As you’ll see a bit down the page, this ‘Thursday Six Nations kickoff’ malarkey is really grinding my gears, not least because it messes up my content schedule. Our preview will record Wednesday evening so I will post this late on Tuesday.
When it comes to the Edinburgh wrap, I was joined by Mr Leinster Royalty himself Tom Coleman who gave an excellent account of the match as well as an overview of Leinster’s season as you’ll see in the bonus chat. We began by focusing on Leinster’s NIQ players. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one cursing RG Snyman during the match on Saturday for overdoing the funky offloads but Tom did a decent job of providing counter point with all the good he’s done, as well as looking at Reiko & Rabah.
…had far to go. And I’ll tell you what, you’d have to go pretty far to convince me that any of the reasons given for bringing this match forward to a goddam Thursday make any sense.
I mean, forgive me for not keeping up on the latest bobsledding and luge news but when this day switch was first announced, and I heard it was to do with the opening ceremony for the Winter Olympics, I thought that meant the games were IN France. But they’re not. They’re actually in Italy. So why isn’t it their game with Scotland that gets moved instead of ours????
I mean, going by this article it seems that a weekly ProD2 fixture plus several World Cup matches under a very flawed format somehow makes this marquee matchup going to midweek understandable. Excusez‑moi, mesdames et messieurs, but it doesn’t.
31 January 2026; Scott Penny of Leinster, second from left, celebrates after scoring his third and his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Great result for the players that were playing. Thought Tector done well considering it’s been a long time since he had a run of games at ten.
Still a lot of the same issues with our attack, it’s very 1 dimensional and we need a lot of entries into their 22 to come away with some points
Cormac Mannion
We really are winning the hard way this season but a welcome win and another bonus point.
Still lots to improve on but when you think we are down to the bare bones in terms of players, it was a very satisfactory win
Gavin Hegarty
We made very hard work of it. Simple things that just didn’t work.
For example why did RG continue to try offloads when they never worked?
All teams now know they can easily unlock our shoot up defence by quick passing yet we still do it? Reko got caught out tonight.
Eamon Saunders
Good win again and great to see so much young talent being used
Kevin Kelehan
We have discovered the new and improved version of Mick Kiernan at 12 to fix Ireland’s place kicking problem, his name is Charlie Tector and he will be well ready for RWC 2027. The block down of the conversion on 80 minutes was very frustrating, Embra deserved a point out of that game and conceding it cost Leinster nothing
Dave Murray
A hard earned, but well deserved, 5 points for the 2nd/3rd string. Stormers losing again was pleasing too.
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Hi there, welcome to Broken Play, aka my Saturday morning Substack scribbling, and since you’re here, if you haven’t already, please hit the subscribe button if you don’t mind.
Ah here, is it the last day of January already? It doesn’t feel like I’d quite gotten finished saying “Ah here, is it the last day of 2025 already?” yet here we are. I must be having tons of fun. It certainly wasn’t from the weather for the past week, mind you. Storm Chandra not only wreaked havoc by causing floods and upturning wheelie bins but took mind to circle back and wreak some more later in the week for good measure.
Which means the forecast for the Aviva tonight of 5॰, little or no wind and 25% rain sounds positively tropical and having been forced to miss the La Rochelle thriller I’m extra looking forward to some live Leinster Rugby this evening.
The latest Harpin preview was a little different this week. The actual format was still the same, but right after the intro when I normally ask my regular guest Keego about last week’s match, he elected to focus on the ban inflicted on Bundee Aki during the week. We don’t discuss what we’re going to say beforehand and I reckon this could have been the most I have ever disagreed with him in all the years we have been doing these preview pods.
Obviously that’s not necessarily a bad thing, in fact many suggest ALL podcasts should have an element of opposing sides, but with this one being so short and the opening segment meant to be brief, we couldn’t really get into it. I did push back a bit, but rather than relitigate the whole matter here you’d be better off listening for yourself so you can do that here. There is also, of course, a decent look ahead to this evening’s match if I do say so myself.
