🏉 Team Ireland v Team Provinces
🏉 The Never Ending Season
🏉 Who will step up?
🏉 The Boks’ approach
🏉 Series predictions
359 : Ireland’s tests in RSA – preview
Author: jlpagano
358 : Ireland U20s at World Championship Preview
IRELAND STARTING XV v ITALY
15 B O’Connor 14 D Colbert 13 F Treacy 12 S Berman 11 H McLaughlin
10 J Murphy 9 O Coffey 1 J Boyd 2 D Sheahan 3 P Bell
4 A Spicer 5 E O’Connell (c) 6 S Edogbo 7 M Flynn 8 L Murphy
80+ column : June 26
On this week’s column…
🏉 SLIMANI PICKIN’
🏉 SAM IN SA
🏉 THINKING INSIDE THE BOKS
🏉 GLASGOW HUMOUR
🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK
🏉 GUEST POD APPEARANCE
🏉 URC = BEST LEAGUE
🏉 TROLL PATROL
🏉 UPDATES [INCL 🔝🐱🐴 & SUPER RUGBY]
🏉HARPIN’ PREDICTION CHAMPION 2024
FRONT FIVE
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
Slimani joins RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett among the non-Irish qualified players in the Leinster squad for next season.
Rabah Slimani set to sign Leinster deal ahead of new season
RTÉ.ie
JLP : Not the first time news of a move involving Irish and French clubs gets leaked via the French press so the details have been sketchy. While this article suggests Slimani is on a two year deal, Ruairidh O’Connor from the Indo tweeted that it might be just one, which would seem to make more sense given his age profile. Straw poll among a few Leinster fans seems to have the reaction as “meh” to this news, possibly a step down in standards from Michael Ala’alatoa, but at least it means we’ll have some tight head cover for Furlong and Tom Clarkson, who I hope gets some starting game time at the start of the 24/25 campaign.
“He’s got a great torpedo as well, a spiral which is very old school, I love a spiral, that’s why he’s picked.”
Ireland coach praises ‘aura’ of exciting uncapped star set for South Africa tour
Mark Donlon – Extra.ie
JLP : I’ve said this before that Sam P probably won’t get much game time down in South Africa, yet still the experience of being on tour with the senior squad will stand to him as many are saying he has a high ceiling. And by “many” I mean coaches who have actually seen him play and train on a regular basis, as opposed to those ABLs online who like to exaggerate the hype about him (“Way too soon to say he is the Messiah” etc etc when actually nobody has actually done that.)
The squad features 22 forwards and 17 backline players, with Erasmus set to name the captain for the competition closer to the Ireland Test.
Kolisi back for Ireland series
SARugbyMag
JLP : The Springboks are very very VERY keen to win this series. Back to back RWCs apparently aren’t enough to scratch the itch we’ve caused by winning our recent encounters. Of course what with the URC and all it’s good for there to be a healthy rivalry between these two nations and I’m all for it, looking forward to some online exchanges on social media over the coming weeks.
“…the thing I’ve discovered in rugby celebrations is that you need goggles to protect yourself from all the champagne spray”
Inside the Glasgow Warriors celebrations
Graham Bean – The Scotsman
JLP : First up as ever it’s important to specify for those who may not know that “The Scotsman” is the name of a newspaper, in that line above I’m not trying to suggest that I believe Graham Bean to be THE Scotsman…
Seriously though, happy to share an article checking in on the Glasgow celebrations, obviously I’d prefer if it could be Leinster but like I have said several times the Warriors were indeed worthy champions.
My favourite bit of celebratory fun has to be this pic shared by Jamie Bhatti. Bit disrespectful to their hosts? Maybe. But given the sign is there to intimidate, does that make it fair game when you win there? Too fucking right.
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
Groundbreaking AI technology has unveiled its jaw-dropping forecasts for the next four decades of Six Nations glory, and the results are nothing short of mind-blowing.
Supercomputer predicts shock England finish for 2025 Six Nations
Ruck.co.uk
JLP : Normally the point of my weekly “Clickbait of the Week” award is to show an article that is being misleading to get you to click so I don’t actually include the link itself. Since this week’s offering involves what is clearly a typo, I will break this rule and just to be clear the screengrab I took was from Tuesday lunchtime so it’s very possible they may have fixed it.
To be fair, if the 2025 Six Nations did finish like that, it WOULD be a shock.
WRAP OF A WRAP
No wrap this week but I did do a spot of harpin’ on Caolán Scully’s pod, going back over Leinster’s season wasn’t exactly an easy task but I always enjoy an aul egg-chasing chat regardless and it is worth checking out.
