In the latest from our Opposition View series I spoke to Connacht fan Stephen Murphy from the excellent Master of None pod to offer a western perspective ahead of Leinster’s trip to the Sportsground on Saturday.
Our guest : STEPHEN MURPHY
WE ARE NOW ON BLUE SKY FOLLOW US THERE AT THIS LINK
A WEEKLY COLUMN LOOKING AT
TOPICS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF OUR
FEATURE MATCH OF THE WEEK
I give a shout out to Mark Jackson on the pod but I’d just like to give another one here, hope things are better after that weekend and that we can have you back on the pod soon.
Normally I try to avoid having contributors on the pod for two weeks in a row…whether that’s because I have so many who are keen to chat to me or because they generally need a break after chatting to me I’ll leave to your imagination!
Anyway Tom Coleman was thankfully willing to return for a second week in a row along with Irish Times columnist Nathan Johns and they combined to bring a top notch perspective to Saturday. When this was an article based site back in the day my writeups were totally coming from my own point of view but now the pods offer a much broader perspective thanks to my team of fellow fans volunteering their time and expertise.
ICYMI, here’s a link to Spotify and we’re also on most major platforms.
For this week’s bonus clip for YouTube my pod guests offered some insights to the teams Leinster must overcome to qualify from Champions Cup pool 4. Tom looked at our first two opponents La Rochelle and Sale, Nathan covered Stade Francais and Leicester whom we face in January and finally I harped on the Stormers who we avoid playing yet still mustn’t ignore altogether.
Definitely worth a look between now and the tournament kickoff in over a week, and sure while you’re there why not subscribe as well we often put up other videos including match previews there.
Some very interesting choices to be made for Leinster’s impending trip to Galway. Far from a match we can afford to take for granted, especially with them hurting from defeat in Pretoria and also likely to have the Akis and the Hansens back in their lineup. That said, it’s hard to ignore the assignment at the Stade Marcel Deflandre eight days later.
The Ross Byrne injury makes our 10 selection the most crucial one. With Frawley seeming to be the best bet to be first receiver against La Rochelle does he need game time or cotton wool? The consensus in the Harpin WhatsApp group is, quite rightly when you think of it, to lean towards the latter by starting Harry Byrne or Sam Prendergast in Galway and give Frawley 20-30 minutes.
But since this column is where I give my own view, I’d rather push the risk v reward side of things, possibly drawing lessons from that URC semifinal, and give Frawley the 10 jersey so he can go the week preparing for a starting role and thus be ready for the following week. If the worst should happen injury-wise, then so be it.
Those are just my thoughts for that particular position, however. As you can see by the 23 below I have gone mostly for a conservative team, yet still one that could do a job in the Sportsground.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Connacht
Larmour, Russell, Ngatai, Osborne, Lowe, Frawley, Murphy
Boyle, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Conan, Penny (c), Deegan
Barron, Porter, Clarkson, McCarthy, Doris, Gibson-Park, H Byrne, O’Brien J
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:
Michael Milne: will be further assessed later this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
Cian Healy: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Ross Byrne: will have further examination for an arm injury picked up at the weekend but has been ruled out of selection this week
Cormac Foley: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he looks to return from a shoulder injury
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Luke McGrath (knee), John McKee (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot)
Don’t really have time for a Tik-Tok rant this week, they may only be around two minutes of actual content but they take over an hour to produce and I barely have that on “normal” weeks.
So instead I’ve decided to take the plunge and give another Musk-less Twitter alternative a go. I went big into Mastodon last year but I have to say the engagement was underwhelming and after resisting the move for a good while now I finally caved and set up an account at Blue Sky, thanks to long time friend of the pod and super Leinster/Ireland fan Catherine Kavanagh who hooked me up with an invite.
Liking it so far, the follower count after less than 24 hours is already a third of what I got at Masto in over a year. They still don’t publish videos and GIFs yet but no doubt that will come.
Anyway the main feature of my decision is that by starting a Blue Sky account I now must forget Mastodon completely, as my list of social media accounts had grown too large as it was.
Curse you Elon and the sink you walked in with!!!
https://bsky.app/profile/harpinonrugby.bsky.social
Having Nathan Johns on the wrap pod every so often gives us a decent glimpse into the world of the “official” media and while often sources like to decry them for being “mainstream” the fact remains their access gives them insights which can’t be ignored.
