JLP : Had to switch off twitter with all the negative reaction to this news. Apparently taking a young Irish team on a tour is a bad thing now? Sure it will hurt the provinces for a few weeks but all the URC clubs get impacted by things like this at different stages of the season. It’s the nature of the sport. I harp on the need for a more sensible calendar with tournaments in blocks each and every year but even I have made peace with the fact that it is unlikely to ever happen for European rugby. And once you accept that, then it should be easy to grasp that if you are to do a tour like this which clearly has at least as many benefits as drawbacks if not much more, then no one union is going to be able to pick and choose a time of year that suits them perfectly.
Benetton made them look very average, there’s too many flaws in their performance. I haven’t been overly impressed by them.
JLP : This could’ve been Clickbait of the Week as it looks like they went trawling for an article that Jake White could pin on the dressing room wall at Loftus on Saturday. I didn’t listen to the full interview but I’d be pretty confident that Berch also qualified those statements with some positives in the Bulls set up.
According to the Telegraph, the Gulf state is ‘closing in’ on a £800 million (€940m) deal to host the finals of the tournament for the next eight years.
JLP : Pretty much said all I need to say in the tweet, but I will add that I wanted to highlight this story using an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which had the headline : “Rugby’s Qatar option would be a cynical, soulless money grab” – I chose not to as it is behind a paywall but although it is an op-ed I reckon it also serves as a realistic piece of analytical journalism on this story.
Always a bad idea, but earning extra bad idea points by bringing it up in Pride Month.
JLP : I know I run the risk of seeming obsessed with Hogg when I feature him so often in the Front Five section (baby reindeer hog?) but it’s a risk worth taking because the progression of this story has been fascinating. Off the top of my head the headlines have been : he retires pre-RWC > he’s having an affair with a jockey > he has a restraining order from his wife > he’s now a pundit > he’s in talks for returning to play with Newcastle > he’s in talks for returning to play with Montpellier > now he’s thinking of returning to test rugby. And I’m pretty sure there’s more twists and turns to come, so watch this space…
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
I’d have him in the squad and I would even consider him as captain because that’s going to be a big one.
Sir Ian McGeechan Makes a Bold Choice for 2025 British & Irish Lions Captain
Ruck.co.uk
JLP : Easy choice of clickbait this week. And the answer is Courtney Lawes. See, they could have said that in the headline which would then persuade you to click to find out why, but no, gotta tease that little bit extra. Now on the subject matter itself, I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all – no doubting he can do it, he’s certainly in form to make the Lions squad and also he’s unencumbered with Test captaincy. But we can discuss all of that without clicking the link.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Conor & Ciarán were on hand to help me go back over the Ulster match and it was an enjoyable chat as ever. We harped a bit more on the importance of Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe which didn’t make the pod but can be found in the YouTube clip you see below.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : THIS GETS MY GOAT
When we say a particular player is doing good things are we also dissing every other player?
Once bitten twice shy when it comes to Garry Ringrose. I don’t think we’ll see him again this season and this is one of those times when I’ll be over the moon to be wrong. I do believe Jack Conan will play a role in Pretoria and also that we could go 6/2 on the bench.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Bulls : J O’Brien, Larmour, Henshaw, Osbourne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan (c), Baird, van der Flier, Doris
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Garry Ringrose: returned to full training last week after his return from a shoulder injury
Jack Conan: is expected to return to full training this week after missing the Ulster game as a precaution
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Charlie Ngatai (shoulder), Jason Jenkins (knee), Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
Thought I’d update this section one last time, yes, partly because Leinster finished in 1st place but also to add the interpro fixtures for next season, and it was only while doing this that I noticed that not all the matches have actual dates just yet, although it still has to be said the early release was a great idea and long may it continue.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER
2024/25 IRISH SHIELD
SAT SEP 21 – MUNSTER V CONNACHT
SAT OCT 12 – LEINSTER V MUNSTER
SAT OCT 12 – ULSTER V CONNACHT
SAT OCT 19 – CONNACHT V LEINSTER
FRI NOV 29 – ULSTER V LEINSTER
DECEMBER TBC – ULSTER V MUNSTER
DECEMBER TBC – LEINSTER V CONNACHT
XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – MUNSTER V LEINSTER
XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – CONNACHT V ULSTER
MAR 28/29- CONNACHT V MUNSTER
SAT APR 19 – LEINSTER V ULSTER
FRI MAY 9 – MUNSTER V ULSTER
TROLL PATROL
Why should Leinster have to travel this distance? We are a bedrock of this League with a wonderful support base in Dublin and we should be treated appropriately.
I suppose if I am to have a proper weekly segment on the subject of trolling, once in a while I’ll have to include it when it clearly comes from a Leinster fan, although I’m not 100% sure if Bryan’s is a serious question or not…either way, it gets the troll label and he managed to reel in a couple of replies.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
The World Series may be over but the Irish squads are getting some more preparation for the Olympics with the Rugby Europe Championship which consists of two tournaments the first of which was held in Makarska in Croatia over the weekend. The women got off to a strong start in their pool before going on to lose four in a row which saw them finish in 8th position. The men on the other hand have continued their good form and 5 wins in a row saw them through to the final against France…but it wasnt to be, we were in it right up to the final whistle and just couldn’t get past the French defence in the second half, losing two lineouts in the process which is criminal in this code, to finish on the losing side by 12 points to 7. Still it was a good outing for Hugo Keenan to get integrated into the squad and the second and final round of this championship takes place in Hamburg at the end of the month.