QUICK TAP : URC = THE BEST LEAGUE
Super Rugby may be “super”
Premiership Rugby may be “premier”
and the 🔝🐱🐴 may be “top”
but given the on-field product amid
all it’s numerous off-field challenges,
The URC is still the best.
(and remember that’s coming from a fan of one of the 13 clubs yet to win it)
Below are the links used in screengrabs for the video.
TROLL PATROL
Can’t believe I’ve had this Troll Patrol feature going for a few weeks and there is yet to be a Welsh contributor! But if there was ever going to be a Welsh contributor it was always going to be Phil, he’s the best of the bunch. Never misses an opportunity to have a pop at Leinster or Ireland, and the only positive from his latest series of posts is that they are not accompanied by a screengrab of the IRFU spending which he seems to collect religiously year on year.
The post above I chose is a response to a tweet I sent just after full time in the URC final – I mean, having seen Phil’s work for several years I actually understand the point he is trying to make but still he is so obsessed with a desire to view Irish rugby negatively that he doesn’t see that the priority chart he outlines here actually makes sense for any organisation!!! I would have thought test rugby > Champions Cup > URC was the proper order of things but then again he’d probably rather see all the attention of the rugby world going to Llandovery v Carmarthen Quins…
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
The draw was made for the Olympic pools…the press are saying it’s a tricky one for both Irish teams but I reckon we should fancy our chances of reaching the knockouts in each case, we’re certainly not underdogs anymore.
Hamburg is the destination this week for the second and final round of the Rugby
HAMBURG 7s
FRI JUNE 28
10AM – WOMEN V CZECHIA
12:14PM – MEN V CROATIA
2:44PM – WOMEN V FRANCE
5:14PM – MEN V BELGIUM
SAT JUNE 29
9:36AM – WOMEN V PORTUGAL
9:44AM – MEN V PORTUGAL
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
All we have seen over the past few weeks is a media inquest over what’s wrong with Leinster…now to be fair, three successive seasons falling Champions Cup final and URC semifinals does merit that scrutiny by our standards, but how about the standards at La Rochelle, who also got to domestic SFs but only made it to last 8 in Europe? And they lost a hell of a lot more times throughout the season than Leinster did. Funny, that.
Anyway…under normal circumstances I would be shouting for Bordeaux in Friday’s final but apparently a Toulouse win will give Leinster a top seed in the Champions Cup draw so allez les noir et rouges!!!!! Still would be too gutted if UBB took it, to be honest.
PLAYOFFS
TOULON 29-34 LA ROCHELLE
BORDEAUX 31-17 RACING 92
RELEGATION
GRENOBLE 18-20 MONTPELLIER
SEMIFINALS
TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE
STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX
FINAL
FRI JUNE 28
TOULOUSE V BORDEAUX
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Not much to say here except congrats to the Blues, their first title in a long time and what better time to do it when the Crusaders have disappeared. All a very ‘meh’ campaign however what with the NZ franchises dominating yet again and with the Rebels gone it will make the 11-team tournament (most likely still with 8 reaching the knockouts) start to look almost as bad as the Premiership.
QUARTERFINALS
CHIEFS 43-21 REDS
HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS
BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA
BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS
SEMIFINALS
BLUES 34-20 BRUMBIES
HURRICANES 19-30 CHIEFS
FINAL
BLUES 41-10 CHIEFS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Finally got a chance to catch a full MLR game this season, I suppose Leinster’s lack of fixture last weekend gave me the free time…ANYWAY thanks to the free service by the Rugby Network I checked out my latest adopted team Chicago Hounds who have Dave Kearney, Nick McCarthy and Luke Carty in their ranks but in the end it was two later tries from Dylan Fawsitt, who was hooker for Blackrock College in their Jordi Murphy-led Leinster Schools Cup winning side in 2009 before going stateside a few years later, that won the day for Chicago.
I have to say it was a very entertaining match – Anthem RC, an expansion team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, had lost all their previous 14 matches but while the result was expected, it was by no means certain until Fawsitt’s second try in the 73rd minute. The lead changed hands several times as Anthem tried to win for the home crowd but in the end Chicago’s superior territory game won out. They are now guaranteed a playoff spot but can finish no higher than third and need to beat Miami in the final round next weekend to ensure that.
Elsewhere there were some interesting results at the top of both conferences. NOLA defeated New England at home which meant if the seedings hold that would make for a fascinating Eastern final while in the west, San Diego bounced back from last week’s defeat in Chicago to topple runaway leaders Houston, and although it looks like they won’t be able to win by enough points against Seattle next weekend to overtake them in 2nd spot, they can still do enough damage to show they can beat them when they definitely meet in knockout rugby a week later.
