80+ column : July 3

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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).

Leinster…are joined by Stade Rochelais, who defeated them in the 2022 and 2023 finals, before the Dublin-based club knocked them out in the quarter-finals last season. 

Investec Champions Cup pools 2024/25: All you need to know

EPCRugby.com

JLP : I was convinced Leinster would get both La Rochelle and Michael Cheika’s Leicester again but in the end I was half right.  Not the worst pool we could have drawn by any means, though as ever a lot will depend on the home and away determinations which apparently will happen “later in the month”.  A lot of Leinster fans are excited about the prospect of trips to Clérmont and Bath in particular.

On the overall draw, RugbyKino did some great statistical analysis using actual maths to calculate the proper “pool of death” check it out in this thread.

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“We will never, after a game, tell a team that we’ll see you in the final if there is so much rugby still to be played.”

Etzebeth: Irish media targeted me

SA Rugby Mag

JLP : While I get the point behind the overall hype in the SA press before this series, this one about “see you in the final” never really made much sense to me.  My first takeaway from it was as nothing but a compliment, that the two sides had played great rugby and both deserved to be in the final.  But for senior squad members to bring it up and go on to double down on it, for me anyway it leads to headlines like this one which sounds nothing but “whiny”.  It’s all nonsense really. 

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The 2004 incident in which ROG quick-tapped a penalty and dummied the prone Boks…was also flagged by the former Munster star

CJ Stander explains Rassie Erasmus’ ‘hatred’ of Ireland…and it’s ROG’s fault

Adam Lacey – Extra.ie

JLP : So many spins on this RSA/IRE hype but I have to say this headline stood out, although CJ does also try to play down the hatred aspect of it all.  As I say above, all nonsense.  That said, much of the online stuff is exactly that so we should point it out when we see it!

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…he pleaded not guilty to a domestic charge of acting abusively toward the mother of his four children…also…for causing fear and alarm during a disturbance in February and for not complying with conditions set upon his release from police custody.

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg’s trial date set, things could get nasty

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Every week I’m astounded by the coverage of Stuart Hogg’s situation that I’ve decided to give him his own graphic and feature title.  My general point of this is that often in sports media there tends to be a disconnect when the more popular players are involved in supposed unseemly events off the field.  

Now to be clear, I get the whole “innocent until proven guilty” aspect of it all, and as you can see by my choice of quote I make reference to his plea, but I just think there’s a tendency to over-minimize (if that’s a thing) the accusations.

At least this article actually spells out the charges, but even here if you just read the headline you’d be forgiven for thinking this was something horrible happening to him for which he bears no responsibility, and actually the article goes on to list all of his business ventures, effectively looking like a paid advertisement for his range!!!

Naturally if he is acquitted in the end, for my part I will be more than happy to say so here but in the mean time it sounds like a nasty business and maybe it’s best if his sporting accomplishments can be kept out of the news cycle.  But I fear they will continue regardless, as will of course our Hogg Watch feature.

I fricking hate seeing this sh*t.
No concern towards the PERSON, whatsoever.
And, in a major tournament, everyone jumping on the bandwagon. https://t.co/CQofpExIIR

— Stuart W Hogg (@StuartWHOGG_) July 2, 2024

UPDATE : Before I even had the chance to post this column I have already been alerted to an article [hat-tip RugbyKino] in Planet Rugby by Jared Wright titled “Stuart Hogg arrested again for ‘breach of bail’ as rugby return hangs in the balance” I was going to redo this section to replace the article but you know what, I’ll keep what I have there and include both links as it speaks to the sheer amount of online info about the guy, it’s like we’ve heard more about him since he retired than we did when he was playing!!!  This story doesn’t speak very well for his not guilty plea though…  

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***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

There is a huge apathy towards the URC in Wales which doesn’t purely stem from the Welsh clubs struggling for on-field success.

Wales must now leave the URC and finally make Anglo-Welsh league happen

Steffan Thomas – Wales Online

JLP : You have to love the devotion of a certain section of the Welsh rugby fan base to the idea of joining the Premiership, as if wishing will make it happen.  But on a different level you have publications like Wales Online looking to trawl for clicks with headlines like this one making it seem like it is actually possible.

The common opinion seems to be that if the Premiership were to agree to any type of a merger it would have to be with the URC as a whole as the draw of the oft-travelling Irish fans would be something the PRL would be very much be interested in.  All of which is ironic because those particular Welsh fans are almost as keen to get away from the Irish as they are to go towards the English!!!

