If you think you can answer questions like the one in the graphic above in five seconds or less, then have a go at our quiz there’s 12 altogether, see if you can do better than three of our contributors.
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
As it got closer to kickoff time I was getting more and more concerned that Leinster’s Heineken Champions Cup opener against Racing 92 wouldn’t go the way I hoped. That may sound odd to a non-Leinster fan given our record this season but actually that’s more than likely the reality for most fans of any team no matter how successful. But especially so in this age where a red card can make a difference to a contest, although of course even that didn’t hurt us last week!
But as it turned out, I needn’t have worried because much like last year we appear to be kicking off our European campaign in determined mood, yes I know we were helped a lot by Racing’s own disciplinary issues but still we were solid especially on set piece as you can see by the numbers.
22 – @LeinsterRugby’s Dan Sheehan was successful with all 22 of his lineout throws against Racing 92 on Saturday (100%), the most successful throws registered by any hooker in a @ChampionsCup match since Opta have recorded this data (2009). Precision. pic.twitter.com/4hVAZyUNGz
One teeny tiny final point I’d like to make, when it came to “Star of the Match”, I’d have gone for JVDF over Doris – that’s nothing against the latter he certainly had some key involvements yet he did ship a couple of penalties as well, one at a breakdown I was sure he’d get carded for, so while I don’t believe in simply giving the gong to the guy who got the most tries on the day, I reckon we all know Josh does way more than that, right? Again it’s not crucial but hey it’s my opinion and sharing it is kinda what this column is for.
It was another match which was a pleasure to wrap up on our Sunday pod, with super contributions as always by Messrs Jackson & Mifsud, plus a “roving report” by Tom Coleman. If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN’ ON…THAT RINGROSE TRY
If you haven’t listened to our weekly wrap pod yet, first of all, why the hell not???? Especially if you’re reading this column!!! Seriously though…what we do is harp our way through the timeline of the match from start to finish, focusing on the major incidents of course, but also pointing out the minor ones as well that the pundits may have missed like the ref giving out to Leinster’s players for celebrating a knock on!!!
For this week’s YouTube clip I used Mark’s analysis of the Garry Ringrose try, although personally I was equally impressed by the one that came before it because it had three components to it which were world class yet things we take for granted from the players in question…JGP finding the final lock picking pass, Dan Sheehan lurking in the wide channel and being able to force his way over the line, and finally Ross “Mr Touchline” Byrne popping over the most difficult placekick for a right-footer like it was nothing to him.
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.
200 UP
You may have noticed that our wrap pod was episode 199 which means the next one is a milestone so to mark it I asked three of the contributors to join me for a “season so far” quiz where I tested their knowledge of the twelve matches we have covered this season before the Champions Cup kicked off.
During the week I’ll publish the episode in such a way as you the listener can have a go at the questions as well, see how many you can get!
IN DEFENCE OF THE HCC FORMAT
Now I want to be careful how I word this point so that I’m absolutely clear on where I stand. A lot of people have complained about the format for the Champions Cup and I want to push back, however this does not mean I am totally in favour of it. Let me explain.
If you offered me just two choices for how the Champions Cup pool stage can be run, (1) the current way, or (2) the old way with pools of 4 playing home and away leading to quarterfinals, I would always always choose 2.
However, while the backlash against the current way seems to be 100% by most people, I’d probably put mine around the 70-80% mark, because I can actually see some benefits in the current way, while also some of the drawbacks maybe aren’t as bad as many point out.
First we should have a go at explaining the system. There are 24 qualifiers, 8 from each league. They are drawn into 2 pools of 12, everyone plays four matches, and the top 8 on each table go through to the knockout phase.
For starters, I’m not, nor have I ever been, totally committed to the “everyone must play everyone” concept to a league competition. In an ideal world yes, but in reality we have to be open to alternatives due to time and travel constraints, and if a competition is ultimately decided by knockout rounds, then that should allow for anyone who got lucky with the schedule to be “found out”.
And to balance out the smaller amount of matches, with the extra round of 16 it’s actually easier to advance out of the pool phase, meaning rather than rounds 5 and 6 in the past when you’d have many “dead rubbers”, you now have a round 5 which is completely cup rugby, although of course the 6th match is gone altogether.
I also must admit I do like the symmetry of this system. Maybe every team has different opponents but they are definitely not chosen by random. Last season, when Leinster were Pro14 champions, we got a schedule that had teams finishing 7th or 8th in the Top14 and Premiership. So our domestic record was duly rewarded.