ROUND 17
NOLA GOLD 27-17 NEW ENGLAND
ANTHEM RC 29-38 CHICAGO
MIAMI 17-12 OLD GLORY
UTAH 50-46 DALLAS
SEATTLE 29-12 LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO 37-24 HOUSTON
ROUND 18
UTAH V LOS ANGELES
NEW ENGLAND V ANTHEM
CHICAGO V MIAMI
OLD GLORY V NOLA GOLD
HOUSTON V DALLAS
SAN DIEGO V SEATTLE
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
I was considering gambling on Glasgow but with the risk of dropping to 7th I played it safe for the final, and as it turned out we all did so there was no change in the final standings. Kristian as you can see has quite rightly shown pride in his prolific prediction prowess.
As for Keego, he must now not only retain the Jersey of Shame but also don it for another selfie which I will post all over the Harpin network as the League rules demand.
Next season I hope to expand the league to at least 10, with the possibility of a cup competition thrown in for good measure, we shall see.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Slowly getting back into the swing of things after a short break…as if there hasn’t been enough rugby in South Africa for us to harp on, there’s loads more to come what with the Irish tour and the World Under 20s – I have a preview pod for the Wolfpuppies to be posted on Friday and then on Monday evening I’m assembling another “all-provincial panel” to look ahead to Ireland’s chances against the Springboks. 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
80+ column : June 19
We’re taking a step back for a week or two here at Harpin Manor so just a “Lite” version of the column this week, or an “Eighty plus minus” if you will…no Front Five for example.
On this week’s column…
🏉 IRISH SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
🏉 CGB RIP
🏉 24/25 CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW
🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP
🏉 23/24 SEASON REVIEW
🏉 LEINSTER & IRELAND 1-SCORE LOSSES
🏉 THE LEO CULLEN DEBATE
🏉 HOGG SAGA LATEST
🏉 TROLL PATROL
🏉 SEVENS SQUAD
🏉 UPDATES [INCL 🔝🐱🐴 & SUPER RUGBY]
IRELAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
I dont know about you but I very much want Ireland to win both of these tests. Development is important that is no doubt, but with an Emerging Ireland tour planned for later in the year I see no reason why we shouldn’t do what we can to make these matches the clash of titans the rest of the rugby world expects it to be -back to back RWC champs v back-to-back 6N champs, with the Boks VERY keen to put the most recent results between the two behind them. Besides, it’s not like we won’t get some chance to see how we get on without regulars in the 23 with JGP and Conan missing out.
Thanks to Murray Kinsella’s breakdown of the positions below, I have had a go at selecting my matchday 23 for the first test, I’ve even included a new cap that wouldn’t be Leinster fancy that!! 6/2 bench has to be right for Loftus I’d say.
O’Brien, Nash, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe, Crowley, Casey
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Beirne, O’Mahony (c), van der Flier, Doris
Kelleher, Healy, Bealham, Ryan, Baird, Izuchukwu, Murray, Frawley.
CGP RIP
Awful, awful news. Way, way too young. His parents both played rugby in Ireland back in the 90s.
24/25 CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW
Competition draws aren’t exactly sexy topics and the one for next season’s Champions Cup isn’t until Tuesday July 2, and although the competition format hasn’t changed there was some news specific to Leinster in today’s press release from EPCR…
For the purposes of the draw, the clubs will be divided into two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. The four clubs in Tier 1 will be: Stade Toulousain (2024 Investec Champions Cup winners), Northampton Saints (2024 Gallagher Premiership winners), as well as the 2024 URC and 🔝🐱🐴 winners. If Stade Toulousain win the 🔝🐱🐴 title, then the Investec Champions Cup final runners-up, Leinster Rugby, will be included in Tier 1.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Wrapping defeats are never fun on the one hand, but on the other there’s still the whole “show must go on” of it all so we did a full wrap pod where as well as a shortened “match timeline section” we also went back over Leinster’s season overall. Tom Coleman & Mark Jackson seem to be getting more than their share of bad results when they appear on the pod but they still did a great job.
As you can see below we also found time to harp on a couple of extra relevant topics, all of them have been getting decent engagement over the past few days.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
LEINSTER’S & IRELAND’S 1-SCORE LOSSES
Lead-in question : OK now I’d like to chat for a bit about one-score matches. Much has been said about the Springboks winning their second World Cup in a row on the back of three successive one-point victories, and then of course Jacques Nienaber switched to Leinster where as you can see by the screen there, we’ve had a string of defeats in recent seasons of 5 points or less, and I have also added results of the Irish team as well as, just for good measure, the Munster semifinal loss as they had both the Irish captain and starting outhalf playing for them. You can say each and every one of these results played a part in an Irish team falling short of silverware so starting with yourself Tom, is there a pattern to be seen here?