CROATIA 7s
#IREW7s
POOL PHASE
V CZE 24-22
V TUR 31-12
V FRA 5-33
QUARTERFINAL
V SPA 17-33
5TH-8TH PLAYOFF
V CZE 5-10
V GBR 0-19
#IREM7s
POOL PHASE
V CRO 42-0
V GER 12-12
V GEO 17-10
QUARTERFINAL
V GBR 24-7
SEMIFINAL
V GER 31-7
FINAL
V FRA 7-12
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
There were some tight finishes in the final round and probably the most significant was at La Rochelle where the home side won to make the barrages but Racing nicked a losing bonus point with a Baudonne try right at the end (actually it was the conversion from Tedder that earned it because you have to be within 5 in the 🔝🐱🐴 ) and this put both through to the knockouts.
So as you can see below both sides must travel in the first round and it’s interesting that although Toulouse and Stade got straight into the semifinals, if Bordeaux make it past Racing it will effectively be a home match for them as both games are in the Matmut Atlantique.
Meanwhile on the European qualification front Clérmont had quite the late season surge in form to nick the 8th and final slot, which means if Leinster reach the URC final we could well renew our rivalry with them in the Champions Cup pool stage.
Also I’ve decided that from next season all going well I will also feature the ProD2 in these updates as it is essentially one of the top European leagues in its own right…I could probably name at least half a dozen clubs in URC & Premiership that would struggle to finish in the top half. Vannes earned the direct promotion spot this season and now Grenoble and Montpellier will slug it out for that 14th spot.
Round 26
BAYONNE 17-28 CASTRES
BORDEAUX 40-7 OYONNAX
CLÉRMONT 52-15 MONTPELLIER
LA ROCHELLE 24-19 RACING 92
LYON 40-28 TOULOUSE
STADE FRANÇAIS 23-20 TOULON
PAU 36-24 PERPIGNAN
PLAYOFFS
SAT JUNE 15
TOULON V LA ROCHELLE (BARRAGES)
SUN JUN 16
GRENOBLE V MONTPELLIER (RELEGATION)
BORDEAUX V RACING 92 (BARRAGES)
SEMIFINALS (BOTH IN BORDEAUX)
FRI JUNE 21
TOULOUSE V TOULON/LA ROCHELLE
SAT JUNE 22
STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX/RACING 92
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Congrats to Northampton Saints, of course we saw them as Leinster fans and they impressed (although they impressed more against Munster, twice 😜) so as a result in and of itself there was no surprise that they got the better of Bath on the day, but of course many are saying the match was defined by the red card for Beno Obano. I guess I can only say what I always do in these scenarios…keep the tackles low and you’ll never put yourself on this kind of radar. I understand the frustration for fans especially the Bath ones in this case obvs but those laws are there for a reason. And speaking of Lawes, I know I mentioned him already in this column, but what a way to finish at a club, eh.
PLAYOFFS
NORTHAMPTON 22-20 SARACENS
BATH 31-23 SALE SHARKS
FINAL
SAT JUNE 8
NORTHAMPTON 25-21 BATH
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Not much in the way of contests in the quarterfinals by the look of it, in fact arguably the most noticeable thing about the four matches is that the Crusaders were not involved in any of them. One team that won’t be involved at all in the future is the Melbourne Rebels, I can remember their formation with Stirling Morlock (who’s name I can’t even type without saying out loud in a draw out Aussie accent) one of the first to wear the jersey. It will be interesting to see how their playing staff gets distributed among the other franchises and no doubt it can only make them stronger.
That leaves three NZ and 1 Oz in the semifinals and I really can’t see anything other than a Blues v Hurricanes final.
QUARTERFINALS
CHIEFS 43-21 REDS
HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS
BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA
BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS
SEMIFINALS
FRI JUNE 14
BLUES V BRUMBIES
SAT JUNE 15
HURRICANES V CHIEFS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Chicaco Hounds may have had a lot of narrow defeats in recent weeks but they are still defeats and they have now slipped to 4th in the East – I can’t see them dropping any further but they would want to get back to winning ways soon otherwise they’ll have to play New England, who themselves are finding ways to win the tight matches. Over in the west it’s still Houston and Seattle leading the way and guess what – they play each other next.
ROUND 15
OLD GLORY DC 30-31 NEW ENGLAND
HOUSTON 29-12 LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO 34-24 ANTHEM RC
MIAMI 13-20 NOLA GOLD
DALLAS 22-20 CHICAGO
SEATTLE 68-29 UTAH
ROUND 16
SAT JUNE 15
DALLAS V OLD GLORY
SUN JUNE 16
HOUSTON V SEATTLE
NEW ENGLAND V UTAH
ANTHEM RC V MIAMI
LOS ANGELES V NOLA GOLD
TUE JUNE 18
CHICAGO V SAN DIEGO
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
There are fewer matches to predict at this stage of the season but more points at stake…the QFs are x 1.5, the SFs are x 2 and the final is x 3. Still tho the last weekend couldn’t separate Kino and Kristian for the title, although Kino has the edge in the first tie-breaker. Could all boil down to the last minute of the final. As for myself, I’ll do well to stay in the top 4 at this rate…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s all about the Bulls from here on in this week….Keego will join us for the preview show then it’s the Meath/Westmeath combo of Tom Coleman and Mark Jackson helping me wrap the 80 minutes in our Sunday evening recording. Do follow us on all our social media platforms and join the discussion when you can.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
8 June 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster evades the tackle of Ethan McIlroy of Ulster on his way to scoring his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship quarter-final match between Leinster and Ulster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Ross while having some good moments, is too predictable, and offers little variety in attack…. Sam tried some outrageous moves , came off, granted they won’t always but means teams are unsure what to expect…
Greg Kelly
Watched the game on SuperSport and I get the impression the Saffas don’t watch Leinster in detail because they’re a bit worried 😂
It’s nice to see Leinster going full guns in the league for the first time in a while. It was a high quality game that Leinster managed well.