This season, since we failed to reach the 21/22 URC final, things were a bit tougher as we were pitted against teams finishing 5th and 6th at home. And despite the result last weekend, Racing are still doing well this season as are Gloucester.
One more positive about the fixtures is that with this system you are always playing a team from a different league in the pool phase, which is kind of what the competition is meant to be all about. Often under the old format you’d be playing home and away against a team you’re already down to face twice in your domestic league.
Finally in defence of the four-match system, while many think it was done this way purely because of COVID so why keep it now, I think it also helps to facilitate the introduction of the South African clubs. Under the old system with three blocks of two matches each home and away, that would inflict a hell of a lot of travelling on everyone, so doing it this way means anyone travelling after round 4 at least knows it’s at the business end of the competition and thus is easier to market. Having to fly thousands of miles for a dead rubber should be avoided at all costs.
Also, one thing about the “old way” that always grated with me a lot was the “best runnersup” system where three teams got knockout rugby often because they got a much easier draw. That said, I did really, really, like rounds 3 and 4 with the home and away fixtures in December, that always gave the return matches a bit of extra edge. And when they had the two-legged round of 16 last season I thought that was a way of holding onto that so in a way it’s a shame they have taken even that away this season.
Right that’s enough of that, I reckon that’s enough pushback but like I said, I would hardly grumble if we changed back, although if it were down to me I’d ditch both for something else altogether, best leave that for another week’s column!!!
UNFORGETTABLE SEVENS
Another interesting weekend for the Irish Sevens programmes, with the women doing better this time around, getting all the way to the semifinals where they were outclassed by New Zealand. Although we didn’t get a medal from the event, the points were enough to move us up to 5th on the overall table.
Meanwhile in the men’s draw, after a confident start we then had a nightmare against Uruguay, a team we should be beating handily, where a rush of blood to the head by Mark Roche saw him get a second yellow card, thus a red, in the first half which left us a man short (def not good with only 7 in total) and while we were actually doing ok for a while, a second yellow left us with 5 and no hope and the defeat put us down in the competition for 9th place so we failed to build on the silver medal in Dubai, dropping down to 9th on the overall table.
If you’d like to keep up of their progress when these tournaments are on, one thing you can do is go to this link and click the “Add To Calendar” button and make sure you specify it’s just Ireland’s matches you want, and you’ll need to do it separately for men’s and women’s. Then you’ll get a 15m reminder before every match when you can decide whether or not you’re free to watch live on the World Rugby player.
Remember, the more we make it clear Irish fans are following the action, hopefully the more chance we have of getting a leg added to the tour for us to go and get pissed at enjoy.
Both series resume with the Canadian leg in the New Year.
INJURY REPORTS
Arguably the best injury report of the season!!! Obviously not for those in the bottom list but definitely good to see the one above it being empty. Even if Messrs Sexton & Furlong can’t get fit in time for Friday, I’m sure the RDS crowd would have no complaints welcoming back the 23 that did so well in Le Havre.
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Charlie Ngatai: came through the game at the weekend against Racing 92 with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Johnny Sexton: increased his training load towards the end of last week and will be further assessed this week for a calf injury ahead of a final decision later in the week
Tadhg Furlong: increased his training load towards the end of last week and will be further assessed this week for an ankle injury ahead of a final decision later in the week
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
There are no further updates on:
Robbie Henshaw (wrist), Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee), Will Connors (bicep), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)
AIL UPDATE
Such a shame the cold snap put paid to so many club fixtures at the weekend, most of all the women’s AIL final which was due to get exposure on TG4, although they did well to reschedule it so quickly while still retaining the coverage. And added bonus might be that players like Beibhinn Parsons, who was of course in Cape Town with the 7s last weekend, might be able to take part, we’ll have to see.
Also in the women’s AIL there was the “Conference final” – this was a mini competition for teams finishing 5th through 8th so very much a consolation prize, but considering it was won by Wicklow RFC, who were being unfairly ridiculed last season for a couple of blow out results, that definitely makes this a worthwhile achievement to bring up on these pages.
Meanwhile over in the men’s, again the postponements were quickly rearranged as you can see below, but the weather couldn’t prevent Terenure College’s 100% start from coming to an end as they were downed 24-18 by Young Munster. Fair play to the Cookies for not only the result but also for getting the match played.
As you can see there’s a fascinating tussle for the top four positions developing between three Leinster sides and two Munster ones, meaning pretty much every match in the second half of the campaign should have meaning.