And let’s not forget my latest stint on DublinSouthFM…
But before the spotlight gets turned on the team from the Scottish capital, I’d like to first look at their 1972 Cup rivals the Glasgow Warriors, who consolidated themselves at the top of the URC table (although the Stormers who are 7pts behind them have two games in hand) with a 31-22 victory over Munster last night at Scotstoun.
I didn’t see all of the match, but it was 12-5 to the home side when I joined so I got a decent look at the free flowing rugby they are playing this season. It really was a sight to behold. I spend a lot of my harpin’ time trying to justify Leinster’s defence-centric approach this season but I have to say, at times I do miss the days when we were all freely using the phrase “Leinstertainment” and Glasgow certainly had their own version on display at times last night.
24 January 2026; Charlie Tector of Leinster scores his side’s third try despite the efforts of Caolin Blade of Connacht during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Leinster at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
Another win on the road glad to get the 5 points but much improvement needed going forward 👍
Greg Kelly
Connacht were plucky and obvious up for the occasion. They applied a lot of pressure in the opening hour but fell away a bit afterwards. They were looking for big moments but fell short of a real catalyst. Leinster were sputtering along and wasteful in attack…again. Ultimately Leinster were the better team and on the hour you always felt they would pull away. As has been said week after week if we do that against the top opposition we’ll get caned but but was enough against a spirited but limited Connacht team.
Kevin Kelehan
Ireland lost big tonight unless Jack Boyle does a Lazarus, have a good bet on England for the Six Nations. The Leinster scrum did amazingly, Niall Smyth passed his exam as did Sparrow and Jerry Cahir again proving the academy let more than Tadhg Beirne slip through their fingers. Charlie Tector again superb but one of the Connacht back row should have got man of the match for over an hour they had the upper hand. Delighted to take 5 points out of a decent Connacht shift.
Chris McDonnell
Another game where harry shows why he was Leinster’s 4th choice last season. He’s good defensively and can kick goals but he’s got nothing in attack.
James Gill
Harry 💯 % kicking might get him an Ireland start. Charlie Tector should b in the A squad. Prendergast was good for connacht but need a few more forwards badly. Leinster building nicely
Eamon Phelan
Sam illo can scrummage
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Hi there, welcome to Broken Play, aka my Saturday morning Substack scribbling, and since you’re here, if you haven’t already, please hit the subscribe button if you don’t mind.
It’s 7am, somehow later than I usually start doing these articles so I guess from my POV you could call this a “lie-in”. But the family is still asleep and I am alone in a quiet kitchen, apart from the cat who just checked in after a night on the tiles, literally the ones in the garden.
Just in case this is your first time reading this Broken Play, the aim is to kind of do a written version of the Tommy Tiernan Show only that I kind of interview myself with no knowledge of my subject matter; I just type in whatever way my fingers take me and after a quick edit, the post gets published.
Last week that didn’t work so well as I apparently referenced the result of a rugby match that didn’t actually happen, major hat-tip to Harpin’ contributor (and this week’s wrap pod guest) Ciarán Duffy for pointing it out.
There is one regular, predictable section of this article where I plug the latest Harpin’ Preview Show, so I might as well do that here – myself and Keego had a quit chat looking ahead to this evening’s match with Connacht in Galway which also doubles as the formal opening of their shiny new look stadium. Click here to have a look/listen.
I think this week I’d like to harp on the ongoing soap opera that is Welsh Rugby. Well, I say I’d LIKE to, when I’d really rather not. The rivalry between Ireland and our Celtic cousins is quite intense and might have you think I’d be overflowing with Schadenfreude, but I guess I’m just too “nice a guy” to be happy about their current plight.
And no matter how long it might take for the rest of the house to wake up here at Harpin’ Manor, were I to try to explain what’s going on there in detail it would probably take me at least until next week’s Broken Play article. It really is quite the mess.
From my own perspective I suppose I could offer a broader look at what has happened, at least when you compare it to Irish rugby. I know that sounds trite since things are considerably rosier on these shores and comparing the two nations really has an “apples and oranges” feel to it, assuming the two fruits met each other on a rugby pitch at least once a year while slagging each other off for the rest of it.
Hey there, welcome to our latest 80+ column, where my goal is to harp on anything but Leinster & Ireland rugby and, well, I almost get there each week. Almost.
The wrap pod on Sunday featured Leinster’s biggest fan in Gibraltar, Rich Mifsud, who offered his thoughts on the win over Bayonne, ICYMI you can find it here.
It was officially Harpin’ pod number 490 which means a big milestone is on the horizon and if the numbers followed their usual progress then 500 would have been the wrap pod for England v Ireland in the Six Nations so instead to mark the occasion we have a special episode planned, more info on it closer to the time.
For now it’s time to kick off the column with Front Five, a feature I started on the old blog back in 2014. In those days I’d actually choose five articles to post every day to both keep the content flowing and to keep myself up to date on what’s happening in the ruggersphere. These days with podcasts and videos and such to work on, once a week is plenty.
FORMAT TWEAKS
…there is collective support from coaches and clubs to commence their campaigns before the packed November Test window.
Since this current format was introduced I have always been torn on my opinion, certainly not with what seems to be the majority. The elements that appear to annoy most people never really bothered me, like “How can you win just one game and still make the knockouts?” (you might make the knockouts but you’ll be away to a team that probably won all their matches) and “bring back the pools of four” (had plenty of flaws of its own like dead rubbers in January). Still, I wouldn’t be delighted with the current status quo, like “how the hell can a team finishing 3rd from bottom of the Premiership earn a shot at being champions?” so it’s not like I’d be a staunch defender.
This article seems to suggest that for the most part the current four pools of six with four matches each seems to be set in stone until 2030. That only annoys me because it means four more seasons of format nay-saying online if I’m honest. But as you can see by the quote, there is talk of perhaps playing matches at different times of the year, with one, possibly even two matches in October, plus a gap between the Round of 16 and the Quarterfinal.
I kind of like those ideas, in fact I’d suggest putting the Round of 16 BEFORE the Six Nations; imagine if that Champions Cup bracket was taking place this coming weekend? Anyway – we’ll see what they end up doing. I’m sure the collective ruggersphere will be delighted with the decision regardless…
OH BTW…here’s one other thing I definitely would change, this popped into my inbox Wednesday morning…
I don’t care what marketing jargon you might throw at me to explain why they have done this, I can’t see the logic in announcing nominees for POTY when the Y is only 3 weeks old. Makes about as much sense as a certain someone expecting to get a peace prize.
17 January 2026; Dan Sheehan of Leinster scores his side’s first try despite the tackle of Tom Spring of Aviron Bayonnais during the Investec Champions Cup match between Bayonne and Leinster at the Stade Jean Dauger in Bayonne, France. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Bayonne are decent ballers, that stadium is as tough to go to as La Rochelle. Eked it out and like the Ulster game they were always going to.
David Ryle
Well done. Great resilience against a team who lose rarely at home. Great vision from Sam to follow the ball for his try.
Gavin Little
Basic skills have dropped way off. The defence isn’t working. Is there a plan of attack?
Coaches have a lot to answer for. Players too.
Ken Tancred
I think Bayonne deserve more credit than most people are giving them credit for
Peter Tracey
Worst European performance I’ve seen in a long long time. They don’t know how to attack anymore sadly. They’ve forgotten how to defend as well. Boyle was brilliant as was VDF. Don’t know what Ioane offers at the minute. Stopping the progress of Tector and Cooney. Not his fault that Leinster signed him though.
Chris McDonnell
This style is seriously attritional. Another 4 players injured again today. We need to start going around teams not through them.
Christy O’Connor
Another hard watch, another limp to victory. It’s not going to last much longer playing like this and getting wins.
Sandra Seery
A win is a win. Thrilled for Sam P. Great insights for passing and his try was super.
Craig Grehan
First thing, can we stop the over hype of Sam P’s inclusion 2 lucky bounces. One led to him falling to a try. The other to a bit of a run that nearly led to a try.
Overall, smelly performance. We won, but was smelly. Where has our attacking prowess gone ?
Why is Ioane even here ? Or is it us using him wrong?
Our defense looked a bit sloppy too. A win is a win, but we’re in need of actually playing rugby. Not playing a game plan..
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HARPIN' ON RUGBY 