Strangely enough I wonder if Prendergast being in the squad and then coming in and showing some good touches means he’s not going anywhere next season. Personally I think they have to look to make him the solid number 2 next year with an eye to him getting the starting shirt if performances warrant it.
Brian Corr
I’m almost afraid to say anything because of the backlash of you’re arrogant and typical Leinster, but with almost the full squad available it’s hard to see how Ulster would have really threatened Leinster, particularly without their captain and next best second row out.
Ulster came out flying but could not get over the line, a couple of tries some would call lucky and they were buried by 1/2 time. Lucky translates into the harder I work the more luck I get.
While Ulster never went away, they conceded within minutes of scoring their first tries.
For Leinster it was great to get a comprehensive win and a fairly hard fought one which will stand to them next week.
Osbourne and Henshaw were everywhere, though it was a full team performance, I don’t know if anyone had a bad game.
Robert Webster
Good win by Leinster but thought score flattered them a little. Next week should be a good game but would expect Leinster to have too much for the Bulls, who will need to up their performance from today to have any chance. Would add that I thought it was a pretty disappointing crowd for a knock out derby.
Gordy Graham
Ultimately I’m a disappointed Ulster fan again but the boys gave it everything today and it was always going to be a big ask after losing four second rows. Murphy has had a big impact at Ulster and there’s a bit of positivity about the place now which is nice!
From an impartial view point I can’t understand Leinster’s continued obsession with Byrne, he seems to have lost his confidence and offers very little in the way of attacking threat. I think that’s why Leinster’s attack as a whole has slowed down.
Colin Mcconaghie
Massively depleted Ulster team gave their all. Not to be against a very strong Leinster.
Proud of our young lads after being written off all season.
Not to put pressure on him or anything, but I'm going to call him Sam Prendergoat after that little cameo#LEIvULS
Brave performance and very unlucky with losing key players. Definitely on top in the first 20 mins, but unfortunately, no points! Breath of fresh air in terms of performance and attitude. Well done, Richie, and yes, we are now actually looking forward to 24/25.
Fitting for Ulster to score right at the end, they played way better than score suggests, and will def crack on under RM next season. But I still think the right team won, def wasnt perfect but we carried strong and took our chances. Big trip and challenge ahead. #LEIvULS
JLP : Obviously the word ‘reports’ does a lot of heavy lifting in the title although just because a province and/or the Irish media hasn’t reported something yet doesn’t mean it’s not happening and there have been question marks over Leinster’s TH stocks after Ala’alatoa leaves. More on the general topic of NIQ signings further down the column.
“For those who knew Rob throughout his life, his determination and spirit in the face of MND over the last four and a half years came as no surprise.”
JLP : Needless to say it doesn’t matter what code is involved this was sad news across all of sport. Former players like Rob who have contracted MND have done outstanding work to raise awareness.
“I think at this pivotal moment in time…I wouldn’t be keen for him to move if I was involved with Leinster.”
JLP : We have of course been harpin’ on Leinster’s 10 dilemma for ages but it’s interesting to see it popping up in articles outside the four provinces. The Sam to Connacht thing was big news last week and looked like happening (even if the timing did seem strange right before he was getting ready to PLAY Connacht) but the tweet below from Joe Naughton would appear to have chucked some cold water on the spreading rumours…
Sam Prendergast to Connacht OFF
Well after all the pleading it seems Sam Prendergast loan deal won’t be happening.
It was nearly certain before another Champions Cup loss, but now Sam Prendergast could be Leinster number one by Xmas, so he ain’t moving.
As well as a lifetime playing ban, the player also received a 156-week ban – the equivalent of three years – from all forms of rugby, including coaching, refereeing and administration
Namibian rugby player handed life ban after attacking referee
Charles Richardson – NZ Herald (via Daily Telegraph UK)
JLP : Only two words of comment required here : “Proper” and “order”.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
Heaslip disagreed with Murphy’s summation of the danger of the incident, and argued it had “quite a high level of danger”.
Jamie Heaslip Has Theory On How RG Snyman Escaped Card Vs Ulster
Oisin Gaffey – Balls.ie
JLP : This wins COTWA for having all the basic elements of perfect clickbait for Irish rugby fans, following the simple “Leinster player disputes something good tht happened to Munster or vice versa” formula, with the name Ulster thrown in for good measure. Heaslip’s opinion does feature in the article, but so does Donal Lenihan’s, who also thought it could have been red. His name in the heading might not have stirred things up quite so much though…
WRAP OF A WRAP
I was on Caolán Scully’s pod the day after the Champions Cup final and the other guest was a fellow Leinster fan David Cordial so I asked him to come on our wrap pod and he took to it like a fish to water. Along with seasoned Harpin veteran Rich Mifsud we went back over the win over Connacht and for the final thoughts video we also looked at our favourite RDS memories as well as the upcoming URC quarterfinals.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : QUALIFIED SUCCESS?