Women’s AIL
Conference final
Wicklow RFC 22-17 Galwegians
Saturday, December 17
League final
Blackrock College v Railway Union 2pm
Men’s AIL
Round 9
Ballynahinch PPD UCD
Clontarf 36-10 Garryowen
Dublin University PPD Cork Con
Lansdowne PPD Shannon
Young Munster 24-18 Terenure
Sat Dec 17
Lansdowne v Shannon
Sat Jan 7
Ballynahinch v UCD
Dublin University v Cork Con
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Like I said we’ve a quiz edition of the podcast during the week to celebrate the 200th episode, why not have a listen to see how well you’ve been paying attention to Leinster & Ireland’s season so far. Then we have Tom Coleman on episode 201 to tell us how he got on travelling to Le Havre and also to preview the visit of Gloucester, with of course the wrap of that match to do on Sunday, with all the usual features in between.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
10 December 2022; Josh van der Flier of Leinster makes a break on his way to scoring his side’s sixth try during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 1 match between Racing 92 and Leinster at Stade Océane in Le Havre, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
(also a report from France on the match conditions by Tom Coleman)
FULL TIME TAKES
FACEBOOK
Andrew Potts Very good performance by Leinster and adapting well to Racing flooding the ruck. As always Leinster very focused as 15 on the park, impressive by JVdF nuisance all day which is a compliment for a 7 and still gas at 79 for a solo!
Gerald Williamson Will not complain. A convincing win in the end. Even missing one or two key players, Leinster did the job for the bonus pt win. Stuart has a idea what awaits him next season.
Gavin Hegarty Job done, BP done. Racing should be embarrassed to lose by 32 at ‘home’. We need to do better but you can only play what’s in front of you.
Chris McDonnell Without Sexton Henshaw and Furlong and still almost flawless. A little too much kicking for my liking but hey
TWITTER
Utterly savage performance from Leinster in Le Havre. Bullying a Racing side who simply weren't at the races, they bested them in the scrum, lineout, breakdown and outplayed them defensively.
Taking 5-0 away against a SF team from last year is some marker to lay down. #R92vLEI
Leinster really laid down a marker today with an absolutely superb display, a total performance of excellence individually, as units, and as a team.#R92vLEI
RichardMifsud You don’t win anything in December, especially in the #championscup but you can lay down markers and #leinster did just that in Le Havre That was easily their best 80 of the season thus far Caelan Doris worthy POTM but big performances across the park Let’s see where we are in May in #dublin #R92vLEI
Jay Long You can only play what’s there but was really happy to see how hungry we were throughout. The lads chased everything. Sensational start. We’re on the road again!
Ross Carrick I wasn’t expecting this from Racing. Lack of sustained possession and phase building. Leinster aren’t at their best but are deserved three score leaders.
Robin Cafolla I remember when you feared going to France no matter who you were playing. Safe to say those days are over. Very dominant display from Leinster.
Brian Nisbet 10-42, what a wonderful victory in France! Perfect start to this year’s European campaign from a team that are playing very well together!
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Just after 8pm on Saturday evening I was pretty sure I’d have to prepare the first pod under our new format where the subject matter was a Leinster or Ireland defeat but we all know how that second half went and I reckon Tom & Conor did a bang up job harpin’ on all the relevant points from the classic top-of-the-table encounter. If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN’ ON…HEALY RED
Of course if you need a sample of the pod before you commit to clicking, here’s a taste when we harped on the red card which we thought at the time would be the deciding factor on the night – as you can see we were all incredibly one-eyed and fully agreed the decision was in fact a travesty…
TURNING BACK TIME
Before I move on from Saturday night’s classic, I’d like to expand on a point raised by Tom in the above clip.
When the Healy/Stewart collision happened, the clock read 17:58. Yet when the referee finally ruled on the red card, it was at 20:35 and when the ball was finally back in play it was actually 20:56.
So basically, due to a decision that had to be referred to the TMO, three minutes of gameplay were lost. And in actual fact they weren’t just lost, there was actually over two and a half minutes of rugby played in that time which was never going to count towards anything.
I have two points to make about this.
I’m pretty sure that once it’s decided that there was foul play, the clock should be moved back to the precise time when it happened. This shouldn’t take much longer to do as the TMO can confirm it in the booth. We may not notice those 3 minutes in this particular match but imagine if it happened in the 77th minute of a game where Ulster were within a converted try on the scoreboard? The difference between having 3 minutes to take advantage from the penalty and having the clock automatically in the red is pretty big.
