'Multiple TV markets to keep happy' notwithstanding, I have to believe there was a way to avoid Munster & Ulster's matches clashing on Sunday, just saying.
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
“Jacques [Nienaber] is mainly a defensive mastermind and he has brought in a completely different defensive system and it is working. I can understand why South Africa were so successful under him.”
JLP : Going by the few interviews I’ve seen with Lowe over the years, it seems like he talks like he plays, to say “he doesn’t understate things” would itself be an understatement. But while the goals outlined his quote which is the title of the piece are yet to be fulfilled, the quote I chose speaks to the effect Neinaber has had on the Leinster set up. When a quality coach joins an already quality organisation, it’s not about reinvention, rather refining, and not only have we seen results on the pitch, it sounds like the lads have bought into his ways off it too. Obviously this will get tested even more as we go deeper into the business end of the season.
According to a report over the weekend from Afrikaans newspaper Rapport, Kitshoff met up with Stormers coach John Dobson about a potential return.
JLP : Always need a pinch of salt with this kind of story, but this certainly wouldn’t surprise me if true, although not for the reasons you might think. Many speculators are linking it with all that has been going on at Ulster Rugby, and it’s true that the Ravenhill garden has been close to rosy this season (bar one at the RDS on New Year’s Day of course, obvs I don’t like bringing it up but I know any Ulster fans reading are thinking it ha ha) but I’m not 100% sure it only has to do with his current environment. Moving can have a profound affect on people if it’s just up the road let alone across hemispheres. Many NIQ signings haven’t worked out, to Leinster fans I’d say “remember Steven Sykes?” only I’d wonder if they all actually would. Hey, maybe it’s just a Steven thing. Anyway – if SK does move on they’re going to need a decent loose head option so it would be interesting to see what happens next.
Herbst was penalized and sent to the sin bin during the 63rd minute…he reentered the game after only seven minutes
JLP : Look – mistakes happen. Ones like this absolutely shouldn’t, but they do. It’s just as a Leinster fan, it’s interesting to see that even 15 years after #bloodgate Harlequins are still going onto the pitch when they shouldn’t… 😜
He didn’t want to be that guy who tarnished his reputation by playing too long
JLP : Paul makes all the right points here; all the greats need to acknowledge when it’s time to step away from the highest level. What led me to include this story was the stat outlined in the tweet below…Russ Petty’s number-crunching offerings justify my continuing to endure the Musk-infested platform all on their own!
New Zealand 637 Tests (1903-2023), Sam Whitelock played in 24% of them
JLP : I would love to have the time to live my life, follow rugby enough to run this site AND follow other codes like the NFL as closely but that’s never going to happen. That’s not going to stop me opining on them though!!!! While I would hope that the positive reports on LRZ’s efforts are genuine, I can’t help but be sceptical that this is a pudding that still needs to be proven, for two reasons. First, signing with a franchise does not guarantee that you will actually take to the field when the season rolls around in September, even if it is the reigning champions. Plus, I have to wonder about the way the league has made such a big deal about this “international player pathway”. Why so keen to get players in from abroad? Are participation levels dwindling at home? With 32 professional rosters not to mention hundreds of college level ones to fill, could it be that the concussion element has had an effect on those taking up the sport? Hey, I’m a blogger, crackpot conspiracies are kinda my thing, but I wonder how crackpot this one is. Anyway, I wish LRZ all the best, although I was surprised to see the Chiefs list him as a running back, he will certainly need to work on his physique for that role.
Completely new experience for me when it came to the wrap – I actually got to watch the match sitting next to one of my guests with Nathan Johns beside me in the media box…obvs with him working and all we didn’t chat much (though since I forgot my headphones I may have bent his ear more than I should have done, sorry mate!).
He and Conor did a great job going back over the match, and a special mention to Harry Murphy of Sportsfile for the snap below which does a brilliant job of capturing the RDS experience for Leinster fans.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.
THE LUKE MCGRATH CHALLENGE
Midterm break means kids are off which in turn means I don’t have time for a Quick Tap video this week, instead I’ll share this clip from the wrap pod where we discussed at length Luke McGrath’s challenge on Kurt-Lee Arendse. Obvs we don’t want to dwell TOO much on these things because it might put too much attention on one player and it goes without saying Luke himself is a major part of Leinster’s plans,
but we also must not forget the overall issue of player safety and the need to properly sanction these situations. On top of that is the whole assumption that because we’re a Leinster-centric pod then we’d rather ignore it so I reckon this bit of harpin’ dispels that myth pretty well.
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
Good news this week in that the “Unavailable for selection” portion of the update seems a hell of a lot lighter, but the heavy “further assessment required” section means it’s nigh on impossible to forecast a Leinster 23 for the Champions Cup knockouts…as you can see I have gone for the two extremes, one where any or all of those players are available (although I’m thinking neither Ringrose and Ngatai will make it whatever happens) and another (tactfully avoiding the word “worst”) where none of them are.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Leicester
[BEST CASE]
Keenan, O’Brien J, Henshaw, Osborne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Molony, McCarthy, Baird, van der Flier, Doris
Kelleher, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Jenkins, Conan, McGrath, H Byrne, Frawley
[LEAST BEST CASE]
Larmour, Russell, Henshaw, Osborne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Healy, Sheehan, Furlong, Molony, McCarthy, Baird, van der Flier, Doris
Kelleher, Milne, Ala’alatoa, Jenkins, Conan, Foley, H Byrne, Turner
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Cormac Foley: has returned to full training this week after returning from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Jimmy O’Brien: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a neck injury
Luke McGrath: has entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be assessed further in the week
Robbie Henshaw: has entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be assessed further in the week
Ciarán Frawley: will be further assessed this week for a foot injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Hugo Keenan: will be further assessed this week for a hip injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Garry Ringrose: will be further assessed this week for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Andrew Porter: will be further assessed this week for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Charlie Ngatai: will step up his rehabilitation from a calf injury this week as he nears a return to action
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
Very frustrating watching Ireland on Sunday, they did so well right at the start and right at the end but the bits in between needed a lot of work. I still firmly believe it was absolutely the right thing to take the likes of Eve Higgins and Beibhinn Parsons, but at the RDS the team did have the look of one that has had players parachuted in and it might take time for them to gel to the standards required for the Six Nations. Maybe if they were together for the WXV as well the team would be better set, but look, we are where we are and now it’s imperative that we get ourselves ready for the Welsh in Cork on Apr 13, because with the Scots doing well and England being England, the schedule certainly does not get much easier from there.
