Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
For this week’s wrap pod I was honoured to be joined by the Westmeath/Meath coaching combo of Mark Jackson & Tom Coleman and they did their usual excellent job of analysing what went on at the Aviva on Friday. They actually kind of apologised when we finished recording for harpin’ on for longer than usual but the thing about that is all that does is provide me with extra content so I’m not exactly compaining! As you can see below I managed a second bonus clip out of it.
If you missed the pod, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…JIMMY O’BRIEN & LEINSTER’S SUCCESS
Like I said the lads gave me enough material for two bonus clips. The one we planned for was about Jimmy O’Brien – for the second week in a row I disagreed with the Star of the Match selection, not that Ringer played badly of course and scoring the first two tries was always going to put him up there, it’s just I felt JOB had so much opportunity to show off why he has not only cemented himself in Leinster’s European lineup but has even broken into Andy Farrell’s top tier as well.
Also for our Front Five segment at the start of the show I chose two articles which I felt covered areas usually left out of the discussion over the supposed “unfairness” regarding Leinster’s success – the first one actually turns the spotlight back on the other Irish provinces and their internal issues, while the second tries to appreciate the actual hard work put in across the 12 counties (which, I should probably point out, does not mean it’s ALL down to our hard work).
If you’re playing the clips above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
DEFENCE MANIPULATION &HIGH BALL CATCHING TIK TOKS
I was also able to produce two TikToks for the pod – the first might get taken down at some point as I used footage from the match but I wanted to highlight the amazing work done under the high ball. I actually planned to just do the Leinster catches but there were so many by the Tigers as well I had to do the lot, eleven altogether.
Lots to savour there but for me one thing I havent seen mentioned much is how Stormers, Ulster & Leicester have tested Leinster under the high ball in last three matches and we have coped extremely well. Lots of fine catches made look easy, crucial. #LEINvLEIC
For the second TikTok I went our more traditional route by picking a quote from the pod and the second I heard Tom say “if you freeze it there…” I knew this was going to be my clip this was a perfect explanation of how Leinster were finding gaps in the second half.
Every week I have to react to more whinging and moaning about perceived advantages enjoyed by Leinster & Ireland, and this time I thought an extra YouTube clip from the pod would cover it for this column, yet in between producing that and writing this there has been yet more of it.
Now it’s over the possibility that all of Leinster’s knockout matches could well be in the Aviva Stadium. Is that an advantage for us? Well of course it is. But the way it’s being presented in the Birdhouse is making it look like the organisers of the Champions Cup went out of their way to make it so and that is simply not the case.
Many seem to be selectively ignoring these facts…
* Leinster earned home adv in L16 & QF AND SF from pool stage, and the pool stage draw itself was earned from reaching the final four of last season’s URC.
* Semifinal venues meant to be “neutral” yes, but to stage an event you know you can get a crowd of 50k+ anywhere smaller would be madness, especially if anyone is actually suggesting taking it off the island of Ireland. Leinster’s only viable options are the Aviva & Croke Park, with the latter kind of tied up with other sports besides it’s also in Dublin anyway.
* The Final venue changes every year, and rarely has it been in Ireland.
I suppose the question I have to ask myself is…would I be complaining if this were happening with another country? I do know we spent a lot of time talking about how referees seemed to show favouritism towards the All Blacks when they were conquering all before them? Is this what it looks like from the other side and if so, which side is actually right?
Maybe it’s a bit of both, but one thing is for sure, the endless griping after every win does get really boring.
So many different ways to push back on all the selective narratives over Leinster's success, yet no matter how much we try to discuss the full issue, it seems every win will continue to be followed by more tweets, more articles and more tweets about articles. pic.twitter.com/XrOdctacmR
For all my talk of whining after another Leinster win last Friday, to be fair I have to share this DM I got from Mike Cooper who hosts the great Leicester Tigers pod Rolling Maul. This is how you respond to a defeat in my book.
Just to say mate, what a privilege it was to see your boys execute in the second half. I was so proud of our chaps in the first 40, I felt we negated your power and carrying game (your ‘plan A’) – hopefully you were impressed by George Martin and Tommy Reffell! – but in the second 40, the switch of style to exploit our weakness out-wide was – on a second (painful) watch – breathtaking. The constant isolation of Potter (poor bastard, not the game to play your 4th pro game at 13!) was honestly the best accuracy and clarity I’ve seen at club level. Cullen/Lancaster, whoever pulled that trigger at half time, it is so, so impressive. I will still say some pundits (including your guest in the preview!) were not fair on where Leicester could trouble Leinster (and I thought that showed in the first half), but ultimately the quality and cohesion of your lads shone through in a big way. A privilege to watch Ringrose, too. Best of luck for the rest of the tourny – one of the best club sides I’ve ever seen!! Happy for you to throw this into your pod as “opposition feedback!”.
AI = AIRLINE IRRITATION
SA teams have travelled more, played away more and had odds stacked against them. Toulouse have yet to fly to SA Lyon, Bordeaux, Clermont, Racing 92 and Stade Francais all lost in SA. Easy when everything is in your favour.