After covering one of his own articles as part of our “Front Five” portion, he went on to pen this article on Monday which looked at the two times Jamison Gibson-Park was punished 10 metres for dissent after penalties were awarded to Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
Since it’s my own team involved I reckon it’s a good opportunity for me to point out that I agree that once the second rebuke happens there should be a further sanction and Whiskey was very lucky not to get sent to the naughty step. I certainly wouldn’t blame ref Chris Busby for having an attitude like “look, lads, you guys already have TWO captains, I certainly don’t need to be hearing from a third!”
I’ve always been in favour of a zero tolerance approach when it comes to awarding that extra 10 metres and it really can punish teams. Hopefully if there is to be more of it, we will see it done consistently.
Now to the flip side – much has been made of this exchange between Owen Farrell and Luke Pearce in the Premiership over the weekend.
Look – it’s a top flight sporting contest. Adrenaline is pumping, tensions are high, and that’s just with the fans commenting on social media so I can only imagine what it’s like for the players and officials!!!
Obviously your opinion on this is going to greatly depend on your allegiance, whether it’s for or against Saracens, for or against Owen Farrell, maybe even for or against officials in general.
My first impression was that Faz’ response seemed a bit precious, with possibly an air of “do you not know who I am?” about it. Pearce was definitely being a smart-arse but I don’t know if it quite went as far as being “rude”…
For the 40+ years I’ve lived in Ireland I have lived in several different addresses and all but one have been close to at least one of the two bus routes that crossed South Dublin without ever going near the City Centre, namely the 17 and 18. And for the years I have been Harpin’ when I’m planning on a beverage or two after the rugby it has been the 18 that always saw me safely home, but now the number has been retired with two different routes replaces it, an “S4” that goes near me but not to RDS and an “S2” that covers the other half.
It was always great to see the 18 full of Leinster fans on match days, and there would be plenty already on it having travelled through Ballyfermot/Drimnagh/Crumlin/Kimmage before it ever got to the likes Rathmines.
The only time I never enjoyed being on it was for Christmas fixtures when as well as the rugby fans there would also be legions of youngsters heading to Funderland in various states of inebriation!
But as the tweet below points out, the route will still be an institution long remembered.
We’ve harped a lot about the whole “get the likes of Georgia more top class rugby” over the years, hopefully this statement is just one point on the road to actually doing it.
Before we leave what I call the “Middle Aisle” portion of the column and go into the “Updates”, some sad news from Major League Rugby, which I plan to include below for the 2024 season. Most professional sports in the US include at least one Canadian team but sadly it has transpired that the Toronto Arrows won’t be able to field a team for the coming season, and given neither country qualified for the 2023 World Cup the news does not bode well for things getting better in 2027.
At least there has been a team added from last season, with Miami Sharks joining for the coming season. No doubt eventually we’ll reach a stage where every league in the world has Sharks, and I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing, once they don’t put mouthfuls like “Hollywoodbets” before the name, of course.
Saturday’s win in the Aviva was Leinster’s first match in defence of our Irish Shield title (you can’t see me but my tongue was definitely in my cheek while typing that). As you can see Ulster still lead the way but the winner of Saturday evening’s interpro at the Sportsground will lead the table after two matches. Munster haven’t started well although a pair of losing BPs definitely keeps them in the hunt.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT V LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER V CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER V LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT V MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER V ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER V CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
With Leinster & Munster battling on Saturday, it’s hard to avoid referencing the same rivalry 24 hours later when Stu Lancaster’s Racing faced ROG’s La Rochelle. A resounding win for the Paris-based club which sent them to the top of the table although Pau are the real story of the season so far as they are close behind them in 2nd after a similar scoreline against the other Parisiens whom Leinster play in January and now sit in 3rd. Stade v Toulouse seems to be the pick of Round 9.
Round 8
TOULON 31-10 CASTRES
BORDEAUX 46-22 PERPIGNAN
LYON 42-29 BAYONNE
MONTPELLIER 21-26 OYONNAX
PAU 30-6 STADE FRANCAIS
TOULOUSE 31-10 CLÉRMONT
RACING 92 32-10 LA ROCHELLE
Round 9
SAT DEC 2
TOULON V PAU
BAYONNE V MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX V BORDEAUX
CASTRES V LYON
LA ROCHELLE V PERPIGNAN
CLÉRMONT V RACING 92
SUN DEC 3
STADE FRANCAIS V TOULOUSE
Leinster’s Champions Cup pool mates Sale stay top of the pile here after grinding out a 11-9 with over Bath, while Leicester Tiger, also in Pool 4, crawled out of the bottom two with a big win at Kingsholm. Much like the 🔝🐱🐴 there’s a 3rd v 4th clash in the next round that catches the eye as Exeter travel to the Rec.