With all the talk stemming from the Jordie Barrett news I wanted to do a Quick Tap on the whole subject of NIQs and how we should handle them.
The actual update has been suggesting for weeks now that Garry Ringrose was available for selection but this week it was actually brought up in the text that they release with the update so it looks like it could happen this weekend, and not before time!
Hopefully we are able to go “full bore” for the rest of the season with the exception of Hugo Keenan who is committing to 7s. I know the South Africa series is big but it would be really unfair on Leinster fans to have our players denied knockout game time because of it.
Garry Ringrose is available for selection for this weekend's #BKTURC Quarter-Final against Ulster
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Charlie Ngatai: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury.
Garry Ringrose: is expected to return to full training this week after his return from a shoulder injury.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Jack Conan: was withdrawn as a precaution at the weekend and will be further assessed this week ahead of selection this weekend.
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Tommy O’Brien: picked up a hamstring injury at the weekend and will enter a period of rehabilitation.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Jason Jenkins (knee), Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
I very much doubt there will be an open top bus inching through thousands of fans in Ballsbridge to celebrate Leinster’s retention of the Irish Shield any time soon, I’m pretty sure we’d have been happy with Munster winning it if we could swap for first place on the URC log. The most positive angle from this “sub-competition” for me was the fact that of the 12 matches this season, 9 were decided by 7 points or less.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER
TROLL PATROL
@mahasamatman12
“A zero point loss” You harpin’ clowns never cease to amaze!
Straightforward trolling here. For context, in our Connacht preview show I asked Keego what he made of the Champions Cup final and after he responded I pointed out that in recent finals we had lost by 1 or 2 points so with this one having been level after 80 minutes you could say it was a zero point loss. My overall point was that all the finals were close, not that we didn’t deserve to lose them, we have harped on that ad nauseum at other times. Anyway, this guy jumped on it so I wish to repeat my invitation for him to appear on our show anytime to “show us how it’s done”. You may be shocked to learn that he is yet to respond. I’m starting to think he may not want to.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
LEINSTER PLAYERS’ GAZA STATEMENT
They say sports and politics shouldn’t mix. I say bollocks to that.
I mean, that’s not to say that if we have chosen sports as our principle topic for content, we should be using that platform to also share political views – that would be disrespectful. HOWEVER some subjects might be called ‘political’ when they actually transcend that, sport, and all other current affairs and IMO Gaza is one of them and I was extremely proud to see the Leinster players releasing this statement.
Also on the Quick Tap video above I chose to use my “final comment” to persuade people to vote in the upcoming local & European elections. To be clear, I would never say WHO anyone should vote for, just that they exercise their right to vote.
📰 | Statement below issued on behalf of the Leinster Rugby senior men and women squads ⬇️
Congrats to all, here’s the official Leinster copy…
Aoife Dalton and Jamison Gibson-Park were the big winners as they took home the Bank of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards at the Leinster Rugby Awards Ball on Saturday evening.
It’s been an incredible 12 months for Dalton who picked up the Young Player Award at the 2023 event and has now backed it up a year later with the Senior Award after brilliant performances in blue as Leinster regained the Interpro title from Munster.
For Gibson-Park it caps a remarkable few years for the scrumhalf who has made the Leinster and the Ireland number nine jersey his own with a string of stunning performances for club and country.
Other players celebrating included Joe McCarthy and Aoife Wafer who were presented with the Laya Healthcare Men’s Young Player of the Year and BearingPoint Women’s Young Player of the Year Awards.
It it capped a brilliant few weeks for McCarthy and Wafer who were also recognised at the Rugby Players Ireland Awards, while McCarthy was also named the Just Eat Supporters Player of the Season at Friday’s game against Connacht Rugby at the RDS Arena.
Hosted by Joe Molloy, with musical entertainment provided by Manila Strings, the evening brought the curtain down on the 2023/24 domestic season across the 12 counties of Leinster, while also recognising the efforts of the senior men and women sides.
It also marked the final formal engagement for the province’s outgoing President Billy Murphy. The proud UCD club man opened proceedings with a fitting tribute to all those that contributed on and off the pitch and in particular that had helped him across his 12 months as Branch President.
After that it was over to Molloy to get the evening underway and over the course of the next few hours, the best of the game at all levels in Leinster was celebrated.
Departing players and staff were also acknowledged, with a brilliant ovation in particular for the departing trio of Ed Byrne, Ross Molony and Rhys Ruddock.
Mick Dawson was the latest inductee into the Guinness Hall of Fame. The former Leinster Rugby CEO was warmly received by the audience, in recognition of a stellar 21-plus years at the helm.
Another person to be acknowledged for a stellar contribution to the game of rugby in Leinster was the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee, James McCourt, who received the Energia Contribution to Leinster Rugby award for his tireless efforts.
He was presented with his award on behalf of Energia by the Leinster Rugby Culture Captain, Andrew McCarthy, who was also recognised for his efforts over the season by Leinster co-captains, James Ryan and Garry Ringrose.
Clontarf FC, Seapoint Rugby Club, St Mary’s College, Rathmines and Coláiste Mhuire CBS, Mullingar were other big winners on the night.
