Hi Jeff Pagano here from Harpin On Rugby.
We’ve been taking a couple of weeks off since the end of the 2022/23 season, obviously as a Leinster fan it didn’t exactly end up the way we wanted but overall as our first season with our new podcast based format we still had a lot of quality rugby to harp on going back to the beginning of last September and we look forward to getting back to it soon.
But I just thought I’d check back in with a TikTok today because there has been a lot of debate on Twitter over the past 24 hours or so since news broke that Jean Kleyn might be returning to the South African squad after being pretty much out of the Irish test picture since the 2019 World Cup.
Look. One thing I’ve learned doing this over the years is that while we all share a love of rugby, the fact remains we all love it for different reasons. We’re all looking for something different from it. And that doesn’t necessarily mean any of us is right about what we want from it, it’s just different. For me, yes, I’m a Leinster supporter, I’m happy when we win, disappointed when we lose. But I’m also an Ireland supporter, also happy when we win, also disappointed when we lose. And to be an Ireland supporter I believe you have to be able to put the provincial stuff behind you, it’s an absolute necessity.
Now when it comes to Kleyn, of course I appreciate that there’s a fear among Munster fans that if he ends up taking advantage of the new rules to play for the Springboks, there’s a chance he might not be able to play for the province again. And no team wants to lose their best players, especially one that played a large part in their winning their first trophy in over a decade. That’s totally understandable.
You can probably tell I’m about to say but, right? So here goes….BUT….
What exactly are we trying to say is happening when Kleyn is left out of the Irish training squad ahead of the World Cup? Does it mean Andy Farrell thinks he’s not up to test standard? Does it mean Farrell has something against him? Does it mean he’s blaming him for Ireland’s performance in 2019? Does it serve as further proof that there’s an anti-Munster or pro-Leinster bias in the Irish coaching ticket?
OR…could it mean that going back to the squad he picked ahead of the 2021 Autumn Nations Series it seems perfectly obvious that he is a coach that knows the way he wants play, selects the players he wants to fit that style regardless of what province they hail from, and since that time, has only been on the losing side twice, once in Paris against a French side on its way to a Grand Slam, and next in Auckland against an All Black side he went on to beat twice in the following weeks?
Just to be clear….I am aware that just because you win a bunch of games in a row that doesn’t guarantee you success in the immediate future, if you’ll recall I already mentioned I’m a Leinster supporter so I know this all too well.
But seriously….what does a test coach have to do to get a bit of leeway when it comes to his decisions? We all know that no matter what squad he picks, someone is going to be left out, right? We all know that those players who don’t quite make it are going to hail from one of the four provinces no matter what, right? And we all know that a test coach probably shouldn’t make his decisions based on whether or not that means a player is going to stay at a particular province, right?
I could go into a defence of the players who have made the squad ahead of Kleyn, I could also go into a defence of Farrell’s tendency to go for more versatile position players on the fringes of his squad, but really it’s not about that. If this was just about a debate over the composition of the squad I wouldn’t be doing this video because we’ll always disagree on selections. It’s just that there’s an extra element to this Kleyn debate that goes too far and probably would have if it involved a player from any of the other three provinces too.
It’s perfectly natural for Munster fans to still be on a high after their win in Cape Town, I know I would be if Leinster had found the extra points needed to turn our last couple of results around. And like I already said, it’s perfectly natural to be concerned about losing a key player. But I guess all I’m saying here is that maybe those two factors are leading some people to conclusions that are ignoring a lot of other facts.
The Irish test squad is in a really really good place right now. And from what I’ve seen it really looks like one of the many things Farrell is good at is giving the players he does select the belief they need to overcome pretty much any mental obstacle that can be thrown at them, from the whole “never won a test series in New Zealand” thing to the whole “no matter who he picks one set of provincial fans is going to complain” thing.
So this has me wondering…since the URC doesn’t kick off again until the World Cup has just four nations left, maybe we can take a break from the provincial stuff for a few months and just be Irish supporters?
Anyway…like I said, a lot of us seem to want different things from following rugby but just so you know, here at Harpin’ Manor we’ll be taking another week or two off from the regular content, I mean there’s still a lot going on like the Irish sevens in both genders taking part in the European series, the Top 14 and Super Rugby playoffs, but we won’t be going back into full swing until Irish Under 20s start their Junior World Championships and then it will be all about the World Cup so be sure and stay tuned to all our social media channels and in the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are, stay safe everyone, slán. JLP
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