🏉 12 different tries
🏉 Tyler’s attack
🏉 Sam’s starts
🏉 That JB narrative
🏉 Improved forwards
Kevin Kelehan
Normal service is restored after last weeks slip
David Ryle
Better structure this week.
William Andrew
Flat track bullies. If they didn’t set up a drop goal, they have learnt nothing.
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “THE LIONS SQUAD”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY
Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY
(200th Harpin contribution)
LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Jordie Barrett 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath
1. Jack Boyle 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan (c)
16. John McKee 17. Andrew Porter 18. Rabah Slimani 19. James Ryan 20. James Culhane 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Robbie Henshaw
ZEBRE : 15. Jacopo Trulla 14. Scott Gregory 13. Fetuli Paea 12. Enrico Lucchin 11. Simone Gesi 10. Giovanni Montemauri 9. Gonzalo Garcia
1. Luca Franceschetto 2. Giampietro Ribaldi 3. Juan Pitinari 4. Rusiate Nasove 5. Leonard Krumov 6. Bautista Stavile 7. Iacopo Bianchi 8. Davide Ruggeri (c)
16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17. Muhamed Hasa 18. Ion Neculai 19. Matteo Canali 20. Giacomo Ferrari 21. Alessandro Fusco 22. Giacomo Da Re 23. Filippo Drago
BKT United Rugby Championship 24/25
Saturday, May 10, 2025
KO 5:15pm Aviva Stadium
Live on : RTÉ News Channel, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)
AR 2: Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO: Colin Brett (SRU)
Ugh. Didn’t really fancy producing any content this week if I’m honest, but the show must go on as they say.
If nothing else, one positive from last weekend was that it gave me the chance to try out a new format for the wrap pods. Up to now we have used a “timeline” method whereby one contributor talks through the match while myself and the other comments. I had been doing this because (a) I thought it was a bit different to other pods (b) it helped capture the different points of the match and (c) it was part of the transition from the old Harpin match writeups which I did in a similar way.
Let’s just say that myself, Rich and Hugo were unanimous in agreement that we did not want to go through the sequence of that semifinal, especially when a rewatch was involved. So instead I went with a format I had been planning to trial for the Lions test series, and I reckon it worked pretty well. Between the three of us we chose 8 talking points from the match, then the lads had a “draft” of sorts in selecting them and we got to harpin’ that way.
It also meant I could hold a couple of topics back for the “bonus chat” and FWIW I may just stick with it until the end of the season and see how I get on.
More Harpin’ admin news… I’m thinking of making permanent is cutting out the Front 5 videos…I really enjoyed doing them (I had made a pledge this season to get more comfortable doing “talking to camera” videos and it was good practice) but the editing takes too long so instead I’ll go back to scribbling some thoughts after each link.
ICYMI click here to check out the wrap pod on Spotify or you’ll also find us on Apple and most major platforms. Ugh.
INEVITABLE ARTICLES
“Would Leinster have been happy going to extra-time in a game where they trailed by 10 points, early in the final quarter? You would have thought so at the time.”
‘Leinster have the best-resourced squad in these islands but can’t make it pay.’
Brendan Fanning – Rugby Pass
I’m leading with this offering from Brendan not because of this particular article itself, rather because it represents the type of article we always see the week following a consequential Leinster or Ireland defeat, and knowing these are on the horizon serves to amplify the post-defeat disappointment. To be clear – that doesn’t mean I disagree with the points made in them, it’s just I’m a fan and don’t like reading them!!! We’ve all been there.
DORIS OUT
‘The full extent of the injury, and implications for the summer, won’t be known until after the procedure’
Leinster Reveal Doris Requires Shoulder Procedure
IrishRugby.ie
No comment required for this one, or should I say there would be none that could be said on TV before the watershed…
“THAT” TRY
…considering van der Flier’s distance from the try line, a score was probable and would’ve been the “correct call.”
