On this week’s column…
🏉 RR RETIRES
🏉 LEINSTER’S COACHING TICKET
🏉 U20 FIXTURES OUT
🏉 PROVINCIAL INCOMINGS
🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK
🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP
🏉 HARPIN ON…LEINSTER’S GAME MANAGEMENT
🏉 BONUS CLIP : CC FINAL FAN EXPERIENCE
🏉 POST FINAL TIKTOK
🏉 LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE
🏉 NEW FEATURE : TROLL PATROL
🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl IRISH SHIELD & 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).
…against Aironi in February 2011, Ruddock became the youngest ever Leinster captain when only 20 years of age
Ruddock To Retire At End Of The Season
IrishRugby.ie
JLP : After Leo Cullen, I really don’t think there has been a player who has personified what Leinster Rugby is all about other than Rhys Ruddock. Haven’t seen much of him this season and we’ve all kind of known this announcement was coming eventually, but while it is sad news after a really depressing weekend for fans of the province, in a way it has been a joy to be able to look back over his career and remember all the many good times. Leadership always came naturally to him which clearly our coaches spotted by handing him the armband so early. And in recent years the mere existence of the term “Rhys Ruddock All Stars” among the fans (meaning the teams we have sent for our late season South African tours) shows the high regard in which he is held.
“The lads literally just gave me slots of where they would normally address defence. I just went into that. I just slotted in with the programme, as it was.”
Jacques Nienaber: Leinster haven’t been neglecting attack
Neil Treacy – RTÉ Rugby
JLP : This was always going to be a tough week for Leinster coach at pressers, and Nienaber has done well to front up. And sadly since full time on Saturday the calls for Leo Cullen to step aside have started to get louder from Leinster fans, there were suggestions of it last year but now they are getting stronger, though to be clear I really don’t think I’m there yet – I mean, I’m never happy about actively looking for anyone to lose their job as it is, but in this specific case I can see where the viewpoint is coming from.
The thing about Leo is that if he stays, which I believe he will, absolutely nothing we do next season will matter except winning the CC, that is if we reach the final of course. So doubts will remain locked and loaded right up to the final whistle in Cardiff. Possibly that pressure will ease a bit if we win URC but still it’s going to be immense and it will be felt from the most casual fan right through the squad and into the coaches’ box. A new hierarchy structure would definitely ease that pressure somewhat, although having said that, Leinster are pretty much expected to be competing for titles regardless so the standards will have to remain high whatever the coaching ticket.
Much to ponder for sure.
Ireland will face stiff competition in Pool B, starting their campaign against Italy, followed by matches against Georgia and Australia.
Joe Naughton – SportsNews Ireland
JLP : With the senior season almost over it’s always good to get a reminder of the annual festival of rugby we get every June and July – this year it overlaps with the test team’s two-match series, also in South Africa, but it still gives us plenty to harp on before the Rugby Championship comes along to kill off the remaining weeks to the 2024/25 URC season and it all starts again! Love it.
The diminutive wing has bundles of pace and would provide further back three depth with Simon Zebo set to retire at the end of this season.
Munster Set To Sign Cheslin Kolbe-esque Wing From Lyon
Rob O’Halloran – Balls.ie
JLP : This article nearly won Clickbait of the Week with the way the headline dumps a ton of pressure on Thaakir Abrahams should he indeed be heading to Munster. But instead I have included it as one of a two-article set from Balls.ie, the second of which is this one by Gary Connaughton about Ulster’s new outhalf signing Aidan Morgan (also with clickbaity headline describing him as “intriguing”) and together the pieces highlight the fact that despite all the hoopla about Leinster’s recent announcements, the other provinces have also been busy on the acquisition front.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
The only way to fittingly respond is to go and win the URC the hard way, going away in the semi-final and final.
Rúaidhrí O’Connor – Irish Independent
JLP : Again, to clarify, my COTWA is not meant for an article I necessarily disagree with, and much of the points ROC makes here are ones we have made on the pod. It’s more about the presentation of the article with both the headline and the promoting tweet, put in a way as to attract both angry Leinster fans AND gleeful ABL ones.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Confession time first – I made a claim on the first draft of the pod about Antoine Dupont’s first half wonder-5022 where I was totally wrong…I thought the ball had been carried back from our half but in fact there had been a breakdown or two and kudos to the person who got in touch for both setting me straight AND doing it discreetly. Still, the pod had already gotten about a hundred listens by the time I corrected it and I’m certainly not going to try and pretend I didn’t say it, that’s one of the reasons I have this column.