Have to say I expected more from the Sharks and Stormers last weekend in Europe, especially the latter. Again there has been griping about the amount of travel they’ve had to do over the course of the season, and I guess that’s fair despite the similar distances in Super Rugby because our calendar is a lot more punishing in that regard.
That said, if we’re going to talk about perceived advantages in Europe when it comes to the South African teams, it’s worth pointing out something I have flagged here since it was announced they were joining the HCC – between the pool phase and the knockouts the European clubs all had to pray that their top players survived the Six Nations while the South Africans had no such test involvement.
Overall the answer to most of these cries of injustice is that rugby union is and always will be perfectly imperfect and trying to level the playing field in one area will generally make it more crooked in another.
AI = ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Since I’m on an AI theme for some of my headings in this column, I thought I’d share this experiment I did on Sunday morning when I downloading a ChatGPT app – I asked it to come up with a 500-word report on Leinster’s win over the Tigers and I didn’t give it the final score. As you can see, while it did have the scoreline right a lot of the details in the report were a tad wide of the mark, with a few retired and injured players put in the lineup plus the misconception that it was a pool game. But this definitely sounds like a match I would have like to have seen anyway!!!
“Leinster secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup with a resounding 55-24 win over Leicester Tigers at the RDS Arena in Dublin on Saturday. The Irish team ran in eight tries to Leicester’s three to extend their lead at the top of Pool Five.
Leinster took the lead in the 12th minute through winger James Lowe, who collected a cross-field kick from fly-half Johnny Sexton and touched down in the corner. Sexton missed the conversion but made amends five minutes later with a penalty to extend Leinster’s lead to eight points.
Leicester responded with a try of their own in the 21st minute, with winger Kobus van Wyk finishing off a flowing move from the Tigers. But Leinster hit back almost immediately with a try from prop Tadhg Furlong, who powered over the line from close range.
The home side continued to dominate and added two more tries before half-time, with Jamie Heaslip and Garry Ringrose both crossing the whitewash. Sexton converted both tries to give Leinster a commanding 27-7 lead at the break.
The second half was a more even affair, with Leicester scoring two tries through Dan Cole and Jonny May. But Leinster had too much firepower and responded with tries from Ringrose, Jack Conan and a brace from replacement hooker Sean Cronin.
Leinster’s performance was impressive, with their attacking play causing Leicester all sorts of problems. Sexton was outstanding, controlling the game with his kicking and passing, while Lowe and Ringrose were a constant threat on the wings.
Leicester, on the other hand, were disappointing, with their defence leaking too many tries. They did show some attacking intent, but were unable to match Leinster’s intensity and skill.
The win means that Leinster are guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, with a home quarter-final looking increasingly likely. They will be considered one of the favorites to lift the trophy, given their dominant performances in the competition so far.
Leicester, on the other hand, have little chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, with only a slim chance of qualifying as one of the best runners-up. They will be looking to bounce back in domestic competitions, with the aim of qualifying for next year’s Champions Cup.
Overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining game of rugby, with Leinster’s class shining through. They will look to take this momentum into their remaining Champions Cup games, as they aim to lift the trophy for the fifth time in their history.”
“KILLING THE GAME” TWEET
I don’t always agree with Tim’s Twitter takes but I’m right there with him here…one of the best responses to the “killing the game” nonsense I have seen. PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM HEAD INJURIES SUSTAINED IN RUGBY. Many others have experienced life-altering repercussions. Why oh why oh why are we allowing this debate to continue in such a way as to give so much oxygen to those who’s only inconvenience is to sit in their armchairs a bit longer while the officials review a call. The real debate is happening among people who actually want to save the game, not kill it.
Apparently, protecting players by punishing headshots – ie enforcing what have always been the laws of rugby because a shoulder to the head has always been foul play – is “actually killing rugby”.
And you know what? Good. Any idea of rugby accepting headshots needs to be killed. https://t.co/dMIqFGA76R
Obviously the worries from Friday mostly surround Ryan Baird and James Lowe, although following the Leinster report I’ve heard rumblings that Baird’s injury may not be as bad as first thought. As for Lowe, well if he misses knockouts because of a skip of delight following a try then I’ll challenge anyone who tries to say we’re getting all the luck!
At time of writing the squad hasn’t been announced for Leinster’s South African trek although I see Jason Jenkins was put front and centre for a presser so I’m thinking he might be one of the top tier players travelling, along with Luke McGrath and possibly Jordan Larmour.
