Author: thaumaturge

I had not been paying close attention to the European Cup(s), which was probably a good thing for my mental health. Because, while doing the deep and arduous research for this post, I discovered that Ulster’s pool-mates are Bath, Cardiff, Harlequins, Toulouse and Racing 92. (Six in the pool? What’s happened?*) Well, we’ll probably beat … Continue reading Yet Another Pool of Death

Close readers of this notablog will know that I am not Owen Farrell’s biggest fan. This is almost entirely down to his observed on-pitch behaviour: the shoulder barges punished and – more often – unpunished, the truculence, the disrespect of referees, etc. Saracens and England supporters will have much, much more to say about whether … Continue reading Mental Floss

Now that the anguish of the World Cup is behind us, we can all* pretend that it was all a horrific nightmare and concentrate on the leagues. Ulster have got their international players back at last, although very (very, very) sadly, Munster don’t have Peter O’Mahony, Conor Murray, Tadhg Beirne or Dave Kilcoyne back yet. … Continue reading Back to our sheep

Can the Springboks make history and win two in a row? You wouldn’t have thought so when they lost to Ireland in the pool stages, but you also wouldn’t have the All Blacks could do it after their opening-night loss to the hosts (and first pool loss ever). Rassie’s gone with a ‘courageous’ 7-1 split … Continue reading World Cup: Final and Bronze

Grumpy? Moi? Well, perhaps still a little hung over after the agony of Ireland going out in the quarter-finals once again. Even if it’s what I expected ever since I first beheld The Draw From Hell, supposing we even made it out of the pool stage. Perhaps World Rugby, who surely can no longer be … Continue reading World Cup, Round Who-Cares

Seventeen sides have received cards in the tournament so far, with a total of 39 yellow or red cards issued. Most ill-disciplined/unlucky/dirty bastards/ref’s a cheat are Romania and Samoa with five each, Samoa edging the evil stakes with four yellows and a red to Romania’s five yellows (albeit two to one player). Chile and Namibia … Continue reading Quarterfinals, Cards and Bunker Blunders – who gets through?

What a day of rugby we have ahead of us! After France trounced a poor Italy with some lovely rugby last night, we have a couple of palate-teasers in the form of Wales v Georgia and England v Samoa, either one of which might possibly throw up (not boak – well, maybe) an unexpected result. … Continue reading World Cup, Round Five!

Round Three was full of excitement and correct results (see picture). But I am not going to wear my little fingers to the bone typing a preview of this week’s matches when Deebee7 has already done it! Or, if you’re bored with the World Cup, you could look forward with him to the 2024 summer … Continue reading World Cup, Round Four!

Have only got time for the briefest of posts, but wow! What a setback for France. Also, you know: the big Saffers v saintly Ireland (under-Ulstered) on Saturday. Prepare the sofa for hiding behind now. Onna telly this week Friday 22nd September Argentina v Samoa 16:45 ITV1 Gloucester v Harlequins 19:45 TNT Sports 1 Saturday … Continue reading World Cup, Round Three!

What a cracker of a first round! Some delectable rugby, some surprises, and plenty of dodgy reffing decisions to moan about. Tonga and Samoa have yet to play, but Wales easily contained Fiji. The big surprises were the performances of the two South American minnows: Chile gave Japan a good fight, although they ran out … Continue reading World Cup, Round Two!