Referee explains why Leinster should have had game-winning penalty try
Adam Festus – SportsJoe.ie
We spoke about this ‘try’ on the bonus video below, one of those cases where two things can be true at the same time – should have been a try? possibly so. Does that mean Leinster deserved to win? probably not. Anyway in articles like this you get the nuts and bolts of other people’s interpretations of the decision.
WELSH RUGBY UPDATE
…there’s a realisation the stalemate that has now gone on for months cannot continue.
WRU give regions 48 hours to sign deal or risk being served notice in seismic move
Ben James & Steffan Thomas – WalesOnline
Latest news in the Welsh saga…if I was cynical I’d say it was all amusing, but if I’m being honest I just wish they’d settle on something that works soon. I really truly don’t enjoy seeing things this bad over there, I want the regions to be competing so I can be giving out about losses like Leinster’s to the Scarlets recently more often, if that makes sense!!!
SUPER RUGBY USA
World Rugby’s interest has been piqued if one or two teams can follow in the footsteps of the Drua or Jaguares, who were backed by the governing body
Super Rugby considering USA expansion as World Rugby gets edgy over looming World Cup
Christy Doran – The Roar
I’d love to see this happen, but only if it’s done right. LA might be a good fit geographically but I’m pretty sure they’d need the team to appeal to a wider fan base. For me, the ideal solution would be to let the US Eagles play, but as with all sports of European origin, that club/country barrier is impenetrable.
For this video we harped on a couple of bonus topics, here are the lead-in questions..
“…we’re going to start with Rich who is going to look at the officiating from Saturday…was it an issue or should fans be focusing on that at all?”
“…now Hugo is going to answer a question that I have to say more and more people have been asking each year as our European campaigns have ended, should Leo go? What do you think?”
On the Harpin’ WhatsApp & Discord we’ve been debating Leinster’s selection policy after the Northampton result, particularly for this weekend against Zebre, who’s season is effectively over (their 29pts is more than their last two campaigns combined, yet with two matches left they still can’t reach top 8).
Do we (a) bring out the cotton wool, (b) go ‘full throttle’ or (c) bit of both?
The consensus among the groups was overwhelmingly (b) so that would mean a team this weekend very similar to last. But just to play devil’s advocate, I have chosen to go for a 23 that leans heavily in the other direction, going with the premise that it will give the next in line for each position one more run out just in case they are needed in the knockouts, we can then go full throttle against Glasgow the following week.
HARPIN’ POSSIBLE MATCHDAY 23 V ZEBRE
15 J Osborne 14 J O’Brien 13 H Cooney 12 C Tector 11 A Osborne 10 C Frawley 9 L McGrath (c)
1 J Boyle 2 G McCarthy 3 R Slimani 4 B Deeny 5 D Mangan 6 R Baird 7 S Penny 8 J Culhane
16 J McKee 17 C Healy 18 R McGuire 19 J Ryan 20 A Soroka 21 C Foley 22 R Byrne 23 R Russell
caveat : I have no “ITK” a la Thornley
OFFICIAL UPDATE posted Monday
AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Rob Russell and James Ryan: have returned to full training having recovered from injury.
NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Caelan Doris: will have a procedure this week on a shoulder injury and a further assessment will be carried out afterwards.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Jordan Larmour, Will Connors and Brian Deeny.
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
On my last ‘Broken Play’ article on Substack (head over and subscribe for free if you can) I spoke about how important banter is in sport once it doesn’t cross a line and I referenced a particular social media commentator called Edward Jenkins or ‘Ed Jenx’ and while Leinster & Ireland are frequent targets of his, he definitely falls into the category and we need to be able to take it as well as give it.
A lot of it can still be called “trolling” though, so this post makes him our latest detainee, however appropriate his comparison might be.
LOS ANGELES 7s
RELEGATION PLAYOFFS
IREW7s
L V RSA 7-12
L V ARG 12-20
L V CHN 15-19
IREM7s
L V GER 0-15
L V CAN 12-19
L V URU 12-27
Note – they announced changes to the Svns circuit for next season, reducing the top tier to just 8 nations so Ireland would probably have been excluded from that in both genders regardless of results from the weekend. We will see how the new system works out for next season but it looks like it will be a long road back to the top, especially if we continue to send weaker squads as we did this season.