UPDATE : Leinster have since announced the touring squad and with the likes of Larmour, Frawley and McGrath left behind so below is a revised possible 23…
POSSIBLE 23 V LIONS
Cosgrove, Russell, T O’Brien, Turner, Kearney, Tector, McCarthy
E Byrne, Barron, Ala’alatoa, Deeny, Jenkins, Ruddock, Connors, Deegan
McElroy, Milne, Clarkson, Soroka, Culhane, Murphy/Gunne, Prendergast, King
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Caelan Doris: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
Garry Ringrose: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Ryan Baird: injured his shoulder in the first half against Leicester Tigers and will be unavailable for a few weeks
James Lowe: injured his calf in the second half against Leicester Tigers and will be further assessed this week
There are no further updates on:
Josh van der Flier (ankle), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Rónan Kelleher (shoulder), Joe McCarthy (ankle), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Martin Moloney (knee) and Charlie Ngatai (hamstring)
AI = ALL-IRELAND (LEAGUE UPDATE)
The good news for AIL fans is that all five matches in the final round robin stage have playoff/relegation implications. Even though the top four sides are decided the actual rankings and home advantages are still up for grabs. Tarf aren’t quite mathematically sure of 1st place yet although I reckon Terenure are a bit more concerned with overcoming relegation-playoff–threatened Shannon in case they get caught by Cork Con who travel to play the Cookies. And should Shannon cause an upset at Lakelands, the two Dublin universities will need wins although UCD have a tad more difficult task at Castle Avenue as Trinity host the bottom side Garryowen. Should be an interesting couple of hours from 2:30 on Saturday for sure.
Meanwhile in 1B there’s a three way race to qualify for the promotion playoff between Belvo, who have a tricky Dublin derby at Mary’s, Highfield who face Banbridge down the bottom of the table, and Buccaneers who host the newly crowned champions City of Armagh.
DIVISION 1A
ROUND 18
Ballynahinch v Lansdowne
Clontarf v UCD
Dublin University v Garryowen
Terenure College v Shannon
Young Munster v Cork Con
DIVISION 1B
ROUND 18
Banbridge v Highfield
Buccaneers v City of Armagh
Naas v Old Wesley
St Mary’s v Old Belvedere
UCC v Malone
SEVENS UPDATE
The Irish men’s side really had a Sevens stinker in Singapore for sure, losing five on the bounce finishing a dead last 16th to pick up just one point in the series. That knocks us out of the top eight and we’ll need a decent showing in the final two rounds to claw our way back up. We have definitely stumbled since our silver medal early in the season. The circuit resumes in May with men’s and women’s events in Toulouse before the final men’s one in London.
MLR UPDATE
For the past few weeks I’ve been featuring an MLR game for this column but with Easter and school midterm and all I just don’t have the time for this round. Stand out result from Round 8 was definitely the San Diego Legion toppling previously unbeaten Seattle making the Western Conference table look pretty interesting.
One thing I have yet to do for this feature is select a team to follow. Coming from the Bay Area of California as I do, there’s no natural choice although I do have quite a few relatives in New England as well so the Free Jacks seem the obvious alternative so maybe I’ll go for them, we’ll see.
More on the league next week.
ROUND 8
HOU 24-30 UTAH
SEA 20-23 SD
ATL 35-27 OGDC
TOR V NYI
NEFJ 31-19 CHI
ROUND 9
TOR V NEFJ
NOLA V ATL
HOU V DAL
UTAH V SEA
OGDC V NYI
SD V CHI
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
I know you’re all dying to be reminded of how the HPL stands going into the next round of the URC…there are only 23 more matches left for us to forecast and as you can see below, while the Jersey of Shame has long been decided, the top spot is very much up for grabs with up to four still in with a reasonable shout.
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s back to the URC for us and we will of course be giving Saturday’s match in Jo’burg the full Harpin’ treatment with a preview before, a wrap pod after and all the usual features in between. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Andrew Potts Leicester had a very limited game plan and the missed time pass often undid them .They also looked flat footed at times with so many runners going at defenders.
Nice to put 50 on them but some serious teams ahead.
Kevin Kelehan Ruthless demolition job from the point they were down to 14. Watch out Toulouse!
From Leicester Tigers page…
Gaz Coley Great effort. Irish Rugby has ticked all the boxes and are seeing the rewards. We gave a brave spiritated effort but the floors are deeper than today’s result. English Rugby have got it so very wrong
TWITTER
55-24 / 7 tries That's a thumping if ever there was one.
Reminder that Leicester are 3rd in the Premiership.#LEIvLEI
For our latest Throwback Thursday we’re only going back a year to the 2021/22 Champions Cup quarterfinal at Welford Road, and the fact that they played us this recently is one of many reasons why they cannot be taken for granted on Good Friday.
As we all know, bonus points don’t matter a damn in knockout rugby. All you want to do is have at least one more point than the other lot at full time.
But that isn’t the only margin that can be significant in these matches. 8 and 15 are also ones to be aware of because they give you a cushion that makes your opposition need two or three scores to claw you back.
This means that if you can get yourself ahead on the scoreboard early enough, there’s no need to go hell for leather for the rest of the match, especially when you know victory will give you just a week to prepare to go again, this time against the reigning champions no less. Obviously you have to be wary of switching off altogether, but with a “smart” approach you can definitely do all you can to shepherd the lead home.
On Saturday at Welford Road, while there may not have been too many “You Tube moments” to savour, what you did see was Leinster wringing out every last drop of extra European experience they had over their hosts to first build a three score lead and then gradually see it through to the final whistle.
Naturally we needed a bit of luck along the way, every winning team does, but on a day when fans are bound to be nervous whether their team are favourites or not (even if they predicted a win in their own preview) the boys in blue made their return to Leo Cullen’s stomping ground look perhaps not “easy” or “comfortable”, but definitely controlled.
