On this week’s column…
🏉 ENGLISH MEDIA AT IT AGAIN
🏉 HOGG (REPUTATION) WASH
🏉 SEVENS COVERAGE
🏉 MARLER’S LATEST
🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK
🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP
🏉 LEINSTER’S SQUAD DILEMMA
🏉 QUICK TAP – WOULD YOU BE ABL?
🏉 LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
🏉 CHURCH 111
🏉 CROKE PARK ISSUES
🏉 THAT STAR WARS INTRO
🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl SVNS & CHALLENGE CUP]
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).
…several English press outlets have used strange language to subtly chastise Leinster and Toulouse for hosting their semi-final encounters in their home cities over the weekend.
English Press Push For Huge Champions Cup Change After Leinster’s Croke Park Triumph
Eoin Harrington – Balls.ie
JLP : Not even going to go into much detail here, because whatever way you slice the actual subject matter, these stories all boil down to the same thing. English clubs winning Champions Cup = everything is fine. English clubs not winning = format must change. Boo hoo. Maybe spend more time reporting on why the financial model has failed so many clubs and what’s being done to sort it?
Mr Hogg will return to court on 15 July for an intermediate hearing ahead of his trial on 30 July.
Ex-Scotland rugby captain Hogg ordered to stay away from wife
BBC.com
JLP : Of course I believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty but with the above dates so relatively close and given the severity of the accusations, I don’t see why any broadcaster would consider putting him in front of a camera or any microphone until due process has full taken place. Just baffles me to have seen him since the first reports came out. And it’s not just TV where we see his reputation-washing, this article on Ruck.co.uk from just last Sunday would have you think he wasn’t having any legal issues at all.
“In the past, players would start in sevens, and move to 15s, which was the much bigger focus in Ireland. In the past few years, there has not been much movement, and look at the quality they have delivered. They are sevens players, and have consistently performed in that code.”
Paul McNamara – South China Morning Post
JLP : The South China Morning Post is far from a normal source of Front Five material for these pages but I wanted to see if the Irish sevens were getting much coverage over the past week or so and well, this was up near the top of the list, despite some respectable results from both genders, especially the men who reached the final in Singapore as you’ll see further down the page.
‘F***ed it. Sorry. Harlequins fans were huge. Boys were incredible. Juvé.’
Joe Marler admits he ‘f***ed it’ after cheap penalty giveaway vs Toulouse
Mark Donlon – Extra.ie
JLP : If you weren’t watching the Toulouse/Harlequins match then you heard Quins had a penalty towards the end that could have given them a chance of staging another amazing fightback, only for one of their players to go and get the penalty reversed, you wouldn’t believe it. Unless you heard it was Joe Marler of course, in which case you’d TOTALLY believe it. To his credit though, at least he owned it. So there’s that.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
Ulster are poised to steam the flow of players leaving Belfast after swooping on Champions Cup semi-finalists Leinster to land Ireland back row Max Deegan on a two-year deal.
Leinster No.8 Max Deegan to switch provinces
Neil Fissler – Rugbypass.tv
JLP : Now – to be fair, much like Joe, Neil has owned up to this and I have made more than my fair share of mistakes on these very pages over the years. Still, this is a pretty big one, and the reports we’re hearing now since it was announced that Deegan has decided to stay at Leinster that the agreement was reached ‘several months ago’. So assuming the story was rushed to maximise exclusivity and thus to maximise clicks, Neil wins this week’s COTWA.
WRAP OF A WRAP
I brought the same team back from the quarterfinal against La Rochelle and Tom & Mark did a their usual excellent job going back over the match, striking the right tone when it came to the scary finish. We used the final thoughts section for our latest YouTube clip.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : WOULD YOU BE ABL???
When I switched from an article-based to podcast-based format, our first show was a chat on the whole concept of what I call “ABL” or “Anyone But Leinster” but this TikTok is basically my taking another swing at defining it and expressing its relevance to contemporary Irish rugby discourse.