Jordan Larmour accepted the award for the Bank of Ireland ‘Never Stop Competing’ Tackle of the Year for his try-saving effort in the Champions Cup Final against Toulouse, while Ciarán Frawley’s effort against Connacht Rugby was the winner of the Irish Times Try of the Year.
2023/24 LEINSTER RUGBY AWARDS – LIST OF WINNERS:
Nissan Ireland Development School of the Year: Coláiste Mhuire CBS, Mullingar
Bank of Ireland ‘Never Stop Competing’ Tackle of the Year: Jordan Larmour
Beauchamps School of the Year: St Mary’s College, Rathmines
Energia Contribution to Leinster Rugby: James McCourt
Irish Times Try of the Year: Ciarán Frawley (v Connacht Rugby)
DigitalWell Junior Club of the Year: Seapoint Rugby Club
BDO Senior Club of the Year: Clontarf FC
Just Eat Supporters Player of the Year: Joe McCarthy
Guinness Hall of Fame: Mick Dawson
BearingPoint Women’s Young Player of the Year: Aoife Wafer
Laya Healthcare Men’s Young Player of the Year: Joe McCarthy
Band of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year: Aoife Dalton
Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year: Jamison Gibson-Park
Aoife Dalton and Jamison Gibson-Park were the big winners as they took home the @BankofIreland Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards at the #LeinsterRugby Awards Ball on Saturday evening.
According to my Google Calendar, these 24/25 URC fixtures were actually due even earlier, the 22nd of May to be precise. But still, for them to come out a week later was still an excellent idea to help people plan ahead for trips and whatnot, although I do know many who are keen to wait for the Champions Cup draw before they go clicking for hotels and flights.
“SVNS” UPDATE
Overall you have to say 5th and 6th placed finishes are disappointing when you consider both our teams are capable of winning medals in Paris. But it certainly wasn’t all bad, in fact technically the men’s team went the entire weekend unbeaten. We had to push for last gasp tries in all three of our pool matches but only one of those produced a win and with the “golden point” system in place, we fell short against both Fiji and New Zealand which meant we had to make do with the playoffs for 5th place where we dispatched both GB and RSA. And going back to those extra time matches, we had more “poor luck” in both of them, with the Fijians lucky not to see red for that challenge and NZ shipping a penalty on our breakaway towards the end which really should have seen yellow. On the negative side I wondered if both of New Zealand’s opening tries against us were a result of Hugo Keenan being a bit match rusty in this code – I thought he tried to take a bit too much out of his carries allowing the opposition to pounce. He does have buckets of 7s experience of course he just needs a bit more game time.
Anyway on the women’s side, well nobody would get off to a good start to a comp when facing the Aussies, we couldn’t get past Fiji nor the USA either although wins over France and GB helped us stay away from the bottom two places.
Europe’s love triangle of close finishes involving Leinster, Toulouse and La Rochelle continues with the French sides also finishing the 80 minutes level on Sunday night. There are several fascinating battles in the simultaneous final round, best of which has to be the straight shoot out for an automatic semifinal spot between Stade and Toulon. But another shootout of note is ROG v Stu as the loser of La Rochelle v Racing could miss out on the barrages altogether.
Round 25
PERPIGNAN 37-30 BORDEAUX
OYONNAX 27-20 BAYONNE
CASTRES 27-18 STADE FRANÇAIS
MONTPELLIER 41-26 LYON
RACING 92 24-15 PAU
TOULON 52-10 CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE 31-31 LA ROCHELLE
Round 26
SUN JUNE 8
BAYONNE V CASTRES
BORDEAUX V OYONNAX
CLÉRMONT V MONTPELLIER
LA ROCHELLE V RACING 92
LYON V TOULOUSE
STADE FRANÇAIS V TOULON
PAU V PERPIGNAN
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Have to admit I never got to see either of these matches although both had their moments by all accounts, not least of which was one after the final whistle at the Rec! Everything stayed with the seedings anyway and it should be an interesting “Battle of the Fin/ns” this weekend.
PLAYOFFS
NORTHAMPTON 22-20 SARACENS
BATH 31-23 SALE SHARKS
FINAL
SAT JUNE 8
NORTHAMPTON V BATH
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Sad, but not surprising, to learn of the imminent demise of the Melbourne Rebels, and had they managed to overcome Fijian Drua in their final regular season match they actually could have sneaked the Crusaders into the final eight. But despite the defeat the Rebels still must take to the field at least one more time as they DID reach the knockouts where I doubt they’ll have enough to win in Wellington. In fact all the quarterfinals look like home bankers although the Reds could cause an upset at the Chiefs.
ROUND 15
CRUSADERS 43-10 MOANA PASIFIKA
WARATAHS 26-27 REDS
FIJIAN DRUA 40-19 REBELS
HURRICANES 41-14 HIGHLANDERS
BLUES 31-17 CHIEFS
WESTERN FORCE 19-24 BRUMBIES
QUARTERFINALS
FRI JUNE 7
CHIEFS V REDS
SAT JUNE 8
HURRICANES V REBELS
BLUES V FIJIAN DRUA
BRUMBIES V HIGHLANDERS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Like I said on last week’s column, my adopted team for this season the Chicago Hounds probably needed the week off to prepare for the final push and from here on in there are no off weeks, just four weeks of rugby as the 12 clubs look to whittle themselves down to 8. In the east Chicago must look to keep up with NOLA and Old Glory ahead of them while New England look on track to finish first while in the west, Houston are still the team to beat although Seattle are likely to push them close over the coming month.