So let’s go through the eighty minutes and see how things transpired, though as you can see, events from elsewhere made that a bit difficult…
0-20
Here’s the thing. Virtually every time I writeup Leinster & Ireland matches for these pages, I take minute by minute notes as it’s being played, before one, sometimes two rewatches on the way to doing the writeup. This one time, being unable to travel, I chose to accept an invitation to a friend’s place to enjoy the action with a few beers as nature intended for the typical fan.
And since the “warmup” quarterfinal at the Aviva Stadium went the way it did forcing the first 15 minutes at Welford Road onto another channel, it meant I was unable to find a recording of the full match which in turn meant my recollection of the first quarter is a little sketchy to say the least.
What I do remember is that on our first bout of possession it looked for a moment that the Tigers had really done their homework on the Sexton wraparound move when George Ford got in the way, meaning a pass went straight to Chris Ashton, leaving me feeling that this could be a long afternoon. But thankfully the officials spotted they came from an offside position, meaning Sexton was able to calmly put us into the lead by three points.
The next twelve minutes or so are a bit of a blur, partly because it has been a couple of days but mostly because I had been drinking since kickoff in the Munster match, but to be fair the recording I did get begins just as they are showing highlights of Josh van der Flier’s try so I’m happy to harp on that with or without context!!!
As ever, we badly needed our lineouts to perform, especially in the opposition 22, and this one from the just-returned Rónan Kelleher to Jack Conan was a thing of beauty, thrown with just the right pace and caught just at the top of its arc and as our hosts might have expected us to set up a maul, instead it was Josh van der Flier who took it and charged towards the line.
Maybe I have said the whole “he’s been working on his carrying” line is getting a bit old, but when he can charge through first one, then two tackles at the line to still be able to reach out and get the ball down, maybe it’s a phrase we should keep on using if only for good luck.
Next I have to apologise to skipper Sexton for having little faith in his kick off the boot after he struck it; I thought it would drift left but instead it held its line and went just inside the upright which meant that after just 15 minutes we had already established a two-score lead.
The match had its first bit of controversy shortly after the restart when James Lowe’s booming exit kick was taken by Ford to be sent back in our direction. The home fans were convinced Ford had been hit late by Hugo Keenan. For me, well, it could have been given though HK was slowing himself down when contact was made. Anyway, there was further pain for the Tigers in that they were themselves pinged instead, for being offside ahead of the kicker.
Now we’re back with the attacking lineout again, only it’s outside their 22. This time it’s Molony taking the confident dart and it’s sent straight to the backs where Robbie Henshaw seeks out contact and pumps his legs until we’re well into their 22 on the front foot.
From here there’s further strong carries by Furlong, Conan, Doris among others, each time with Jamison Gibson-Park directing the traffic like he has been doing in both blue and green all season. Eventually on the 12th phase Conan has two latchers as he drags it to within inches of the line right under the posts as the referee signals a penalty advantage.
But the advantage won’t be needed as just like back at the start of the move, JGP fires a miss pass to Henshaw only this time, his momentum is getting him over the line for try number two, after which a conversion hands us that coveted 15+ point cushion.
Long, long way to go of course, but still a lead any team would have gladly taken if offered at kickoff.
20-HT
This was a quarter that had just the one score, but it was still eventful nonetheless as it was more about Leicester’s inability to get the duck egg off the scoreboard.
As you can see below in our latest TikTok video, their failure to score was partly down to being unable to get their plans to crack our defence to work, and partly down to not having a plan at all when one was needed…
When it comes to the controlled confidence I’m saying Leinster displayed on the day, most of that was shown on defence, and when your performance without the ball is at that level it can effect other areas of the game, like decision making for both sides.
But it wasn’t all about our actual defensive tackling cordon when it came to keeping the home side out – on an attacking lineout in our 22, an area where the Tigers have been known to succeed with a rolling maul or two in their day, James Ryan made sure nobody had forgotten him since he was forced onto the sidelines by snaffling the dart and we were able to clear.
And shortly after that last play in the video when the home side let the transition opportunity pass and instead put up a routine high ball, there was Jamison Gibson-Park burrowing his way to a jackled penalty in their half, offering his captain and fellow halfback the chance to push our lead even further to 20, one he duly took.
Finally for this half, if there was ever to be evidence the rugby gods were on our side, it was when Keenan was forced into touch in his own 22 a teeny tiny fraction of a second after the clock went red to end the half, denying them one last chance, although the way our defence was looking we could well have snuffed out that danger too.
My halftime tweet showed my own confidence was beginning to match Leinster’s.
Only a fool would’ve been surprised by a Leicester fightback after the break. Steve Borthwick hasn’t assembled this team and gotten them to the top of the Premiership without knowing how to make the right changes at halftime when things aren’t going so well.
And in many ways they seemed to be doing what they were doing towards the end of the first half, only better and more focused. We were really on the back foot during this period and it could have gone several different ways.
For one lineout they threw to the front again, only instead of sending it back to the thrower, this also became a maul, one which had enough traction to get all the way to the line. Even here our defence was holding out around the breakdown except when it was sent wide at just the right moment, George Ford found just the right miss pass to Ashton and he was over in the corner.