QUARTERFINALS
EDINBURGH 34-26 BULLS
CONNACHT 40-43 RACING 92
OSPREYS 18-20 LYON
BATH 61-26 GLOUCESTER
SEMIFINALS
EDINBURGH 24-39 BATH
LYON 29-15 RACING 92
FINAL
FRI MAY 23
BATH V LYON
*************************************************************
NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT – ONLY TOP SIX QUALIFY
Qualifying finals – 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4 with the top-ranked team hosting
Semi-Finals – three qualifying winners plus highest ranked loser: Teams re-ranked with 1 v 4 and 2 v 3
Final – top-ranked semi-final winner hosts the other semi-final winner.
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..
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 with room to spare although Mark does seem to be gaining on him… meanwhile down at the foot of the table, a mini fightback from David is the bookies favourite to take ownership of TJOS but in an official statement he claims to continue his strategy of making his selections based solely on “vibes”.
Thu 8th
Throwback Thursday on our Substack
Fri 9th
Preview show with Keego
Harpin spot on Dublin South FM after 5pm news
Sat 10th
Leave comments on LEIvZEB after the FT whistle on our Facebook page
Sun 11th
Our wrap pod recording featuring Tom Coleman & Conor Cronin
🏉 Top two inches
🏉 Saints on the march
🏉 D-construction
🏉 Selection issues
🏉 What next?
Cormac Mannion
Kept kicking the ball away and when we actually had a straightforward kick to draw level at 37-37 we went for the corner. Summed up our brainless play all evening. I’m really annoyed about how we played. Yet again we’ve faltered in a big match
Gavin Hegarty
Anyone else think henshaw was a huge weak link? He didn’t bring anything to the party.
Head to simani is a straight red
Yellow at the try line should be a penalty try
But we shouldn’t have been in that position.
Horrific first half that we shouldn’t have been that bad in.
Andrew Tynan
The ref giving a saints player a yellow card at the end but yet no penalty try? What?
Kevin Kelehan
Kicking the ball at Saints back 3 was never going to be a winner, Leinster were lucky to be in the game right to the end, tactically the approach did not play to Leinster’s strengths. Credit Saints they nailed 90% of their chances
Colette Caddle
They were the better side and deserved the win.
Christy O’Connor
Nienaber has to go for me, I’ve never liked his tactics and I was never hopeful we would win with his style. Yes we played better the last few weeks but against very poor opposition
Daniel James
I think we should’ve played at least the bones of this team against scarlets last week as I worry that the international are sometime undercooked. Also i think we need to win an URC before the champions cup and we have been focusing to much on getting that 5th star rather then winning our league then going for the star. The intensity from Northampton was incredible all game I expected them to get tired towards the end but they have it there all where as I thought we got tired at times and their scores seemed a bit easy.
Cuan Mulligan
Saints deserved the win. However some very dubious ref calls. The possible try at the end should not have been disallowed for the reason the ref gave, the corner flag is not in touch.. however Byrne was on the floor and it’s questionable if he is allowed to touch it down. About 2 or 3 plays before it, near their try line, I think Pollock goes off his feet crawling on his knees over our players and a second player in goes into take the ball… not sharing this to gripe.. if you leave your win down to ref calls you don’t deserve it.. but the reffing was poor
Jackie McEachern
Saints were very good (and it pains me to say that). But I don’t understand not starting Barrett.
And I’m not sure resting the starters leading up to these big games is a good strategy. I know it’s a physical game but we’ve seen time and time again where they come into the big matches rested but not cohesive.