Anyway like I always say you should probably take any analysis of mine on this with a pinch of salt so here’s a good thread on Ireland’s chances from friend of the pod @IrishWomens…
What strengths and weaknesses do this Irish side have, and what should we expect?
A 🧵
Let's start with strengths
— IrishWomensRugbySupportersClub (@IrishWomens) April 2, 2024
ROUND TWO
SCOTLAND 5-15 FRANCE
ENGLAND 46-10 WALES
IRELAND 21-27 ITALY
ROUND THREE
SAT APR 13
SCOTLAND V ENGLAND
IRELAND V WALES
SUN APR 14
FRANCE V ITALY
WHO’S THE FOOL?
Another April 1st has been and gone and the multitudes of Fake News articles thankfully has too. As one who loves to kid around, you’d think I’d be all in favour of this practice but I’m actually the exact opposite, pretty boring at this stage if I’m honest…rather than have them all concentrated on one day I’d much rather have these scattered throughout the year; I did like most of the East Terrace stuff.
I’m also ashamed to say I DID fall for one tweet, by regular commenter and Leinster fan Cian Ormond (although this doesn’t fall into the boring category because I meant from content-creators rather than individuals)…
The series resumes this weekend with the famous Hong Kong festival which as you can see has a lot of unsociable kickoff times and some tricky tests for both Irish genders. Still definitely worth a watch, remember they can all be played back via RugbyPass.tv.
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
HONG KONG
FRI APR 5
4:39AM MEN V SOUTH AFRICA
5:02AM WOMEN V SOUTH AFRICA
7:49AM MEN V SAMOA
8:35AM WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
SAT APR 6
3:39AM MEN V SPAIN
4:02AM WOMEN V FIJI
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Starting with the bottom of the table this week, Oyonnax look pretty much doomed and I have to say it’s starting to look worrying for Montpellier although they could well pick themselves up for a one game playoff if required. Back at the business end, Stade Français and Toulouse both won by 2 to stay top while Stu Lancaster & ROG stayed in the barrage picture although with 6 rounds still to go you could say everyone down to 10th is in with a shout. I’m going to go for Castres v La Rochelle as the pick of the next round although much will depend on their respective involvement in Europe at that stage.
Round 20
MONTPELLIER 10-12 STADE FRANÇAIS
PERPIGNAN 43-12 CASTRES
LA ROCHELLE 40-21 OYONNAX
LYON 27-10 BORDEAUX
RACING 92 26-10 CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE 31-29 PAU
BAYONNE 10-46 TOULON
Round 21
SAT APR 20
CASTRES V LA ROCHELLE
PERPIGNAN V LYON
OYONNAX V RACING 92
STADE FRANÇAIS V BAYONNE
PAU V MONTPELLIER
TOULON V TOULOUSE
SUN APR 21
BORDEAUX V CLÉRMONT
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
70% of the Premiership clubs have won 8 and lost 6 of their matches so far this season. Might need a moment to let that sink in…but we still need to be clear that however well their 7th and 8th placed teams may be doing, it’s still not exactly fair that they should gain entry into the Champions Cup when it’s so much more difficult to qualify from the URC and 🔝🐱🐴 . And I’m only pointing this out because it was the Premiership clubs/English media that was always pointing out European qualification injustice in the past. Anyway…Northampton remain top of the pile with a decent home win over Sarries not the worst preparation for the visit of Munster.
ROUND 14
NEWCASTLE 13-19 LEICESTER
NORTHAMPTON 41-30 SARACENS
GLOUCESTER 24-33 BRISTOL
HARLEQUINS 40-36 BATH
SALE SHARKS 41-5 EXETER
ROUND 15
SAT APR 20
SARACENS V GLOUCESTER
NORTHAMPTON V LEICESTER
EXETER V BATH
SUN APR 21
SALE SHARKS V HARLEQUINS
BRISTOL V NEWCASTLE
AIL UPDATE
If I were a betting man I’d say the Women’s AIL final would likely be between Railway Union and UL Bohs and guess who play each other next in the regular season? Should be a fascinating encounter and might be the best chance of halting Bohs’ unbeaten run.
In the men, champions Terenure finally put their shaky start to the campaign behind them by reaching the summit after a convincing 29-15 win over Tarf at Lakelands with Leinster caps like John McKee and Aitzol King among the try scorers.
But while the top 4 teams are now set, the home semifinals are far from certain. Despite being in pole position, Nure will find their final match at Hinch anything but easy and should they slip up, both Cork Con and Tarf are ready to overtake them should they overcome Armagh and Trinity respectively. Although Dublin Univ face the drop to 1B they did have some glory with victory in the colours match over UCD, who had another Leinster player among their try scorers in Conor O’Tighearnaigh.
One last thing about Div 1A…while Trinners are down, the team finishing 9th must survive a playoff to avoid the drop and it is now a straight fight between City of Armagh (who host Cork Con) and Shannon (who go to Belfield Bowl) with the Ulster side having the points diff advantage should they remain level, although you could argue than maybe wins should be the first tiebreaker in which case Shannon would have the edge.