ROUND 7
NORTHAMPTON 36-33 HARLEQUINS
SALE SHARKS 11-9 BATH
GLOUCESTER 20-38 LEICESTER TIGERS
SARACENS 39-31 BRISTOL
NEWCASTLE 14-20 EXETER
ROUND 8
FRI DEC 1
HARLEQUINS V SALE SHARKS
SAT DEC 2
BRISTOL V GLOUCESTER
BATH V EXETER
SARACENS V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
SUN DEC 3
LEICESTER TIGERS V NEWCASTLE
Just the one rescheduled match in both genders last weekend, with the scoreline between Railway and Wicklow pretty much what you’d expect. Some big matchups coming up this weekend with the top four playing against each other which will bring the season to its halfway point.
Over on the men’s side the match of the round is an easy one to spot, with Clontarf, 1st place with 26pts, hosting Cork Con, 2nd with 25. UCD v Hinch also has top four implications while Trinity really need to start putting some points on the board when they host Lansdowne.
Also on the club scene it was announced that an Irish Club XV will travel to play a Portugal A side in March 2024.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 6 (rescheduled)
SAT NOV 25
WICKLOW 10-78 RAILWAY UNION
Round 9
SAT DEC 2
SUTTONIANS V WICKLOW
BALLINCOLLIG V GALWEGIANS
BLACKROCK V RAILWAY UNION
BELVO V UL BOHS
MEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 7
SAT DEC 2
CLONTARF V CORK CON
DUBLIN UNIV V LANSDOWNE
TERENURE V SHANNON
UCD V BALLYNAHINCH
YOUNG MUNSTER V CITY OF ARMAGH
Semifinal time already in the Super Cup and expectations will be high for a Black Lion v Tel Aviv final, we’ll see if the Spaniards or Romanians can have something to say about that.
SEMIFINALS
SAT DEC 2
BLACK LION V CASTILLA
TEL-AVIV HEAT V ROMANIAN WOLVES
5TH-8TH PLACE SEMIFINALS
SAT DEC 2
BRUSSELS DEVILS V BOHEMIAN WARRIORS
SUN DEC 3
DELTA V LUSITANOS
The wins for Cardiff and Benetton on Friday night made it a bad start to the weekend for all of us, but the rest of the weekend went much much better for yours truly as I got my second “yellow cap” in three weeks to jump into 2nd spot in the table right behind Conor. Meanwhile “No Picks Keego” continues to live up to his name, he must really like that jersey…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Connacht are up next for Leinster, I’ll be chatting to Stephen “Master Of None” Murphy for an Opposition View pod which will publish on Wednesday, then it’s the usual Friday preview and wrap pod on Sunday. Stay tuned to all the usual social media channels, plus the new one on Blue Sky of course, for all the latest harpin’.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
🏉 ULS & CON reviews
🏉 Early Munster pressure
🏉 JGP opportunism
🏉 First Receiver Frawley
🏉 Leinster D 2.0
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Conor Cronin
Leinster were not at their best tonight, and indeed far from it. A few players that might be considered world class might need a break ad they haven’t been at their best for a while and (a la Richie McCaw) might benefit from the rest
On the plus side, far from our best we ground out a win, Jordan Larmour back scoring tries, and Frawley proving he’s the real deal at 10 are my personal biggest positives for tonight, I only hope these are consistent positives, not one off.
The scrappy start probably suited us to need to fight back, the errors and lack of clinical finishing did not suit us and weren’t the Leinstertainment we would expect, give me more in the red zone please!
Gavin Hegarty
Leinster were far from their best but still ground out a win. Some very uncharacteristic errors from seasoned internationals.
A few bad missed tackles from Ringer, dropped balls from Jimmy, Doris is left wanting and Furlong just ambling along.
Nice for Frawley to get proper time at ten and show what he can do.
Take a bow Jack Conan, great game.
Ronan McManus
It was a bit scrappy (maybe partially Ireland hangover) but a decent win against a team whose only other loss was Ulster away.
6. Jack Conan should be delighted with his performance. The option of keeping him and Doris on the pitch together more often gives a bit more depth (Nienaber influence, presumably)
Jimmy OBrien looked sharp, but missed a few opportunities to weave gold from shit, that the great wingers would have seized.
Very disappointing for Ross Byrne, who looked good. This could have been an important one as far as Ireland is concerned.
