Israel and Mils in happier times
Thank you, Graham Henry. The charismatic Kiwi funny-man [que?] made the Mole’s mind up for him, dropping 98-cap Kiwi legend Mils Muliaina from the starting line-up of the New Zealand team that faces Tonga in the opening match of RWC11. Continue reading
Whaddaya mean 'one-dimensional'? I can do happy AND sad.
Manu Tuilagi – arnchajusickovim? The Rosbif press have a habit of hyping their players out of the stratosphere at the first sign of international accomplishment. Maybe all national rugby correspondents are guilty of it, and we just pick on poor old Angleterre; certainly the Irish rugby media have never been slow to sing the praises of Keith Earls or Luke Fitzgerald. However, I think it’s fair to say that no Northern Hemisphere rugby press is quicker to acclaim or to damn than the hacks of Fleet Street and Wapping. Continue reading
What does this guy actually do?
In considering who to look out for in the Aussie team, it’s tempting to look beyond the obvious and think about Pat McCabe in the No12 jersey, the Warwick Taylor-esque straightman to the glittering talents that surround him. Continue reading
Leinster have a plethora of internationals in New Zealand. A combination of RWC and a summer clear-out has changed the face of the Ospreys. It is difficult to know exactly what to expect from these teams in the opening game of the RaboPro12. Continue reading
“Clouseau is the bumbling and incompetent police inspector of the French Sûreté, whose investigations are marked with chaos and destruction that he himself largely causes. Regardless of his rather limited ability, he successfully solves his cases and finds the correct culprits, even if this success is achieved entirely by accident.” Continue reading
A decade worth of Six Nations tournaments under two coaches for Ireland, and what have you got? Some kack-handed analysis of the most basis of statistics, that’s what. Hooray!
Continue reading
I’m a Paddy Wallace fan in that I disagree with the amount of abuse he gets. That’s not actually true – I like how Wallace plays, because he’s a smashing footballer and a brave if undersized defender. His recent appearance at outhalf for an Ireland Select XV against Connacht showed that he’s still a great distributor and can run a mean backline. With that said, even those keen Wallackamaniaks [that’s what we’re called] amongst us may have forgotten that this will be Paddy’s third Rugby World Cup. Continue reading
Handle With Care
Keith Earls was shown up in a huge way very early in the game, and while he fought to come back into it, he’s a somewhat fragile player who isn’t responding well to being moved around in position. Continue reading
Alan Gaffney. Lovely guy. Not overly enthusiastic with how he's got our attack 'functioning'.
Sure, Ireland have held a few things in reserve over the course of these warm-up matches. No coach wants to go running through their whole playbook in the weeks before a big tournament just so the opponents’ video analysts can figure out ways to stop you playing. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 