Then on the other end of that playoff, Old Wesley picked up a LBP at already-promoted St Mary’s to keep them in pole position but should they slip up at home to Queens in the final round, Garryowen and Highfield face each other with the winner likely to jump into 2nd. Still much to play for in that second tier.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 30
BALLINCOLLIG 5-42 BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE 18-34 RAILWAY UNION
SUTTONIANS 22-19 GALWEGIANS
WICKLOW 29-19 COOKE
ROUND 17
SAT APR 6
GALWEGIANS V WICKLOW
BLACKROCK V COOKE
OLD BELVEDERE V BALLINCOLLIG
RAILWAY UNION V UL BOHS
MEN’S AIL 1A
ROUND 17
CORK CON 10-7 BALLYNAHINCH
LANSDOWNE 64-31 ARMAGH
TERENURE 29-15 CLONTARF
TRINITY 22-13 UCD
SHANNON 37-22 YOUNG MUNSTER
ROUND 18
SAT APR 6
BALLYNAHINCH V TERENURE
CITY OF ARMAGH V CORK CON
CLONTARF V TRINITY
UCD V SHANNON
YOUNG MUNSTER V LANSDOWNE
MEN’S AIL 1B
ROUND 17
HIGHFIELD 21-7 BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE 3-28 GARRYOWEN
QUEENS 33-31 NAAS
ST MARY’S 34-29 OLD WESLEY
UCC 48-7 BUCCANEERS
ROUND 18
SAT APR 6
OLD WESLEY V QUEENS
NAAS V OLD BELVEDERE
GARRYOWEN V HIGHFIELD
BUCCANEERS V ST MARY’S
BLACKROCK V UCC
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Crusaders are finally off the mark, putting away the Chiefs handily enough on home soil but they still very much need a bye week to regroup for the remainder of the campaign and the schedule has obliged. The Hurricanes stay top after a big win in Otago with the Blues and Brumbies hot in pursuit. Unfortunately none of the Round 7 ties really jump out at you.
ROUND 6
CRUSADERS 37-26 CHIEFS
WARATAHS 21-27 REBELS
FIJIAN DRUA 31-13 WESTERN FORCE
MOANA PASIFIKA 8-47 BLUES
HIGHLANDERS 12-47 HURRICANES
REDS 19-20 BRUMBIES
ROUND 7
FRI APR 5
BLUES V WESTERN FORCE
REBELS V FIJIAN DRUA
SAT APR 6
CHIEFS V MOANA PASIFIKA
BRUMBIES V WARATAHS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Houston won the Texas derby (tho I doubt they call it that over there) to stay top in the West while New England survived their bye week to stay in 1st over in the East. My “adopted” team for this season Chicago Hounds dropped to their third defeat, this time at home to Seattle with Nick McCarthy, Conall Boomer and Luke Carty all starting while I forgot to mention Dave Kearney actually made his debut last week against New England although he didn’t feature this week. They won’t have it any easier this coming next week as they must travel to New Orleans.
ROUND 5
DALLAS 27-30 HOUSTON
CHICAGO 26-34 SEATTLE
ANTHEM RC 32-46 OLD GLORY DC
MIAMI 21-22 SAN DIEGO
ROUND 6
SAT APR 6
UTAH V ANTHEM RC
SEATTLE V DALLAS
NOLA GOLD V CHICAGO
CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE
Time to return to having this update in the column especially with two provinces involved and both having 🔝🐱🐴 away dates. If I had to say either assignment was “the easier” I’d have to say it was Ulster’s since Montpellier will most definitely be much more focused on their domestic situation (see update above) while despite Pau being in the playoff picture they might see this comp as a realistic chance of silverware. Quite an interesting draw this when you study it closely.
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Although my actual performance this week was an improvement on the last round, I still gave up my long-standing 1st place status after Kino’s stats-based approach finally got the better of me in real “tortoise over hare” fashion although there is of course still quite a way to go and nobody can be ruled out of contention. Well, when I say “nobody”, I mean of course nobody except ‘No Picks Keego’…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Champions Cup is next, hopefully for both of the next two weeks when it comes to Leinster but first we must of course focus on the visit of the Tigers to the Aviva Stadium. We’ll have our usual preview on Friday as well as our usual pod recording Sunday eve, and naturally we’ll continue to post our regular amount of content across all the different platforms.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
29 March 2024; Jack Conan of Leinster dives over to score his side’s sixth try despite the tackle of Devon Williams of Vodacom Bulls during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Vodacom Bulls at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Tough First Half. Bulls Ran. Out Of Steam. We Upped It Big Time . Great To See Them Back To Their Best. 👍🏉💪💙
Jay Long
I was mainly thinking
Ahem
Leeeeeiiinnnnsssttteeeerrrr
Leiiiiiinnnnnssstttttteeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrr
William Andrew
Good win , but scrums need attention. Lots of players came on hungry and contributing.
Farcical ending by the officials nothing for player safety
David Ryle
Was worried about this game. First half was poor but Leinster seemed to have found their mojo in the 2nd half.
Greg Kelly
Another testament to how competitive the URC has really become
Lucky with a couple of calls but well worth the win. If Bulls utilised their possession to get their wingers/Moodie on the ball as much as Lein do, they'd be far more dangerous team with attack play to match up front stuff. That said, some scintillating stuff by us 👌🏽 #LEIvBUL
May not get the headlines like some (yet) but Jamie Osborne is and will be vital to Lein and Ire success gpin forward….absolute gem of a player #LEIvBUL
— Marcas Mac Siacais 🇪🇺🇮🇪☘️ (@hoomanbear) March 29, 2024
Can’t let the non-red card or the disallowed try discourse distract us from the fact that was an all-time awful second half.