Great finish by Larmour for his try. Hopefully the sign of things to come.
Christy O’Connor
Hard to take positives from that display except for Frawley stepping up. School boy errors the whole game.
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FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
1 Kitshoff’s Ulster debut ends in defeat | Rugby365 [via URC]
2 Burly Bulls bully Connacht (sarugbymag.co.za)
3 Peter O’Mahony steps down as Munster captain (irishexaminer.com) [Cian Locke]
4 Blair Kinghorn: Scotland & Edinburgh full-back to join Toulouse in December – BBC Sport
5 Is Jacques Nienaber impacting Leinster sooner than anticipated? – The Irish Times [Nathan Johns]
URC WRAP
ROUND 6
CARDIFF 31-24 STORMERS
EDINBURGH 22-24 BENETTON
LIONS 61-19 ZEBRE
BULLS 53-27 CONNACHT
SHARKS 69-14 DRAGONS
LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
GLASGOW 33-20 ULSTER
OSPREYS 31-9 SCARLETS
ROUND 7
FRI DEC 1
MUNSTER V GLASGOW
SAT DEC 2
BULLS V SHARKS
CARDIFF V SCARLETS
LIONS V DRAGONS
ULSTER V EDINBURGH
STORMERS V ZEBRE
CONNACHT V LEINSTER
BENETTON V OSPREYS
HARPIN MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
AT ELVERYS
our guest : JAY LONG
Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose (cc) 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (cc) 6. Jack Conan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Jack Boyle 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. James Culhane 21. Ben Murphy 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Scott Penny
Munster : 15 Simon Zebo; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey
1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Diarmuid Barron (C), 3 Stephen Archer; 4 Jean Kleyn, 5 Tadhg Beirne; 6 Tom Ahern, 7 John Hodnett, 8 Gavin Coombes.
16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 John Ryan, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Shay McCarthy.
United Rugby Championship 23/24 Round 6
Saturday, November 25, 2023
KO 6:30pm Aviva Stadium
TV : TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)
AR 2: Keane Davison (IRFU)
TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)
(all times Irish)
NOTE : BT SPORTS IS NOW KNOWN AS TNT SPORTS
7:30PM – PONTYPRIDD V CARMARTHEN QUINS – WELSH PREM – S4C ONLINE
8PM – LEINSTER V SCARLETS (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
7:35PM – CARDIFF V STORMERS – URC – TG4, BBC2 WALES, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1, URC.TV*
7:35PM – EDINBURGH V BENETTON – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
7:45PM – NORTHAMPTON V HARLEQUINS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
7:45PM – SALE SHARKS V BATH – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*
12:55PM – LIONS V ZEBRE – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
3PM – BULLS V CONNACHT – URC – RTÉ2, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
3PM – SARACENS V BRISTOL BEARS – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*
3:05PM – GLOUCESTER V LEICESTER TIGERS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
5:05PM – SHARKS V DRAGONS – URC – S4C, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1, URC.TV*
6:30PM – LEINSTER V MUNSTER – URC – TG4, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
7:30PM – NORTHAMPTON V HARLEQUINS (HIGHLIGHTS) – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 3
7:35PM – GLASGOW WARRIORS V ULSTER – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
12:30PM – EXETER CHIEFS V BRISTOL BEARS – PREMIERSHIP WOMEN’S – TNT SPORTS 1
3PM – OSPREYS V SCARLETS – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1, URC.TV*
3PM – NEWCASTLE V EXETER – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
8PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ2
10PM – THE RUGBY REVIEW – TNT SPORTS 2
11PM – 🔝🐱🐴 HIGHLIGHTS – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
7:30PM – LEINSTER V MUNSTER (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
* paid streaming service
RUGBY ON TV
IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY
YOUTUBE CHANNEL
A WEEKLY COLUMN LOOKING AT
TOPICS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF OUR
FEATURE MATCH OF THE WEEK
As ever Tom & Rich did a bang up job wrapping Leinster’s win over the Scarlets. I’ve tried to simplify the format this season, where before I split each half into five segments for the guests to wrap they now just cover 20 minutes each per half. That can lead to a lot of harping so I’ve tried to jump in to help were I can but I still reckon this works as a better system.
ICYMI, here’s a link to Spotify and we’re also on most major platforms.
Classic Harpin luck…less than 24 hours after we record a bonus clip about what Neinaber can bring to Leinster, the news breaks that he’s likely to be delayed arriving with the squad until after we play Munster. Still, as Tom says you can already see some of his influence in our play and no doubt there is some kind of Zoom-like communication going on. Anyway, the boys still did a good job harpin’ on what he will add to the province.
