On this week’s column…
🏉 LANGUAGE DIFFICULTIES
🏉 NOT LACKING CONVICTION
🏉 THE SCENIC ROUTE TO THE QFs
🏉 TOP TOMASSO
🏉 THE NIENABER WAY
🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP
🏉 CC+SR≠CWC
🏉 LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
🏉 THAT ROG ARTICLE
🏉 LA ROCHELLE FAN CLUB (IRISH BRANCH)
🏉 KINO CRUNCHES THE NUMBERS
🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl W6N & SVNS]
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).
“Should be a prerequisite for international refs to at least be able to communicate, it doesn’t have to be perfect”
Referee Karl Dickson comes under fire for his behaviour at the weekend
Ruck.co.uk
JLP : Little bit of a nothing burger story to lead off with, but I do so for a number of reasons. First, the name Karl Dickson caught my eye simply because he is reffing Leinster’s big match at the Aviva this coming weekend. But this whole “come under fire” thing seems a complete misdirect because I don’t see why he should be judged on whether or not he speaks French. Obviously I think it has been good for refs like Wayne Barnes to parlez some Francais and the same goes for the French refs who speak English but for any of it to be mandatory is a bit of a stretch. Maybe with the vast majority of rugby nations being English speaking it should require the basic rugby terms to be known by all but we’re straying down the wrong road if we think it should be part of the job. Being good at a foreign language should not be a metric for deciding whether or not you’ll be good as a referee. Actually if this article has any relevance at all it’s in a negative way and leads me to my second Front 5 article this week…
“The perpetrator was subsequently convicted of one count of use carriage service to menace or harass via online communication.”
Individual prosecuted following online abuse towards official
Jack Tunney – RugbyDump
JLP : That Dickson headline was written that way for one reason and one reason only….LITERAL clickbait. It wanted readers who are inclined to disagree with refereeing decisions to give the article a hit thinking the “behaviour” of the official had something to do with a decision on the rugby pitch. So basically you are actively seeking to trigger the types who might end up leaning towards actions like those taken by this individual.
Obviously it is very good news that legal action has led to a conviction in this area and the hope is that the spread of this news will help deter other, but I’d argue that work needs to be done in other areas to stop the gaslighting as well. I’ll never say that we should never disagree with officials to be clear, just that a very clear line needs to be drawn where that criticism stops and I’m not sure that has been properly done as yet.
…a Qatar Airways partnership to fly the SA franchises for EPCR matches has caused yet more logistical issues for the Bulls…
SA Rugby hit back at Bulls’ travel complaints
SA Rugby Mag
JLP : Travel was always going to be up there with the top negatives with letting the SA teams into northern hemisphere competitions, and this Last 16-to-quarterfinal turnaround week was always going to be when it was most noticeable, not just for SA teams either seeing how many miles ROG & co have clocked up. For me, this is just further proof that the overall European calendar needs a major overhaul, but I won’t harp on that too much this time, I suppose when it comes to this particular case I have to wonder how an airline thinks they are being seen in a positive light being associated with a rugby club when it makes them endure eight flights instead of helping them travel more comfortably.
Menoncello…becomes the youngest winner in the award’s history, and only the second Italian winner following Andrea Masi
Menoncello voted Guinness Player of the Championship
SixNationsRugby.com
JLP : You might think I’d give a big “harrumph” that the player of the tournament didn’t go to the champions, let alone that it went to a team that finished 5th, but that would absolutely not be the case. For Italy to have a 50% record in a tournament where they’ve collected enough wooden spoons to stir a Mediterranean Sea full of bolognese over the years is enough to show they deserve some kind of honour and this is just the way to do it, with Tomasso being just the promising young player to be the one to get it. Interesting how the last Irish player to win was Jacob Stockdale…
“…if you look at the reality and just look at the size of Irish players in the Irish national side compared to other national sides around the world, in the tier one nations there isn’t a bigger, heavier side than Ireland.”
Jacques Nienaber aims to bring South African knockout secrets to Leinster’s formula
Gerry Thornley – Irish Times
JLP : Finishing off with a straightforward Thorinho piece based on an interview, and any insight into the Nienaber revolution at Leinster is of course welcome.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Wouldn’t expect anything less that top podding from Messrs Jackson & O’Muilleoir and both were true to form. If you’ve been a long time listener to our wraps you probably noticed we have streamlined the format a LOT, taking out the Front Five (which moved to this column) and the bonus clip (which I got rid of altogether, both features were meant to try and cover non-Leinster/Ireland topics but basically that’s what this column is for). Now we get our recordings done in under an hour and it saves me a ton of time while still giving the match that full Harpin treatment.
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.