Need to be honest with ourselves over that performance. We’ve got a good run at home now – have to see improvement.
Leinster 14 came out after the break like they were determined not to leave this match up to the bench. Amazing attacking display all round, best of season, Harry, Jordan, Jack outstanding, perfect time of year to hit form like that. Good Friday? Great one!#LEIvBUL
JLP : SNI was the first non-Harpin site I ever wrote for back in the day so I like to check in, here we have one from many articles that suggest it will be Jordan Larmour who will fill the gap at 15 left by the absence of Messrs Keenan & Frawley. More on this in the injury update further down the column.
Following the departure of Jonny Petrie earlier this week, Hugh will commence his role with the province on Wednesday 3rd of April
JLP : All change at the Kingspan and it is good to see it happening at the very top not just coaching level. It has been clear for a while that moves needed to be made higher up the chain. Certainly hasn’t been the easiest for them to start the new era on a South African tour but hopefully there will be enough understanding from the fans that it will take time to turn things around.
Raynal made a remarkably bold decision in a 2022 Bledisloe Cup match…in the fallout, Raynal deleted his social media to protect his family from abuse.
JLP : Sorry to hear, I never had an issue with him and while I’ve never seen an All Black defeat I didn’t like, I still 100% backed his decision to call that free kick the game needed it especially in such a high profile match although you don’t need to justify pushing back against any form of online abuse towards anyone involved in the sport.
JLP : Very important site this, you’d understand why there’s no ‘official’ source representative the POV of officials but this independent one has always been reliable. This is just a straightforward article listing the officiating teams for the last 16 but I pretty much visit this site every week so I thought I’d share it here.
You promised to you were going play like it’s your last f***ing game as a group together. But you lied. You’re a f***ing liar!
JLP : My feelings on Rassie are mixed – of course you have to respect the whole “two World Cups” part but the Lions tour shenanigans did leave a sour taste. I always appreciate these behind the scenes bits, looking forward to watching CTS2.
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
We recorded on Monday this week and aimed to keep the wrap part as brief as possible. Tom & Ciarán did a bang up job with this as well as looking ahead to the matches Leinster have coming up.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : PROMOTING INCLUSION
NGL when I started writing this copy I wasn’t sure where I was headed with it but it became apparent as I went along. The promotion argument has gone on for long enough and it’s about time we started coming up with viable solutions. Obviously the option I suggest in the video is a more long term one, I guess I was being realistic about the length of time it takes this sport to make any kind of change. There are of course many different options that would be fine, the important thing is that they do something soon.
While Hugo Keenan & Jimmy O’Brien were in the dreaded “no further update” section, there actually followed a further update that both could return to action sooner than expected, which is definitely good news at this stage of the season.
Strange Jason Jenkins wasn’t included in the update but anyway I’m assuming he’ll be available for Friday where I may be a mile off with my selection but you have to admit that would not only be a form starting XV but it would also possibly be the most talented bench the RDS has ever seen…
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Bulls
Larmour, Russell, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, R Byrne, McGrath
Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Baird, van der Flier, Deegan
NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Martin Moloney: has returned to full training this week after returning from a bicep injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Cormac Foley: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a shoulder injury
Ciarán Frawley: was withdrawn from the game at the weekend with a foot injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his availability
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Hugo Keenan (hip), James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring), Alex Soroka (foot), Charlie Ngatai (calf) and Jimmy O’Brien (Neck)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
Here’s what I read on the pod…
In the Women’s Six Nations Ireland may have fallen in their opening match in France but there were still loads of positives to take from it, first the 21 point deficit was a vast improvement on the 50 from the same fixture last season, plus we showed we could get scores ourselves with two Aoifes crossing, namely Wafer and Dalton. Also despite the scoreline it was still a strong defensive display overall from the girls so plenty to feel good about looking ahead to next week’s task against Italy, who were playing at the same Stadio di Lanfranchi where Leinster had won the night before. Although the Red Roses shipped an early red card for Sarah Beckett, they were still way too good for their hosts and ran out convincing 48-0 winners. So hopefully there will be a full crowd at the RDS next Saturday to cheer on the girls. That really should be a fascinating encounter.
One extra point I’d like to make is that I really thought it was strange that the Red Roses’ opener against Italy was played at exactly the same time as Bath v Sale Sharks in the men’s Premiership. Whatever about the complexities of broadcasting contracts and what-not, that’s a terrible look for the sport overall and women’s rugby in particular. Those fans in The Rec should have been afforded the opportunity to watch their national team play as it happened, even if they weren’t the reigning champions.
ROUND ONE
ITALY 0-48 ENGLAND
WALES 18-20 SCOTLAND
FRANCE 38-17 IRELAND
ROUND TWO
FRI MAR 30
SCOTLAND V FRANCE
ENGLAND V WALES
SAT MAR 31
IRELAND V ITALY
“SVNS” UPDATE
The series doesn’t return until the weekend of April 5-7 but the draw for the Hong Kong pools has been made, here’s some copy straight from the tournament page…
The pools have been drawn for the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens (5-7 April 2024) at the Hong Kong Stadium, the sixth of eight tournaments on the HSBC SVNS, and the full schedule has now been confirmed.
Pool C sees Ireland – currently second in the standings after finishing as runners-up in Perth and the USA, atop the pool with tenth-placed Spain, eleventh-ranked Samoa and seventh-ranked South Africa, who were winners of the Series opener in Dubai.
In the 12-team women’s competition, a taut battle between Australia and New Zealand is developing, with both sides claiming two cup wins to date. Australia won the two opening legs in Dubai and Cape Town, while New Zealand won the two most recent tournaments in Los Angeles and Vancouver. Ireland won the cup in Perth.
Only four points separate the two women’s leaders ahead of Hong Kong with Australia on 90 and New Zealand on 86. France is in third on 74. USA and Canada round out the top five as the action moves to Hong Kong.