Anyway going back to what DID make the final cut, Tom & Mark were open and honest going back over the match and as I often find it does help to have a chat about it. Also a big shout out to both Keego & Kino for their contributions on the preview show, even if that does seem about a gagillion years ago by this stage!!!
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.
Also here’s a clip where we looked mostly at how Leinster handled substitutions in the second half…
CC FINAL – THE FAN EXPERIENCE
We stopped recording “bonus clips” a while ago but on this week’s wrap pod had a section that was left on the ‘cutting room’ floor as I try to stay under an hour as much as I can so I put it out as extra YouTube content…Tom spoke about his experience in and around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
POST FINAL TIKTOK
No time (or motivation tbh) to put together a “Quick Tap” video this week (while I enjoy doing them you’re talking up to two hours work in total to produce just a 4-min vid) so instead I’ll share this one I recorded within about half an hour of the final whistle on Saturday. Got a lot of attention, possibly out of empathy from fellow Leinster fans but no doubt there were plenty of Nelson Muntzes out there too going “ha-ha”, such is the nature of sports fan content!!! TikTok following moved past 700 which I’m pretty pleased about since it’s far from my main focus, I should probably look to do more with the account next season.
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
Really, really difficult selection this week based on the update. We have said several times on the pod how we want us to go as strong as possible from now until the end of the season but what with the extra time in London, six-day turnaround AND Hugo Keenan off to join the 7s, to put a 23 together for the Connacht match sure wasn’t easy.
Obviously my “Ruddock as captain” choice is for a specific reason and it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t feature at all and Penny has the armband, but overall I have to think at least a few who came off the bench in the final will have to do so again at the RDS. I certainly don’t see any from the “further assessment required” section to make it in time although it would be brilliant if even one of them did.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Connacht : McErlean, Russell, J O’Brien, Brownlee, A Osborne, H Byrne, McGrath
Milne, McKee, Clarkson, Molony, Deeny, Ruddock (c), Penny, Deegan
Kelleher, Boyle, Ala’alatoa, O’Tighearnaigh, Moloney, Foley, Prendergast, King
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Garry Ringrose: will increase his training load again this week as he continues to be assessed for a shoulder injury.
Tommy O’Brien: will return to training this week from a hamstring injury and will be further assessed before a decision is made on his involvement.
Charlie Ngatai: will return to training this week from a shoulder injury and will be further assessed before a decision is made on his involvement.
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Jason Jenkins: picked up a knee injury against Toulouse and will not be available for selection this week.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
Just a quick reminder…for the past two URC campaigns, this shield was decided by overall league performance. Now it is only by the interpros, which is why in-form Munster are out of contention after their poor start to the season. Basically Leinster need a 5-pointer on Friday to force Ulster to require a win in Thomond Park on Saturday. Although they’ll probably want that anyway to help their league ranking.
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 47-12 CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
TROLL PATROL
We recently introduced Clickbait of the Week to point out cases of ADD (Article Description Deception) but for a long time now I have also been looking to launch Troll Patrol. Because why ridicule them online and fall down a rabbit hole when you can ridicule them here instead? What’s that? I could always not ridicule them at all? FFS where’s the fun in THAT?
Seriously though…the Game Management vid I posted above got a lot of comment reaction (at least a lot for our channel) and I thought one in particular was a worthy candidate for our first ever TP segment.
Credit where it’s due to this chap, he felt the need to come back three times before anyone had a chance to reply but it was his final point that put him over the top, so to speak.
@michaelflynn5123
Hugo Keenan played against Ulster week before final ! First time he has ever played in ravenhill ! First team not allowed to play away from home if there a chance they could lose ! Oh we lost because it was the b team
Why can’t you see ! Play your best team in the final ! What about the games leading up to the final! You have to play week after week to be ready for the big games! Oh they played ospreys couple weeks before the final! Last 3 years same thing
Leinster haven’t been put under pressure all year La Rochelle where lucky to get out of there group Northampton didn’t turn up on the day ! First team not allowed to play in south Africa! We’re under no pressure all year! Weren’t battle hardened! Munster would get 3 players on the Leinster team! But I think they would have beaten Toulouse! But then again they can leave home and fight
So…Munster would have beaten Toulouse? Because they can ‘leave home and fight’? And…how would they have gotten the chance to beat Toulouse? By leaving home, fighting, and defeating Northampton. How did they get on? 😜
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
Under the new series format, this weekend’s sevens event will actually decide the overall champions of the circuit. I know many don’t like that but I for one don’t mind. If nothing else it will be a good experience for both Irish teams as they prepare for the Olympics. With the tournament in Spain the kickoff times are definitely more friendly for Irish viewers for sure and of course there will be no easy matches.
