529 : Leinster v Lions wrap

30 May 2026; James Lowe of Leinster, centre, celebrates with teammates after scoring their side’s eighth try and becoming the new Leinster record try scorer during the United Rugby Championship quarter-final match between Leinster and Lions at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile


🏉 Turning the page

🏉 Lowe Baller

🏉 Sam & Reiko

🏉 The Joe Show

🏉 …but the Lions…


TOM COLEMAN


FULL-TIME THOUGHTS

Gavin Hegarty

A win.

Twas nice.

I had wine.

Great to see lowe get the record but can see why he’s going.

Nice to see sam run the show and run it well.

On a side note we have Sheehan, kelleher and McCarthy at two. Three world class hookers. How long before Munster take one?

David Ryle

Sam was excellent. We need him firing with confidence, hopefully he blocks out the noise from the hateful.

David Ross

At last we have complimentary comments about Sam P. His game was not without mistakes but he is human and is certainly Ireland’s future. Good result it would be great to have a Leinster/Glasgow final!!

Craig Grehan

Great to see them bounce back from last week. But two very different teams. Do we know our best starting 15 yet ?

Vincent Duggan

Lions must have been on the beer for two weeks.

Eamon Saunders

Great result after last week ,and great to see Lowe get the record

Christy O’Connor

Obviously a great result, delighted for Lowe and hopefully he stays. Lions were very poor. I expect a much harder test next week

Did I see Neil (keego) Keenan celebrating the 4th try on TV?

Colin Mehigan

Great result. Great performance. Understandable reasons why crowd was so small but Leinster fans need to support our team when the team need it the most – and not only when we win trophies

Kevin Kelehan

Less than 10,000 supporters in the ground but real fans make a lot of noise. Leinster back to Leinstertainment after a harrowing ‘weather experience’ last week. Not saying Leinster would have beat UBB last week but playing a game in Spain mid afternoon in May in the era where climate change is advanced was reprehensible planning.

Pieter Bezuidenhout

​We need to stop with the excuses. Connacht, Munster, Cardiff, and the Lions were clearly out of their depth this weekend. Watching a captain like Craig Casey hide behind an injury list rather than admitting they were outplayed is embarrassing. Real leaders show some humility. On top of that, the way Leinster carried on with those celebrations against the Lions was completely classless. It’s not a World Cup final, so stop acting like it is. It is time for everyone to stop the self-congratulations and get a grip.

Click here for real-time thoughts from

the Harpin WhatsApp group during the match

Join the conversation yourself

by leaving your thoughts at the FT whistle

on our Facebook page


URC WRAP


NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “REMAINING URC CHALLENGERS” (YouTube)

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN (Substack)

Leave a comment