New Zealand top Pool A ahead of France, Brazil and Team Great Britain. Australia head Pool B over South Africa, Ireland and Fiji, while fourth-placed USA head Pool C with Canada, Japan and Spain.
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Some mad results from Round 19, with Toulon’s margin of victory over Montpellier being greater than all the other 6 matches put together. La Rochelle fell again, but despite having more losses than wins they are still clinging on to a playoff position by their fingernails. Stu Lancaster’s Racing had a much needed win to keep them up there while Parisian rivals Stade Français inched a little further ahead at the top as Toulouse were edged out in Bayonne. Round 20 is interesting in that all 7 matches involve one team from the top half against a team from the bottom half so we’ll see if there are any upsets.
Round 19
TOULON 54-7 MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX 14-15 PERPIGNAN
CASTRES 21-23 RACING 92
CLÉRMONT 31-28 PAU
STADE FRANÇAIS 22-13 LYON
BAYONNE 13-12 LA ROCHELLE
BORDEAUX 31-28 TOULOUSE
Round 20
SAT MAR 30
MONTPELLIER V STADE FRANÇAIS
PERPIGNAN V CASTRES
LA ROCHELLE V OYONNAX
LYON V BORDEAUX
RACING 92 V CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE V PAU
SUN MAR 31
BAYONNE V TOULON
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
After a long, long break the top two, Saints and Quins, both shipped 50 burgers which made this league even tighter than it already was, with now 8 of the ten clubs having won more than they lost so far!!!! Leicester fans were obviously disappointed by their defeat at home to Glaws, definitely not a good start to preparations for the Aviva in a couple of weekends. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers approach their trip to Newcastle, who have lost all 13 of their matches so far, this weekend. Obviously the points are vital but will they hold back some players for Dublin?
Northampton v Sarries seems to be the tie of Round 14 but on the subject of Sarries, this tweet was interesting, we’ll see if anything develops from it…
ROUND 13
BRISTOL 52-21 NORTHAMPTON
LEICESTER TIGERS 25-27 GLOUCESTER
BATH 42-24 SALE SHARKS
EXETER CHIEFS 25-16 NEWCASTLE
SARACENS 52-7 HARLEQUINS
ROUND 14
FRI MAR 29
NEWCASTLE V LEICESTER
NORTHAMPTON V SARACENS
SAT MAR 30
GLOUCESTER V BRISTOL
HARLEQUINS V BATH
SUN MAR 31
SALE SHARKS V EXETER
AIL UPDATE
Feels like a while since there has been an “all Top 4” clash in the Women’s AIL and we have one this weekend when Belvo host Railway Union.
Some big results in the Men’s 1A, first leaders Tarf fell at Belfield Bowl while champions Terenure scored a big win in Cork so while the top four seems pretty much set, with just two rounds to go the race for a home semifinal seems to be all to play for. Terenure v Clontarf is easily the pick of Round 17 but both will be keeping an eye on Cork Con who host a Ballynahinch side still in with a shout for the playoffs themselves.
This is the time of the season we include the race for promotion to 1A in our updates…St Mary’s have already clinched their spot but the playoff is up for grabs with Old Wesley in 2nd at the moment but with them heading to Templeville Road, it will be a chance for Garryowen and Highfield behind them to catch up.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 30
BALLINCOLLIG V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V RAILWAY UNION
SUTTONIANS V GALWEGIANS
WICKLOW V COOKE
MEN’S AIL 1A
ROUND 16
BALLYNAHINCH 10-5 LANSDOWNE
CITY OF ARMAGH 36-26 SHANNON
CORK CON 23-26 TERENURE
UCD 38-32 CLONTARF
YOUNG MUNSTER 26-10 TRINITY
ROUND 17
SAT MAR 30
CORK CON V BALLYNAHINCH
LANSDOWNE V ARMAGH
TERENURE V CLONTARF
TRINITY V UCD
SUN MAR 31
SHANNON V YOUNG MUNSTER
MEN’S AIL 1B
ROUND 16
BLACKROCK 21-17 OLD BELVEDERE
BUCCANEERS 7-24 HIGHFIELD
GARRYOWEN 55-26 QUEENS
NAAS 20-39 OLD WESLEY
UCC 26-31 ST MARYS
ROUND 17
SAT MAR 30
HIGHFIELD V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V GARRYOWEN
QUEENS V NAAS
ST MARY’S V OLD WESLEY
UCC V BUCCANEERS
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
All I can think about in this comp right now is the Plight Of The Crusaders. Fifth loss in a row, rock bottom of the log, and with David Havilli injured and the second place Chiefs coming to town next, they are going to have to find their mojo soon otherwise we’ll be questioning as to whether even a playoff place is possible. Hurricanes will look to stay top although they’ll have to win in Otago to do so while the Fijan Drua notched another W albeit after sudden death extra time.
ROUND 5
HURRICANES 54-28 REBELS
BRUMBIES 60-21 MOANA PASIFIKA
FIJIAN DRUA *39-36 WARATAHS
CHIEFS 28-21 HIGHLANDERS
BLUES 26-6 CRUSADERS
WESTERN FORCE 40-31 REDS
ROUND 6
FRI MAR 29
CRUSADERS V CHIEFS
WARATAHS V REBELS
SAT MAR 30
FIJIAN DRUA V WESTERN FORCE
MOANA PASIFIKA V BLUES
HIGHLANDERS V HURRICANES
REDS V BRUMBIES
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Houston edged a high-scoring battle between the two 100% sides to stay top in the West while New England and NOLA lead the East with the former having won in Chicago – the Hounds are my Harpin MLR adopted team for 2024 and things don’t get much easier for them as Seattle visit the Windy City next week.