Would you believe I completely forgot about this 80+ feature this season until now? Well if you knew me you certainly would believe it! #scatterbrain
Anywho…while it is good news about Ed Byrne, and also that Messrs Milne & Healy are close to making it five, yes, count ‘em, FIVE quality loose head props available for selection, I reckon Jack Boyle’s form over the first five rounds should be enough to earn him a spot in our 23 for this Saturday at very least.
Obviously the names at the bottom of the list are concerning and we’d want them returning ASAP but overall it’s far from the worst injury report we’ve seen.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Munster
Keenan, J O’Brien, Ringrose, Ngatai, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park.
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan, Baird, van der Flier, Doris.
Kelleher, Boyle, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, Foley, Frawley, Osborne.
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:
Ed Byrne: has returned to full training after recovering from his hamstring injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Michael Milne: will be further assessed later this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
Cian Healy: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Cormac Foley (shoulder), John McKee (hamstring), Luke McGrath (knee) and Alex Soroka (foot)
Easy choice of topic for this week’s TikTok. Pretty much said my piece in the video but I will also add a relevant tweet from fellow Leinster fan Catherine Kavanagh on the matter.
I think I’ve finally settled on a structure with these 80+ columns…starting with a few segments on the wrap pod from last weekend, ending with updates from other competitions, and here we’re in what I call “The Middle Aisle” where I cover a few topics that caught my eye in the last week.
First we have the announcement of the squads for the two senior 7s teams which will be representing Ireland both in the rebranded “Svns” series which starts in Dubai on the weekend of December 2.
As you can see below, the biggest difference between the two groups is that the Women’s includes many who would be expected to featured in XVs, so clearly this continues to be a problem for the programme. Apparently the only actual clash with the 2024 Six Nations will be on the Hong Kong leg but realistically I’d expect there to be minimal back and forth between the versions.
On the men’s side, all the big names are there like Kennedy, Conroy, McNulty plus some new ones as well and they will really want to crack on from last season where they reached their first final yet disappointed in other events.
We’ll be covering the series on this column and eventually it will move to the Updates section starting next week.
Ireland Women’s Sevens – 2024 Squad: Kathy Baker, Claire Boles, Megan Burns, Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe, Alanna Fitzpatrick, Stacey Flood, Eve Higgins, Katie Heffernan, Erin King, Lucinda Kinghan, Vicky Elmes Kinlan, Emily Lane, Amy Larn, Kate Farrell McCabe, Anna McGann, Lucy Mulhall, Beibhinn Parsons, Aoibheann Reilly, Vikki Wall.
Ireland Men’s Sevens – 2024 Squad: Niall Comerford, Jordan Conroy, Sean Cribbin, Billy Dardis, Ed Kelly, Jack Kelly, Terry Kennedy, JJ Kenny, Hugo Lennox, Matt McDonald, Harry McNulty, Bryan Mollen, Gavin Mullin, Chay Mullins, Dylan O’Grady, Aaron O’Sullivan, Connor O’Sullivan, Mark Roche, Zac Ward.
Last season there was a new competition called “The Celtic Challenge” where Irish, Scottish and Welsh women’s teams competed to help prepare for the Six Nations – now it has been expanded to involve two teams from each nation so I assume it will be a round robin format.
As my headline suggests, this brings us ever closer to the formation of a proper Women’s Celtic League and it would be perfect if they could eventually include all four provinces.
One drawback however seems to be the fact that this expanded competition will run right into the also-expanded format of the Women’s AIL which switched to a home-and-away format this season.
I’m all for more women’s rugby but when the sevens, club, test and now this new level all clash at the same time it really looks like they are creating more problems than they are solving.
I’m not really in a position to comment too much on any Scottish rugby let alone the women’s game there but it was hard not to be moved by the tragic story of Siobhán Cattigan plus the horrible way in which the SRU handled the aftermath.
Hopefully the way the union has engaged with the family together with the apology has gone a way towards mending the fences. If they are happy with the sincerity of the apologies than so should we.
Not my intention to pick on Scottish rugby this week but I just have one thing to say about the whole Stuart Hogg thing…if the reports are true then he definitely does not sound like a good guy.
That said, if he goes on to stay out of rugby then there’s not much more for me to say about him on a platform dedicated to opinion on what happens within the game. And it certainly seems that Rugby Pass aren’t singing from the same hymn sheet.
