Tom Savage
I’m not sure why this semi-final hurt more than the last two. Maybe third time’s the charm. Either way, three days out from another defeat to a Leinster side that seems to have forgotten how to lose I’m sitting here feeling the sting. Another semi-final loss to Leinster. Another fever dream of Gordon D’Arcy’s disembodied…
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So it comes down to this. A season like no other, disrupted by a global pandemic, comes to a head this Friday night in an empty Aviva Stadium. It’s a Guinness PRO14 semi-final. It’s a trip to Dublin and it’s Leinster standing between Munster and a chance at silverware. Feels familiar, doesn’t it? This has been…
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A few hundred people showed up at Cork airport in 2003 to welcome a slightly confused looking Christian Cullen to Munster. Cullen was one of the very best back three players in the sport at the time and if you’re looking for a modern-day comparison, imagine signing the Cheslin Kolbe we know today – that…
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Money talks, bullshit walks. When it comes to rugby union post-Coronavirus, I think that idiom will become money shouts through a megaphone, bullshit sprints away to the airport with papers flying out of its suitcase. It’s not as catchy, I’ll give you that. The Coronavirus interrupted the world – you might have noticed that over the…
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JOEY CARBERY has played 17 times for Munster since his acrimonious move south in the summer of 2018. It feels like more, and less, all at the same time. I think that’s mostly down to the impact he had on-field in that short time. Think of the Gloucester away game, his goal kicking against Exeter,…
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You may or may not know that last August – coming up on a year ago now – I was admitted to a psych unit at 1 AM on a Sunday morning with my life, as it was, in tatters. My mental health had been deteriorating for a good long while at that point. I…
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COVID 19 has changed the world in some ways that are obvious and in ways that we haven’t even imagined. It struck me today as I was walking along a road in the middle of nowhere near my house. At a certain point, I became aware that I was probably nearing the 2km radius mandated…
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Forget about forward formations and stuff like that for a moment. Break it down as simply as you can. Ultimately, it’s about aligning yourself in a lateral structure that best takes advantage of your forwards’ skill set and physical strengths to manipulate the opposition defence so you can score more points than them and win…
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NO CLUB makes signings without a plan. Well, that’s not true actually. Some clubs (in France, mainly) just look at who the biggest name they can sign is and just throw money at that guy until he signs. When you see a top player rocking up to a club and struggling because they need quality…
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THE DAYS of rugby being a game for all shapes and sizes is long gone. That’s not 100% true, of course. There are exceptions where you can afford to carry smaller, more skilful players without penalty. Scrum half, fly half and one of your wingers. You can maybe carry a smaller hooker and back row,…
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