Author: jeffleepagano

Summary

Well you won’t need me to remind you that last weekend didn’t exactly go to plan for Leinster fans, and joining me on the pod this week to find the positives is Neil ‘Keego’ Keegan who shared some thoughts from his own writeup which can be found over at TheCouchPunditIreland.com.  We also discuss whether or not Leinster’s season as a whole was defined by this result as well as a brief look ahead to the rest of the Champions Cup as well as the Six Nations.

Our Leinster v Saracens writeup is here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/09/leinster-17-saracens-25.html

Keego’s writeup here > https://thecouchpunditireland.com/2020/09/22/the-irish-exit-europe-but-it-is-not-the-end-of-days/

Jeff & Keego’s pod on the US Presidential election is here > https://anchor.fm/whatsthestorywith

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Summary

To start the build up to Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup quarterfinal, in the latest of our “Opposition View” series of chats I invited Saracens fan Debbie Knight onto the pod to talk about how she came to follow them, what the salary cap and Owen Farrell situations were like from her side, and also how their starting XV might look at the weekend.

Debbie has her own sports writing blog here > debsknigsport.com and can be found on Twitter here > https://twitter.com/debsknig

ICYMI check out our Guinness Pro14 final writeup here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/09/leinster-27-ulster-3.html

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Summary

To start the build up to Saturday’s Guinness Pro 14 final, in the latest of our “Opposition View” series of chats I invited Ulster fan Ian Frizzell onto the pod to talk about the last meeting LEIvULS a couple of weeks ago, that amazing comeback in Edinburgh, and how he reckons they’ll line up at the Aviva this weekend.

You’ll find Ian on Twitter here > https://twitter.com/rava_ian

Our Leinster v Munster semifinal writeup is here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/09/leinster-13-munster-3.html

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Summary

For the third season in a row, Leinster meet our old friends from down the N7 in the Pro14 semifinal and although it will be in a deserted Aviva Stadium as opposed to a hopping RDS, it still promises to be a classic.  In the latest from our new series of “opposition view” chats I had Munster fan Michelle Tobin back on the pod to look at how she feels their chances are of getting the better of us this time around.

2021 Lions Tours can be booked from Rugby Travel Ireland here > https://rugbytravelireland.com/lions-tour-2021-south-africa/

Michelle Lions 2017 tour blogs > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2017/06/a-lions-tour-diary-by-michelle-tobin-1.html

Our Ulster v Leinster writeup is here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/08/ulster-10-leinster-28.html

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Summary

I’ve said it before but I have no problem saying it again…it is awesome to have the rugby back.  We’ve done plenty of harpin on Leinster’s narrow win over Munster last weekend – in case you missed our writeup you can find it here.  Now it’s time to turn our attention to the match against Ulster on Saturday evening, and providing us with an opposition view is long time Ulster fan Ian Frizell, or @rava_ian as he is known on the Twitter machine.  We discussed what went wrong against Connacht and also what players could feature at the Aviva next time around.

Follow Ian Frizell on Twitter here > https://twitter.com/rava_ian

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Summary

So here we are, just days away from the return of interpro rugby.  Of course the uncertainty is still there, of course we’ll all be knocking on wood while clutching a rabbit’s foot with fingers crossed between now and Saturday evening, but that can’t stop us from looking forward to the big kickoff and what I’d like to do with these pods for the next while is to chat to a fan of Leinster’s next opponents about how their team’s season is looking going into the weekend.  That means Munster are first up, and I think you can safely say that my guest Michelle Tobin (@CorkSeashell) is a fan!

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Summary

With the return of Leinster Rugby finally within reach, I have finally plucked up the courage to defy superstition and start harping on them once more.  Already this week I wrote a post on the blog looking at our sequence of matches over the coming months and for this latest pod I invited long time Leinster fan and Harpin contributor Conor Cronin to pick his best matchday squad to put us in with a shout for more silverware.

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Summary

My guest this week is Brendon Shields, who provides brilliant analytics for clubs at all levels of the game via his site Rugbycology.  A South African based in Queensland, Brendon talked to me about the post-COVID version of Super Rugby in Australia with a big top of the table clash coming this weekend,  and we also discussed the current state of the sport down there from media coverage and popularity to plans for its future.

Brendon Shields can be found on twitter here > https://twitter.com/rugbycology

And his excellent rugby analytics site Rugbycology can be found here > sites.google.com/view/rugbycol

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Summary

This time our theme is “Changes” or “Ch-ch-changes” if you’re old enough to appreciate a nod to David Bowie.  First up we welcome a new member from South Africa to our Pod Of Three Stable, as Bottomless Rugby discuss the implications of the South African franchises moving north into the European competitions.  Next we have Rugby Bricks talking to Otere Black, who is an outhalf for our adopted Super Rugby Aotearoa team the Blues, about the influence Dan Carter has brought to the squad since his arrival.  Finally the Blood & Mud Rugby boys are celebrating their 200th episode in their own, shall we say, colourful style, as they look at CVC’s investment into European Rugby and how it may or may not change the fortunes of the RFU.

1) Bottomless Rugby : “Main Event #21 – State of SA Origin”

2) The Rugby Bricks Podcast : “Otere Black – Learning from Dan Carter, Beauden Barrett and the resurgence of Blues Rugby”

Also check them out on Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/rugbybricks/

3) Blood & Mud Rugby : “Double Century Jamboree”

All content was reproduced with permission

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Summary

Over the course last week’s chat about Super Rugby Aotearoa with John Keenan of The Rugby Gods Podcast  we discussed some other things, so what I decided to do was hold over some of the extra content and use it for this week’s pod.  There are a few topics he went over like the different style of bonus point used in Super Rugby, how Jamison Gibson Park is perceived down in New Zealand and also the potential for the return of test rugby down there.

But he also had some questions for me – apparently it’s an interview he likes to give to every rugby fan he encounters online, so what I told him I’d do is have a look at them and give my answers in a separate pod.  I’ve listed the actual questions below.

Check out John Keenan’s The Rugby Gods Podcast here > https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3aZoaC5b8cyNToOvF7W1BA

Jeff Pagano Interview – Topics

1. The Pro14 v Super Rugby

a) Similarities and differences

b) Super Rugby from an Irish perspective

c) The good, the bad (and the ugly) – what could / should be done?

2. The professional rugby world as Eastern and Western Hemispheres

a) The South African (Argentinian) problem / opportunity

– Time zones; a broadcaster’s best friend

– 7/8 Nations? 2024/25 South Africa (and Argentina?) in Europe?

b) Asia-Pacific Rugby

– Where does Japan fit in?

c) Club level (replacing Super Rugby)

– Australia (4/5), New Zealand (5/6), Fiji (1) 10/12 team Competition and The Japanese Top League

d) National level (replacing The Rugby Championship)

– Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Combined XV (Fiji, Tonga, Samoa) and Japan

3 Irish Rugby

a) The Pro14 franchises

b) State of the national club level – its future

c) The national team – thoughts

4 New Zealand Rugby

a) In general

b) Revenue / Contracts – partnerships (Japan / the USA) and ‘sabbaticals’

5. ‘The Spine’ 2-8-9-10-15

a) Still relevant?

b) Where do you see the game going?

c) Influential positions and strategy

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