I mean – if we want to focus on players who have wronged women, there are plenty of those still playing the sport now.
Many have pointed out that the two Italian clubs are now above all four Welsh regions on the URC table, but I also noticed one other fact from the first five rounds of the season.
Last season, over the 18 regular season rounds of the URC, both Italian clubs lost in as many as 10 of them. This season so far, there have been ZERO. Maybe that includes a couple of draws but that is still certainly quite the improvement, and long may it continue. Except when they both play Leinster, of course…
I covered Mike McCarthy’s pre-kickoff Viking clap routine on this column a few weeks ago for Leinster’s first match at the RDS, well they didn’t do it for the visit of Edinburgh yet brought it back last Saturday and this time I took a brief video for TikTok.
No Irish Shield action last weekend, rather four proud wins for the provinces, but the race resumes at the Aviva this Saturday as Leinster finally join the fray. I’ve revised the info below to include all the 12 matches and we’ll continue to track the table’s process throughout the season if the URC have yet to do it on their website.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER V MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT V LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER V CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER V LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT V MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER V ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER V CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
Big win for Stu Lancaster’s Racing in the Parisien derby which moves them up to second place level on points with their capital city rivals with Castres also on 23pts and Pau just one behind. Things don’t exactly get easier for Racing as they host La Rochelle who seem to be getting their mojo back after a third win on the bounce saw them creep to the edge of the playoff picture.
Round 7
STADE FRANCAIS 9-13 RACING 92
BAYONNE 35-16 PAU
PERPIGNAN 26-13 MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX 38-20 LYON
CLÉRMONT 27-30 TOULON
CASTRES 31-23 TOULOUSE
LA ROCHELLE 25-21 BORDEAUX
Round 8
SAT NOV 25
TOULON V CASTRES
BORDEAUX V PERPIGNAN
LYON V BAYONNE
MONTPELLIER V OYONNAX
PAU V STADE FRANCAIS
TOULOUSE V CLÉRMONT
SUN NOV 26
RACING 92 V LA ROCHELLE
Leinster’s Euro opponents are heading in opposite directions these days – we play Sale in December and they went to the top of the table after their win over Newcastle while Quins got humbled at the Stoop by Saracens. Leicester did manage to win their derby against the Saints yet they remain in the bottom two.
ROUND 6
BATH 20-19 BRISTOL BEARS
SALE SHARKS 40-22 NEWCASTLE
LEICESTER 26-17 NORTHAMPTON
HARLEQUINS 10-38 SARACENS
EXETER 25-24 GLOUCESTER
ROUND 7
FRI NOV 24
NORTHAMPTON V HARLEQUINS
SALE SHARKS V BATH
SAT NOV 25
GLOUCESTER V LEICESTER TIGERS
SARACENS V BRISTOL
SUN NOV 26
NEWCASTLE V EXETER
Round 8 of the Women’s AIL has once again highlighted the gap between the top 4 clubs and the rest, with the two matches involving sides from both ends of the table being blow outs and the two more evenly matched contests being close. UL Bohs held out Belvo to keep their 100% record intact, but their schedule doesn’t get any easier as they must travel to Belvo the weekend after next while another potential semifinal matchup between Rock and Railway takes place at the same time, and when those matches are complete the league will be at its halfway point.
Meanwhile on the men’s side, even though I am a blue jersey supporter I still have to admit it’s always good to see as many as three provinces represented in the top four of the AIL 1A.
Recent Leinster debutant Dylan Donnellan marked his return to the AIL with two tries but leaders Clontarf could only manage a draw away to Hinch although they still remain top. Cork Con’s demolition of lowly Trinity brought them to within a point of 1st while champions Terenure continue to struggle to stay in touch with the top 4 as they fell away to Young Munster.
