Hi, we’ve made a few changes in the offseason. For one thing this website has had a domain name change to harpinonrugby.blog but going forward we’re going to be promoting our content primarily through Linktree so you should see the above address replacing the old .com link we’ve featured for the past couple of years. I’ll explain a bit more on the next 80+ column video but if you’ve bookmarked the .com feel free to change now ahead of the new season, which isn’t too far away now!!!
Thanks as ever for following our stuff, looking forward to getting back to regular business soon!!!
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
“We believe he will be a great addition to the group, not only providing competition for the first team but also helping some of our young front row players learn and develop.”
Leinster Rugby confirm signing of Rabah Slimani
Marcus Ó Buachalla – LeinsterRugby.ie
JLP : We already knew this was happening but had only heard from the French media side of things so an article on the LEINSTER website is the equivalent of the fat lady singing. Obviously we welcome him and hope he does exactly as Leo says in the quote. Nothing about length of contract about length of his contract but I understand it to be one with rumblings about him being keen to be involved on the coaching side of things. And you know on social media there will be those who spin it like this signing shows some kind of favouritism towards Leinster with the decision having been made to stop NIQ tightheads, as opposed to the more obvious explanation that this deal was already agreed before the new policy came into effect. Much like the way Gibson-Park and Lowe qualified under the 3-year residency rules just before they increased to five.
Marx suffered the injury in the second half of the Test against Ireland, during a horrific croc roll that earned captain Caelan Doris a yellow card
JLP : My official take on the Doris/Ryan croc rolls….to my eye, Doris attempts a croc roll but doesn’t shift him. Ryan also attempts one and succeeds, and in the process forces Doris into MVS’s leg (though even without Doris there it would of course have still been v dangerous). I’d have been inclined to yellow card Doris and red card Ryan. Irish goggles or no, this is a very dangerous manoeuvre that needs to be stamped out, whether or not the player gets injured.
However, as much as I dislike ‘whataboutery’, it’s not easy to avoid responding to all the pearl-clutching by South African fans when only a few weeks ago we had Jamison Gibson-Park ruled out of the final stages of the URC quarterfinal because apparently he was ‘fair game’ for this challenge by Akker van der Merwe.
BC Place in Vancouver will get proceedings underway…with Ireland set to face New Zealand in their opening fixture, having moved up the ranks from WXV 3
JLP : I’m still not 100% sure about how this WXV tournament works but it seems Ireland’s improvement from last to third in the 2024 Six Nations earned them a place in the the top tier division for the second instalment and it also seems the draw has been relatively kind to us in that we avoid England. Not that the Black Ferns, USA & Canada will be easy by a long stretch but it will definitely be a much needed test for this squad. As ever with the women’s game we also have to hope that conditions back home will improve and I am already seeing talk about the 2024 Interprovincials which will be done and dusted before September this year so I’m not sure if the changes are happening quickly enough.
The rugby star is accused of behaviour that caused his estranged wife “fear and alarm” over a seven-year period between January 1st, 2017, and March 30th, 2024.
JLP : We keep track of the Hogg story because several publications tend to be dismissive over his legal situation. That’s not to say I want to assume guilt, rather I want to keep it clear what he faces when he gets his day in court.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
Commentator are blasted for disgusting joke about a female physio performing a sex act on Jamie George
Ruck.co.uk
JLP : Going by the articles I have used for this feature so far it seems Ruck.co.uk is one of the more clickbaity sites out there and they came up trumps with this one for sure. Sometimes I share the link anyway but decided against it this time.
WRAP OF A WRAP
The second test was our final featured match of the season so definitely not a bad way to finish, and Conor and Rich did their usual excellent job going through the timeline with me. Below you see their final thoughts as shared on YouTube.
If you missed the pod, click here to catch it on Spotify otherwise we’re on Apple as well as most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…FRAWLEY TIME
I had a bonus chat planned for our pod recording where we were to talk about Andy Farrell and what we’ll be missing when he’s away with The Lions but I promised my 9 year old daughter I’d watch the second half of the Euros with her so when I saw our chat was going a bit long I made an “executive decision” to scrap the extra bit and instead I shared our chat on the eventful final stages of the match which as you can see I named “Frawley time”.
