Of course I’m always extremely grateful for my Harpin contributors giving their time to appear on the pods, but this week both Cian O’Muilleoir (34th cap) and Ciarán Duffy (24th) really went the extra mile. Ciarán wasn’t feeling well on the Sunday evening but both lads were able to switch to a Monday lunchtime recording going back over Ireland’s win over Fiji and as ever they were excellent.
BTW because of the later recording time, we decided not to do a bonus chat this week.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
RUNNING THE WEEK
“The aim of that was for him to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like his own, as though he was in charge,”
Barron, Boyle, McGuire, Spicer, Connors, McGrath, H Byrne, Cooney
Caveat : I have no “ITK”
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Lee Barron, Jack Conan, Jimmy O’Brien, John McKee and Jordan Larmour have all returned to full training after recovering from injury.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Dan Sheehan, Rob Russell, Paddy McCarthy and Tommy O’Brien.
VIRAL INFLECTION
So there I was all set to rewatch the Ireland v Fiji match on Saturday morning in preparation for our wrap pod. Then I’m reminded of a brief incident before kickoff I had spotted as I had been watching live the day before so I decided to clip it out and share it around, first on BlueSky where it instantly got good engagement before I decided to put it on all the platforms.
First point, the posting offered a bit of unofficial data on how the migration from X/Twitter to BlueSky is going. Even though I posted in the newer place about 4 hours before I did so in MuskTown, the latter offered tenfold more engagement, and looking through the list of “likes” they mostly appear to be actual accounts. That’s not to say I’m doing anything but recommend to everyone to make the switch, just that there’s a long way to go in the process.
Another thing I noticed was that while most seemed to easily work out that I just meant to share it as a lighthearted “look what almost happened” moment, some managed to take negative connotations. There were comments that “pushed back” on my apparent assertion that this somehow reflected poorly on referee Hollie Davidson and in particular her abilities as a referee, and a few went further to “agree” with this mistaken interpretation. So I felt I had to record a Tik Tok just to be sure there was no misunderstanding. To be fair, I possibly could have done better than use the words “big screen moment” as that may suggest she was somehow posing for the camera when that’s not what I meant at all.
Finally we had a content site called “Tight Five Rugby” blatantly stealing the clip and making it like it was their own. That’s pretty sad. I mean, it’s not like a “hat-tip” is worth anything, but they call it a “courtesy” for a reason. So I guess this column gives me the perfect chance to call them out and leave it at that.
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 we stay in the Harpin’ community, just to make it clear that I’m not suggesting for a moment that Leinster/Ireland fans don’t ever hop on the trolling bus from time to time. And not all trolling is necessarily mean either, and this offering from RugbyKino inches nice towards the line, enough to call it “light” trolling….
Irish Shield
Interprovincial A Championship
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
SVNS
Best of luck to both Irish teams as the new 7s season gets underway.
DUBAI 7S
SAT NOV 30
5:44AM WOMEN V FIJI
6:28AM MEN V GREAT BRITAIN
8:43AM WOMEN V CHINA
10:14AM MEN V URUGUAY
1:35PM WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
4PM MEN V ARGENTINA
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
Harpin Prediction League
THIS SEASON THE HPL IS ADDING A NEW KNOCKOUT COMPETITION
CALLED “THE HARPIN MUG”
(BECAUSE THE PRIZE IS AN ACTUAL MUG SO WE COULDN’T CALL IT A ‘CUP’)
THE SEEDINGS ARE DETERMINED BY THE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6
AND YOU CAN SEE THE FULL BRACKET BELOW
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Thursday – ULSTER V LEINSTER PREVIEW FEAT MARK JACKSON
Sam P’s ability to pick out a late pass and put a player into a gap was otherworldly! Set up a number of clean breaks. Loved the fact he made a number of errors but the head didn’t do down and he just played on as if it didn’t matter. Great temperament.
Gus was also brilliant- another couple of games and he’ll be pushing Kelleher and of course Sheehan when he’s back! What a debut.
Lots of really good performances from more established players Henshaw, Aki, JVDF, Doris and loved Casey’s performances – much better then I’ve seen him play before.