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
We discussed on the pod how Leinster selections would go over the coming weeks and we kind of agreed we’d like to see a combination of returning injured players given game time and keeping the team for the final fresh, with some cotton wool for the likes of Lowe & JGP but not many more.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Ospreys
Keenan, Russell, Ringrose, Ngatai, Larmour, H Byrne, McGrath
Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony (c), Jenkins, Connors, Penny, Deegan
Sheehan, Milne, Clarkson, Deeny, Culhane, Foley, Prendergast, J Osborne
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
There is good news for Jimmy O’Brien who came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a neck injury and also for Tommy O’Brien who has returned to full training from a hamstring injury.
Garry Ringrose returned to full training last week from a shoulder injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his involvement.
Hugo Keenan will also be further assessed this week for a hip injury before a final decision is made on his involvement.
There is no further update on James Ryan (arm) and Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
The Shield comes back into play with Connacht still mathematically in contention and Munster trying to get off the mark.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER V CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
CHURCH 111
We didn’t actually mention this on our wrap pod, but it did come up in our preview with Kino and to be fair, when he did come on Leinster fans were kind of more focused on us, you know, winning the match! And I thought the PA guy went a little bit too far with his announcement, they should never bleed into the actual gameplay IMO.
All that said, what an amazing achievement and so fitting for him to reach the milestone at Croke Park given he’s a link back to the classic 2009 encounter.
CROKE PARK ISSUES
Speaking of Croke Park according to reports all was not plain sailing, and not just when it came to getting the full complement of bums on seats either. Look – overall I’m happy enough to accept that for what is effectively a one-off event rugby-wise there were always going to be some issues, but if this one below is genuine (and I’ve no reason to believe otherwise) then never mind what the policy of the stadium is, I’m looking squarely at the EPCR, as they had control of the event. Surely it’s in their policy for these spectators to be guaranteed an unobstructed view, and if that meant keeping some areas clear that meant the attendance would be a thousand or so less, then so be it? Will definitely have to be sorted before more matches are played there next year.
THAT STAR WARS INTRO
Might as well get my money’s worth from this clip and repeat it here…I decided to go all in with some Star Wars puns what with the Leinster v Northampton match being on May the 4th and all, and after the preview show was recorded I got the idea to look for a site that helped produced a video like this one, I was very confident I would easily find one, and I was right.
“SVNS” UPDATE
Yet another exciting weekend for the Irish sevens programme, with the men coming within a whiskey of a first leg victory yet still closing the gap with Argentina at the top of the standings, and the women fighting back from defeat in the quarterfinals to clinch fifth spot with the help of the usual plentiful amount of tries from Aimee Leigh Murphy Crowe. Now the circuit moves to its finals stage, the points are wiped clean and the top eight playoff in Madrid at the end of May. No reason to believe why both Irish sides can’t push for podium finishes, same goes for the Olympics.
SINGAPORE 7S
WOMEN
POOL STAGE
V CANADA W 5-0
V NEW ZEALAND L 12-31
V SPAIN W 25-7
QUARTERFINALS
V AUSTRALIA L 24-14
5TH PLACE PLAYOFF
V JAPAN W 19-17
MEN
POOL STAGE
V GREAT BRITAIN W 19-5
V USA L 7-10
V FIJI L 19-26
QUARTERFINALS
V ARGENTINA W 21-5
SEMIFINALS
V GREAT BRITAIN W 15-12et
FINAL
V NEW ZEALAND 14-17
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…
MADRID (FINALS) MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Toulouse v Stade Français is obviously the match of the weekend as the home side have little time to be impressed by reaching another CC final.But I’d wonder if the Bordeaux v La Rochelle tie could have more significance. When the last 16 bracket of the Champions Cup was set many thought this could have been the final, yet now defeat could leave either with doubts as to making the 🔝🐱🐴 playoffs at all.