U20s UPDATE
Here’s what I said on the wrap pod about the Wolfpuppies…
Also in South Africa we had the semifinal of the World Under 20s, Ireland got off to a flying start against England but once the reigning Six Nations champions were able to show their incredible dominance in the scrum we struggled to keep up with them and if anything we did well to be behind by just 11 at the end. There’s still one more match for us that will be the 3rd place playoff kicking off at 3:30pm on Friday against New Zealand.
…and the only thing to add would be a shout out to the newly-formed women’s Under 20s who finished off their Summer Series with a convincing 37-7 win over Scotland which bodes well for the future.
ROUND 1
SOUTH AFRICA 57-7 FIJI
WALES 34-41 NEW ZEALAND
IRELAND 55-15 ITALY
AUSTRALIA 35-11 GEORGIA
FRANCE 49-12 SPAIN
ENGLAND 40-21 ARGENTINA
ROUND 2
IRELAND 22-16 GEORGIA
WALES 31-10 SPAIN
FRANCE 26-27 NEW ZEALAND
ENGLAND 48-11 FIJI
SOUTH AFRICA 12-31 ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA 12-17 ITALY
ROUND 3
IRELAND cancelled AUSTRALIA (2pts each)
ARGENTINA 52-12 FIJI
FRANCE 29-11 WALES
GEORGIA 28-17 ITALY
SOUTH AFRICA 12-17 ENGLAND
NEW ZEALAND 45-13 SPAIN
SEMIFINALS
ENGLAND 31-20 IRELAND
NEW ZEALAND 31-55 FRANCE
5TH-8TH PLACE
AUSTRALIA 36-29 WALES
ARGENTINA 34-24 SOUTH AFRICA
9TH-12TH PLACE
ITALY 28-15 SPAIN
GEORGIA 40-36 FIJI
FRI JULY 19
FINAL
ENGLAND V FRANCE
3RD PLACE
IRELAND V NEW ZEALAND
5TH PLACE
AUSTRALIA V ARGENTINA
7TH PLACE
WALES V SOUTH AFRICA
9TH PLACE
ITALY V GEORGIA
11TH PLACE (RELEGATION)
FIJI V SPAIN
TROLL PATROL
They say it’s usually best not to engage trolls but often it can be a good thing when you can both knock them back and show your receipts. As I said earlier the column, there are those who took Leinster’s Slimani signing as “further proof” that the province gets preferential treatment so fair play to Kenny for putting this poster, who isn’t appearing in this section for the first time, to rights.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Just setting up the 2024 competition with the fixture list here so I can follow it through the summer months. It’s a shame that the travel distances involved prevent them from using a strict home and away schedule, I wonder if there’s a case to be made for holding the whole thing in AUS/NZ one year and in ARG/SA the next. But still plenty to look forward to nonetheless.
ROUND 1
AUGUST 10
AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA
NEW ZEALAND V ARGENTINA
ROUND 2
AUGUST 17
NEW ZEALAND V ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA V SOUTH AFRICA
ROUND 3
AUGUST 31
SOUTH AFRICA V NEW ZEALAND
ARGENTINA V AUSTRALIA
ROUND 4
SEPTEMBER 7
SOUTH AFRICA V NEW ZEALAND
ARGENTINA V AUSTRALIA
ROUND 5
SEPTEMBER 21
AUSTRALIA V NEW ZEALAND
ARGENTINA V SOUTH AFRICA
ROUND 6
SEPTEMBER 28
NEW ZEALAND V AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AFRICA V ARGENTINA
“SVNS” UPDATE
By the time next week’s column posts the Irish men will be about to start their campaign so I will post the fixtures here again and wish both teams all the best. I really think we’re in with a shout of a medal or even two all going well.
