, probably – even though it’s a long-accepted fact that all reactionaries are paper tigers. The case in point? Fullback. The Mole’s take is that it’s a specific position which requires different talents and a wholly different skillset than a winger. Not a fan of the interchangeable back three. Not at all. I’ve seen Ugo Monye play in the No15 jersey. Continue reading
Dingo Deans, his choices strangled by injury problems, has selected a matchday squad that includes three hookers, three scrum-halves and a 35-year old No8 on the wing. This must be the ‘experimental’ fourth album … Continue reading
The sorry end to a career of great service to French rugby
The Mole enjoyed a very good article on ESPN Scrum.com by Ian Moriarty about Marc Lievremont and his appalling relationship with the media/his players/the French public. Continue reading
Well done New Zealand: It’s a relatively small country a long way from anywhere else and the weather hasn’t been the best but the atmosphere and organisation, bar some opening night nerves, seem to have been very good. Beating the French will have cheered up the Kiwis and put some ghosts to rest, while seeing the Aussies lose has been very well received. The Ireland v Russia game sounded like it had been organised by the best hostel in the world and the crowd were suitably lubricated. Continue reading
Hell of a lot of wingers out there. Hell of a lot. Good ‘uns, too. Continue reading
Don't think we'll see the same sort of result this time round
If we look at the last game between the two teams, Italy dominated two of the set-pieces: the scrum and the lineout. Continue reading
The All Blacks take on Portugal in 2007 with a 20 minute turnaround.
Mole has heard a few discussions about the fairness of World Cup schedule, the protracted nature of the tournament and the slim chances of any minnow beating a big fish. They’re all legitimate comments and Mole recognises that it’s not a fair world. Sometimes though it pays heed to listen to what isn’t being said.
Digging Like a Demented Mole 