THE RESULTS IN QUESTION :
FRA 30-24 IRE, LEI 21-24 LAR, LEI 26-27 BUL, LEI 15-16 MUN, LEI 26-27 LAR, IRE 24-28 NZL
LEI 21-22 ULS, ENG 23-22 IRE, TLS 15-15* LEI, ULS 23-21 LEI, BUL 25-20 LEI, MUN 10-17 GLA
* = after 80m
THE LEO CULLEN DEBATE
Lead-in question : This is a discussion I have tried to steer away from for quite a while now but it has been bubbling under the surface among Leinster fans on the social media platforms I’d say since our defeat in the Marseille final so obviously by now after two more campaigns gone without silverware, the calls are getting even louder so it’s probably about time we harped on it. On the one hand you don’t want the very ‘footbally’ knee-jerk reactions to defeats calling for the coach to be fired, I mean most clubs in Europe wouldn’t come close to competing on two fronts every season the way we do, but on the other hand when you’ve won 4 Heineken Cups and 8 league titles over the years, the standards are always going to be high and for the past few seasons Leinster have fallen short. So starting with yourself Mark, is it time for a change at the top?
HOGG SAGA LATEST
After deciding to leave out the Front Five this week, there ended up being four stories I felt I had to include in the column so I’m sure I could have found a fifth to keep the segment going, but then again with this Hogg story returning like an awful smell I figured it best to shift it further down the page.
Not exactly wild about how RugbyPass framed Hogg’s situation – “blighted by personal problems” suggests there might be someone to blame other than the man himself.
Let’s just say I will absolutely not be supporting MHR next season and I’m delighted there is very little chance Leinster will be playing them.
TROLL PATROL
A couple of weeks ago, I challenged a trolling comment from ‘mahasamatman’ offering them to appear on the pod…the challenge was genuine and if I got a response I would take steps to make it happen. As you can see by their latest offering, it looks like they are choosing to ignore my invitation. 🐔
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
No Irish teams in action until next weekend in Hamburg (see fixtures below) but there is still a lot of relevant stuff going on in the 7s world, not least of which was the announcement of the squads for the Olympics, with Lucy Rock & Harry McNulty named the respective captains.
We will know our opponents in Paris by this Sunday evening when the draw is made following the Monaco 7s which will decide the last 4 qualifiers in each gender. Those tournaments will be streamed live on RugbyPassTV over the weekend with the like of GB and RSA involved on the men’s side and Argentina on the women’s.
OLYMPIC SQUADS
Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad – Paris 2024:
Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC)
Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)
Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)
Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC)
Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)
Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)
Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)
Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)
Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)
Ashleigh Orchard (Cooke RFC)
Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)
Lucy Rock (Wicklow RFC)(captain)
Travelling Reserves:
Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)
Amy Larn (Athy RFC).
Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad – Paris 2024:
Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)
Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)
Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster)
Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)
Terry Kennedy (St Mary’s College RFC)
Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)
Harry McNulty (UCD RFC)(captain)
Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC)
Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby)
Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)
Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC)
Travelling Reserves:
Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)
Bryan Mollen (UCD RFC)
HAMBURG 7s
FRI JUNE 28
10AM – WOMEN V CZECHIA
12:14PM – MEN V CROATIA
2:44PM – WOMEN V FRANCE
5:14PM – MEN V BELGIUM
SAT JUNE 29
9:36AM – WOMEN V PORTUGAL
9:44AM – MEN V PORTUGAL
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
All season we have been highlighting on these pages what a bad season La Rochelle are having yet they go and make the final four to face their nemesis Toulouse, who may be polishing their 6th star but with this seeming to be the Year of The Nemesis Reversal (Leinster beating LAR twice, Toulouse beating Leinster) plus the fact that the French play their semifinals on “neutral” grounds (not so much in Bordeaux’s case) you wouldn’t bet against them having another crack at a first Brennus.
That said, as you see in the segment on the Champion Cup draw earlier in the column, a Toulouse win would help Leinster out, so there’s that.
Meanwhile the other semifinal appears to be a tossup between Stade would would be favourites on form if it were held in any other city but UBB will be keen to use every advantage possible to reverse their Champions Cup quarterfinal disappointment.
Then there’s Montpellier who stayed in the top flight by the skin of their teeth with a two point win over Grenoble. We’ll still be covering both sides on these pages next season as I plan to include the ProD2 in our update section.
