Don't have a maté, it's absolutely rank. It tastes like wet dog.
To most, the Pumas were the surprise package of the last world cup, beating the hosts France [twice] and a highly-touted Ireland along the way to a third-place finish. They were magnificent in that tournament, playing a pretty limited but extremely physical brand of rugby that was occasionally lit up by some fantastic performances from their talented backs. 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
Anybody Home McFly?
Haven’t we heard this one before? Blond kid goes straight from school into the Natal Sharks starting lineup, gets picked for the Springboks within the season and then is a vital player in their world cup campaign as a twenty year old. 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
"There's a ball in this game?"
Samoa are coming into this competition on the back of a dominant win against a half-strength Wallaby side in Sydney, a defeat that ended a lot of Australian players’ world cup hopes before the Tri-Nations had even kicked off. Continue reading
Ireland prepared for the last World Cup by sitting in the freezing cold in the Polish countryside, eating (8,000 calories per day!) and playing contentious friendlies – witness the anthem debate before the Italian game in Ravenhill and the Battle of Bayonne. Continue reading
There’s a Bennett, four Jones, three Williams and two Davies; yes, that Samoan team is full of familiar names. Ho ho ho – that’s funny! Continue reading
McFadden: "I thought this photo-shoot was with Kearney, not a carney."
Biggie #1: Isaac Boss
In the style of Sports Illustrated doyen Peter King, here’s an interesting nugget: Isaac Boss hasn’t started an international for Ireland in four years. He made his last start against Scotland on 11 August 2007, the first of the warm-up matches for the ill-fated RWC07.
No matter what way you look at it, that’s really pretty incredible. The Rotorua-born scrum-half has made two world cup panels under two different coaches four years apart, and hasn’t started once in between. There have been forty-one test matches since that game: twenty-nine under Declan Kidney, ten under Eddie O’Sullivan and two under Michael Bradley. He hasn’t been in the starting line-up once. Continue reading
Oh, don't mind me. I'll just hang around here in Montpellier being the obvious man for the job.
In the words of Montell Jordan, “This is how we do it“: the FFR have given their backing to coach Marc Lievremont as he prepares his French team for the world cup on the back of home and away wins against Ireland by telling him that he’s out of a job after the tournament, regardless of the result. Ooh-la-la-la-la-la-la. Ce n’est pas formidable, mes amis etc. Continue reading
Graham Henry has named his squad, and the most striking news is that neither Sitiveni Sivivatu nor Hosea Gear are in it. As mentioned in the match review of the recent SA vs NZ test from Port Elizabeth, New Zealand have an absolute rake of top-quality wingers who would find a place in the starting line-up of many other teams in the world cup – the two lads join ‘Walk Away’ Rene Ranger, Joe Rokocoko and Lelia Masaga at poolside, or possibly in one of those big Auckland bars like the one that’s in the start of Once Were Warriors. If Uncle Bully tries to do a runner again, he’s not going to get very far. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 