This also links to the discussion over concussion safety. Often the officials stop the game when they think there has been foul play and when the TMO finds nothing wrong, there is outcry from the same pundits & fans about holding up the game. Well, those 2 plus minutes from Saturday are exactly why it’s important to err on the side of caution. If an official thinks there may be something that needs looking at, they should absolutely stop play because IMO if there’s possibly anything worse than suffering a serious injury on a rugby pitch, then it’s suffering a serious injury on a rugby pitch in play that didn’t even count towards the final score.
CLUB RUGBY WORLD CUP
I noticed a headline during the week about ongoing talks regarding the formation of a “Club Rugby World Cup”. The more I see these articles, the more I’m convinced that it will eventually happen.
My thoughts are simple, of course it’s a super concept, who wouldn’t want to see a comp with fixtures like Leinster v Crusaders but the drawbacks are pretty obvious – 1) how the hell do you fit it into the calendar without altering it drastically (and harmfully if that’s a word), and 2) I hope I’d reading the room wrong here but I have a feeling there might be a temptation to stage this in a “neutral venue” like Dubai.
Both would seriously take the shine off what would otherwise be an illustrious event for the sport, although sadly I feel both are also very likely to happen anyway.
DUBAI SEVENS
So there I was, off with the family doing the first bout of Christmas shopping on Saturday when I was able to sneak away to a coffee shop and over a flat white I watched the Irish Men’s 7s take on the Blitzbokke in the final of the Dubai 7s. Sadly it wasn’t to be for them as the South Africans made their experience tell for these occasions by running in three tries before we could land a punch, but it’s certainly all not disappointment for Ireland, this will stand to them down the line and having drawn one and lost one in the pool stages they did really well to get this far anyway.
Getting to the final lifts us up to 4th on the overall series after 2 rounds, and over on the Women’s side although they went out at the quarterfinal stage they still managed a decent 6th place finish which is a decent start so hopefully both sides will be able to continue on their upwards curves when the circus rolls into Cape Town this coming weekend.
Be sure to keep an eye out for all the kickoff times and support them on social media as much as you can. Remember – we’re trying to let the organisers know we’re ready willing and able to host a leg on these shores!!!
EUROWATCH
We neglected our TikTok account for a while there in November, but with the Champions Cup starting next weekend we had to bring back our EuroWatch feature with brief “Reeling In The Years”-style presentation of the latest matches from Leinster’s upcoming HCC opposition. Below you see last week’s Racing offering and we’ll have more later during the week just subscribe to our account.
Everyone’s harpin’ on this at the moment so I have to include it I suppose, but to be honest both dismissals have been in the “worst kept secret” category for a while now so there’s not a whole lot more I can add except to say that while both nations might be in turmoil on and off the pitch right now, it often doesn’t take much to turn their fortunes around in the short term, especially with the quality they have on offer, so I reckon Wales v Ireland to open the 2023 Six Nations could be very interesting indeed.
I will also add this meme from Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir which nails the Welsh decision on the head.
Actually one thing I did miss in all the excitement from the match on Saturday was Tadhg Furlong going off and hopefully this was just a precaution. And as well as Jamie Osborne did in the 12 role, it’s still really good news for Leinster that Charlie Ngatai is meant to be back training with the squad this week as we’ll need every ounce of his European experience at the weekend. That doesn’t rule out Jamie altogether of course and actually I reckon he’d be perfect for this match against Racing in the 23 jersey given he has had four starts for Leinster this season, all in different positions.
For what it’s worth here is my ideal 23 for Saturday…
Kelleher, E Byrne, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, McGrath, R Byrne, Osborne.
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
James Lowe: came through the game at the weekend against Ulster Rugby with no issues after his return from a calf injury
Charlie Ngatai: is expected to train fully with the team this week after his recovery from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Johnny Sexton: will be further assessed this week for a calf injury ahead of a final decision later in the week
Tadhg Furlong: will be further assessed this week for an ankle injury picked up against Ulster Rugby ahead of a final decision later in the week
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
There were no further injuries from the game at the weekend.
There are no further updates on:
Robbie Henshaw (wrist), Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee), Will Connors (bicep), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)
AIL UPDATE
Friday night is a massive night for Women’s rugby on these shores as the AIL final between Blackrock and Railway Union is to be broadcast live on terrestrial TV for the first time as TG4 are carrying the broadcast, and especially since there are no Irish men’s provinces involved in European action on the same night, I really think it’s important for rugby fans to get involved by watching and sharing comments throughout on social media.