PLAYOFFS
TOULON 29-34 LA ROCHELLE
BORDEAUX 31-17 RACING 92
RELEGATION
GRENOBLE 18-20 MONTPELLIER
SEMIFINALS (BOTH IN BORDEAUX)
FRI JUNE 21
TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE
SAT JUNE 22
STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Not a good day for future Leinster employees Jordie Barrett and Tyler Bleyendaal…hopefully the Hurricane’s exit in the semifinals won’t have a bearing on how they get on when they travel north! Still promises to be a fascinating Auckland v Waikato final, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Blues and I’m not sure they’ll get a better chance than this to lift their first SR title since 2003.
QUARTERFINALS
CHIEFS 43-21 REDS
HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS
BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA
BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS
SEMIFINALS
BLUES 34-20 BRUMBIES
HURRICANES 19-30 CHIEFS
FINAL
SAT JUNE 22
BLUES V CHIEFS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Really big win for my adopted team the Chicago Hounds, with Dave Kearney, Nick McCarthy, Jack Carty and Paddy Ryan all starting as they defeated San Diego (complete with Matt Giteau and the still-scoring-tries-at-42 Ma’a Nonu) to put them all but in the playoffs, with chances in the final two rounds to move up even higher.
Elsewhere Houston edged Seattle to stay top in the west while New England need just one more win to lock down home advantage in the east.
ROUND 16
DALLAS 34-36 OLD GLORY
HOUSTON 28-25 SEATTLE
NEW ENGLAND 36-27 UTAH
ANTHEM RC 14-30 MIAMI
LOS ANGELES 21-38 NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO 22-16 SAN DIEGO
ROUND 17
SAT JUNE 22
NOLA GOLD V NEW ENGLAND
SUN JUNE 23
ANTHEM RC V CHICAGO
MIAMI V OLD GLORY
UTAH V DALLAS
SEATTLE V LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO V HOUSTON
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Glasgow’s win at Thomond Park not only ended the provinces’ URC hopes, but with Kristian gambling for the upset it has also looked like handing him the HPL title. With the multiplier in force for the playoffs, Kino CAN catch him, but only if they make different picks for the final and his is the right one. The Superbru app only tells you who others have chosen when the matches kick off, and if it turns out that they made the same selection then the title belongs to Kristian.
Jay is guaranteed 3rd place but as for me in 4th, I’m anything but – in fact, with Conor, Mark & Tom all breathing down my neck I could finish as low as 7th so I’ll have to make my final decision very carefully.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
The plan is to take a break for at least a week with the next planned content on these pages being another 80+ column next Wednesday. But I’m sure in the meantime I’ll be tempted to drop the odd x or TikTok along the way so do keep an eye out.
Plus I’ll be appearing on Caolán Scully’s pod from Thursday evening as well as our regular Dublin South FM slot so there’s always harpin’ going on somewhere!
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
356 : Bulls v Leinster & 23/24 season wrap
🏉 Kicking game
🏉 Early conservation?
🏉 Predictability
🏉 Petersen chasing
🏉 Season review
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Brian Corr
Heartbreaking really, you could see players struggling in the conditions but Bulls were really up for it.
Some simple things going wrong don’t want to point out individuals but snappy passing failing us too many passes dropped taking away the momentum, a couple of kicks went awry as well, the Bulls kicking was exceptional for finding distance giving them a great home advantage.
I thought Joe Mc legally turned over the ball in the middle of the field but ref giving them a penalty seemed harsh, can someone explain why Donal on commentary was giving out about him, I’m perplexed.
Scrum a massive issue, now I’m really hoping Ireland go down and win both tests, anything else and we’re in for a torrid slagging 😂
Can someone explain why when Leinster score 87 tries second only to the Bulls on 88 everyone is saying Leinsters attack is terrible?
Lastly it’s not Bernard Jackman’s fault, based on the evidence Bulls weren’t all that, they just became all that today and fair play to them.
William Andrew
Leinster looked stale. They were moved around the park by a very clever Bulls side. It was obvious at half time Leinsters game was in trouble, its change it or lose it at that point.
Has Leinster improved this season? The answer is a resounding no.
Greg Kelly
Goodman took the best attack in world rugby and turned it into a toothless mess. Neinaber took the toothless mess and turned it into a leaky, depressing to watch toothless mess. The whole setup needs a shot of something heavy next season. Put Prendergast in at 10. Use Frawley as utility cover and Ross as the backup 10. Stop shitting on the shirt by offering the youngsters up as meat on a plate to SA teams away. Use the Academy players at home against the Dragons and Zebre and other weaker teams to build their confidence…not shatter it under a 50 point tonking.
The attitudes on the training ground build a season and clearly they are off
James Murphy
Some poor decisions from management during season
Definitely need a 10 for this level, and a second 9, McGrath was overwhelmed, also Larmar too small for this level.
