80+ column : Feb 12

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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.

As you can see below the lads didn’t let me away with a typo when I set up the wrap pod WhatsApp group, quite a bad typo I’ll freely admit.  Anyway Tom & Conor forgave me enough to give a top notch summary of Ireland’s win on Sunday.

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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HARPIN’ STACKED

We recently started a presence on Discord and now we’re adding Substack to the list. Threads might be next to be ditched make way….

Anyway, Substack seems like a good place to get back into regular actual writing – as much as I have loved producing pods and videos for the past few years I do miss the article-producing so hopefully this new account will help me do that.

I’m going to start with a series of posts I call “Broken Play” where every Saturday morning I’ll sit down and bash the keys on a few topics without stopping for a while on different rugby topics on my mind and we’ll see what we end up with.

Obviously I’m not looking for subs to read my stuff, at least not for the time being, so please check it out if you can.

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape

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GATS GONE

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ROMAIN HOLIDAY

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WOMEN’S 6N SQUAD

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THIS IS LEINSTER

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LONDON JORDAN?

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HARPIN ON…URC 24/25 RESET

For our bonus chat this week, our panel looked at the two rounds of the URC during the 6 Nations and how they can effect the race for the top 8?

Here’s the lead-in question…

“We’re six matches in to the 2025 Six Nations but with two bye weeks throughout the tournament that means we have to quickly turn our attention back to the URC and next weekend sees Leinster travelling to Swansea to play the Ospreys.  We currently lead the table by 11 points from Glasgow, although the Bulls’ win over the Stormers last Saturday means if they win their other game in hand it could make the race for top spot interesting especially with the two to meet in Pretoria on March 22.  For now we’d just like to take a step back and see how the table is shaping up ahead of the final stretch as the teams all try to give themselves a good shot in the knockouts.  Starting with yourself Conor, how do you see the competition so far?”

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LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE

Really, really tricky 23 to put together this week.  The injury update alone wasn’t enough to know who was in contention, there was also the prospect of players returning to Leinster from Ireland camp, also Rabah Slimani.  Could Tadhg F & Joe McC feature on Friday?  Possibly off the bench but we’ll have to see, I’m working under the assumption that neither will be risked.

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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.  

A classic “self-troll” for you this week.  An actual Irish fan actually hoping Ireland lose just to make the final round interesting?  Couldn’t make it up.

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U20 Six Nations

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Celtic Challenge

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All Ireland Leagues

WOMEN’S AIL

MEN’S AIL 1A

MEN’S AIL 1B

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LEINSTER SCHOOLS SENIOR CUP

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SVNS

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Super Rugby Pacific

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Premiership

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🔝🐱🐴

ProD2

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RWC2027 QUALIFIERS

The RWC2027 tournament has expanded to 24 nations so with four extra spots up for grabs it makes for a fascinating qualifying process.

Rather than post the latest results and fixtures here however, I’d like to defer to the excellent work of frequent Harpin’ contributor Ciarán Duffy who has been keeping close tabs on the qualifying process over at his own site Post to Post Sport.

Follow this link to see how the Road to Australia is progressing, some nations booked their places over the weekend.

Japan League One

Major League Rugby

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 we’re only passing the halfway stage, and we’ve also added a Cup (or Mug) competition to make things interesting – I managed to overcome Jay in the first quarterfinal, with Conor and Rich facing off next.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

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