Anyway this latest offering has earned Steffan this week’s COTWA.

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SA TOUR PREVIEW

No wrap pod this week of course so I put together an “all-provincial panel” featuring Padraig “The 2nd row” Kelly, Michelle Tobin and Harpin debutant Jack Fogarty to look ahead to the South African tour.  We discussed where the Irish team finds itself at the moment morale-wise, what players could step up on this tour and also how the South Africans may approach the tests.  Click here if you missed the pod or check out the YouTube clip below for a sample.

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HARPIN ON…PROVINCIAL SEASON REVIEWS

Of course it would have been rude to have guests from the other provinces without asking them to go back over their teams’ respective 23/24 campaigns, and I even managed to do it without bringing up the considerable bragging rights Leinster have after winning yet another Irish Shield ha ha.

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OPPOSITION VIEW – SPRINGBOKS

Haven’t recorded an Opposition view pod for a while and now seemed like the perfect time when a proper South African perspective is needed ahead of the series so I asked Thala Msutu back on and we have a great chat about the buy in to the URC down there, the Springboks motivation for this series and of course the matchday squad named by Rassie on Tuesday.  

Because of this recording we have no Quick Tap this week, we hope to return to them soon.

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WORLD U20s UPDATE

Super start for the Wolfpuppies, after they ran us close at Musgrave Park in the Six Nations we could have expected a similar result but this was an outstanding team performance from Willie Faloon’s charges that got the result they deserved.  Now we’ll be hoping for a similar result against Georgia before what should be the decider against Australia next Tuesday.  Hopefully by the time the next 80+ column rolls around we’ll be looking ahead to a semifinal but still much work to be done.

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TROLL PATROL

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This really, really annoyed me when I first saw it a few days ago and it immediately earned its place in this week’s troll patrol.  For me it shows the lengths to which some people will go to have a pop at Leinster, harking to a reference that mentions ‘the poorest parts of AIDS ravaged Africa’???  Speaks to a complete disconnect between sporting ‘banter’ and, well, actual serious stuff going on in the world.

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

Mixed fortunes for the Irish teams in the Hamburg 7s, the men’s won the title although with the overall Rugby Europe championship taking both this and the previous event in Croatia, it ended up being France who won on points difference.  Meanwhile the women recovered well after a poor start to win the 5th place final over Czechia having lost to them in their pool opener.  Still plenty of evidence from both sides that they can do well in the Olympics.

HAMBURG 7s

Well done, lads! 🙌#Ireland7s

pic.twitter.com/lmc4Lf0b9m

— Ireland 7s (@Ireland7s) June 30, 2024

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Not much to say about that final apart from “Merci, beaucoup, Toulouse!” for helping Leinster get a top seed in the Champions Cup draw and the sentiments outlined in my tweet below. 

Personally I love the 🔝🐱🐴 but I have to say, if Leinster or indeed any team in the URC won a game 59-3 in the regular season there would be articles written about the league's viability. This was a final. Just sayin'.

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) June 29, 2024

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Shane O’Leary is an out-half who was born in Cork and had stints with Grenoble & Connacht among others before declaring to play for Canada and has 13 test caps.

Luke Carty is an out half born in Athlone (and Jack’s brother) who also spent time with Connacht and he went across the Atlantic to play for the USA where he has earned 16 test caps.

Last weekend, Miami Sharks had possession in the early stages and O’Leary threw a pass which was intercepted by Carty to go the length of the pitch to put the Chicago Hounds ahead in their final regular season match on the way to a 38-26 victory which secured 3rd spot and a playoff trip to New Orleans in a couple of weeks.  As I have said before in this section, the Hounds are my adopted team for this season as they have a decent Irish contingent also including Dave Kearney and Nick McCarthy, and this has been a good campaign for them and you certainly wouldn’t rule them out causing an upset.

Elsewhere the reigning champs New England clinched top spot in the East and will face Old Glory DC while in the west Houston will play Dallas in a Texas derby while Seattle will host San Diego.  The league takes a rest week before the knockouts which is a good idea.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

The end of Season 5 of our podcast adventure is in sight. Next up we’ve the first test preview recording Thursday night and the wrap will be Sunday. Be sure to keep up with all our social media channels with the usual amount of commenting, sharing, liking & subscribing.

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

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