80+ column : January 29

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Hello and welcome to our latest 80+ column where I generally harp on things not so Leinster-and-or-Ireland-men’s-team-related.

It may have been pod episode 404 but there were no errors to be heard from Ciarán and Jay as they summed up the win over the Stormers.   ICYMI  click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find us on Apple and most major platforms.

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FRONT FIVE

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6N PAYWALL

UPDATE SINCE RECORDING VIDEO 👇👇👇👇

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SAM V JACK

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JOHNNY COME LATELY

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CURRIES FAVOURED

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SCHOOL TIES

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HARPIN ON…IRISH 23 V ENGLAND

For this week’s bonus chat the panel looked at a possible matchday squad for Ireland against England.  We each took a portion of the team, Jay the pack, Ciarán the backs and myself the bench.  

For my part I wanted to make a point about the complaints over Leinster players getting into the team more because of where they come from rather than how they are playing so I included Ian Henderson and Peter O’Mahony on my bench, not because I necessarily want them there, rather because I reckon they have a decent shout of making it and if they do, nobody will complain because it would be at the expense of the likes of Jack Conan and Ryan Baird.

A similar point that I didn’t make in the video is about Max Deegan…like Thomas Ahern he can consider himself unlucky to be in the squad but because he plays for Leinster, you won’t hear a peep from anyone about it in the general discourse.

This bonus topic also replaces our usual “Leinster squad update” which will return ahead of the Ospreys match in a couple of weeks.

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TROLL PATROL

Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.  

This week’s trolling is A Tale Of Two Tweets – we had failed to beat the Stormers in three attempts so you could hardly blame Captain Springbok for his hubris ahead of Saturday’s match.  As you can see he had very much changed his tune by the 74m mark…

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URC BY THE NUMBERS

In real terms the only stat that matters as far as Leinster is concerned is 11, namely the number of points clear we are at the top.  Ideally we’d like to keep that margin where it is before we travel to South Africa after the Six Nations, although Glasgow Warriors may have something to say about that in the next two rounds, not to mention our opponents Ospreys and Cardiff!!!

Still I thought it was interesting to share these stat leaders at the end of January.  Not many Leinster leaders although Max Deegan on the lineout steals plus a joint first in “turnovers won” do draw the eye.

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Celtic Challenge

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All Ireland Leagues

WOMEN’S AIL

MEN’S AIL

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LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP

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SVNS

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CHALLENGE CUP

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Premiership

🔝🐱🐴

ProD2

Japan League One

Harpin Prediction League

This is the 4th season of our Superbru prediction league among Harpin’ pod contributors.  

Kristian is the reigning champion, but the real competition is in avoiding finishing last, which means you must wear The Jersey of Shame.  I had to wear it the first year, while Keego has had the honour the past two seasons.  As you can see our resident stats expert Rugby Kino is leading the way but there’s still a way to go, and we’ve also added a Cup (or Mug) competition to make things interesting.

With an extra URC match still to forecast, I have a narrow enough lead over Jay in my quarterfinal but that could all change if we pick different winners between the Stormers and the Bulls on Feb 8.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

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