ROUND 14
OLD GLORY 47-29 ANTHEM RC
NOLA GOLD 7-21 HOUSTON
UTAH 20-27 SAN DIEGO
NEW ENGLAND 26-24 DALLAS
LOS ANGELES 45-15 MIAMI
SUN JUNE 9
OLD GLORY DC V NEW ENGLAND
HOUSTON V LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO V ANTHEM RC
MIAMI V NOLA GOLD
MON JUNE 10
DALLAS V CHICAGO
SEATTLE V UTAH
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
The regular season went right down to the wire with only the 1st tie-breaker of “winning predictions” separating Kino and Kristian. We now move into the URC playoffs where the usual points will be multiplied by factors of 1.5, 2 and 3 across the three rounds until we have a winner, so technically I still have a chance although I have to correctly predict multiple major upsets to do so. It’s not like I’m without form on this though…last season I was in 3rd place on the day of the URC final but being the only one to predict a Munster win I leapfrogged to the title, so you never know…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Ulster up next – preview recording Friday, wrap pod on Sunday, and as ever there will be tweets and TikToks and Threads and all sorts in our other usual haunts in the ruggersphere – do keep in touch!
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
31 May 2024; Jimmy O’Brien of Leinster scores his side’s fifth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Connacht at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
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🏉 Early scores 🏉 Sam composure 🏉 TYVM RR,RM,EB,RDS 🏉 BP eventually 🏉 Tricky path ahead
Connacht seemed way off the pace, it was clear early on so much was going wrong for them.
Ruddock was immense he put everything into that game it was brilliant. Maloney and Byrne were also brilliant and gave excellent performances for their last games. I thought Ala’alatoa was unlucky for his card, yes he was high and he did hit Blades head, I’m not sure he hit it as hard as Blades reaction but that’s my bias(probably?). You could see though he wanted to out in a good shift.
Anyone doubting Leinster’s strength in depth can see in this game why it’s often quoted as being brilliant, no other club could make 14 changes and have a performance as strong as that. Keeping so many players involved and happy at the club is mind blowingly difficult, yet Leo does it year after year.
There was lots of things to like about that game even though 4 of the stalwarts are moving on & one of our backline was pretty jittery it was a pretty excellent performance from the other 19.
Chris McDonnell
Great performance from lots of the lads. Showed how awful last week’s selection was. Jenkins ahead of Molony, no Jimmy o brien , frawley just a lovely attacking player.foley I’d just miles better than mcgrath. Anyways hopefully ruddock and Molony gets to play again for us.
Cuan Mulligan
Felt Sam P had a great game, offered more options than other 10s in the squad. Was integral to a few of the tries; tried things, mixed it up. Should be where we invest and give him as much game time as possible. Might need some extra protein over the summer to bulk up
William Andrew
It was a good indicator of how valuable players like Ross, Max Ed and Ruddock are to Leinster. They provide the steel through a season.
Form was also on display, in some of the younger players
Leinster 33 Connacht 7
Overpowered & outplayed for long stretches Too many compound errors again Individual sparks in there but really not good enough The 2nd half showed improvement but lacked any kind of killer edge, any attack lost shape & defence was guts & fight#LEIvCON
JLP : After Leo Cullen, I really don’t think there has been a player who has personified what Leinster Rugby is all about other than Rhys Ruddock. Haven’t seen much of him this season and we’ve all kind of known this announcement was coming eventually, but while it is sad news after a really depressing weekend for fans of the province, in a way it has been a joy to be able to look back over his career and remember all the many good times. Leadership always came naturally to him which clearly our coaches spotted by handing him the armband so early. And in recent years the mere existence of the term “Rhys Ruddock All Stars” among the fans (meaning the teams we have sent for our late season South African tours) shows the high regard in which he is held.
“The lads literally just gave me slots of where they would normally address defence. I just went into that. I just slotted in with the programme, as it was.”
JLP : This was always going to be a tough week for Leinster coach at pressers, and Nienaber has done well to front up. And sadly since full time on Saturday the calls for Leo Cullen to step aside have started to get louder from Leinster fans, there were suggestions of it last year but now they are getting stronger, though to be clear I really don’t think I’m there yet – I mean, I’m never happy about actively looking for anyone to lose their job as it is, but in this specific case I can see where the viewpoint is coming from.
The thing about Leo is that if he stays, which I believe he will, absolutely nothing we do next season will matter except winning the CC, that is if we reach the final of course. So doubts will remain locked and loaded right up to the final whistle in Cardiff. Possibly that pressure will ease a bit if we win URC but still it’s going to be immense and it will be felt from the most casual fan right through the squad and into the coaches’ box. A new hierarchy structure would definitely ease that pressure somewhat, although having said that, Leinster are pretty much expected to be competing for titles regardless so the standards will have to remain high whatever the coaching ticket.
Much to ponder for sure.
Ireland will face stiff competition in Pool B, starting their campaign against Italy, followed by matches against Georgia and Australia.
JLP : With the senior season almost over it’s always good to get a reminder of the annual festival of rugby we get every June and July – this year it overlaps with the test team’s two-match series, also in South Africa, but it still gives us plenty to harp on before the Rugby Championship comes along to kill off the remaining weeks to the 2024/25 URC season and it all starts again! Love it.