Richard Collumb
Useless today & Tactics were terrible. That’s down to the coaches. Given team & budget the players & management get judged on performances in May & they aren’t good enough.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “ANNUAL CULLENOSCOPY”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY (Substack)
Our guest : MARK JACKSON
LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Cian Healy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. RG Snyman 5. Joe McCarthy 6. Max Deegan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Andrew Porter 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Ryan Baird 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jordie Barrett
NORTHAMPTON : 15 James Ramm 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Fraser Dingwall (c) 12 Rory Hutchinson 11 Tom Litchfield 10 Fin Smith 9 Alex Mitchell
1 Emmanuel Iyogun 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Temo Mayanavanua 5 Alex Coles 6 Josh Kemeny 7 Henry Pollock 8 Juarno Augustus
16 Henry Walker17 Tom West 18 Elliot Millar Mills 19 Tom Lockett 20 Chunya Munga 21 Angus Scott-Young 22 Tom James 23 Tom Seabrook
Investec Champions Cup 24/25 Semifinal
Saturday, May 3, 2025
KO 5:30pm Aviva Stadium
Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 1
Referee : Pierre Brousset (Fra)
AR1 : Luc Ramos (Fra)
AR2 : Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)
TMO : Tual Trainini (Fra)
We’re very much creatures of habit here at Harpin Manor but the past week has been crazy. Normally we have fixed content production for particular days of the week yet life has a canny knack of getting in the way eh?
So first of all the wrap pod was just myself and Conor Cronin – I reckon we did an ok job of summarizing the match all things considered, had a bit of banter online with some Scarlets fans about it. Didn’t have time to do either the “final thoughts” or the “bonus chat” videos this week unfortunately, although I am seriously thinking aboyt scaling back the weekly content anyway as my routine involves.
One thing is for sure, with two matches per week on the Lions Tour coming up, for that period alone there will need to be a massive re-think! Anyway, we’ll cross that when we get to it.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find us on Apple and most major platforms.
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
No video this week, see “Wrap of a wrap” segment above.
THE SIOBHÁN CATTIGAN TROPHY
“the more important point is that both unions are now committed to their women’s teams playing annually for a trophy that will carry Siobhan’s name.”
At last a fitting memorial for Siobhan Cattigan is within sight
David Nolan – The Times (behind paywall)
Like I mentioned earlier, I don’t have time to make the usual video and I wasn’t going to comment on my Front 5 choices either but I had to make an exception for this one.
Over the weekend there was a post on BlueSky that shed a completely new light over what should have been a story about the Women’s Six Nations clash between Scotland and Ireland.
Apparently there was to be a trophy awarded to the winner to honour the memory of Siobhán Cattigan, and this seemed to be a perfectly fitting tribute until, well, there was an intervention and her poor family were left rightly confused and heartbroken.
It has apparently since been resolved but the whole thing just served to sully further what was already a very bad show by the SRU.
Hat-tip to Ailbhe from the excellent MudderRucker podcast for helping me find the one and only article in the press about this, and indeed it was excellent gumshoe journalism by David Walsh from the Times who has followed the story since Siobhan’s tragic passing.
The article is behind a paywall and I want to respect that so I won’t go into more detail but I definitely recommend reading the full story if you can and I’m looking forward to watching the SIobhán Cattigan Trophy (or something similar, I don’t think the name has been confirmed) be awarded in the near future.
WAS FEATURE NOW BUG
Other competitions, such as cricket’s Hundred, have found a lucrative market for stakes in franchise teams free from the threat of relegation.
Premiership could be revamped by 2025-26 – Sweeney
Mike Henson & Sara Orchard – BBC.com
I think I need to write something here as well, I just discovered this article as I was putting together the column! Nice to see the Premiership have finally admitted that theirs was a failed business model after years of claiming relegation was actually the main feature.
WALL SIDELINED
The news comes a week after flanker Erin King was ruled out of the World Cup following a serious knee injury.
Major blow for Ireland as injury rules Dorothy Wall out of Women’s World Cup
Ciarán Kennedy – The42.ie
Devastating blow for Dorothy personally of course but also the full Irish squad.
SEALED WITH A KISS
They also get the reassurance of current coach Joe Schmidt continuing after the British & Irish Lions tour this winter and the Rugby Championship Tests in Spring.