ROUND 4
SEATTLE 40-42 HOUSTON
OLD GLORY 11-27 SAN DIEGO
MIAMI 50-21 ANTHEM RC
DALLAS 22-35 NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO 17-22 NEW ENGLAND
LOS ANGELES 36-32 UTAH
ROUND 5
SAT MAR 30
DALLAS V HOUSTON
CHICAGO V SEATTLE
ANTHEM RC V OLD GLORY DC
SUN MAR 31
MIAMI V SAN DIEGO
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Somehow a late score in the Dragons v Bulls match kept me top of the league by just half a point, I had a horrible round 12, although I’d like an official Superbru Stewards Enquiry over my “wooden spoon” for the week – surely “No Picks Keego” should have gotten it? Anyhoo…as you can see it’s only the fact that I have correctly predicted the winner in more URC matches than anyone else that’s keeping me top (Kino with his stats based approach has him well ahead in the closest to winning margin category) and if I don’t find my mojo soon I could easily slip into the bottom half.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Really looking forward to returning to the RDS this Friday, we will of course have a preview of the Bulls match earlier in the day, then the wrap will record Sunday evening.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your Easter ‘egg-chasing’ wherever you are. JLP
23 March 2024; Rob Russell of Leinster evades the tackle of Simone Gesi of Zebre on his way to scoring his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Zebre Parma and Leinster at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, Italy. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Score flattered Leinster who finished ruthlessly and tackled and tackled, great squad depth
Shane Gallagher
We need to talk about Liam Turner. I know we can all see Jamie stepping up to a possible first choice centre position but Turner is so fast and powerful…love to watch him both in defence and attack!
Karen Mooney
As always leinster come out in the second half.. and put the match to bed…
Came up with the goods after the break, no offence meant to Luke but Deegan was PotM for me. Good shift for 4th quarter defence, 5 points in the bank, back home to RDS for Bulls on Fri.#ZEBvLEI
…literally. In a bit of housekeeping news we’ve switched this column’s publication date from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning – the Quick Tap videos take so much time to produce we need the extra window to get it all together along with, of course, all the “real world” stuff.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
“The diagnosis of a young person with CTE is significant as it indicates how early in life the brain has been affected by head knocks.”
JLP : I know it was the build up to the final round of Six Nations matches and this was a story from the southern hemisphere, but I really think the wider rugby community could have been more engaged with this story. Unfortunately my second article from this week’s Front Five suggests we are instead moving in a different direction.
…a global red card trial where a carded player is removed for the duration of the match but may be replaced by another player after 20 minutes.
JLP : To be fair, this is but one of several changes being proposed and many of them look like they will genuinely help speed up the game (such as actual enforcement of the “use it” call) but effectively reversing the zero tolerance policy on dangerous tackling technique by allowing a player’s team to replace them after 20m is clearly going in the wrong direction and I hope this proposal falls off the sport’s radar for good.
“People are actually genuinely just excited to get going and see where we’re at with the rest of teams.”
JLP : I firmly believe separating the men’s and women’s Six Nations was a good idea, but only if there is enough hype around the start of the women’s because the wider public have been trained over the years to switch off from rugby altogether once the men’s tournament is over, there has generally a drop off in engagement with the men’s provincial level anyway without a top women’s event vying for attention as well.
As for Ireland’s task over the coming weeks, well after a whitewash wooden spoon last season, relative success will be a low bar this time around but hopefully the WXV3 triumph together with the inclusion of some of the sevens players will inspire us to greater things. Starting away to France isn’t the ideal start, however, and hopefully the media can succeed in realistically portraying our expectations over the coming weeks.
Best wishes to Scott, Edel, Sam & all involved with the team. There’s a bit more on the Women’s Six Nations further down the column.
Burns’ arrival at Munster will coincide with Joey Carbery’s move to France.
JLP : One of Irish rugby’s poorest kept secrets this season, and if other rumours are to be believed, this isn’t the last out half provincial switch we’ll be reading about this season, with Leinster likely involved in the next announcement. I’ve never had a problem with these moves, once the player and the teams involved are happy it makes sense that the pieces on the board be moved around once in a while to spread out the talent.
“Sometimes [fans]…are so used to Ireland winning that sometimes the way they win is maybe not what they want”
JLP : I actually spotted this article after I recorded my TIkTok rant for this week, it’s like we’re of one mind, even if we do have different amount of RWC winners’ medals….
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
Great to have Tom & Rich to help me go back over the Ireland/Scotland match, it might not have been a classic from an attacking standpoint but they did come up with some fascinating talking points from it, one which I actually had to cut out as part of my attempt to keep the whole thing around the hour mark, but FWIW I did post that little discussion on YouTube.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY
I am always intrigued by the two extremes of rugby watchers, with us hyper-critical nerds at one end and the so-called “casual fans” at the other so I cover that in this week’s QT.
Obviously the names Keenan and Ryan were not ones we wanted to see on the update although for right now it’s more that of the woefully unfortunate Tommy O’Brien that stands out the most as he most certainly would have featured in Parma at the weekend.
I reckon our 23 to play Zebre will be very similar to what we have seen over the Six Nations period.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Zebre
McErlean, King, Turner, Osborne, Russell, R Byrne, McGrath
NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Cormac Foley: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a shoulder injury
Ciarán Frawley: is continuing to follow the Graduated Return to Play Protocols having been released from Ireland camp last week and will be further assessed as the week progresses
Martin Moloney : will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a bicep injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Hugo Keenan: was ruled out of the Ireland game at the weekend with a hip injury and will be assessed on his return to Leinster
James Ryan: had a procedure on an arm injury and will be assessed over the coming weeks regarding a return to play date
Tommy O’Brien: picked up a hamstring injury last week and will be unavailable for selection
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Alex Soroka (foot), Charlie Ngatai (calf) and Jimmy O’Brien (Neck)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS LAUNCH INTERVIEW
After I had set up the Front Five segment at the top of this column, I got an email from the organisers of the Women’s Six Nations complete with free-to-use quotes & links from the tournament launch.