A beautiful strike from out wide by Ford made it seven and there was still a long way to go. Now the confidence was showing in Leicester’s play, with Ford and skipper Genge leading from the front. But for me, the remainder of this quarter was easily the most significant of the match.
On the one hand, you could say we saw out this spell, one in which we barely made it out of our own half with the ball once, because of the strong defence I was harping on earlier. But on the other hand, as the BT graphics people were more than happy to point out, we did ship a lot of penalties in a row.
My own words are coming back to haunt me now – just last week against the Stormers I was complaining that the ref had given the home side a warning without following up on it. Here, if we really did give up that many consecutive sanctions, we probably should have been told the next one would mean a card as well.
That said, there was also the question of what the Tigers were doing with those penalties. Some of them were very much in kickable positions and I reckon getting themselves to double digits would be a huge psychological advantage. Instead they went for the jugular and, well, missed when it mattered.
When Nemani Nadolo came onto the pitch you can hear Ben Kay in the commentary box saying “this might change things”. Well he did crash over the line in trademark fashion at one point in this critical spell only to be held up brilliantly by both Jimmy O’Brien and JVDF.
From there they went back for yet another penalty advantage which was put to touch for yet another lineout, only for there to be yet another brilliant grab by James Ryan to deny them yet another rolling maul.
At other times the blue brick wall was standing firm with phase after phase going nowhere, and high balls sent into the Leicester evening sky being caught well by the likes of Jimmy O’Brien and Hugo Keenan.
60-FT
Obviously for all our success in thwarting our hosts we really needed something to happen to allow us some time down the other end of the pitch and it finally came on 61m when a big hit by James Lowe on Harry Potter (I really really want to make some wizard references here but I’d say they’ve all been done to death by others covering Leicester by now) and when Henshaw recovered the ball, Gibson-Park’s first instinct was to send it deep into opposition territory, like perhaps Ben Youngs should have done when the boot was on the other foot.
Since JGP went on to earn Player of the Match, (and rightly so, I felt vindicated for singling him out during the week on the Rolling Maul Podcast for Tigers fans) we’ll take it that it was his kick was perfectly placed and it found grass just inside the 22, allowing enough chasers to get there in time for JVDF (another PotM contender, AGAIN) to block Potter’s clearance before Weise just beat his opposite number 8 Conan to get the ball down. However, because he carried over the line first, it meant there was a scrum to Leinster.
Just to recap, since that Ashton try, the Tigers had done all they could to add to their score to no avail. Now moments after our first touch of the ball in their 22 since the break, we had an attacking 5m scrum. And when Jack Conan took it from the base to just under the posts only for their sub scrum half Richard Wigglesworth (no stranger to beating us in Europe of course) to take out the 9 giving us an easy penalty for Ross Byrne, on at this stage for Sexton (was that booing as he left?), to slot the three.
All of which meant that for those still keeping tabs on the numbers I was on about at the start of this article, our 13-point cushion was now pushed to 16, which meant three scores were needed once more, and now there were only fifteen minutes left.
Up to this point, I haven’t really mentioned penalties awarded at scrums. And I’m delighted that I haven’t needed to, given what happened at Twickenham the last time Ellis Genge squared off against Tadhg Furlong, with this same referee Reynal I might add.
Now it’s not like there were absolutely no penalties at all on the day, there were, but they were distributed pretty much evenly. Maybe the French referees heard us all complaining about them making their mind up for the first few scrum and going the same way. Or, maybe that’s just a stupid narrative that isn’t real.
But for those final fifteen minutes it wasn’t just the penalties at scrum which were a feature, it was more the amount of resets – which are naturally going to benefit the team ahead on the scoreboard. I can’t blame the Tigers for thinking this was going to be an area where they could dominate us, but it has to be said the penalties awarded both ways seemed fair, with Michael Ala’alatoa doing well in his cameo for Furlong.
As the clock was in the high seventies, one rolling maul did find its way over the line as their sub hooker Nic Dolly got it down to make the final score look more respectable but even from the kickoff our defence wasn’t letting them off the hook and we practically bullied them in their own 22 until they turned it over only for Ross Byrne to put it dead to call it a day.
HARPIN’ POINTS
Far from a classic but like I said, when it’s our team playing in a one off match, we want wins not classics. And I really don’t think anyone is disputing that the better team won.
As always after results like these, you do have some commentators making the usual moans about how Irish provinces are put together and how many internationals we have and how it’s all unfair and blah blah blah but one thing is for sure, you never heard anything like that from Leicester Tigers captain Ellis Genge who to his credit soundly rejected the narrative at the post-match presser.
Back on our side, you have to be happy with the performance – I’ve been saying all season how even though we’re top of the URC our matchday squads for Europe seem to find an extra level when it comes to focus, professionalism, cohesion or whatever other buzzwords you might want to use.
There was also a chance to give a European debut and there’s no doubt Joe McCarthy has earned it with some fine displays in the URC this season. Pretty sure it won’t be long before he’s starting on these occasions.
Finally on the Tigers themselves I can only say it again that European experience was the difference. I can totally see them back competing at this stage again next year, only very liekly as Premiership champions and a much better chance of progressing.