Lastly a word for Frawley – he took some punishment and kept going and did very well!
Opposition was quite poor however and we need to keep that in mind.
Jackie McEachern
Bearing in mind that Fiji were poor, I think we can still take away positives. Great first time starts from Sam and Gus. And many of the veterns put in strong performances – Aki, Henshaw, Doris, VdF. I was also really impressed with Casey.
I think Crowley should definitely start next week and the #10 jersey is his. But I’m excited for what Sam will also bring as he matures and his skills grow.
Bert McLoughlin
Fijian discipline shocking. Gus McCarthy had a great debut 3 assists and a try👏. Sam had a mixed bag with the yellow and a few mistakes after he can back on, but his passing gains space for players around him and is definitely a playmaker 10.
Chris McDonnell
Casey played his best game, sam recovered from some silly mistakes and played well especially after frawley came on and took loads of the pressure off playing as a second play maker. Said before the game the balance on the bench with so many 12’s and no back 3 players was always going to go badly.
Eamon Saunders
A win is a win some great individual performances but for me Robbie Henshaw was back to his best but again great performances all over the pitch
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
I try to keep tabs on the amount of pod appearances my contributors have made over the years so technically I had two relative “newbies” helping me wrap the Argentina test in Jay Long (13th) and Hugo Gordon (3rd) but you certainly wouldn’t know it as they gave excellent insight to even that dodgy second half.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
IRISH NOMINEES
If he is picked, he would become the fourth Irish winner of the top World Rugby award
While the ultimate decision about who will be Ireland’s No 10 on a long-term basis lies at the door of Farrell, you can be sure that the man who owned that shirt for the last decade is having an influence.
For this week’s bonus chat the panel has a quick look at the overall Irish coaching setup, how it looks now and how it might operate when Andy Farrell is away with the Lions.
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.
As you’ll see in the Front Five video, there’s an 80+ column first this week as the same article wins both the Clickbait of the Week Award and Troll Patrol. Rúaidhrí really goes the extra mile with the message in his tweet sharing the article, throwing even more fuel on the fire he’s creating by suggesting Sexton is some shadowy figure in the back pushing an “only Leinster players should wear the Irish green” agenda.
Interprovincial A Championship
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
SVNS
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
Harpin Prediction League
THIS SEASON THE HPL IS ADDING A NEW KNOCKOUT COMPETITION
CALLED “THE HARPIN MUG”
(BECAUSE THE PRIZE IS AN ACTUAL MUG SO WE COULDN’T CALL IT A ‘CUP’)
THE SEEDINGS ARE DETERMINED BY THE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6
AND YOU CAN SEE THE FULL BRACKET BELOW
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
Yes, there were some sloppy mistakes at times but I think people are underestimating this Pumas team. Their defence was incredible and this is the team that has beaten France, SA and NZ (in NZ) over the past few months.
A higher score would have been great but I’ll take the win, thanks!
Cormac Mannion
Argentina are a fine side. Their physicality is right up there with South Africa at their best. We seemed to be running into brick walls for large parts of the game. However, there is still something not at all right about Ireland. Hansen still looks off the pace, as does Lowe. Crowley needs time to develop and you can see how it’s coming together for him.
Our back row seems to be playing as individuals rather than a unit. Also, far too many sloppy penalties which could point to a lack of focus. We’ve looked off the boil since midway though the 6N.
Jackie McEachern
Too many penalties again – especially when we heard all week that discipline was going to be the focus. But am very happy they hung on to win against a strong side.
Kevin Kelehan
Got over the line against a huge Argentinian pack and very useful backline, Tom Clarkson and Sam Prendergast both came through very well. Jack Crowley was superb for most and a tough nut to get up without play acting after being cynically taken out illegally. The penalty count and line out remain a serious cause for concern, Kelliher is a great scrummager and a demon in the loose but he needs to spend the next month to sort out his darts.