Pack were bunched
Colin Mehigan
Not good enough…Tyler Bleyendaal can’t start soon enough…Nienaber’s lack of success at Munster is continuing at Leinster….does he have one year left on his contract? Sam P needs to be the starting 10 from the start of next season. Ridiculously long season. Players have been flogged into the ground. A season which will live short in the memory….yet again.
Sean MacDonnchadha
The organisation now has to be put under deserved pressure. A club side with the resources and depth of a world leading international side must expect more than consistent knockout performances becoming the new norm.Players trying their heart out and you can’t fault effort, but there is something technically wrong with their coaching and setup. If this were SA, England, France or NZ they would review with a cold mentality and introduce fresh changes. If we are serious about matching those nations then we need to do the same. Our RWC history is a clear and undeniable proof of this.
Cuan Mulligan
We were devoid of ideas in attack..Ross taking the ball with both feet planted 90% of the time.. one of the last plays and we’re looking at each other with not a clue what do to… huge fall from grace given the attacking threat we used to have. Take it on the chin; better team won… come on Munster… Ross to France please
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
URC WRAP
QUARTERFINALS
MUNSTER 23-7 OSPREYS
BULLS 30-23 BENETTON
LEINSTER 43-20 ULSTER
GLASGOW WARRIORS 27-10 STORMERS
SEMIFINALS
BULLS 25-20 LEINSTER
MUNSTER 10-17 GLASGOW
GRAND FINAL
SAT JUNE 22
BULLS V GLASGOW
HARPIN MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
AT ELVERYS
355 : Bulls v Leinster preview
LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Jamie Osborne
BULLS : 15 W le Roux 14 S Petersen 13 D Kriel 12 H Vorster 11 D Williams 10 J Goosen 9 E Papier
1 G Steenkamp 2 J Grobelaar 3 W Louw 4 R Vermaak 5 R Nortje (c) 6 M van Staden 7 E Louw 8 C Hankenom
16 A van der Merwe 17 S Matanzima 18 F Klopper 19 R Ludwig 20 N Carr 21 K Johannes 22 C Smith 23 C Smit
BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Semifinal
Saturday, June 15, 2024
KO 3pm (Irish time) Loftus Versfeld
Live on: RTÉ1, Premier Sports, URC.tv
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
AR 1: Mike Adamson (SRU)
AR 2: Adam Jones (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Rugby on TV : June 13-17
FULL LIST
(all times Irish)
NOTE : Our apologies, we originally had Bulls v Leinster on RTÉ2 but it is instead on RTÉ1. Blame the Euros…
THURSDAY, JUNE 13
12PM – LEINSTER V ULSTER – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1
11:30PM – 🔝🐱🐴 HIGHLIGHTS – PREMIER SPORTS 2
FRIDAY, JUNE 14
8:05AM – BLUES V BRUMBIES – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION
10PM – NORTHAMPTON V BATH (REPEAT) – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 3
SATURDAY, JUNE 15
1:30AM – DALLAS V OLD GLORY – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
5:35AM – HURRICANES V CHIEFS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION
3PM – BULLS V LEINSTER – URC – RTÉ1, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*
6PM – MUNSTER V GLASGOW WARRIORS – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*
8PM – TOULON V LA ROCHELLE – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2, TV5MONDE
SUNDAY, JUNE 16
12AM – HOUSTON V SEATTLE – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
8PM – NEW ENGLAND V UTAH – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
8PM – ANTHEM RC V MIAMI – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
8PM – BORDEAUX V RACING 92 – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 1, TV5MONDE
11PM – LOS ANGELES V NOLA GOLD – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
MONDAY, JUNE 17
1AM – CHICAGO V SAN DIEGO – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM
10:50PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ TWO
* paid streaming service
RUGBY ON TV
IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY
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YOUTUBE CHANNEL
80+ column : June 12
NB : Info in this post is as of Tuesday evening
On this week’s column…
🏉 EMERGING NEGATIVITY
🏉 BERCH ON THE BULLS
🏉 QATAR QASH QOW
🏉 THE HOGG SAGA CONTINUES
🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK
🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP
🏉 HARPIN ON…WHISKEY & JLOWE
🏉 QUICK TAP
🏉 LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE
🏉 TROLL PATROL
🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl SVNS & 🔝🐱🐴]
FRONT FIVE
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).
The tour is designed to give players on the fringes of the Ireland senior squad the opportunity to sample the national team environment
IRFU confirm Emerging Ireland trip to South Africa
Neil Treacy – RTE.ie
JLP : Had to switch off twitter with all the negative reaction to this news. Apparently taking a young Irish team on a tour is a bad thing now? Sure it will hurt the provinces for a few weeks but all the URC clubs get impacted by things like this at different stages of the season. It’s the nature of the sport. I harp on the need for a more sensible calendar with tournaments in blocks each and every year but even I have made peace with the fact that it is unlikely to ever happen for European rugby. And once you accept that, then it should be easy to grasp that if you are to do a tour like this which clearly has at least as many benefits as drawbacks if not much more, then no one union is going to be able to pick and choose a time of year that suits them perfectly.