WHAT’S NEXT
On the Harpin podcast during the week I’ll be chatting to a Leinster fan who travelled to Welford Road about the whole experience and then our attention, naturally will turn to our semifinal date with Toulouse next Saturday at 3pm. Stay tuned to this page as well as any or all of our social media channels to catch our usual features like previews and such. Thanks as ever for sticking with the writeup to the end. JLP
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
After a hectic time putting together the Stormers wrap a week before, it was a much more comfortable process organising the Ulster one and myself and Conor were delighted to have Mark back with us after a spell on the sidelines. As ever the lads did a bang up job going through the relevant talking points.
When your team wins, fans arguing over which player was the best is a bit like parents arguing over their favourite kid, yet while Jack Conan has been getting back to his Lions best in recent weeks, I think the general concensus among Leinster fans is that it was actually Ryan Baird who should have taken the Star of the Match award at the weekend, so for this week’s Bonus Clip myself, Mark and Conor had a chat about his abilities and what he is capable of in the future.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
DISCIPLINE V LEINSTER TIK TOK
I think Mark hit the nail on the head here – Saturday’s match at the Aviva was closer than the scoreline suggests with discipline a clear deciding factor.
We have had Peter Lockhart on our pod a few times this season and on Tuesday night I am happy to return the favour by appearing on The Red Hand to go back over the match at the Aviva on Saturday. I’ll post a link here once it’s out and also share on social media.
DEMOGRAPHICS “V” COACHING
From Saturday, March 18, 2023 7:30pm to Saturday, April 1, 2023 12:30pm, the Irish rugby community was celebrating a Grand Slam. And so we should, as it is by far and away the single biggest achievement for fans of the men’s game among the Six Nations.
But why did the partying come to an abrupt end in less than two weeks? Because between lunchtime and 7pm on Saturday, three of the four Irish provinces got knocked out of Europe, with Leinster the last one standing.
So I guess that means we need a change of narrative, right? Hell, yeah – because, well, you know, clicks n stuff. Besides, sure it wasn’t Ireland that won the Grand Slam anyway, it was actually Leinster. So there’s that.
At least the buzzwords surrounding these cries of injustice have shifted from the old reliables like “private schools” and “avocado toast” and such – now they have all been packaged into a handy little soundbite – it turns out Leinster are winning everything, even international tournaments now, because, well, you know, “demographics”.
So if this is the theme arising from the online discourse, you can be sure the mainstream media is going to weigh in and stir the pot even further. When the Indo put this narrative to Stu Lancaster, he responded by pointing to the standards of coaching at the province (I mean the bare faced cheek of him, being a coach and all) and naturally once that was released into the Birdhouse, now we had a straight shootout between two possible reasons why the province is doing so well and it HAD to be much more of one than the other.
I’m so tired of this. But I know it’s not going to go away, if for no other reason than it’s impossible to control the tides of world rugby in such a way that raises all four provincial boats equally. Can’t be done. Does Irish rugby benefit greatly from the private school sector when it comes to producing world class athletes? Yes. And are the majority of those schools in Leinster? Yes. But that that make their success on the world stage less of an achievement for the country somehow? I guess it does to many.
Rather than get dragged down too far into the mud on this issue, I’ll instead try to go the opposite direction and offer an overview.
My biggest bugbear in rugby union is the Northern Hemisphere senior rugby calendar. And that has been the case ever since 2008 when I first began Harpin’ On Rugby. It makes absolutely no sense at all, with the top tier 6N competition jammed into the middle of the season and players having to jump in and out of squads several different times from August to July.
Yet when I put a pin in my objections and accept that the status quo, I cannot deny that of all the six unions involved at the elite level in these parts, none have been able to manage their product within that framework better than the IRFU. Yes, I know that sounds like ass-kissing, but I do criticize them on these pages as well so take it whatever way you choose. The fact remains that on top of the Grand Slams there have been other Six Nations championships, Triple Crowns, Heineken Cups for three provinces and even Celtic League titles for all four in the professional era.
Of COURSE things can be done better. That said, to what extent do we want the IRFU to put their thumb on the scale when it comes to the provincial branches governing their own affairs? If Leinster keeps on winning, does that mean the union’s job now it to curtail that success to make sure the others catch up? Actually take some best coaches, players and/or academy prospects out and move them around, essentially providing punishment for winning too much?
I guess what I’m trying to say is…does every Leinster victory now somehow “prove” that the IRFU is doing things wrong?
Look – I don’t want a tribal war. That’s why I’m typing these thoughts here on my site rather than diving down social media rabbit holes. I’m a Leinster fan and I would still be one if they hadn’t won any trophies at all since I started doing this, in fact we had exactly zero stars over our crest when I wrote my first post.
But this need to put an asterisk beside every good thing my team does really, really is getting….ridiculous? No, it’s not that. ….becoming more and more of a pain in the hole with each day? Well, yeah, but that’s not what I’m looking for. …boring? Yeah. Let’s go with that.
I get it that all four provinces are proud, and I also get that one progressing at a faster pace is frustrating, but if we’re to have a discussion about closing those gaps, can we at least do it with all the relevant issues out on the table and not just a few convenient stereotypes.