I was fascinated not just by the responses of coach Scott Bemand, but more so by the nature of the questions that were put to him and Edel McMahon – they covered some very pertinent issues that one would assume might not be covered in a high profile press conference like this one.
So here is what they released :
Excited?
Scott: Really exciting, a new challenge. We don’t shy away from what went on results wise last 6 Nations but we’ve done WXV, we’ve built some winning momentum and connections and hopefully now just excited to crack into this year’s 6 Nations.
How much value is there in the Celtic Challenge?
Scott: The Celtic Challenge is going to become bigger as we go through, as a preparation tool. It’s actually been hugely beneficial because of the training piece. The results have been pretty close, pretty competitive. The level of challenge has been appropriate. It’s a good way of bringing the group together albeit across two teams.
Have you found it a challenge to have players further apart geographically?
Scott: I don’t know if it’s more of a challenge. It’s a younger programme. With England, professionalism started a few years before so you would say the maturity of their programme is on a couple of years in terms of how people are developing within the programme.
There’s a reasonable amount of touch points, w’ere going to continue to grow those touch points as we go through. I would say the challenges have always existed. But when you get back into camp, there’s a palpable level of excitement to get back in a room together.
Disappointing Championship in 2023. What is outlook now?
Edel: I was injured for the last 6 Nations so my mindset is a little bit different. A lot of girls have grown since that campaign to be senior players, stepping it up having been to a successful WXV. Like Scott was saying they’ve had an opportunity to play in the Celtic Challenge. We’ve seen where we’ve grown from those performances until now. I think people are excited to see where we’re at.
What is target?
Edel: To qualify for the World Cup. We’ve spoken as a squad, that’s what we want to achieve.
Lots of talk about 7s programme. Is it frustrating that you won’t have access to some of your best players throughout the Championship?
Scott: There’s a strategic goal to do well at the Olympics, there’s a strategic goal to qualify for the World Cup. We’ve got some 7s girls in the programme going into the 6 Nations which will be a continued big part of our pool of players.
Other nations have done it reasonably successfully. You look at New Zealand at the last World Cup with some of the 7s girls coming back into the XVs programme. It can be done.
They’re great people. They add a bit to the environment as well. I think as we get more seamless with those transitions it’ll become smoother and smoother.
When does it get to that next step where the programmes are independent?
Where the game is in terms of playing numbers, that may be some years off. The challenge we face is to get better at transitioning and both succeeding. If we’re successful at an Olympics and a World Cup, that’s got to shine a great spotlight on women’s rugby in Ireland. That’s going to get more interest and traction and help us grow the game.
On the Celtic Challenge, how much of a look-in have you seen to how it’s bridging the gap from the club game to international?
It was coached by IRFU coaches, so it’s almost inside our circle. We had some great conversations. There’s a big piece about the development of coaches, how you can get enough training and support to improve on-pitch performance. There was Ireland coaches at every session. It was hand in hand.
Playing France in France?
Edel: I got to play there two years ago in Toulouse and that was a full crowd. We chat about our experiences on the pitch. I heard quite a lot of noise – from a line break, a big hit, a try score, a turnover of momentum. That was engulfed on the pitch. From an Irish perspective maybe they liked us a bit more than ye found them (to Scott). You kind of zone out of it. It’s an experience to relish.
Sometimes they’ve turned on their own when they make a mistake but it’s a cool experience.
Are you getting enough of a test from prior opponents through WXV or Celtic Challenge?
Scott: It’s a fair point. WXV3 – putting 100 points on Kazakhstan, perhaps it’s not the level of challenge you need going into a 6 Nations. The things that we can control is the training piece. Had experience before about how you can make some quite big gains with how competitive you can make training. Players seem to buy into it as well instead of just drilling.
Being able to try and win it in training. We’ve made it not about preparing a team but preparing a squad. That was one of the successes of WXV3. Girls that were either on the bench or not involved would have felt that they were being prepared and improved to attack training and show what they can do which breeds natural competition. The Spain game did give us a bit of physical nuance. Going into a France game, we know it’s going to be physical, we know what to expect.
I’d like to think the levels of training would prepare us for that.
What is the contracts scenario in Ireland?
There’s currently 43 contracts which is a merge of the 7s and XVs. They got that going relatively not that long ago. So in terms of cycles, it’s in its first iteration. There’s real intent to grow that and to grow that quickly. Post 6 Nations we’ll review that and see where we stand with it – who is developing, progressing and which new players are coming into the market. Celtic Challenge has definitely shown some youngsters coming up through.
Have you spoken to Cliodhna Moloney?
Scott: I know Cli from being based in the UK. I’ve spoken to Cli informally just around wider stuff. There’ll be a time but at the moment it sits where it sits.
A BONUS TALKING POINT
I simply couldn’t resist getting my sarcasm on after France beat England in that final match, not to rub it in for the English fans rather those in their media who tried to push the narrative that should the results go another way and Ireland win the title on bonus points despite having fewer wins than England (a mathematical possibility that has always been possible in over two decades since we’ve had this method in rugby), it would somehow de-legitimize us winning the trophy.
Bottom line is that while this is not my ideal method for deciding a rugby tournament winner, the fact that everyone knows the rules as it kicks off means nobody should really complain about it afterwards.
Teams of officials have been announced for the last 16 of the EPCR tournaments, Leinster’s is below, click here for the full list.
