Ovally Balls

the Not Johnny Clegg Story of Travel In Africa It’s August ‘97 in Joburg, and the phone rings in my office with a hysterical voice on the other end shouting, “So you’re the one going to Cameroon with me? What do you know about it? You know you can’t eat the fruit and vegetables, or … Continue reading Le Zoulou Blanc, Part I

Little bitta English Premiership … women’s Six Nations. Onna telly this week Friday 16th April Northampton v London Irish 19:45 BT Sport 1 Saturday 17th April Sale v Gloucester 12:30 BT Sport Extra Exeter v Wasps 12:30 BT Sport 3 Ireland v France (women) 14:15 BBC iPlayer/Red Button; RTÉ Two Scotland v Italy (women) 17:00 … Continue reading A Smattering of Matches

Preamble Following the lead of the esteemed French rugby philosopher and Chef de Cuisine Flair99, I will try to keep this short, at least by my standards. In keeping with the odd times we live in, the 6N Super Saturday ingredients are not all there for a grand finale, and we’ll have to pop France … Continue reading Covid Six Nations: Round Five

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible. Three games this week-end; that is, if France once again do not shrug their way out of the most porous bubble (called a sieve here, see below) ever seen since John Boyd Dunlop invented the flat tire. The teams: England: At the moment they look like … Continue reading Six Nations: Round Four

The top two sides in each Pro14 conference face off this weekend: Ulster at home (yay!) to the Blue Meanies (boo!), and Munster hosting Connacht tonight. In the Premiership, Bath v Exeter looks like the most exciting match. Onna telly this week Friday 5th March Munster v Connacht 19:35 Premier Sports 1 Leicester v London … Continue reading A Brief Interlude for Pro-woo and Premiership

Only two games this weekend, with Ireland treating Italy like a Welsh prop’s face and England facing their sort of nemesis in Cardiff.  France and Scotland have had their game postponed as a result of an outbreak of lurgies in the French camp which was due to Galthié being a messiah very naughty boy.  Craigsman, of course, … Continue reading Six Nations: Third Time Lucky/Unlucky (Delete as applicable)

What a first round that was: grit, determination, superb skills and complete brainfarts. Think the competition is wide open, and unsure where to make your Superbru picks? Don’t worry, our OvallyBalls experts on crack are here to progrocknIksate what will happen this weekend. Deebee7 was quick off the mark with his predictions: England, chastised and … Continue reading Six Nations: Second-week Nervousness

I was vaguely interested in rugby as a child; we used to play it in the playground, although we didn’t have a rugby ball (any kind of ball would do), none of us knew the rules, and it resembled a particularly vicious bout of British Bulldogs more than the game we know and love today. … Continue reading Six Nations: The Gateway Drug

One week to go. One week to go, and nothing’s been cancelled yet. Is that wise? Possibly not, but we can all agree that Six Nations is more important than life or death itself – unless personally affected. Meanwhile, there are a couple of matches to keep us entertained until then. Onna telly this week … Continue reading Fingers Crossed