UPDATE – While my views above focus on general attitudes towards Leinster, Rugby Kino offered a good take with a view to looking at constructive ways forward…
So the discourse today is around whether Leinster have a demographic advantage compared to the other provinces.
There's a further discussion happening as to whether that's fair or not, but I'm going to ignore that completely & focus on what's best for Irish rugby.
We’ve been getting very mixed signals about the makeup of the 2023/24 Heineken Champions Cup. I have said before on this column that the two-pools of 12 format, while far from ideal, didn’t bug me half as much as it seems to have done for the vast majority of fans, which means they really should do something about it.
Yet while it was announced a while ago that the system was to be changed, the announcement of the dates for next year’s competition showed that there were still only going to be four rounds in the pool stages. And with the amount of qualifiers still locked at 24 (including 8 from just 11 functioning Premiership clubs, but that’s for another day’s column) then we have to ask ourselves how are they going to change things exactly?
My guess is that they might make it look like they’re giving the masses what they want with 6 pools of 4 but maybe within each pool the top two seeds will play home and away against the bottom two and not against each other, thus producing a schedule similar to the current method, just with a more traditional looking set of pool tables?
I have a feeling that whatever they’re doing, it could possibly cause more problems than it solves.
TRY COUNTBACK
Exeter beat Montpellier at the weekend even though the final score was 33-33 after extra time., because of a clause that states that teams level after the overtime could be separated by tries scored, and possible cards conceded too, if required. I have seen a lot of pushback against this method but personally I think it’s ok, ONCE EVERYBODY KNOWS going into the match. I wonder how many in Sandy Park knew the score?
This reminds me of an AIL final back in 2009 when it finished 19-19 between Shannon and Clontarf and they went to extra time only for news to be sent on to the pitch that actually if Shannon could see out the game with the scores level they’d win the trophy because they scored the game’s FIRST try.
Not sure if I’m a fan of that particular method but the point is that it was farcical that for a senior rugby match not everyone involved knew what was going on…and we multiply that farce by a lot when it comes to the highest level behind test rugby.
For me, every avenue possible should be taken to avoid competition progress based on a penalty shoot out. And we give bonus points in pool play for scoring tries, why can’t we reward a team in a knockout fixture for doing the same?
JORDI RETIREMENT
Somewhere in that group is Jordi Murphy who was winning the Leinster Schools Cup with Blackrock at the RDS just four days before Ireland won the 2009 Grand Slam in Cardiff.
He went on to earn further success for both Leinster and Ireland at senior level until moving to Ulster in 2018 and it’s sad to hear of his impeding retirement once the season is over. Obviously I’m hoping he doesn’t add to his trophy success, but definitely not in a bad way – I’m sure all fans of Irish rugby wish him nothing but the very best for his future.
The Sexton news has pretty much been accepted at this stage, so it has to be said the injury report from Saturday at the Aviva could have been a lot worse. Obviously a rolled ankle never sounds good especially when it’s your World Player Of The Year but I have a feeling we’ll see Josh in blue again for Leinster this season, and with Scott Penny more than ready to step up I’d say give him a start against the Tigers this weekend. But then again I got nowhere near predicting the use of Jimmy O’Brien at 13 against Ulster so they suggested 23 below is far from written in stone!
POSSIBLE 23 V LEICESTER
Keenan, J O’Brien, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
McKee, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan/Doris, McGrath, H Byrne, Larmour/Frawley
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Hugo Keenan: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
Garry Ringrose: has come through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols, trained fully at the end of last week and will be available for selection this week
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Caelan Doris: has come through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols however missed the game last week with illness and will be further assessed this week
Josh van der Flier: rolled his ankle in the second half of the game against Ulster Rugby and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on availability
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
No further injuries to report from the game at the weekend.
There are no further updates on:
Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Rónan Kelleher (shoulder), Joe McCarthy (ankle), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Martin Moloney (knee) and Charlie Ngatai (hamstring)
AIL UPDATE
The top four in Div 1A was already pretty much set although Cork Con’s win over Terenure gave them a shot at beating them to a home semifinal although they’ll have to win at Young Munster on the final day to make that possible. The biggest result in Round 16 came at the Belfield Bowl where UCD not only fought back from 0-19 to take their Colours battle with Trinity, but it also helped their survival push at the bottom of the table, although with Shannon also winning it means the race to avoid a playoff for seems to involve the Limerick side and the two Dublin universities and going on form it looks like Trinity have the easiest task of the three.
Meanwhile in Div 1B, congrats to City of Armagh as they clinched the title with a narrow win over UCC which will now mean two Ulster sides in the top tier next season. It’s anyone’s guess who will take the playoff spot with Old Belvedere currently in 2nd although they must win at Templeville Road against Mary’s to be sure of it otherwise either Highfield or Buccaneers could overtake them.
Seems a bit strange having a week’s gap between the final two rounds but I guess that only heightens the tension for all still in contention across the five divisions.