QUICK TAP : CC+SR≠CWC
As soon as I saw this story my Quick Tap rant for the week had its topic. There are several other metrics where I feel this proposal looks bad but if I outlined them all the “tap” would have been anything but “quick”!!!!
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
I don’t see Ringrose returning and I reckon we should probably presume Healy is also out the way he limped off last Saturday. The way Jamie Osborne & Michael Milne have been playing of late I’m not too concerned about either tbh. What does interest me is what we will do in the pack. Many are saying Will Connors should start again as he did back in the pool match in December, but I’m wondering if instead we’ll add his tree-felling tackles to the final half an hour where they have shown many times they can really gather momentum. I’m pretty sure a 6/2 split is on the cards whichever way we go.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v La Rochelle
Keenan, Larmour, Henshaw, Osborne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Molony, McCarthy, Baird, van der Flier, Doris
Kelleher, Milne, Ala’alatoa, Jenkins, Conan, Connors, McGrath, Frawley
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Robbie Henshaw: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
Hugo Keenan: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a hip injury
Luke McGrath: has come through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will return to full training this week
Ciarán Frawley: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a foot injury
Andrew Porter: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Jimmy O’Brien: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a neck injury
Charlie Ngatai: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a calf injury
Garry Ringrose: will be further assessed this week for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Cian Healy: will be further assessed this week for a leg injury picked up at the weekend before a final decision is made on his availability
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
Big, big match for Ireland this weekend. It is essentially a wooden spoon playoff and we need to make every scrap of our home advantage count. Obviously the re-addition of Cliodhna Moloney to the squad (finally!) will be a huge boost but if they feel they need her and indeed the 7s players why didn’t they add them sooner? To my admittedly untrained eye I thought against Italy our biggest problem was that we lacked cohesion and adding new players could make that even more difficult, but we should still all get behind the girls on Saturday, although the direct clash of their second half with Leinster men’s first won’t make it easy.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND THREE
SAT APR 13
SCOTLAND V ENGLAND
IRELAND V WALES
SUN APR 14
FRANCE V ITALY
THAT ROG ARTICLE
I couldn’t let this go…look, I know these comments were made many years ago and that may be important context but still it’s the first time I have heard them and I’m not so sure time does a whole lot to heal them. Was it OK to say those things in 2016? Maybe there was mischief in digging them up to start the week that was in it but I’m certainly not going to have a lot of sympathy with him over it. I’ve put a lot of words into the public domain myself over the years and if something comes back to haunt me now I’d have to own them.
But that’s enough on the matter as far as I’m concerned.
LA ROCHELLE FAN CLUB (IRISH BRANCH)
Lot of chatter about the way some Irish fans will be supporting La Rochelle this Saturday. I really don’t want to add to it on these pages, but it’s worth mentioning. Personally, I’m fine with it. I mean, actually wearing the jersey or merch to the matches might be a bit, er, OTT, but hey, you do you. There’s a reason many choose to hate on Leinster, and that’s repeated success. So instead of focusing on the hating, instead I focus on the reason, which for me, is a good thing. Moving on…
KINO CRUNCHES THE NUMBERS
When he’s not guesting on the pod, Cian ‘RugbyKino’ O’Muilloeir has been known to pore over some relevant rugby stats and he has done some interesting work here on the remaining Champions Cup teams and how they have performed in relation to the bookies’ point spreads…
“SVNS” UPDATE
Both genders made it out of the pool phase but only the men went on to get some decent standings points thanks to an amazing Terry Kennedy hat-trick against the USA in the quarterfinals…it went to sudden death extra time and when a scrum in a brilliant position for us went a bit awry I thought we were in trouble until TK kicked it ahead and sprinted past pretty much everyone to get to it. As I watched, even though the rest of the house was in bed on a Saturday morning, from the moment he kicked it I whispered “no way” and then I kept saying it over and over until by the time he dotted down I was screaming it!!! Unfortunately the French were too good for us in the semis (despite being sans AD) but we recovered well to win the bronze medal to keep us in a solid second spot on the table. And to be fair to the women’s team, they have also secured a spot in the final tournament and don’t forget of the two Irish teams they are the only ones with a leg victory so overall it has been an excellent season for the sevens programme so far.
One final note – as you can see in the graphic below, the official SVNS site didn’t seem to be able to find a picture of Michael Hooper, you’d think there might be one or two rattling around the aul internet wouldn’t you…
HONG KONG SEVENS
WOMEN
POOL STAGE
V SOUTH AFRICA 20-7
V AUSTRALIA 0-35
V FIJI 5-21
QUARTERFINALS
V FRANCE 7-31
5TH-8TH PLAYOFF
V JAPAN 5-12
MEN
POOL STAGE
V SOUTH AFRICA 17-22
V SAMOA 12-7
V SPAIN 12-5
QUARTERFINALS
V USA 24-19 AET
SEMIFINALS
V FRANCE 10-26
3RD PLACE PLAYOFF
V AUSTRALIA 14-5
Under the new model, HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their opportunity to compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid, where the women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned.
Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID (FINALS) MAY 31-JUN 2
AIL UPDATE
STOP THE PRESSES! UL BOHS LOST A MATCH!!! Railway got the better of them in Round 17, and the top four all lock horns again in the final round of matches this weekend, I’m assuming that was smart scheduling from the organisers to help them get into the knockout frame of mind. Still a shame this is all going on during the Six Nations, however.
Meanwhile in the men’s Div1A the final four was actually set with everyone at the top winning in the final series to leave to very interesting semifinals in Terenure v Lansdowne and Cork Con v Clontarf, they will take place the weekend after next.
Meanwhile down in 1B I always get confused with the promotion format, turns out it is actually four teams that get to fight for the right to join St Mary’s in the top flight, with 9th place Shannon from 1A among the contestants.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
ROUND 17
GALWEGIANS 21-22 WICKLOW
BLACKROCK 32-5 COOKE
OLD BELVEDERE 50-12 BALLINCOLLIG
RAILWAY UNION 43-22 UL BOHS
ROUND 18
SAT APR 13
UL BOHS V BELVO
COOKE V GALWEGIANS
BLACKROCK V RAILWAY UNION
WICKLOW V SUTTONIANS
MEN’S AIL 1A
ROUND 18
BALLYNAHINCH 15-34 TERENURE
CITY OF ARMAGH 24-40 CORK CON
CLONTARF 31-19 TRINITY
UCD 33-17 SHANNON
YOUNG MUNSTER 24-29 LANSDOWNE
CHAMPIONSHIP SEMIFINALS
SAT APR 20
CORK CON V CLONTARF
TERENURE V LANSDOWNE
PROMOTION PLAYOFFS
SAT APR 20
OLD WESLEY V GARRYOWEN
SHANNON V OLD BELVEDERE
MEN’S AIL 1B
ROUND 18
OLD WESLEY 52-15 QUEENS
NAAS 29-34 OLD BELVEDERE
GARRYOWEN 31-10 HIGHFIELD
BUCCANEERS 12-32 ST MARY’S
BLACKROCK 19-26 UCC
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Four massive home wins didn’t exactly make for an exciting round 7, but Tahs v Saders could catch the eye next weekend.
ROUND 7
BLUES 50-3 WESTERN FORCE
REBELS 41-20 FIJIAN DRUA
CHIEFS 68-12 MOANA PASIFIKA
BRUMBIES 40-16 WARATAHS
ROUND 8
FRI APR 12
MOANA PASIFIKA V REDS
WARATAHS V CRUSADERS
SAT APR 13
HURRICANES V CHIEFS
REBELS V HIGHLANDERS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Great win for Chicago in New Orleans which make them look like serious playoff contenders. Houston remain the only unbeaten team and the visit of East-leading New England looks like the tie of the next round.
ROUND 6
UTAH 44-19 ANTHEM RC
SEATTLE 34-32 DALLAS
NOLA GOLD 21-38 CHICAGO
OLD GLORY 22-22 LOS ANGELES
NEW ENGLAND 25-3 MIAMI
ROUND 7
DALLAS V UTAH
HOUSTON V NEW ENGLAND
SAN DIEGO V NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO V ANTHEM RC
LOS ANGELES V SEATTLE
CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE
I firmly believed both Ulster and Connacht could win their away ties in the round of 16 but to repeat that this weekend won’t be easy. Two matches in South Africa and two in France is quite a way to start your tenure as Ulster coach but we know Richie Murphy is up to the task and I certainly wouldn’t rule them out of contention at the Marcel Michelin. Meanwhile if the boys from the west can repeat their second half form from last weekend, while Benetton will be hot favourites, you just never know.
ROUND OF 16
PAU 30-40 CONNACHT
SHARKS 47-3 ZEBRE
MONTPELLIER 17-40 ULSTER
EDINBURGH 33-15 BAYONNE
OSPREYS 23-15 SALE SHARKS
BENETTON 27-17 LIONS
CLÉRMONT 27-22 CHEETAHS
GLOUCESTER 30-25 CASTRES
QUARTERFINALS
FRI APR 12
GLOUCESTER V OSPREYS
SAT APR 13
CLÉRMONT V ULSTER
SHARKS V EDINBURGH
SUN APR 14
BENETTON V CONNACHT
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
La Rochelle are obviously our focus this week, don’t forget our slot after the 5 o’clock news on Dublin South 93.9 radio this Friday, we’ll also post our own preview that afternoon with a wrap pod to come on Sunday.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 