The diminutive wing has bundles of pace and would provide further back three depth with Simon Zebo set to retire at the end of this season.
JLP : This article nearly won Clickbait of the Week with the way the headline dumps a ton of pressure on Thaakir Abrahams should he indeed be heading to Munster. But instead I have included it as one of a two-article set from Balls.ie, the second of which is this one by Gary Connaughton about Ulster’s new outhalf signing Aidan Morgan (also with clickbaity headline describing him as “intriguing”) and together the pieces highlight the fact that despite all the hoopla about Leinster’s recent announcements, the other provinces have also been busy on the acquisition front.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
The only way to fittingly respond is to go and win the URC the hard way, going away in the semi-final and final.
JLP : Again, to clarify, my COTWA is not meant for an article I necessarily disagree with, and much of the points ROC makes here are ones we have made on the pod. It’s more about the presentation of the article with both the headline and the promoting tweet, put in a way as to attract both angry Leinster fans AND gleeful ABL ones.
Chopping and changing at No 10, refusing to give Frawley the required backing, an attack that never functioned this season like it used to and an in-game strategy that didn't reflect the team's new identity – a piece on what went wrong for Leinster 🔽https://t.co/CSgfkkNOum
Confession time first – I made a claim on the first draft of the pod about Antoine Dupont’s first half wonder-5022 where I was totally wrong…I thought the ball had been carried back from our half but in fact there had been a breakdown or two and kudos to the person who got in touch for both setting me straight AND doing it discreetly. Still, the pod had already gotten about a hundred listens by the time I corrected it and I’m certainly not going to try and pretend I didn’t say it, that’s one of the reasons I have this column.
Anyway going back to what DID make the final cut, Tom & Mark were open and honest going back over the match and as I often find it does help to have a chat about it. Also a big shout out to both Keego & Kino for their contributions on the preview show, even if that does seem about a gagillion years ago by this stage!!!
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
Also here’s a clip where we looked mostly at how Leinster handled substitutions in the second half…
CC FINAL – THE FAN EXPERIENCE
We stopped recording “bonus clips” a while ago but on this week’s wrap pod had a section that was left on the ‘cutting room’ floor as I try to stay under an hour as much as I can so I put it out as extra YouTube content…Tom spoke about his experience in and around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
POST FINAL TIKTOK
No time (or motivation tbh) to put together a “Quick Tap” video this week (while I enjoy doing them you’re talking up to two hours work in total to produce just a 4-min vid) so instead I’ll share this one I recorded within about half an hour of the final whistle on Saturday. Got a lot of attention, possibly out of empathy from fellow Leinster fans but no doubt there were plenty of Nelson Muntzes out there too going “ha-ha”, such is the nature of sports fan content!!! TikTok following moved past 700 which I’m pretty pleased about since it’s far from my main focus, I should probably look to do more with the account next season.
Really, really difficult selection this week based on the update. We have said several times on the pod how we want us to go as strong as possible from now until the end of the season but what with the extra time in London, six-day turnaround AND Hugo Keenan off to join the 7s, to put a 23 together for the Connacht match sure wasn’t easy.
Obviously my “Ruddock as captain” choice is for a specific reason and it wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t feature at all and Penny has the armband, but overall I have to think at least a few who came off the bench in the final will have to do so again at the RDS. I certainly don’t see any from the “further assessment required” section to make it in time although it would be brilliant if even one of them did.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Connacht : McErlean, Russell, J O’Brien, Brownlee, A Osborne, H Byrne, McGrath
Kelleher, Boyle, Ala’alatoa, O’Tighearnaigh, Moloney, Foley, Prendergast, King
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Garry Ringrose: will increase his training load again this week as he continues to be assessed for a shoulder injury.
Tommy O’Brien: will return to training this week from a hamstring injury and will be further assessed before a decision is made on his involvement.
Charlie Ngatai: will return to training this week from a shoulder injury and will be further assessed before a decision is made on his involvement.
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Jason Jenkins: picked up a knee injury against Toulouse and will not be available for selection this week.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
Just a quick reminder…for the past two URC campaigns, this shield was decided by overall league performance. Now it is only by the interpros, which is why in-form Munster are out of contention after their poor start to the season. Basically Leinster need a 5-pointer on Friday to force Ulster to require a win in Thomond Park on Saturday. Although they’ll probably want that anyway to help their league ranking.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
TROLL PATROL
We recently introduced Clickbait of the Week to point out cases of ADD (Article Description Deception) but for a long time now I have also been looking to launch Troll Patrol. Because why ridicule them online and fall down a rabbit hole when you can ridicule them here instead? What’s that? I could always not ridicule them at all? FFS where’s the fun in THAT?
Seriously though…the Game Management vid I posted above got a lot of comment reaction (at least a lot for our channel) and I thought one in particular was a worthy candidate for our first ever TP segment.
Credit where it’s due to this chap, he felt the need to come back three times before anyone had a chance to reply but it was his final point that put him over the top, so to speak.