OLYMPIC 7s
IREM7s
POOL STAGE
WED JULY 24 V SOUTH AFRICA 4:30PM
WED JULY 24 V JAPAN 8PM
THU JULY 25 V NEW ZEALAND 3:30PM
IREW7s
POOL STAGE
SUN JULY 28 V GREAT BRITAIN 2:30PM
SUN JULY 28 V SOUTH AFRICA 6PM
MON JULY 29 V AUSTRALIA 1:30PM
CURRIE CUP UPDATE
I still haven’t had the chance to catch a match from this season but it does seem that the Cheetahs are the form team, possibly because they get the chance to field their best possible team as opposed to the URC clubs. I plan to pick a team to follow throughout the season but haven’t landed on one just yet.
ROUND 2
GRIQUAS 34-31 SHARKS
PUMAS 21-75 LIONS
CHEETAHS 37-17 WESTERN PROVINCE
GRIFFONS 10-52 BULLS
ROUND 3
FRI JULY 19
LIONS V GRIQUAS
BULLS V CHEETAHS
PUMAS V SHARKS
SUN JULY 21
GRIFFONS V WESTERN PROVINCE
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
A one week break between regular season and playoffs I get. A two week break and I’m wondering if that’s long enough for people to forget the Laws of rugby, especially in the USA. All I can do is wish our adopted team for this season The Chicago Hounds the best of luck in their match in New Orleans.
PLAYOFFS
SAT JULY 20
NEW ENGLAND V OLD GLORY
SUN JULY 21
HOUSTON V DALLAS
NOLA GOLD V CHICAGO
MON JULY 22
SEATTLE V SAN DIEGO
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Fair play to Keego for going above and beyond the Laws of the HPL which state “he who finishes in the last place on the table at the end of the season must post a photo on social media of them wearing the Harpin Forfeit Jersey”. As you can see, he only went and made a video!!!
Over the off season we’re going to keep this 80+ column going week to week just to have some content, but as for the podcast we’re planning two more to bring our fifth season to a close, one to wrap up the Under 20s and one to wrap the entire campaign. No dates for them as of yet so keep up with all our social media channels and of course keep up with the usual amount of commenting, sharing, liking & subscribing.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
One of the worst performances I’ve seen from South Africa in the first half and one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Ireland in the second. officials tried to screw us again but incredible finish
Dickson made quite a few 50-50 calls that always seemed to go in favour of the home team. From an Irish point of view, it felt almost endless.
But this happens in every game to every away team, so I don’t think it’s any particular conspiracy, it’s just the nature of sport!
Kevin Kelehan
Delighted Frawley got the chance to exorcise the ghost of Tottenham, ugly game but Farrell has built some team, 6 first choice players missing today, 5 of them in the back line and still got it done. Farrell is 80:20 win rate, Boks are 20:80 against the green machine in recent years!!
Sean MacDonnchadha
Very lucky I feel. Springboks only able to force penalties. We should’ve buried them in the first half with the energy, territory and possession we had. All the same, some balls from frawley
Paul Smith
Despite SA cheating and a horrendous performance by Dickinson, Ireland fully deserved the win and I’m absolutely delighted for Frawley who buried the memories of the Champions Cup last minute not once but twice with 2 superb drop goals.
John Willie Conroy
Osborne was unbelievable fair play to Andy Farrell for blooding. Questions need to be asked regarding Frawly not being picked at 10 at Leinster he’s a quality ball player and is head and shoulders above the Byrne brothers.
Brian Corr
So happy, what Irish team in the past could lose their starting scrum half, starting fullback, starting hooker and go to the world champions and get a result. 8 years since they’ve lost in Durban.
Delighted for Frawley to get the chance to make such a huge impact with two fantastic drop goals.