Next Wallabies coach Les Kiss: a mongrel mix of league and union, coach and strategist
Angus Fontaine – The Guardian
HOGGWATCH – EPILOGUE
“Hogg had been thriving in his new life in the south of France, operating in a surprise new position at fly-half.”
Stuart Hogg ruled out of rugby until 2026 after devastating setback
Steven S – Ruck.co.uk
While I’d never be happy about an injury to anyone, let’s just say I am a lot less gutted about this Achilles injury than I am Dorothy Wall’s. Regular Harpin readers will know the Front Five column has been following Hogg’s off-field story closely over the past while, although to read this particular story you’d think it never happened. I guess that’s their editorial choice, but I would have included a line like “Hogg, who was sentenced in January 2025 for abusing his estranged wife”, as I have here.
Excellent news on James Ryan and Rob Russell but I very much doubt the former will be ready in time for Saturday’s semifinal so for my selection I have tried to reward those who have impressed in recent weeks for the tight decisions. Tommy O’Brien, Jack Deegan, Diarmuid Mangan and Max Deegan all fall into this category.
HARPIN’ POSSIBLE MATCHDAY 23 V NORTHAMPTON
15 H Keenan 14 T O’Brien 13 G Ringrose 12 J Barrett 11 J Lowe 10 S Prendergast 9 J Gibson-Park
1 A Porter 2 D Sheehan 3 T Furlong 4 J McCarthy 5 RG Snyman 6 J Conan 7 J vd Flier 8 C Doris (c)
16 R Kelleher 17 J Boyle 18 R Slimani 19 D Mangan 20 M Deegan 21 L McGrath 22 R Byrne 23 R Henshaw
caveat : I have no “ITK” a la Thornley
OFFICIAL UPDATE posted Monday
AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
RG Snyman: has returned to full training having recovered from injury.
Ryan Baird: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from injury.
FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Rob Russell: will look to increase his training load this week as he continues his recovery from injury and will be further assessed as the week goes on.
James Ryan: will look to increase his training load this week as he continues his recovery from injury and will be further assessed as the week goes on.
NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Brian Deeny: will have a procedure this week on a knee injury which will keep him out of action for the rest of the season.
Will Connors: is unavailable for selection with an arm injury and will be further assessed this week.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Jordan Larmour.
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
Hat-tip to Rugby Kino for spotting this perfect follow up to last week’s Troll Patrol detainee, James has done it again as for the second week in a row, a player loaned by Leinster to Munster has ended up on the losing side, so he just reworked the same message at the same time, with a photo added for maximum effect.
I just hope the Munster fans don’t respond by finding some kind of correlation between the Leinster players’ involvement and the results…..
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL 1A
MEN’S AIL 1B
PROMOTION PLAYOFF
NENAGH ORMOND 36-33 UCC
SEMIFINALS
SAT MAY 3
EDINBURGH V BULLS
SUN MAY 4
LYON V RACING 92
*************************************************************
NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT – ONLY TOP SIX QUALIFY
Qualifying finals – 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4 with the top-ranked team hosting
Semi-Finals – three qualifying winners plus highest ranked loser: Teams re-ranked with 1 v 4 and 2 v 3
Final – top-ranked semi-final winner hosts the other semi-final winner.
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, Ciarán has the April update there now.
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 with room to spare although Mark does seem to be gaining on him… meanwhile down at the foot of the table, a mini fightback from David sees the Jersey race up for grabs again.
We’ve also added a Cup (or Mug) competition to make things interesting, and congrats to Conor Cronin for defeating, well, me in the final last weekend. Ironically for a Leinster-based site, it was Conor’s complete lack of faith in Munster winning in Cardiff which proved the difference, that match gave him a 1.5 point swing.
Thu 24th
Throwback Thursday on our Substack
Fri 25th
Preview show with Mark Jackson
Harpin spot on Dublin South FM after 5pm news
Sat 26th
Leave comments on LEIvNOR after the FT whistle on our Facebook page
Sun 27th
Our wrap pod recording featuring Rich Mifsud & Hugo Gordon
🏉 Missed chances
🏉 Plumtree power
🏉 Defensive decline
🏉 Leadership lacking
🏉 No consolation
Jackie McEachern
Really poor from almost every perspective but hopefully just a bump in the road. I know we were missing many of the first team but there were still far too many errors and poor decisions.