Leinster v Leicester Tigers
REFEREE : Matthew Carley (Eng) AR1 : Hamish Smales (Eng) AR2 : Paul Dix (Eng) TMO : Andrew Jackson (Eng)
RUGBY BULLETS ON POST TO POST SPORT
Frequent Harpin contributor Ciarán Duffy hosts his own podcast Post To Post Sport which mostly covers Irish women’s football but also does much rugby and as well as updating his site and branding he has started a new feature known as “Rugby Bullets” please follow the link to check it out.
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
I was actually surprised the 🔝🐱🐴 was willing to take a week off even for the final round of Six Nations matches, but anyway it’s back this week and with just eight rounds left and the gap in match points between 6th (last playoff place) and 13th (top relegation place) just NINE, pretty much every match will be significant over the coming weeks. Bordeaux v Toulouse seems to be the pick of Round 19.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
Round 19
SAT MAR 23
TOULON V MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX V PERPIGNAN
CASTRES V RACING 92
CLÉRMONT V PAU
STADE FRANÇAIS V LYON
BAYONNE V LA ROCHELLE
SUN MAR 24
BORDEAUX V TOULOUSE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
After a super-long mid season break during which they played out the final matches in the Cup as well as had those money-spinning friendlies with Leinster & Munster, the Premiership kicks back into gear this weekend and has 6 rounds to go. Northampton lead the way but it’s all to play for as only two of the ten clubs have a losing record. Saracens v Quins seems to be the tie of the round.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 13
FRI MAR 22
BRISTOL V NORTHAMPTON
LEICESTER TIGERS V GLOUCESTER
SAT MAR 23
BATH V SALE SHARKS
EXETER CHIEFS V NEWCASTLE
SARACENS V HARLEQUINS
AIL UPDATE
A rare upset in this league last weekend when Suttonians, outside the top 4, won convincingly away to Blackrock College, although with Ballincollig falling to runaway leaders UL Bohs the gap between the playoff places and the rest remains the same. The league takes a break this weekend, presumedly to make way for the launch of the Women’s Six Nations.
Over in the men’s AIL, only three matches left in the regular season and easily the tie of the round is Ballynahinch hosting Lansdowne, more than likely the Ulster side’s last chance of staying in touch with the top four. Cork Con hosting Terenure also looks tasty.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 15
BLACKROCK 5-17 SUTTONIANS
RAILWAY UNION 72-12 WICKLOW
COOKE 5-67 OLD BELVEDERE
UL BOHS 41-7 BALLINCOLLIG
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 30
BALLINCOLLIG V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V RAILWAY UNION
SUTTONIANS V GALWEGIANS
WICKLOW V COOKE
MEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 23
BALLYNAHINCH V LANSDOWNE
CITY OF ARMAGH V SHANNON
CORK CON V TERENURE
UCD V CLONTARF
YOUNG MUNSTER V TRINITY
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Eh, do we need to talk about the Crusaders? I mean, obviously with eight of the twelves teams making the playoffs there is still plenty of time for them to claw their way back and who among us would rule them out from securing their millionth SR title, but four defeats out of four to start the season? Wowza. I watched their defeat to the league leading Hurricanes last Friday and it certainly wasn’t the Saders I’ve been used to seeing. Almost reminded me of Leinster’s Matt O’Connor years…anyway overall it’s good for this league to see Aussie teams with winning records plus Moana & the Drua picking up wins. For me Blues v Crusaders is the standout match from the next round.
ROUND 4
CRUSADERS 10-14 HURRICANES
REBELS 26-53 REDS
WESTERN FORCE 14-22 MOANA PASIFIKA
HIGHLANDERS 21-27 BRUMBIES
CHIEFS 46-29 FIJIAN DRUA
WARATAHS 10-12 BLUES
ROUND 5
FRI MAR 22
HURRICANES V REBELS
BRUMBIES V MOANA PASIFIKA
SAT MAR 23
FIJIAN DRUA V WARATAHS
CHIEFS V HIGHLANDERS
BLUES V CRUSADERS
WESTERN FORCE V REDS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Have to say I was disappointed to see that the MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY was in fact using the conference system this season, having only seen one league table over the first few weeks I thought maybe they had seen sense and gone for a model simpler to Super Rugby. Anywho…after three rounds only Seattle and Houston are 100% and they play each other next weekend while my “adopted team” the Chicago Hounds have had a mixed opening three weeks so far and the visit of New England next time out will definitely be a challenge.
Round 3
NEW ENGLAND 27-21 NOLA GOLD
OLD GLORY 22-22 CHICAGO
HOUSTON 30-19 MIAMI
UTAH 13-23 SEATTLE
SAN DIEGO 19-18 LOS ANGELES
ANTHEM RC 28-68 DALLAS
ROUND 4
SEATTLE V HOUSTON
OLD GLORY V SAN DIEGO
MIAMI V ANTHEM RC
DALLAS V NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO V NEW ENGLAND
LOS ANGELES V UTAH
RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
No real surprise here with Georgia capturing another title and I have to say it was ironic that France chose to move their Six Nations fixtures away from Paris because of the Olympic preparations yet this final was held at the Stade Jean Bouin when maybe it could have enjoyed a better atmosphere in either Tblisi or Lisbon? Anyway if you missed the highlights here they are…
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Congrats to Kristian who convincingly won our Six Nations Superbru – he successfully predicted 12 of the 15 results, as did I although with nowhere near enough “margin accuracy” meaning I just about pipped Jay to 2nd spot.
Anyway now it’s back to the big prize, namely the Harpin URC Prediction League which of course resumes this weekend. As you see I am in line to retain my title if I keep going as I have but there’s still a long way to go.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
In my Quick Tap video I point out the contrast between a Six Nations title decider for Ireland in Dublin one week and a URC regular season fixture for Leinster in Parma the next, but here at Harpin Manor we will of course still be giving it the full Harpin treatment starting with a preview on Friday, as ever stay tuned to all our usual places in the ruggersphere for all our content.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