It’s said that tries win matches and that was the difference today
Take a bow Ciaran Frawley. Two outstanding kicks in the clutch. And we deserved it too. Again we were making mistakes, again SA were getting points but we stayed with them AND kept them tryless. What a way to end the season. Very happy out. #RSAvIRE
JLP : Ah, good ol’ Rassie. Master of 50-dimensional chess, always a thousand moves ahead of everyone else. You know what, I don’t actually blame him. Well, at least I don’t now. My biggest problem with him was after the first test of that Lions series, clearly trying to influence the officials when the same two sides still had to face each other. We’ll never know if he’d be doing something similar now had Ireland won the first test, but when it comes to the bulk of the “these two teams really don’t like each other” vibe, the bulk of the responsibility has to lie with the SA press. They’re the ones asking the lead-in questions, they’re the ones highlighting soundbites from individuals on Irish shows and podcasts making it look like theirs is the view of the entire fanbase, and most likely they’re the ones responsible for the kind of comments that made our Troll Patrol feature this week.
Ireland were pipped to the Six Nations title by England, with this weekend’s rematch at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town (3.30 Irish time) set to be another tight affair
JLP : Obviously Tuesday’s postponement was less than ideal, and going by what I have heard about the Cape Town weather at this time of year, the scheduling of this tournament there was also so. At least it turned out ok from Ireland’s point of view as we get into the semifinals with the added benefit of a longer rest time in a competition designed to give all the participants the same 5-day turnarounds. All in all it was a good job we got that late try against Georgia! You can understand why the Australians would be annoyed but I reckon we just about deserve a place in the final four though it won’t be easy against England on Sunday.
“No discriminatory behaviour of any kind has a place in French rugby.”
JLP : No long comment required here, just that clearly Jaminet is a dick. Didn’t know anything about him before this, now I do. As ever in these cases there are no amount of statements like “that’s not like me” to make up for it, not that there’s NO way back for him only that it would take a lot of time and a lot of evidence to the contrary. Well, at least as the French team’s tour goes it was the only thing bad to happen…
“An investigation is under way. They’re in a police station. Someone from the delegation went to see them to bring them some food.“
JLP : ….wait, WHAT? OK one incident is careless. TWO seems to speak to the culture surrounding a travelling squad. Obviously investigations are pending in this case so we shouldn’t speculate too much but it certainly doesn’t look good.
:
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
“We don’t really look at such things when we select the team, but this shows how blessed we are with the depth in the squad and the quality of the players we have.”
JLP : The fact laid out in the headline is true, but it’s still a bit misleading. The Springbok 23 is exactly the same as it was last week, which was also the most capped lineup in history so with everyone now having one more cap, of course the record is broken. The real headline is the fact that its unchanged. The ‘most capped’ bit is an extremely moot point IMO and thus wins my latest COTWA.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Had to switch to Monday evening to record this week and myself, Ciarán Duffy and David Cordial harped our way through the timeline. Trying to tweak the format a little, previously I’d break the match up into quarters to give the guests equal time but now I think I’ll leave the match in halves and get one to talk through the timeline while the other offers analysis. Changes still in progress for this series, hope to have it finalised in time for next season.
If you missed it, click here to catch it on Spotify or on other major platforms, also please subscribe or leave reviews where you can.
HARPIN ON…THE NEVER ENDING SEASON
Opening question :
Here at Harpin On Rugby we’re now coming to the end of our 5th season of podcasts and our first recording was at the end of July 2023 which means we have practically had senior rugby to harp on for an entire calendar year. Of course there was a World Cup in among all of that but once next season rolls around we’ll be thinking about a Lions tour and that series will actually bring us all the way into August of 2025. World Rugby have been planning to revamp their global calendar for quite a while now and to be fair to them, COVID kind of delayed things a bit so it was only last October when they announced that they had “approved transformational reform of the global men’s and women’s rugby calendars from 2026” but starting with yourself David, given what we know of these reforms, are they going to do anything to stop these never-ending seasons?
THE 6N SUNDAY PROBLEM
Looks like the Six Nations is considering going to an “all Super Saturday” schedule due to poor viewing figures. Time for me to roll out my own suggestion that I’ve had on my mind for years now…how about spreading the matches across the seven weeks, with two matches every Saturday until the final, which could still be ”super”.
This way you actually eke out two extra weekends of Six Nations rugby for viewers and broadcasters while still giving each nation two rest weekends. I’m sure the domestic schedules could be fixed accordingly.