Christy O’Connor
Scarlets line speed was brilliant, put us under lots of pressure and caused us to make so many mistakes, granted some were unforced. Better team won
Ollie Sinnott
Ross Byrne, Frawley, the Osbornes, Tector, Baird, O Brien and Mccarthy are a couple of steps down in quality from the first 23. Only player to improve their reputation this evening was Jack Boyle and Soroka.
Bert McLoughlin
People whinging about team selection pisses me off! Apart from what’s coming next week, the team out on the field today were good enough to win the game. BUT they made way too many errors and didn’t deserve to win the game.
Congratulations to Scarlets, they played really well and deserved to win that game
Greg Kelly
Scarlets came out needing the 5 points. They were hungry and quite simply Leinster we not. Fair play to the Scarlets, they were well worth the win and showed great composure given that Leinster have a habit of clawing back games. It looked like Leinster had both eyes on Northampton and a lot of the players knew that their knockout involvement going forward was over.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY
LEINSTER : 15. Ciarán Frawley 14. Andrew Osborne 13. Liam Turner 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Fintan Gunne
1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher (c) 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Ryan Baird 5. Brian Deeny 6. Alex Soroka 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane
16. Gus McCarthy 17. Jack Boyle 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. Scott Penny 21. Cormac Foley 22. Charlie Tector 23. Ruben Moloney
SCARLETS : 15 Blair Murray; 14 Tom Rogers, 13 Joe Roberts, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ellis Mee; 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Alec Hepburn, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Henry Thomas, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Sam Lousi, 6 Vaea Fifita, 7 Josh Macleod (c), 8 Taine Plumtree.
16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Louie Trevett, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Jac Price, 20 Jarrod Taylor, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan Lloyd, 23 Macs Page.
BKT United Rugby Championship 24/25 Round 16
Saturday, April 26, 2025
KO 5:55pm Parc y Scarlets
Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 2, S4C & URC.tv
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
AR 1: Matthew Leon (WRU)
AR 2: Aaron Perry (WRU)
TMO: Colin Brett (SRU)
Considering Leinster conceded more points in the first 8 minutes v Ulster (3) than the previous 160+, there was a lot more to harp on for this week’s wrap – that said I decided to try and stick to the reduced timeframe we had used over the past two weeks and I think it worked out pretty well, with Ciarán Duffy and David Cordial providing the bulk of the wrapping between them Ciarán now sits on 199 overall contributions to Harpin’ On Rugby over the years so plans are afoot at Harpin’ Manor to properly commemorate the upcoming milestone.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find us on Apple and most major platforms.
THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
MURPHY’S LAW
I’M STEVE
WHOLE NEW WORLD
DIVINE INTERVENTION
lead-in question :
“Last week we honoured Jordie Barrett’s excellent display by looking at Leinster’s greatest imports so I suppose with the business end of the season upon us it might be a good time to turn the spotlight on the current crop of boys in blue. I have asked the panel to select a player each to harp on, starting with David who wants to feature Saturday night’s player of the match…”
Last week when I put together my predicted Leinster 23 I failed to take two things into consideration – first, Leinster’s willingness to field much stronger URC squads even at this time of year. I wonder if Richie Murphy & co even suspected to be facing both Messrs Henshaw and Ringrose together for example. But I also forgot about the All Ireland League semifinals, which last weekend featured the names who could have played the interpro like Hugh Cooney, Charlie Tector and Cormac Foley. Since Tarf came out on top at Castle Avenue (see updates below), Tector and Foley could well be in the reckoning for Llanelli, because I have to assume there will be a lot more cotton wool used this time around.