I made my reservations on Hugo Keenan’s involvement clear on these pages already so no need to go over them again – he’s in the squad now and he will of course be a massive boost for our chances and I look forward to cheering on both teams over the weekend.
MADRID (FINALS)
IRISH POOL FIXTURES
FRI MAY 31
12:51PM – WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
1:37PM – MEN V SOUTH AFRICA
SAT JUNE 1
11AM – WOMEN V FRANCE
12:06PM – MEN V FIJI
2:05PM – WOMEN V FIJI
3:11PM – MEN V NEW ZEALAND
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Not sure how to word this point without making it look like I’m getting some consolation from it, but I assure you I’m not – I’d say the last place ROG would want to be heading this weekend is to a Toulouse town celebrating a sixth star. That said, he might equally view it as an opportunity to catch them on the hop and in a season where Leinster got the LAR monkey off our back and Toulouse did likewise with us, maybe this is just the weekend for him to end his recent run of poor results against ‘les rouge at noir’. Meanwhile the scramble to make the top 6 remains interesting with everyone down to Lyon in 12th mathematically still in the running by the looks of it, and 6th placed Racing v 7th place Pau the pick of the bunch this weekend.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
Round 25
SAT JUNE 1
PERPIGNAN V BORDEAUX
OYONNAX V BAYONNE
CASTRES V STADE FRANÇAIS
MONTPELLIER V LYON
RACING 92 V PAU
SUN JUNE 2
TOULON V CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
While Northampton and Bath should by rights be the favourites, I have to say I don’t know how to call these semifinals, both could be close although you’d have to assume the home advantage should win out in each case.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
PLAYOFFS
FRI MAY 31
NORTHAMPTON V SARACENS
SAT JUNE 1
BATH V SALE SHARKS
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
As poor an all as the Crusaders’ form has been all season, with 8 of the 12 clubs making the playoffs, I have always maintained that it would be mad to rule them out completely until they mathematically can’t win yet another title and having defeated the table topping Blues last weekend, there’s every chance they could face the Auckland lads again in the quarterfinals. They’ll need to beat Moana in Round 15 and hope both the Drua and Western Force slip up, but none of that is impossible. Meanwhile the race for that top seed between the Blues and the Hurricanes should be interesting, both are at home in the final round but against fellow NZ franchises so no easy wins there.
ROUND 14
CHIEFS 17-20 HURRICANES
BRUMBIES 53-17 REBELS
MOANA PASIFIKA 27-12 WARATAHS
CRUSADERS 29-27 BLUES
REDS 59-13 WESTERN FORCE
HIGHLANDERS 39-3 FIJIAN DRUA
ROUND 15
FRI MAY 31
CRUSADERS V MOANA PASIFIKA
WARATAHS V REDS
SAT JUN 1
FIJIAN DRUA V REBELS
HURRICANES V HIGHLANDERS
BLUES V CHIEFS
WESTERN FORCE V BRUMBIES
JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE
I had hoped to catch the Grand Final but needless to say after Saturday I wasn’t exactly in a place where watching any more rugby was on my radar but it sounds like an enthralling match with the seemingly invincible Wild Knights falling short against Richie Mo’unga’s Brave Lupus. Here’s the video if you want a look yourself.
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Another defeat for my adopted MLR team the Chicago Hounds this week, they definitely seem to need the week off in the next round so they can prepare for the push to the playoffs. Miami’s shock win over New England makes things tight at the top of the Eastern Conference while out west, it’s still Houston and Seattle battling it out.
ROUND 13
SEATTLE 26-24 OLD GLORY DC
MIAMI 15-13 NEW ENGLAND
CHICAGO 13-25 NOLA GOLD
LOS ANGELES 19-27 SAN DIEGO
ROUND 14
SUN JUNE 2
OLD GLORY V ANTHEM RC
NOLA GOLD V HOUSTON
UTAH V SAN DIEGO
NEW ENGLAND V DALLAS
LOS ANGELES V MIAMI
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
I came from way behind to lift the title last season but I really don’t fancy my chances of doing it again this time around. In fact if I’m not careful I could drop as far as 7th, though that would still spare me from having to sport The Jersey of Shame. Looks like a straight fight betwen Kino and Kristian with just 15 matches left to predict, 8 of which are this coming weekend.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Very much looking forward to returning to the RDS on Friday and hopefully the boys in blue can help ease the pain from last weekend. We’ll have our preview pod for the Connacht match on Thursday afternoon, then our wrap pod is to hopefully introduce a new Harpin contributor, please do stay tuned and join in the conversation in any way you can.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 