Just a thought. Below is a sample of how it could look if applied to the 2025 schedule.
WEEK 1
WEEK 2
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
WEEK 5
WEEK 6
WEEK 7
FRA V WAL
ITA V WAL
ENG V FRA
ENG V ITA
ENG V SCO
IRE V FRA
ITA V IRE
IRE V ENG
SCO V IRE
SCO V ITA
WAL V IRE
ITA V FRA
SCO V WAL
WAL V ENG
X
X
X
X
X
X
FRA V SCO
According to the Guardian, Six Nations organisers are considering Saturday-only games (men's) from 2026.
Friday and Sunday fixtures could be scrapped and it is hoped that staggered kick-offs could boost TV ratings.
Unsurprisingly, the 3 Six Nations games with the lowest TV…
Already dealt with the unusual 3rd round developments in the Front Five section, here are the actual results…
ROUND 1
SOUTH AFRICA 57-7 FIJI
WALES 34-41 NEW ZEALAND
IRELAND 55-15 ITALY
AUSTRALIA 35-11 GEORGIA
FRANCE 49-12 SPAIN
ENGLAND 40-21 ARGENTINA
ROUND 2
IRELAND 22-16 GEORGIA
WALES 31-10 SPAIN
FRANCE 26-27 NEW ZEALAND
ENGLAND 48-11 FIJI
SOUTH AFRICA 12-31 ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA 12-17 ITALY
ROUND 3
IRELAND cancelled AUSTRALIA (2pts each)
ARGENTINA 52-12 FIJI
FRANCE 29-11 WALES
GEORGIA 28-17 ITALY
SOUTH AFRICA 12-17 ENGLAND
NEW ZEALAND 45-13 SPAIN
SUN JULY 14
SEMIFINALS
ENGLAND V IRELAND
NEW ZEALAND V FRANCE
5TH-8TH PLACE
AUSTRALIA V WALES
ARGENTINA V SOUTH AFRICA
9TH-12TH PLACE
ITALY V SPAIN
GEORGIA V FIJI
CURRIE CUP UPDATE
Why add the Currie Cup to our update section I hear you say? Only one answer…why not???
ROUND 1
WESTERN PROVINCE 25-30 BULLS
CHEETAHS 82-20 GRIFFONS
SHARKS 25-26 LIONS
GRIQUAS 24-44 PUMAS
ROUND 2
FRI JULY 12
GRIQUAS V SHARKS
PUMAS V LIONS
SAT JULY 13
CHEETAHS V WESTERN PROVINCE
SUN JULY 14
GRIFFONS V BULLS
TROLL PATROL
There are two ways to look at Dylan Jack’s original post in this Twitter thread. Well, if the world were decent, there would only be one, but we are where we are. The first way is to say “oh dear that’s a terrible injury list for Ireland I hope the players involved are ok and will be back playing soon”. Then there’s the way a load of fans in the replies chose to take it : “SOUTH AFRICA IS THE BEST AND THE STRONGEST AND IRELAND COULDN’T HACK IT!!!!!!” complete with of course all the pseudo-macho chest pounding and other bullshit. Really, really sad. And to be clear, like I always try to be when writing things like this, I’d not saying ALL South African fans think this way, but here there are definitely more than you’d like to see.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
Short but sweet column this week – I plan to continue them on Wednesdays throughout the offseason while taking a break from the pods. Still the second test to cover though, so we’ll have a preview on Friday as well as a wrap recording on Sunday evening. Be sure to keep up with all our social media channels with the usual amount of commenting, sharing, liking & subscribing.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
They got the rub of the green, big time, but we probably didn’t do enough.
Reasonably confident we can win 2nd if “end of season-itis” doesn’t kick in.
Gav Heg
If it was reversed, we won and the ref treated SA like he did us, rassie would release a two hour analysis slating him. The officiating simply wasn’t good enough at this level. like how can they review and disallow Lowes try but not notice the neck roll on Kelleher? Penalties were given for far less in NZ v Eng. And how was Casey stretchered off without any review from Pearse? Nonsensical and inconsistent
Greg Kelly
Is the call by the TMO to disallow Lowes try wrong in law? No…
Is the game in an absolute state if this is where it is going? Absolutely!
