The Molecast

It's 80+ minutes of audio balm put rub on your tired Six Nations muscles.Were the Wales team that Ireland put to the sword dismal or were Ireland just that good? And what is it that's so good about this Ireland team (hint: it's definitely running straight :P )France and Italy was a predictable result but with lots to interest the Ireland fan with an eye on next week. Is France's team still to reach maturity?Is Eddie Jones's 4D chess the beginning of a new team or the beginning of the end? For us the answer is simple enough...

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A scattershot journey through a week of rugby football union: I. "Be nice to refs!" [/Owen Doyle voice]II. Which way does the stream of influence flow between Leinster and a Leinster-led Ireland?III. Do Ulster have the legs to go long in Europe?IV. Can Ireland win another Six Nations 18 months away from a Rugby World Cup to prove, eh, nothing to nobody? V. Scotland, whisper it, are dark horses.Support The Molecast at https://ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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Andy Farrell names an Ireland squad that everyone pretty much thinks is great and we still find some room to squabble over omissions and inclusions.One Mole saw Munster's win away at Castres B as a season defining event while another Mole saw Leinster's facile tryfest against Montpellier J5s as a harbinger of doom for the hollow shell of the European Cup.There's also a glowing tribute to Auch, Jacques Fouroux and the depth of French rugby and suggestion of a URC based cryptocurrency to run a salary cap across four jurisdictions. You read it here first.Support the Molecast at https://ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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Munster and Ulster traded awful defeats over the sparse Christmas period, but public patience seems to have run out for Johann van Grann: we assess where they go from here with their promising youth. Elsewhere COVID has laid waste to Leinster's season and the Champions Cup — how will that affect a Leinster-led Ireland, and is European rugby worth saving in its current form?Support the Demented Mole: https://ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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Van Going Going Gaaaan: The JvG era announces that it is coming to an end in summer 2022. What does Johann's report card look like as he prepares for his Leaving?A good weekend for the provinces is wrapped up, but with the sneaking suspicion that something is a little awry at Leinster as they rack up probably the least impressive win of the weekend.Lastly we talk selection, comparing the merits of Schmidt and Farrell's seemingly different approaches. There's only one World Cup Quarter Final mention in this one, and somehow we didn't manage an extended riff on Get Back at any point.Support the Molecast on www.ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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Munster's half-backs kept Ireland in winning ways but took a slightly different route to achieving it: how do things stand for genuine legend Conor Murray and little white hope Joey Carbery after whomping Argentina?Have Ireland found their second playmaker in Tadhg Furlong or will the big guns figure out how to nullify our loops and pods in Twickenham, Stade de France and on tour in New Zealand?Farrell's selection has been a huge strength over autumn, but how is our depth chart looking beneath our main men?Apologies issued, nonsense talked and a brilliant autumn series rounded well and truly up.https://ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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We continue to poke at the big plot hole in the middle of Ireland's autumn form: when did we get this good?More and more people are calling it Ireland's "best ever" performance, and yet we still nearly lost: so how good were our Kiwi opponents who seem to be indulging a Man Utd-esque level of mirror-staring.What can we expect from the future, and is it Ross Byrne? (He'd definitely take his points.)https://ko-fi.com/dementedmole

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Everyone loves stupid sexy Ireland after their best attacking display in years again (only?) Japan. Where have Farrell and Catt been hiding all the offloads until now? And how far can it take us?With the All Blacks in town, what's your preferred mode of defeat? Will we be happy as long as Faz's Fabulous Swashbucklers throw some punches? Or does the team just need some non-Leinster lads?https://www.patreon.com/dementedmole/

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McFarlard is at the end of his beginning, and van Graan is at the beginning of his end.(Apologies for the poor quality of one of the microphones — thankfully it was the least important one)

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Ireland were out thought and out fought all over Twickenham. Where do we go from here?

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