Benetton made them look very average, there’s too many flaws in their performance. I haven’t been overly impressed by them.
Jackman: Bulls aren’t all that
SA Rugby Mag
JLP : This could’ve been Clickbait of the Week as it looks like they went trawling for an article that Jake White could pin on the dressing room wall at Loftus on Saturday. I didn’t listen to the full interview but I’d be pretty confident that Berch also qualified those statements with some positives in the Bulls set up.
According to the Telegraph, the Gulf state is ‘closing in’ on a £800 million (€940m) deal to host the finals of the tournament for the next eight years.
Qatar closing in on mega-money deal to host ‘Super Bowl of rugby’
Martin Healy – Extra.ie
JLP : Pretty much said all I need to say in the tweet, but I will add that I wanted to highlight this story using an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which had the headline : “Rugby’s Qatar option would be a cynical, soulless money grab” – I chose not to as it is behind a paywall but although it is an op-ed I reckon it also serves as a realistic piece of analytical journalism on this story.
Hogg…has changed his Instagram profile picture from a candid off-field shot to one of him playing for Scotland
Stuart Hogg hints at Scotland retirement U-turn as he returns to rugby
John Jones – WalesOnline
JLP : I know I run the risk of seeming obsessed with Hogg when I feature him so often in the Front Five section (baby reindeer hog?) but it’s a risk worth taking because the progression of this story has been fascinating. Off the top of my head the headlines have been : he retires pre-RWC > he’s having an affair with a jockey > he has a restraining order from his wife > he’s now a pundit > he’s in talks for returning to play with Newcastle > he’s in talks for returning to play with Montpellier > now he’s thinking of returning to test rugby. And I’m pretty sure there’s more twists and turns to come, so watch this space…
***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***
I’d have him in the squad and I would even consider him as captain because that’s going to be a big one.
Sir Ian McGeechan Makes a Bold Choice for 2025 British & Irish Lions Captain
Ruck.co.uk
JLP : Easy choice of clickbait this week. And the answer is Courtney Lawes. See, they could have said that in the headline which would then persuade you to click to find out why, but no, gotta tease that little bit extra. Now on the subject matter itself, I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all – no doubting he can do it, he’s certainly in form to make the Lions squad and also he’s unencumbered with Test captaincy. But we can discuss all of that without clicking the link.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Conor & Ciarán were on hand to help me go back over the Ulster match and it was an enjoyable chat as ever. We harped a bit more on the importance of Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe which didn’t make the pod but can be found in the YouTube clip you see below.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : THIS GETS MY GOAT
When we say a particular player is doing good things are we also dissing every other player?
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
Once bitten twice shy when it comes to Garry Ringrose. I don’t think we’ll see him again this season and this is one of those times when I’ll be over the moon to be wrong. I do believe Jack Conan will play a role in Pretoria and also that we could go 6/2 on the bench.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Bulls : J O’Brien, Larmour, Henshaw, Osbourne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan (c), Baird, van der Flier, Doris
Kelleher, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, Connors, McGrath, Frawley
NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Garry Ringrose: returned to full training last week after his return from a shoulder injury
Jack Conan: is expected to return to full training this week after missing the Ulster game as a precaution
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Charlie Ngatai (shoulder), Jason Jenkins (knee), Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
Thought I’d update this section one last time, yes, partly because Leinster finished in 1st place but also to add the interpro fixtures for next season, and it was only while doing this that I noticed that not all the matches have actual dates just yet, although it still has to be said the early release was a great idea and long may it continue.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER
2024/25 IRISH SHIELD
SAT SEP 21 – MUNSTER V CONNACHT
SAT OCT 12 – LEINSTER V MUNSTER
SAT OCT 12 – ULSTER V CONNACHT
SAT OCT 19 – CONNACHT V LEINSTER
FRI NOV 29 – ULSTER V LEINSTER
DECEMBER TBC – ULSTER V MUNSTER
DECEMBER TBC – LEINSTER V CONNACHT
XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – MUNSTER V LEINSTER
XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – CONNACHT V ULSTER
MAR 28/29- CONNACHT V MUNSTER
SAT APR 19 – LEINSTER V ULSTER
FRI MAY 9 – MUNSTER V ULSTER
TROLL PATROL
I suppose if I am to have a proper weekly segment on the subject of trolling, once in a while I’ll have to include it when it clearly comes from a Leinster fan, although I’m not 100% sure if Bryan’s is a serious question or not…either way, it gets the troll label and he managed to reel in a couple of replies.