You can be guaranteed that in the lead up to all the tries today there were infringements but the TMO didn’t come back to those?
Even after the turnover Lowe beats 3 defenders to score so the manner of the turnover is not the material issue. It’s a great individual try called back for a debatable TMO intervention. Furthermore once the TMO comes in to disallow the try he must commit 100% to catching EVERY breakdown infringement from there. What if he let’s one go and 3 phases later there’s a kickable penalty awarded to the offending team? Does he call the referee back?
PSDT is off his feet in the field of play when he holds up Doris’ grounding attempt. By the letter of the law it’s an illegal intervention. It happens in all games and is never penalised but if we are going into the detail we did for the Lowe try then it’s another incidence of a player off feet affecting the play and consistency demands it’s flagged by the TMO.
If this is where we’re going it’s going to be a sh1t show.
Kevin Kelehan
Half back pairing was not disrupted, got reasonable parity at the breakdown. Unlucky with a few ref decisions that were 50:50 calls, particular Kelliher being driven back. Lots of industry and effort but also lots of shooting themselves in the foot. The series remains alive at only 7 points down, that is very encouraging, dust themselves down and be more clinical next week.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Have to look inward and be honest. Otherwise we’re only fooling ourselves again. Lineout and scrum came back to bite us after being highlighted as potential weaknesses. Backline stuttering for most of the game and no real director at 9/10. Felt like we were having to react to everything instead of dictating play. Dorris and Bundee tireless efforts. Ryan and Baird impacted well off the bench – only ones who did really. Needing Porter and Furlong to do a full 80 if possible is a massive system failure. Boks can’t wait to unleash their bench, if we’re honest we fear what will happen when we do.
Cuan Mulligan
In the first half, Kolisi was tackled, in the breakdown the ball is coming back to us and he sweeps the ball back with his hand.. not hard to see yet no tmo call. It felt like they were going out of their way to not give us a call
James Lowe had a very good game overall.
Did plenty right.
Had every right to try and keep the touch kick alive.
Also would have been risky to let that restart bounce.
This is hardly some new insight but a key issue with some of Ireland (and Leinster's) performances recently: everyone just looks exhausted. Some of these guys have been playing rugby without more than a few weeks off now for two years, and it just shows.
Hell of a test match. The fact these 46 players give a spectacle like that after 12 months of rugby is outstanding. Fine margins but congrats to the Springboks. Deserved winners in the end . Ireland went down swinging. Super match 👏 #RSAvIRE
So so good at times, but also so so poor at other, crucial times. Silly mistakes, silly penalties. Boks made errors too and we def didnt have rub of the green with TMO but the 7 pts we fell short by were on us. Be tough to pick it up for next week but try we must. #RSAvIRE
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
Leinster…are joined by Stade Rochelais, who defeated them in the 2022 and 2023 finals, before the Dublin-based club knocked them out in the quarter-finals last season.
JLP : I was convinced Leinster would get both La Rochelle and Michael Cheika’s Leicester again but in the end I was half right. Not the worst pool we could have drawn by any means, though as ever a lot will depend on the home and away determinations which apparently will happen “later in the month”. A lot of Leinster fans are excited about the prospect of trips to Clérmont and Bath in particular.
On the overall draw, RugbyKino did some great statistical analysis using actual maths to calculate the proper “pool of death” check it out in this thread.
“We will never, after a game, tell a team that we’ll see you in the final if there is so much rugby still to be played.”
JLP : While I get the point behind the overall hype in the SA press before this series, this one about “see you in the final” never really made much sense to me. My first takeaway from it was as nothing but a compliment, that the two sides had played great rugby and both deserved to be in the final. But for senior squad members to bring it up and go on to double down on it, for me anyway it leads to headlines like this one which sounds nothing but “whiny”. It’s all nonsense really.