HARPIN’ POSSIBLE MATCHDAY 23 V SCARLETS
15 H McErlean 14 J Osborne 13 L Turner 12 C Tector 11 J O’Brien 10 C Frawley 9 F Gunne
1 J Boyle 2 G McCarthy 3 T Clarkson 4 D Mangan 5 B Deeny 6 A Soroka 7 W Connors 8 M Deegan (c)
16 J McKee 17 C Healy 18 R Maguire 19 A Spicer 20 S Penny 21 C Foley 22 R Byrne 23 A Osborne
caveat : I have no “ITK” a la Thornley
OFFICIAL UPDATE posted Tuesday
AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Paddy McCarthy and Will Connors: have returned to full training this week having recovered from injury.
FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Ryan Baird: will be further assessed this week for a calf injury and a final decision will be made on his involvement later this week.
RG Snyman: will be further assessed this week following a dead leg against Ulster and a final decision on his involvement will be made later in the week.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Jordan Larmour, Rob Russell and James Ryan.
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
Ah, James. Very bold Leinster on Munster trolling that thoroughly deserves this week’s detention. And it’s not just the comment itself, but also the timing…right after the Bulls pinched a win at Thomond Park. Naturally we here at Harpin Monor couldn’t possibly condone such online behaviour…
WOMEN’S AIL
NEXT MATCH
SUN APR 27
FINAL
RAILWAY UNION V UL BOHEMIAN
AVIVA STADIUM
MEN’S AIL 1A
SEMI-FINALS
CLONTARF 17-15 LANSDOWNE
ST. MARY’S COLLEGE 8-16 CORK CONSTITUTION
FINAL
SUN APR 27
CLONTARF V CORK CON
MEN’S AIL 1B
PROMOTION/RELEGATION PLAYOFFS
CITY OF ARMAGH 10-17 UCC
NENAGH ORMOND 25-17 BLACKROCK
SAT APR 26
NENAGH ORMOND V UCC
SEMIFINALS
SAT MAY 3
EDINBURGH V BULLS
SUN MAY 4
LYON V RACING 92
*************************************************************
NEW PLAYOFF FORMAT – ONLY TOP SIX QUALIFY
Qualifying finals – 1 v 6, 2 v 5, 3 v 4 with the top-ranked team hosting
Semi-Finals – three qualifying winners plus highest ranked loser: Teams re-ranked with 1 v 4 and 2 v 3
Final – top-ranked semi-final winner hosts the other semi-final winner.
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..
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 with room to spare although Mark does seem to be gaining on him… meanwhile down at the foot of the table, a mini fightback from David sees the Jersey race up for grabs again.
We’ve also added a Cup (or Mug) competition to make things interesting, with Conor pipping Tom in the second semifinal to join some guy called Jeff in the final this weekend.
Thu 24th
Throwback Thursday on our Substack
Fri 25th
Preview show with Keego
Harpin spot on Dublin South FM after 5pm news
Sat 26th
Leave comments on SCAvLEI after the FT whistle on our Facebook page
Sun 27th
Our wrap pod recording featuring Tom Coleman & Conor Cronin
🏉 Late late change
🏉 Terrific TOB
🏉 Coach killers
🏉 Defensive stands
🏉 Triple Dan
Christy O’Connor
Tommy is flying, definitely in with a great shout to be playing in the cup games. Will definitely be on the irish summer tour
Greg Kelly
Tommy O’Brien looking like the real deal these days
Michael Branagan
Great result. Porter needs to be “seen to be in control”. He’s throwing penalties away, 50:50 calls, that are damaging us and his reputation. I do think it’s harsh on a number of fronts but he has to “ease back” as it were. For a little while.
William Andrew
Ulster had a lot go against them, but still hung in there.
Some unfortunate, some self inflected.
Leinster were good but you can see some players are not quite the standard of the 1st squad.
Others are pushing on. Highlights were the chip to Dan and Gunn delaying his pass to Dan.
Smart play
Warren Doyle
Right person won man of the match. Class act. Well done Tommy O’Brien.
John Peeters
Only one comment; is RG ok?
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “LEINSTER PLAYER PROFILES PT 1”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY
