Our intrepid columnist finds himself in reflective mood after another brush with authority, admiring Munster's support from afar and, all the while, mixing with the wildlife on South Africa's most southerly tip

A chaotic loss to Castres forces La Rochelle into a blunt assessment of decision-making, scanning and collective responsibility

I come around to asking the same question – are the IRFU digging deep enough on this conundrum? It warrants a serious deep dive into how our World Cup cycles can be better. It hasn’t worked so far.

In the key moments, you can’t make a break every time. Here we defer to the great Dan Carter and the philosophy of great out-half play – simple things done well. Rinse and repeat. Don’t force it, then the gate opens

Irish rugby needs new dreams and inspiration. It needs a new version of itself. We’ve done the No 1-ranked thing. We’ve failed dismally and consistently when it matters. Staleness is an unavoidable consequence of sameness

Jack Crowley has reached a phase of his career where he has seen a lot of the world, and not all of it has been mountains and lakes. He’s at that right age now.

This is my fifth season in charge, and I’m fairly sure some lads are tired of hearing my voice. That’s fine, I’m working on that

Melbourne offers the Wallabies a final lifeline — but Joe Schmidt’s side must find belief before it’s too late

Head coaches make big decisions. They call it. When I've wanted a certain player in the 23, and the assistants have said ‘god, No’, I take it on board. ‘I hear ya, but I’m still going with this’

Wherever and whenever it’s been doable this past week or so, I’ve squeezed in chats with interesting rugby folk while south of the equator.