The 2004 incident in which ROG quick-tapped a penalty and dummied the prone Boks…was also flagged by the former Munster star
JLP : So many spins on this RSA/IRE hype but I have to say this headline stood out, although CJ does also try to play down the hatred aspect of it all. As I say above, all nonsense. That said, much of the online stuff is exactly that so we should point it out when we see it!
…he pleaded not guilty to a domestic charge of acting abusively toward the mother of his four children…also…for causing fear and alarm during a disturbance in February and for not complying with conditions set upon his release from police custody.
JLP : Every week I’m astounded by the coverage of Stuart Hogg’s situation that I’ve decided to give him his own graphic and feature title. My general point of this is that often in sports media there tends to be a disconnect when the more popular players are involved in supposed unseemly events off the field.
Now to be clear, I get the whole “innocent until proven guilty” aspect of it all, and as you can see by my choice of quote I make reference to his plea, but I just think there’s a tendency to over-minimize (if that’s a thing) the accusations.
At least this article actually spells out the charges, but even here if you just read the headline you’d be forgiven for thinking this was something horrible happening to him for which he bears no responsibility, and actually the article goes on to list all of his business ventures, effectively looking like a paid advertisement for his range!!!
Naturally if he is acquitted in the end, for my part I will be more than happy to say so here but in the mean time it sounds like a nasty business and maybe it’s best if his sporting accomplishments can be kept out of the news cycle. But I fear they will continue regardless, as will of course our Hogg Watch feature.
I fricking hate seeing this sh*t. No concern towards the PERSON, whatsoever. And, in a major tournament, everyone jumping on the bandwagon. https://t.co/CQofpExIIR
UPDATE : Before I even had the chance to post this column I have already been alerted to an article [hat-tip RugbyKino] in Planet Rugby by Jared Wright titled “Stuart Hogg arrested again for ‘breach of bail’ as rugby return hangs in the balance” I was going to redo this section to replace the article but you know what, I’ll keep what I have there and include both links as it speaks to the sheer amount of online info about the guy, it’s like we’ve heard more about him since he retired than we did when he was playing!!! This story doesn’t speak very well for his not guilty plea though…
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
There is a huge apathy towards the URC in Wales which doesn’t purely stem from the Welsh clubs struggling for on-field success.
JLP : You have to love the devotion of a certain section of the Welsh rugby fan base to the idea of joining the Premiership, as if wishing will make it happen. But on a different level you have publications like Wales Online looking to trawl for clicks with headlines like this one making it seem like it is actually possible.
The common opinion seems to be that if the Premiership were to agree to any type of a merger it would have to be with the URC as a whole as the draw of the oft-travelling Irish fans would be something the PRL would be very much be interested in. All of which is ironic because those particular Welsh fans are almost as keen to get away from the Irish as they are to go towards the English!!!
Anyway this latest offering has earned Steffan this week’s COTWA.
SA TOUR PREVIEW
No wrap pod this week of course so I put together an “all-provincial panel” featuring Padraig “The 2nd row” Kelly, Michelle Tobin and Harpin debutant Jack Fogarty to look ahead to the South African tour. We discussed where the Irish team finds itself at the moment morale-wise, what players could step up on this tour and also how the South Africans may approach the tests. Click here if you missed the pod or check out the YouTube clip below for a sample.
HARPIN ON…PROVINCIAL SEASON REVIEWS
Of course it would have been rude to have guests from the other provinces without asking them to go back over their teams’ respective 23/24 campaigns, and I even managed to do it without bringing up the considerable bragging rights Leinster have after winning yet another Irish Shield ha ha.
OPPOSITION VIEW – SPRINGBOKS
Haven’t recorded an Opposition view pod for a while and now seemed like the perfect time when a proper South African perspective is needed ahead of the series so I asked Thala Msutu back on and we have a great chat about the buy in to the URC down there, the Springboks motivation for this series and of course the matchday squad named by Rassie on Tuesday.
Because of this recording we have no Quick Tap this week, we hope to return to them soon.
