80+ column : Feb 6

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

Barring a truly spectacular stumble, though, it is Ireland’s trophy to lose. Six Nations rivals must react quickly to soaring Ireland after Marseille mauling Robert Kitson – The Guardian JLP : On our podcasts, the superstition I like to call the “Gran’s Lamb Protocol” has been put in place where we don’t use the phrase which refers to 5 wins out of 5 on the pod until it either happens or no longer can happen.  It’s partly genuine superstition, partly a bit o’ craic.  That doesn’t mean I share opinions in the media from other countries however, and after that first round of matches Kitson’s assertion is pretty on the nose.

“There was times when they scored that the crowd was going crazy…he was just calm, just telling us to get back into it…” Josh van der Flier: Cool Peter O’Mahony helped us shut out Marseille maelstrom Simon Lewis – Irish Examiner JLP : Hang on…a Leinster player praising his Munster captain?  Surely not!  Seriously though…this is great to see and doesn’t contradict a single thing we saw with our own eyes on the night.  And as many have commented, during POM’s spell on the sideline Caelan Doris did a bang up job showing leadership as well.

“In theory…could just stop there and as long as nobody moved you could just take a break in play. It’s madness.” Jackman And Lenihan Want To See ‘Ridiculous’ Dupont Law Changed Eoin Harrington – Balls.ie JLP : Here’s a radical idea…how about extend the “mark” rule beyond the 22 all the way to the halfway line?  Yeah that probably makes no sense, I literally just thought of it as I was typing, but whatever the solution I totally agree with Berch & Donal that the multiple bouts of kick tennis can be painful to watch.

“You have to remember this was an amateur game…Yes, he wanted to win every game he played, but it wasn’t life and death to him and it wasn’t his job.” The genius of Barry John, his final Wales match and the only three people he told about it Mark Orders – Wales Online JLP : When John was in his heyday I was just a wee lad myself so I can’t relate to the impact he had on the game at the time but certainly the anecdotal evidence showed what a superstar he was in Wales at the time.  Sad though his passing of course is, one can hope that it might just help bring some unity across the principality that is badly needed with the sport he loved in such disarray.  In a couple of weeks I will be speaking to author Seimon Williams about his book “Welsh rugby – What Went Wrong?” where we will of course have much to discuss.

The quarter final ties will be played on the week commencing Monday 19th February Draw for the Leinster Schools Senior Cup Quarterfinals Paul Cahill – LeinsterRugby.ie JLP : Terenure v St Michael’s seems to be the pick of the bunch although Monkstown v Mary’s might actually be the closest tie, we’ll see how they pan out.  From here on in all matches will be shown live on Premier Sports Ireland.

Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby

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WRAP OF A WRAP

When I say how many “caps” a contributor has, it is generally with tongue in cheek, but it is worth mentioning when they reach a milestone like Conor Cronin did when he earned his 50th in wrapping the France match on Sunday evening.  He and Mark Jackson, himself just back from a spell on the sidelines, did an excellent job poring over the timeline of the match, and for once I have actually remembered also to remember the preview which was done by Keego who accurately predicted an Irish win although nobody could have dreamed of a 21-point margin!!!

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.

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HARPIN ON…WARREN G, LINEOUTS & BONUS POINTS

Still playing around with the format for the bonus pod but this week’s changes were more on the graphic side of things – having gone with individual videos for my all-provincial panel last week I looked to retain it for this one and I’d say it worked pretty well.  Conor focused on Gatland’s tactless post-match presser, Mark on Ireland’s lineout and I rehashed a bonus point theme I have been harping on for a while.

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SCRUMS UP IN THE AIR

These TikTok rants are starting to go a bit longer than they probably should be, my original hope was that they should be no longer than two minutes.  But that said I have to cut the cloth to suit the topic and I felt the extra bits were worth it for this one.

@harpinonrugby

Our 80+ column posts every Tuesday afternoon at HarpinOnRugby.com

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

There was no way Racing could keep losing while holding on to 1st place in the 🔝🐱🐴 but despite slipping to 4th they’re still only a point off their Parisian rivals who have reached the summit.  La Rochelle won’t feel so badly about being just six points off the pace given how their season has gone so far.

Meanwhile down at the bottom it is concerning to see names like Lyon and Montpellier in the relegation discussion but with 12 rounds to go and the way results in this league yoyo back and forth, for all we know they could still make the playoffs!

Most importantly, who’s idea was it to have a round on the opening 6N weekend?  Crazy all round, and you could argue that it hurt the French Under 20s as well.  But the 🔝🐱🐴 takes a breather next weekend.

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AIL UPDATE 

I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure I went looking for a dedicated website for the Celtic Challenge competition and it only seems to be operational in the past week or so.   I also thought I was following this comp closely yet only now do I realise that it is not just a straight round robin format, in actual fact after 5 rounds the teams break into a top 3 and bottom 3 with two more matches for each to decide the placings.

All of which means the Wolfhounds v Clovers matchup on the weekend of the 24th will make for a decent final trial ahead of our upcoming 6 Nations campaign.

Now after my assertion in recent weeks that the Celtic Comp clashing with the AIL Cup wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it will be interesting to see if these extra matches have an effect on the actual Women’s AIL which returns this weekend – as you can see the top four all avoid each other.

And in actual fact the same can be said of the men’s top division which also kicks back into gear this weekend, chances are the playoff spots there too will remain the same.

#SupportYourLocalClub

WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE

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WOMEN’S AIL

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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MEN’S AIL

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

Kristian was keen to start up a fresh prediction league for the Six Nations so I obliged – no prizes or forfeits, just bragging right and as you can see three of us correctly predicted the three away wins from round 1.

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Italy are next on the agenda with the wrap pod moved to a Monday evening recording although the preview should post on Friday as normal.

As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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