Remember – women’s club rugby is different to the men’s in that it always features current and former test players, and this final should be no exception with the likes of Enya Breen, Maeve Óg O’Leary, Hannah O’Connor, Nikki Caughey and Lindsay Peat all likely to be involved so be sure to tune in or better still, head along to Energia Park in Donnybrook yourself on the night, kickoff is at 7:45pm
Meanwhile over on the men’s side of things, Terenure had a “slip up” of sorts as for the first time in 9 rounds they failed to get the try bonus point, though of course their win over Trinity keeps their 100% start going. Tarf moved up to second with a tough win down at Cork Con while Young Munster continued their run of form with a win at Shannon and will be more than ready for the visit of Nure this coming weekend. The league then takes a break until the new year.
Women’s AIL
Dec 3
SEMIFINALS
Blackrock 13 – 8 UL Bohemians
Railway Union 34 – 19 Old Belvedere
Fri Dec 9
League final
Blackrock College v Railway Union
Men’s AIL
Sat Dec 3
Cork Con 22 – 29 Clontarf
Garryowen 10 – 28 Ballynahinch
Terenure 23 – 21 Dublin University
UCD 27 – 26 Lansdowne
Shannon 3 – 32 Young Munster
Sat Dec 10
Ballynahinch v UCD
Clontarf v Garryowen
Dublin University v Cork Con
Lansdowne v Shannon
Young Munster v Terenure
AI RUGBY
What the hell is this? You may well ask. Well, I’ve been playing around with one of those AI image generators lately, so I figured I’d share something here with it each week for a while, here’s what came up using the words “Leinster Rugby” in “Comic Book” mode. At least they got the colours right I guess? More to come.
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
Highlight of Round 9 for me prediction wise was my last-second change of my forecast for Connacht v Benetton – I saw a tweet from a western based fan who said he felt in his bones that they’d win by 20 so I switched my margin from 9 to 19 and sure enough it came up trumps. Kristian Ross had an even better round although I’m still closing the gap on Kino at the top of the league while Keego’s grip on both the wooden spoon and the Jersey of Shame seems to be getting even tighter…
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Next up it’s the Heineken Champions Cup and Leinster’s first assignment is certainly a tough one with an away trip to Racing 92 definitely set to be a challenge. Of course we’re giving it the full Harpin treatment with Illtud Daffyd, who briefed us on Montpellier last season, returning for an “Opposition View” pod on Wednesday before Keego has another appearance on Friday’s Preview Show and then it’s wrap up time on Sunday evening , with all the usual other features in between.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
3 December 2022; Garry Ringrose of Leinster dives over to score his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Chris McDonnell Its days like this that make being a leinster supporter worthwhile. Magnificent 1 to 23
Liz Power A warning to all teams. Do not lead Leinster by 22-3 in the first half. It’s a dangerous score as the 2011 finalists Northampton will attest!!
Bert McLoughlin Just home after the game, hoarse and sore hands from 👏. What a comeback
Sean Michaels Still trying to get my breath back after that. Literally a game of two halves. Substitutions made a great difference. Porter, Ringrose, Baird were immense. Whatever was said at half time obviously did the trick. Thought Lowe had a good game after such a long spell injured, has obviously taken the time to work on the areas of his game that were seen as a weakness, he looked hungry and aggressive and deserved his try
Gavin Hegarty And that, dear Ulster, is rugby.
I know Healy’s red is a red by law but to me a red is for malice or two yellows. Ref actually adjudicated the mitigating bits for their yellow very well.
I would have given motm to jgp, speed!!!!
Paul Smith Wow, just wow. That’s all I can say right now
TWITTER
A total tale of 2 halves here. Some of the worst I've seen us play, then to show that level of grit. Incredible.
After that start it’s a very satisfying result, lads showed great character second half. Have to be happy BP win with 14 men for most of the game 💪🏼 #LEIvULS
RichardMifsud If that isn’t a game for the ages I don’t know what is. What a second half from #leinster absolutely blew Ulster away after a dismal first half performance (credit Ulster). Most pleasing was the relentless pursuit of the win. Ringer is some player isn’t he. Ports worthy POTM but Ryan Baird was veeery close Anyway what a game #LEIvULS Great prep for the Heino
Orange Juice brilliant game by Leinster and Gary Ringrose was on fire today and fair play to Ulster for not making it easy for us
Koochulainn Leinster are so innovative they have reinvented the game of two halves
rosscarrick Unreal game from Leinster. Two scores down and only 14 for most the game! Phenomenal comeback win
@KJoanne My beloved Leinster. What a game! Delighted with that win after that first half. Commiserations to Ulster, thanks for a great contest.