WORLD U20s UPDATE
Super start for the Wolfpuppies, after they ran us close at Musgrave Park in the Six Nations we could have expected a similar result but this was an outstanding team performance from Willie Faloon’s charges that got the result they deserved. Now we’ll be hoping for a similar result against Georgia before what should be the decider against Australia next Tuesday. Hopefully by the time the next 80+ column rolls around we’ll be looking ahead to a semifinal but still much work to be done.
ROUND 1
SOUTH AFRICA 57-7 FIJI
WALES 34-41 NEW ZEALAND
IRELAND 55-15 ITALY
AUSTRALIA 35-11 GEORGIA
FRANCE 49-12 SPAIN
ENGLAND 40-21 ARGENTINA
ROUND 2
THU JULY 4
IRELAND V GEORGIA
WALES V SPAIN
FRANCE V NEW ZEALAND
ENGLAND V FIJI
SOUTH AFRICA V ARGENTINA
AUSTRALIA V ITALY
ROUND 3
TUE JULY 9
IRELAND V AUSTRALIA
ARGENTINA V FIJI
FRANCE V WALES
GEORGIA V ITALY
SOUTH AFRICA V ENGLAND
NEW ZEALAND V SPAIN
TROLL PATROL
This really, really annoyed me when I first saw it a few days ago and it immediately earned its place in this week’s troll patrol. For me it shows the lengths to which some people will go to have a pop at Leinster, harking to a reference that mentions ‘the poorest parts of AIDS ravaged Africa’??? Speaks to a complete disconnect between sporting ‘banter’ and, well, actual serious stuff going on in the world.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
Mixed fortunes for the Irish teams in the Hamburg 7s, the men’s won the title although with the overall Rugby Europe championship taking both this and the previous event in Croatia, it ended up being France who won on points difference. Meanwhile the women recovered well after a poor start to win the 5th place final over Czechia having lost to them in their pool opener. Still plenty of evidence from both sides that they can do well in the Olympics.
Not much to say about that final apart from “Merci, beaucoup, Toulouse!” for helping Leinster get a top seed in the Champions Cup draw and the sentiments outlined in my tweet below.
Personally I love the 🔝🐱🐴 but I have to say, if Leinster or indeed any team in the URC won a game 59-3 in the regular season there would be articles written about the league's viability. This was a final. Just sayin'.
Shane O’Leary is an out-half who was born in Cork and had stints with Grenoble & Connacht among others before declaring to play for Canada and has 13 test caps.
Luke Carty is an out half born in Athlone (and Jack’s brother) who also spent time with Connacht and he went across the Atlantic to play for the USA where he has earned 16 test caps.
Last weekend, Miami Sharks had possession in the early stages and O’Leary threw a pass which was intercepted by Carty to go the length of the pitch to put the Chicago Hounds ahead in their final regular season match on the way to a 38-26 victory which secured 3rd spot and a playoff trip to New Orleans in a couple of weeks. As I have said before in this section, the Hounds are my adopted team for this season as they have a decent Irish contingent also including Dave Kearney and Nick McCarthy, and this has been a good campaign for them and you certainly wouldn’t rule them out causing an upset.
Elsewhere the reigning champs New England clinched top spot in the East and will face Old Glory DC while in the west Houston will play Dallas in a Texas derby while Seattle will host San Diego. The league takes a rest week before the knockouts which is a good idea.
ROUND 18
UTAH 24-31 LOS ANGELES
NEW ENGLAND 40-7 ANTHEM
CHICAGO 38-26 MIAMI
OLD GLORY 27-24 NOLA GOLD
HOUSTON 29-28 DALLAS
SAN DIEGO 45-33 SEATTLE
PLAYOFFS
SAT JULY 20
NEW ENGLAND V OLD GLORY
SUN JULY 21
HOUSTON V DALLAS
NOLA GOLD V CHICAGO
MON JULY 22
SEATTLE V SAN DIEGO
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
The end of Season 5 of our podcast adventure is in sight. Next up we’ve the first test preview recording Thursday night and the wrap will be Sunday. Be sure to keep up with all our social media channels with the usual amount of commenting, sharing, liking & subscribing.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 