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hugogordon.bsky.social
Dubliner in London. Sports nerd (and general nerd). Views described as "top bilge" by leading journalists
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A wearying note of caution for those hoping recent events will turn Americans against Trump - not a single person person quoted in this article says they regret voting for him, despite having lost their jobs because of him.

The article is worth a read - ultimately English rugby IS reliant on private schools.. But with apologies to Charlie Morgan - who's a good writer I like reading - it's impossible to read it without the context of it being another Telegraph hit-job on any attempt to tax private schools.

Would not at all underestimate Poland as a rising regional power over the next couple of decades by the way. A fast-growing economy, a well-armed military (only 7 countries in the world spend a higher % of GDP on their armed forces), will be central you'd imagine to any post-NATO European alliance.

Imagine being Pierre Poillevre: you've spent your life trying to become PM to enact sweeping changes to Canada's political economy. You are on the verge of a crushing electoral win. Then Trump happens, and now the physical incarnation of the Laurentian Consensus is about to end your whole career.

As well as being wildly bad for morale, how much money could this possibly be saving?

Really enjoy these updates from @posttopostsport.bsky.social on the World Cup qualifiers, have to admit I wouldn't have a clue what was going on at this level otherwise

Me: If I was rich I’d use my money to help people *timeline where I inherited $500 billion* Me: (staring at 1:1 scale replica of Dracula’s inverted castle from Castlevania) The tower isn’t quite right. Tell the architects to rebuild it

Untitled, by Cy Twombly, 1990, 📸 by Dan Sheridan // @Inphosports

One notably consistent wobble with Ireland in the Six Nations so far is that we've conceded points in the last play of the first half in all three games so far (a penalty against England, a try against Scotland and Wales).

Tickets for Leinster v Quins booked! Will be my first time in Croke Park since I was a little kid, really looking forward to it

There are a lot of people out there who believe any money the government spends is wasteful unless they personally benefit from it

Truly, no bullshit, absolutely one of the all time greats.

first as tragedy, then as a new thing i’m calling “tragedy II”

*Fort Knox vault door opens. All the gold is missing. On the floor is a single card marked with a fleur-de-lis* Trump: (gasps) Le Chevalier!

Finlay Bealham has been the best tighthead prop in the 6N over the opening three rounds. He's having an exceptional tournament, was massive off the bench again on Saturday.

It would not surprise me at all if the overwhelming majority of Off The Ball subscribers are just other rugby journalists looking for ragebait headlines. An ouroboros of bullshit.

Speaking of calm analyses of Prendergast, I think this is really good! I don't necessarily agree with everything in it (namely the extent to which Ireland are chasing Leinster's tail) but imo it nails the strategic thinking behind picking Sam at 10, what he does well, and what he does poorly.

Think Saturday showed us again what Sam Prendergast does well for Ireland (his ability to put width on the ball, his kicking out of hand) and what he doesn't yet (he's not a running threat at Test level and he's a defensive weak point). He wasn't terrible, nor was he great.

Great to be invited on to talk Irish concerns, Welsh belief, and Scotland Scotlanding it up.

My team of round 3: 1. Smith 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 2. Mauvaka 🇫🇷 3. Stuart 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 4. Itoje 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 5. Guillard 🇫🇷 6. Ritchie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 7. Van der Flier ☘️ 8. Alldritt 🇫🇷 9. Dupont 🇫🇷 10. Ramos 🇫🇷 11. Bielle-Biarray 🇫🇷 12. Aki ☘️ 13. Jones 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 14. Attisogbe 🇫🇷 15. Barre 🇫🇷

Only got the first half of that so this isn't going to be particularly deep analysis, but I don't care how good a team France are: you cannot be conceding 73 points at home. I thought Italy had left this behind. #ITAvFRA

This is a sensationally entertaining game. End-to-end, tries from nowhere, defence entirely optional. #ITAvFRA

Barre has started this game like a man with a point to prove. Italy struggling to deal with him. #ITAvFRA