The men’s clubs take a break this coming weekend with the big interpro derby at the Aviva but there’s to be another one in Round 7 when 1st place Tarf hosts 2nd place Con. Hopefully there will be a stream for that one, definitely worth a watch.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 8
BALLINCOLLIG 0-50 BELVO
COOKE 0-65 BLACKROCK
WICKLOW 5-12 GALWEGIANS
UL BOHS 10-7 RAILWAY UNION
Round 6
SAT NOV 25
WICKLOW V RAILWAY UNION
Round 9
SAT DEC 2
SUTTONIANS V WICKLOW
BALLINCOLLIG V GALWEGIANS
BLACKROCK V RAILWAY UNION
BELVO V UL BOHS
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 6
BALLYNAHINCH 24-24 CLONTARF
CITY OF ARMAGH 18-25 UCD
CORK CON 33-5 DUBLIN UNIV
LANSDOWNE 42-12 SHANNON
YOUNG MUNSTER 13-6 TERENURE
ROUND 7
SAT DEC 2
CLONTARF V CORK CON
DUBLIN UNIV V LANSDOWNE
TERENURE V SHANNON
UCD V BALLYNAHINCH
YOUNG MUNSTER V CITY OF ARMAGH
The two decisive matches when it came to deciding on semi finalists each went different ways in the final round. The Romanian Wolves rolled over the Brussels Devils while the Iberian peninsula derby was a whole lot closer with Castilla holding out Lusitanos to join the Wolves in the final four. Meanwhile in what could very possibly be a rehearsal for the final, champions Black Lion edged Tel Aviv. At time of writing dates and times of the semifinals are yet to be decided.
ROUND 3
BOHEMIA WARRIORS 0-74 DELTA
TEL-AVIVA HEAT 27-29 BLACK LION
BRUSSELS DEVILS 5-60 ROMANIAN WOLVES
CASTILLA 18-13 LUSITANOS
SEMIFINALS (DATES TBD)
BLACK LION V CASTILLA
TEL-AVIV HEAT V ROMANIAN WOLVES
Bad week for me this time around, I tried backing Zebre again and although they didn’t lose, they didn’t win either and other results went against me meaning I was overtaken by Kino, who apparently is deploying a new system (and I’m not mocking it – he literally has a degree in this sort of thing) so we’ll see if I can keep in touch with himself, Kristian and Conor, the HPL rookie who this week jumped into the top slot. Will be very interesting to see what the predictions are for Leinster v Munster this Saturday given only Ulster fan Kristian has no skin in the game…will any of the other seven take a gamble and plump for red?
Our Opposition View series of pod returns this week, although due to time restrictions I may only do them for interpros for the next while. Caolán Scully joins me for a chat, watch out for it on the feed around Wednesday morning. I may even give him a bit of time to gloat over their URC title, you never know.
But after that it’s down to business giving Saturday’s big one at the Aviva the full Harpin treatment with Keego joining me for the preview on Friday, then Mark & Nathan are due to help me with the wrap on Sunday so stay tuned to all the usual social media channels and get involved in the discussion in any way you can.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
🏉 Scarlet shortcomings
🏉 Defensive changes
🏉 Jamie at 12
🏉 Ross milestones
🏉 Keenan eager
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Gavin Hegarty
A good win but still a little disappointing. A good place to be when we’re disappointed to concede 5 to the Scarlets.
Prendergast did well but he’s too light in defence, he’d need more back row cover going forward.
Well done to Ross Byrne on his 150th cap.
Joe Mc was unreal again, he’s a fine future in front of him
(reply to Gavin) Peter Tracey
I’m glad they weren’t great. Loads to work on for next week and Jack will be in place.
Agree about Prendergast but that will come so not too worried.
Could Ross be top points scorer in the future? The only thing is if he’s in Ireland squads.
Joe is going to have a big season. I liked Gunne’s passing when he came on. Looked good for Ireland u20s.
We need to start bringing through a few 9s and props which we are.
Brian Corr
I enjoyed the game, I think it’s funny though that I have to remind myself as do many others that a 54-5 win is an excellent result.
It’s great to see Osbourne in particular doing so well, and the more Prendergast and Gunne get opportunities, the better Leinster will do.
The international contingent had a mixed bag, overall good and funnily enough Furlong looked very sharp.
Delighted for Keenan to get POTM, brilliant as usual.