@michaelflynn5123
Hugo Keenan played against Ulster week before final ! First time he has ever played in ravenhill ! First team not allowed to play away from home if there a chance they could lose ! Oh we lost because it was the b team
Why can’t you see ! Play your best team in the final ! What about the games leading up to the final! You have to play week after week to be ready for the big games! Oh they played ospreys couple weeks before the final! Last 3 years same thing
Leinster haven’t been put under pressure all year La Rochelle where lucky to get out of there group Northampton didn’t turn up on the day ! First team not allowed to play in south Africa! We’re under no pressure all year! Weren’t battle hardened! Munster would get 3 players on the Leinster team! But I think they would have beaten Toulouse! But then again they can leave home and fight
So…Munster would have beaten Toulouse? Because they can ‘leave home and fight’? And…how would they have gotten the chance to beat Toulouse? By leaving home, fighting, and defeating Northampton. How did they get on? 😜
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
Under the new series format, this weekend’s sevens event will actually decide the overall champions of the circuit. I know many don’t like that but I for one don’t mind. If nothing else it will be a good experience for both Irish teams as they prepare for the Olympics. With the tournament in Spain the kickoff times are definitely more friendly for Irish viewers for sure and of course there will be no easy matches.
I made my reservations on Hugo Keenan’s involvement clear on these pages already so no need to go over them again – he’s in the squad now and he will of course be a massive boost for our chances and I look forward to cheering on both teams over the weekend.
MADRID (FINALS)
IRISH POOL FIXTURES
FRI MAY 31
12:51PM – WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
1:37PM – MEN V SOUTH AFRICA
SAT JUNE 1
11AM – WOMEN V FRANCE
12:06PM – MEN V FIJI
2:05PM – WOMEN V FIJI
3:11PM – MEN V NEW ZEALAND
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Not sure how to word this point without making it look like I’m getting some consolation from it, but I assure you I’m not – I’d say the last place ROG would want to be heading this weekend is to a Toulouse town celebrating a sixth star. That said, he might equally view it as an opportunity to catch them on the hop and in a season where Leinster got the LAR monkey off our back and Toulouse did likewise with us, maybe this is just the weekend for him to end his recent run of poor results against ‘les rouge at noir’. Meanwhile the scramble to make the top 6 remains interesting with everyone down to Lyon in 12th mathematically still in the running by the looks of it, and 6th placed Racing v 7th place Pau the pick of the bunch this weekend.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
Round 25
SAT JUNE 1
PERPIGNAN V BORDEAUX
OYONNAX V BAYONNE
CASTRES V STADE FRANÇAIS
MONTPELLIER V LYON
RACING 92 V PAU
SUN JUNE 2
TOULON V CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
While Northampton and Bath should by rights be the favourites, I have to say I don’t know how to call these semifinals, both could be close although you’d have to assume the home advantage should win out in each case.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
PLAYOFFS
FRI MAY 31
NORTHAMPTON V SARACENS
SAT JUNE 1
BATH V SALE SHARKS
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
As poor an all as the Crusaders’ form has been all season, with 8 of the 12 clubs making the playoffs, I have always maintained that it would be mad to rule them out completely until they mathematically can’t win yet another title and having defeated the table topping Blues last weekend, there’s every chance they could face the Auckland lads again in the quarterfinals. They’ll need to beat Moana in Round 15 and hope both the Drua and Western Force slip up, but none of that is impossible. Meanwhile the race for that top seed between the Blues and the Hurricanes should be interesting, both are at home in the final round but against fellow NZ franchises so no easy wins there.
ROUND 14
CHIEFS 17-20 HURRICANES
BRUMBIES 53-17 REBELS
MOANA PASIFIKA 27-12 WARATAHS
CRUSADERS 29-27 BLUES
REDS 59-13 WESTERN FORCE
HIGHLANDERS 39-3 FIJIAN DRUA
ROUND 15
FRI MAY 31
CRUSADERS V MOANA PASIFIKA
WARATAHS V REDS
SAT JUN 1
FIJIAN DRUA V REBELS
HURRICANES V HIGHLANDERS
BLUES V CHIEFS
WESTERN FORCE V BRUMBIES
JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE
I had hoped to catch the Grand Final but needless to say after Saturday I wasn’t exactly in a place where watching any more rugby was on my radar but it sounds like an enthralling match with the seemingly invincible Wild Knights falling short against Richie Mo’unga’s Brave Lupus. Here’s the video if you want a look yourself.
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Another defeat for my adopted MLR team the Chicago Hounds this week, they definitely seem to need the week off in the next round so they can prepare for the push to the playoffs. Miami’s shock win over New England makes things tight at the top of the Eastern Conference while out west, it’s still Houston and Seattle battling it out.
ROUND 13
SEATTLE 26-24 OLD GLORY DC
MIAMI 15-13 NEW ENGLAND
CHICAGO 13-25 NOLA GOLD
LOS ANGELES 19-27 SAN DIEGO
ROUND 14
SUN JUNE 2
OLD GLORY V ANTHEM RC
NOLA GOLD V HOUSTON
UTAH V SAN DIEGO
NEW ENGLAND V DALLAS
LOS ANGELES V MIAMI
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
I came from way behind to lift the title last season but I really don’t fancy my chances of doing it again this time around. In fact if I’m not careful I could drop as far as 7th, though that would still spare me from having to sport The Jersey of Shame. Looks like a straight fight betwen Kino and Kristian with just 15 matches left to predict, 8 of which are this coming weekend.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Very much looking forward to returning to the RDS on Friday and hopefully the boys in blue can help ease the pain from last weekend. We’ll have our preview pod for the Connacht match on Thursday afternoon, then our wrap pod is to hopefully introduce a new Harpin contributor, please do stay tuned and join in the conversation in any way you can.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
