Munster's Latham... I mean Larkham revolution yields a sliding doors moment for JJ Hanrahan and despite a cracking performance leaves them in a tight spot. Ulster and Leinster are 2/2 with wildly varying qualities of performance. Is it Leinster's tournament to lose? And lastly international coaching tickets are moving and shaking. Is Ireland's *management* ticket out of step with the rest of world rugby?

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Leinster's production line is the focus — and how freely they might play — but the inescapable shadow of the Rugby World Cup is never far away: what does it mean for Ireland? In Munster, Ulster fielded a pack with no Ulstermen: all the players will end up coming from St Michael's and Blackrock if no one else is producing them.And how do you deal with cheats?

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Chapter I: The World Cup and the Winning ThereofChapter II: The World Cup and Dumping There-out-ofExcept, like Prince's Lovesexy (or Royal Trux's Twin Infinitives) there's no separate tracks, it just blazes all the way through.

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A lot to get through, including: How did we lose to Japan? How did we actually get on against Russia when not dropping the ball? How do we go about beating Samoa?And then: These refs, eh? Here come England's White Orcs who keep passing the ball. Growing into tournaments. Fail to evolve, evolve to fail. And what will go down in the QFs?

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Belatedly we discuss Ireland's performance against Wales, and how a good old fashioned show of aggression dismissed some of our lingering 2019 anxieties. We also take a fairly freewheeling look at the rest of the Rugby World Cup which bloody well starts this week!

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We discuss somewhat surprising Irish Rugby World Cup selection made by Joe Schmidt for Japan 2019. (We should note that the top 10 games discussed were top 10 under Schmidt, not ever.)

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No Spala for your guts! The Battle of Bayonne! Ireland's legacy in preparing for World Cups is akin to their legacy in actual World Cups: full of wince-inducing moments of crisis and lots of existential soul-searching. As such we discuss at length where we are after a disastrous drubbing in Twickenham. We also have a brief chat about England and the All Black's but even when we are talking about them, aren't we really just talking about Ireland?

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We go long on Leinster's imperious semi-final victory against Munster, doling out praise where it's due, and then focus on a disappointing end to Ulster's otherwise excellent season. They're on the up, but Munster look to have stood still. There's also lots of anecdotes about large rugbymen.

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Leinster hit the wall against a mighty Saracens team in Newcastle and lose their first Euro final. Did it all hinge on the big moments like Luke McGrath's wayward box kick and Liam William's ravenous hit-and-steal? In Munster there's more drama as their coaching ticket is again in search of stability after Felix Jones and Gerry Flannery turn down contracts. How do both teams prepare ahead of this weekend's huge league semi-final?

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[Re-uploaded with proper audio] After semi-final weekend, we give the boys in blue the credit deserve for a consummate performance at the Aviva and ask whether Munster are improving — but not quickly enough — or if their 7th semi-final loss is a reality check for them.

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