Jamie Bermingham
Glad we got the win but once again the discipline was very poor. Our attack in the 2nd half was practically non existent. Still a lot to work on for the next two games
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WRAP OF A WRAP
With such a large pool of quality contributors for me to choose from it’s not often I get the same pairing within a few weeks but after harpin’ on the Leinster v Lions match recently I was able to reunite Tom & Rich once more. Obviously the subject matter wasn’t quite as pleasant, and apologies to Rich for once again assigning him what turned out to be “the shittier half” but they still did sterling work analyzing the timeline from the previous Friday.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
SUCCEEDING BILL
The winner of Thursday’s vote will inherit a bulging in-tray.
…former internationals Larissa Muldoon, Leah Lyons and Maz Reilly will be part of the Clovers and Wolfhounds coaching tickets for the upcoming Celtic Challenge
For our bonus chat this week the panel looked over the different law variations to see if they help or hinder.
BLUE SKY’S AHEAD
Like many many others, ever since Elon Musk took over the birdhouse I have been more than open to finding an alternative, after been bitten once by poor engagement on Mastodon I then cautiously dipped my toe in the BlueSky pool, and that too seemed less than promising, that is until last week when the Mango Mussolini’s re-election clearly (also ironically) forced a mass migration and my follower numbers have been increasing steadily for the past few days.
It is becoming increasingly clear (again ironically given the blue sky motif) that having up to 1000 highly engaged followers on this platform should be more beneficial than 10k over in Muskville where most them are probably bots. So I’m seriously considering making BlueSky my social media centre of choice for the next while, why don’t you join the conversation over there and see for yourself how it’s going.
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 detainee is from our YouTube channel. Despite the obvious disappointment from defeat on Friday night, I for one found comfort in the reactions from fans outside Ireland, hitting us with all the same kind of schadenfreude vibes we used to do when it was the All Blacks falling from grace in days gone by. I didn’t appreciate the levels of “living rent free” Andy Farrell’s side had earned themselves in the past few years.
Here is just one example, there were many more and a lot of it more ridiculous but I chose this because I really, really wanted to reply with a joke attacking the misspelling (fowl play? Did an Irishman run on the pitch with a chicken?) but thankfully I was saved by TaTa who simply pointed out the overall silliness.
COMPETITION UPDATES
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
SVNS
Not long before the circuit goes back into full swing so here’s the schedule, after us harpin’ for years about the possibility of Ireland getting a leg at some stage, this time there isn’t even one in Europe!!! We’ll still be keeping tabs of things regardless, always look forward to it.
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
Harpin Prediction League
THIS SEASON THE HPL IS ADDING A NEW KNOCKOUT COMPETITION
CALLED “THE HARPIN MUG”
(BECAUSE THE PRIZE IS AN ACTUAL MUG SO WE COULDN’T CALL IT A ‘CUP’)
THE SEEDINGS ARE DETERMINED BY THE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6
AND YOU CAN SEE THE FULL BRACKET BELOW
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
Undercooked. A few performances to forget but they have credit in the bank. A lot of fair weather fans throwing out demands and ultimatums. This was our first loss in 19 games at the Aviva, and it was to an All Blacks team with a lot more recent game time than us.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Worrying lack of aggression first and then lack of leadership. They’ve gone on and on about unfinished business from the World Cup and getting revenge. Didn’t see that tonight.
Kevin Kelehan
The best team Ireland has ever produced were more error prone than I’ve seen them in many years. 3 more games to keep the direction of travel in the right direction
James Murphy
Our front men standing back??
Letting them bully use in lineouts and scrums,
Crowley very poor, frawley not much better
But frawley deserves start next week
Poorest Irish performance in a long time
Brian Corr
Too many errors and then too many players losing it or dropping the heads.
Decision making was terrible and lineout was very poor.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Iain Henderson 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Conor Murray 22. Ciaran Frawley 23. Jamie Osborne
New Zealand : 15. Will Jordan 14. Mark Tele’a 13. Rieko Ioane 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke (vc) 10. Damian McKenzie 9. Cortez Ratima
1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Asafo Aumua 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Scott Barrett (c) 5. Tupou Vaa’i 6. Wallace Sititi 7. Sam Cane 8. Ardie Savea (vc)
16. George Bell 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 18. Pasilio Tosi 19. Patrick Tuipulotu 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Cam Roigard 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Stephen Perofeta