NO MATCH LAST WEEKEND
Round 23
SAT MAY 11
PERPIGNAN V CLÉRMONT
CASTRES V MONTPELLIER
PAU V OYONNAX
RACING 92 V BAYONNE
TOULON V LYON
BORDEAUX V LA ROCHELLE
SUN MAY 12
TOULOUSE V STADE FRANÇAIS
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
The English press might have a been in their bonnets about Irish clubs resting players for European matches but if Gloucester don’t put out mostly academy sides for their remaining two Premiership matches ahead of their Challenge Cup final date with the Sharks, then I don’t know what to say because they are totally stranded in 9th place on the table and can’t move so their only bet is to push for the automatic Champions Cup qualification that would come with the trophy, which would probably deny Leicester a spot. For this reason I’m expecting Northampton to have an easy enough return to domestic action while the four clubs in pursuit somehow avoid each other in round 17.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 17
FRI MAY 10
SALE SHARKS V LEICESTER TIGERS
NEWCASTLE V BATH
SAT MAY 11
NORTHAMPTON V GLOUCESTER
BRISTOL V SARACENS
EXETER CHIEFS V HARLEQUINS
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Thought maybe the Crusaders were on the march in the last round then boom! Up come the Reds to knock them back again. Seriously wondering if they’re going to make the quarterfinals now. Hurricanes and Blues still taking the top two slots and they meet each other in Auckland next.
ROUND 11
HURRICANES 41-12 WARATAHS
REBELS 11-38 BLUES
MOANA PASIFIKA 17-28 HIGHLANDERS
CRUSADERS 28-33 REDS
CHIEFS 56-7 WESTERN FORCE
BRUMBIES 28-20 FIJIAN DRUA
ROUND 12
FRI MAY 10
MOANA PASIFIKA V CHIEFS
REDS V REBELS
SAT MAY 11
BLUES V HURRICANES
HIGHLANDERS V CRUSADERS
WARATAHS V BRUMBIES
WESTERN FORCE V FIJIAN DRUA
JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE
No surprises in the final round of matches and the playoffs are set for two weeks from now.
ROUND 16
HONDA HEAT 31-33 KOBE STEEL
CANON EAGLES 14-43 WILD KNIGHTS
SUNTORY 26-45 SPEARS KUBOTA
KINTETSU LINERS 36-46 MITSUBISHI
SHIZUOKA 20-59 BRAVE LUPUS
BLACK RAMS 18-45 TOYOTA VERBLITZ
SEMIFINALS
MAY 18
WILD KNIGHTS V CANON EAGLES
MAY 19
TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS V SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
GO HOUNDS!!!! We have adopted Chicago for this season and they really did a number on the conference-leading Free Jacks as they matched each other for tries with 3 each only for the placekicks of Hounds outhalf Adriaan Carelse to keep the visitors ahead and it narrows NEFJ’s lead down to just 3 points and things dont get any easier for them as high flying Seattle come to town next while Chicago host DC. Houston are also doing really well and got their 8th win of the campaign at Utah.
ROUND 10
SEATTLE 29-13 ANTHEM
OLD GLORY 13-10 MIAMI
UTAH 24-29 HOUSTON
NEW ENGLAND 20-26 CHICAGO
SAN DIEGO 30-24 DALLAS
ROUND 11
SAT MAY 11
ANTHEM RC V HOUSTON
DALLAS V LOS ANGELES
NOLA GOLD V SEATTLE
CHICAGO V OLD GLORY
SUN MAY 12
MIAMI V UTAH
CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE
To be honest I would not have been surprised if both semifinals went the other way but the result is that whoever looks like finishing 8th in the URC or Premiership will be anxious watching the final as their spot in next season’s Champions Cup will be in jeopardy. Despite all the negative talk about formats around the place, I for one like this rule. Scraping into the last qualification spot should have some kind of jeopardy to it.
SEMIFINALS
SAT MAY 4
SHARKS 32-31 CLÉRMONT
GLOUCESTER 40-23 BENETTON
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Just 31 matches left to predict so I’ll need a good round this weekend to make up for all the ground I’ve lost over the past month or so. Might even need to take a few gambles along the way.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s Those Pesky Birds up next for Leinster, on Ross Molony’s 30th birthday no less. I’m doing a guest appearance on Mauls, Balls and All on Wednesday evening, while their host Peter Burke is down to help with our Ospreys wrap on Sunday. We will of course have our usual preview show on Friday plus all the other usual features around the different social media channels so please be sure to comment, like, share & subscribe whenever you can.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 