DIVISION 1A
ROUND 17
Lansdowne 28-31 Clontarf
UCD 22-19 Dublin University
Cork Con 27-23 Terenure
Shannon 26-10 Ballynahinch
Garryowen 28-22 Young Munster
ROUND 18 (ALL SAT APR 15)
Ballynahinch v Lansdowne
Clonfarf v UCD
Dublin University v Garryowen
Terenure v Shannon
Young Munster v Cork Con
DIVISION 1B
ROUND 17
Old Belvedere 27-27 Banbridge
City of Armagh 24-20 UCC
Highfield 21-7 Naas
Malone 29-13 St Mary’s
Old Wesley 40-10 Buccaneers
ROUND 18 (ALL SAT APR 15)
Banbridge v Highfield
Buccaneers v City of Armagh
Naas v Old Wesley
St Mary’s v Old Belvedere
UCC v Malone
SEVENS UPDATE
Not the best weekend for the Irish 7s programme down in Hong Kong – the men had a stinker of a pool and really needed to overcome the Blitzboks in their opener to have a hope of making the quarterfinals and couldn’t manage it. However, once out of the top 8 the best you can do it finish 9th and they did manage that with 3 knockout wins including the final against Samoa so the damage was limited.
Meanwhile the women, who had to play while knowing their XVs team was struggling back in Cork, did reach the quarterfinals only came up against Australia for a second time then further defeats to France & USA meant they had to make do with 8th place overall.
As you can see by the overall standings, both teams are anxiously looking over their shoulders hoping to avoid slipping further down the table although only the men are playing this weekend in Singapore and will be targeting wins against GB & Japan hoping to get back into the proper knockouts once more.
Saturday, April 8
2:30AM – IRELAND MEN V ARGENTINA
6:18AM – IRELAND MEN V GREAT BRITAIN
9:22AM – IRELAND MEN V JAPAN
Sunday, April 9
3:50AM – PLAYOFFS BEGIN
MLR UPDATE
If you’re a new reader of the column, I’m keeping tabs on USA’s pro rugby competition this season to see how the sport is progressing over there, and I’ll be studying one match each week throughout the season. After giving the conferences two weeks each so far, I decided on a cross conference battle this time as NOLA Gold were hosting the undefeated Seattle Seawolves, and what a match it was.
The match was played at the “Goldmine” and it was billed as the immovable object of the Gold defence coming up against the irresistible force of the Seattle backline. And sure enough, you couldn’t get a better start than the Seawolves’ kickoff sailing straight over the jumper’s head into the arms of their winger who sprinted to the line “Mack Hansen In Paris”-style to pen the scoring.
But the home side was yet to show off their defensive system and for the remainder of the first half they proceeded to strangle their opposition enough to give themselves opportunities at the other end, which they took to go in 21-10 at the break, and when a penalty try and yellow card stretched that lead to 18 after 43m, it looked like that was it.
Just a sidenote – when Seattle had a man on the naughty step I wouldn’t have held it against the US commentators if they used the hockey term “power play” to explain how NOLA had the advantage – anything that gets sports-mad Yanks into our game is a definite plus.
But anyway, back to the action, it seemed all that first half tackling took its toll on the home side and once the Seawolves got one try with a man down, they went on to burst open the floodgates reeling off another three to establish a multi-score lead of their own with just over ten minutes left.
Did that mean the Gold were done? Absolutely not and they pulled back within a point with the clock at 77 setting up a grandstand finish and although the restart went deep in the Gold 22, they kept it through the hands to emerge through gaps the length of the pitch only to somehow be hauled down short of the line allowing the Seattle blindside to jackle a decisive penalty.
I know this sounds bad, but the disgusted faces on the faces of the home crowd at the awarding of a penalty was good to see because it shows they were invested in the match right up to the end. And although the Gold have now lost more than they have won this season, they still look good enough to be playoff contenders so from what I have seen from this league so far, it would not surprise me if these same two teams contested the championship final later in the year.
More on the league next week.
ROUND 7
UTAH 26-24 NEFJ
DAL 14-11 TOR
CHI 21-38 HOU
NOLA 35-36 SEA
NYI 31-20 ATL
SD 48-26 OGDC
ROUND 8
NEFJ V CHI
TOR V NYI
ATL V OGDC
HOU V UTAH
SEA V SD
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Like I say I’m on the Red Hand pod during the week, then we’re all about the Good Friday visit of the Leicester Tigers with a preview show on Thursday, the wrap pod recording Sunday and all the usual features in between.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Paul Smith A game for the forwards and the Leinster pack delivered in spades. It was never going to be a day for free flowing rugby and their dominance in both attack and defence was the winning of the match this evening. Ryan, Baird, and Conan were outstanding and also a mention for Ross Byrne who played some smart rugby and took his points well. Have to be happy to take the win in a game that always had the potential to be a banana skin.
Andrew Potts A wet game but not inspiring. They were good enough for Ulster but it was very low key result.
South Wales Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Leinster deserved the win on the day, but Ulster Rugby didn’t make it easy. Without doubt, Stockdale’s huge kick, chase, collect to Burns & cross field kick for Hume’s try, was the best passage of play, in the whole game 🏉
TWITTER
Job done in tricky conditions against tricky opponents #LEIvULS
Leinster did us again. Best pack of forwards we’ve faced in a long time. Always under pressure but no disgrace tonight. Best of luck next weekend @LeinsterRoyalty@HarpinOnRugby@RugbyKino
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