Kevin Kelehan
Dominant and top of the table
Warren Doyle
God almighty we won👏👏👏👏
Jamie Donohoe
Jimmy O Brien had a superb game
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FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
1 Defensive excellence key as Munster record another win over Stormers (irishexaminer.com) [Simon Lewis]
2 Ulster fight back to secure victory over Lions at rain-swept Ravenhill | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
3 Connacht pile the pain on winless Sharks (sarugbymag.co.za)
4 Taine Basham: Dragons flanker suspended for four matches after Leinster red card – BBC Sport
5 [no English language article available for Netherlands’ U20 victories over Portugal & Belgium]
URC WRAP
ROUND 5
EDI 31-23 BUL
ULS 24-17 LIO
ZEB 22-22 CAR
SHA 12-13 CON
DRA 20-5 OSP
MUN 10-3 STO
GLA 26-12 BEN
LEI 54-5 SCA
ROUND 6
FRI NOV 24
CARDIFF V STORMERS
EDINBURGH V BENETTON
SAT NOV 25
LIONS V ZEBRE
BULLS V CONNACHT
SHARKS V DRAGONS
LEINSTER V SCARLETS
GLASGOW V ULSTER
SUN NOV 26
OSPREYS V SCARLETS
HARPIN MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
AT ELVERYS
Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN
Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose (CC) 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (CC) 6. Max Deegan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Dan Sheehan 17. Jack Boyle 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Ross Molony 20. Scott Penny 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Ciarán Frawley
Scarlets : 15 Tom Rogers; 14 Tomi Lewis, 13 Jonathan Davies (capt), 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Ryan Conbeer; 10 Charlie Titcombe, 9 Kieran Hardy
1 Wyn Jones, 2 Shaun Evans, 3 Harri O’Connor, 4 Alex Craig, 5 Jac Price, 6 Ben Williams, 7 Teddy Leatherbarrow, 8 Carwyn Tuipulotu.
16 Ryan Elias, 17 Steff Thomas, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Morgan Jones, 20 Iwan Shenton, 21 Archie Hughes, 22 Ioan NIcholas, 23 Scott Williams
United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Round 5
Saturday November 18, 2023 KO 7:35pm
RDS Arena
TV : TG4, S4C, Viaplay/Premier Sports & URC.tv
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
AR 1: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
AR 2: Stuart Douglas (IRFU)
TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)
(all times Irish)
NOTE : BT SPORTS IS NOW KNOWN AS TNT SPORTS
6PM – BOHEMIA WARRIORS V DELTA – RE SUPER CUP – RUGBYEUROPE.TV
7:35PM – EDINBURGH V BULLS – URC – URC.TV*
7:35PM – ULSTER V LIONS – URC – TG4, BBC2 NI, URC.TV*
7:35PM – ZEBRE V CARDIFF – URC – BBC 2 WALES, URC.TV*
7:45PM – BATH V BRISTOL BEARS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
7:45PM – SALE SHARKS V NEWCASTLE – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*
9:35PM – EDINBURGH V BULLS (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2
11:30PM – ZEBRE V CARDIFF (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
11:30PM – BATH V BRISTOL BEARS (HIGHLIGHTS)- PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 4
11AM – TEL AVIV HEAT V BLACK LION – RE SUPER CUP – RUGBYEUROPE.TV
12:30PM – BRISTOL V SALE – WOMEN’S PREM – TNT SPORTS 1
2:30PM – LANSDOWNE V SHANNON – MEN’S AIL – BF SPORTS ANALYSIS YOUTUBE
3PM – SHARKS V CONNACHT – URC – RTÉ2, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 2, URC.TV*
3PM – CANADA V BRAZIL – WOMEN’S TEST – RUGBYPASS.TV
3:05PM – LEICESTER TIGERS V NORTHAMPTON – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
5:15PM – DRAGONS V OSPREYS – URC – URC.TV*
5:15PM – MUNSTER V STORMERS – URC – TG4, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1, URC.TV*
5:30PM – HARLEQUINS V SARACENS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
5:30PM – UL BOHS V RAILWAY UNION – WOMEN’S AIL – IRFU YOUTUBE
7PM – SPAIN V USA – WOMEN’S TEST – RUGBYPASS.TV
7:30PM – BRUSSELS DEVILS V ROMANIAN WOLVES – RE SUPER CUP – RUGBYEUROPE.TV
7:35PM – LEINSTER V SCARLETS – URC – TG4, S4C, VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1, URC.TV*
7:35PM – GLASGOW WARRIORS V BENETTON – URC – URC.TV*
10:15PM – DRAGONS V OSPREYS (REPLAY) – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
11:30AM – CASTILLA Y LEON V LUSITANOS – RE SUPER CUP – RUGBYEUROPE.TV
12:30PM – LEICESTER TIGERS V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
1:13PM – LEINSTER V GLASGOW WARRIORS (HIGHLIGHTS) – 2019 PRO14 FINAL – TG4
1:30PM – HARLEQUINS V SARACENS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
3PM – EXETER V GLOUCESTER – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
8PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ TWO
8:45PM – THE RUGBY CLUB – TNT SPORTS 4
11:30PM – MUNSTER V STORMERS (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
8PM – LEINSTER V SCARLETS (REPLAY) – URC – VIAPLAY/PREMIER 1
* paid streaming service
RUGBY ON TV
IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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YOUTUBE CHANNEL