If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.
“SVNS” UPDATE
The World Series may be over but the Irish squads are getting some more preparation for the Olympics with the Rugby Europe Championship which consists of two tournaments the first of which was held in Makarska in Croatia over the weekend. The women got off to a strong start in their pool before going on to lose four in a row which saw them finish in 8th position. The men on the other hand have continued their good form and 5 wins in a row saw them through to the final against France…but it wasnt to be, we were in it right up to the final whistle and just couldn’t get past the French defence in the second half, losing two lineouts in the process which is criminal in this code, to finish on the losing side by 12 points to 7. Still it was a good outing for Hugo Keenan to get integrated into the squad and the second and final round of this championship takes place in Hamburg at the end of the month.
CROATIA 7s
#IREW7s
POOL PHASE
V CZE 24-22
V TUR 31-12
V FRA 5-33
QUARTERFINAL
V SPA 17-33
5TH-8TH PLAYOFF
V CZE 5-10
V GBR 0-19
#IREM7s
POOL PHASE
V CRO 42-0
V GER 12-12
V GEO 17-10
QUARTERFINAL
V GBR 24-7
SEMIFINAL
V GER 31-7
FINAL
V FRA 7-12
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
There were some tight finishes in the final round and probably the most significant was at La Rochelle where the home side won to make the barrages but Racing nicked a losing bonus point with a Baudonne try right at the end (actually it was the conversion from Tedder that earned it because you have to be within 5 in the 🔝🐱🐴 ) and this put both through to the knockouts.
So as you can see below both sides must travel in the first round and it’s interesting that although Toulouse and Stade got straight into the semifinals, if Bordeaux make it past Racing it will effectively be a home match for them as both games are in the Matmut Atlantique.
Meanwhile on the European qualification front Clérmont had quite the late season surge in form to nick the 8th and final slot, which means if Leinster reach the URC final we could well renew our rivalry with them in the Champions Cup pool stage.
Also I’ve decided that from next season all going well I will also feature the ProD2 in these updates as it is essentially one of the top European leagues in its own right…I could probably name at least half a dozen clubs in URC & Premiership that would struggle to finish in the top half. Vannes earned the direct promotion spot this season and now Grenoble and Montpellier will slug it out for that 14th spot.
Round 26
BAYONNE 17-28 CASTRES
BORDEAUX 40-7 OYONNAX
CLÉRMONT 52-15 MONTPELLIER
LA ROCHELLE 24-19 RACING 92
LYON 40-28 TOULOUSE
STADE FRANÇAIS 23-20 TOULON
PAU 36-24 PERPIGNAN
PLAYOFFS
SAT JUNE 15
TOULON V LA ROCHELLE (BARRAGES)
SUN JUN 16
GRENOBLE V MONTPELLIER (RELEGATION)
BORDEAUX V RACING 92 (BARRAGES)
SEMIFINALS (BOTH IN BORDEAUX)
FRI JUNE 21
TOULOUSE V TOULON/LA ROCHELLE
SAT JUNE 22
STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX/RACING 92
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Congrats to Northampton Saints, of course we saw them as Leinster fans and they impressed (although they impressed more against Munster, twice 😜) so as a result in and of itself there was no surprise that they got the better of Bath on the day, but of course many are saying the match was defined by the red card for Beno Obano. I guess I can only say what I always do in these scenarios…keep the tackles low and you’ll never put yourself on this kind of radar. I understand the frustration for fans especially the Bath ones in this case obvs but those laws are there for a reason. And speaking of Lawes, I know I mentioned him already in this column, but what a way to finish at a club, eh.
PLAYOFFS
NORTHAMPTON 22-20 SARACENS
BATH 31-23 SALE SHARKS
FINAL
SAT JUNE 8
NORTHAMPTON 25-21 BATH
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Not much in the way of contests in the quarterfinals by the look of it, in fact arguably the most noticeable thing about the four matches is that the Crusaders were not involved in any of them. One team that won’t be involved at all in the future is the Melbourne Rebels, I can remember their formation with Stirling Morlock (who’s name I can’t even type without saying out loud in a draw out Aussie accent) one of the first to wear the jersey. It will be interesting to see how their playing staff gets distributed among the other franchises and no doubt it can only make them stronger.
That leaves three NZ and 1 Oz in the semifinals and I really can’t see anything other than a Blues v Hurricanes final.
QUARTERFINALS
CHIEFS 43-21 REDS
HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS
BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA
BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS
SEMIFINALS
FRI JUNE 14
BLUES V BRUMBIES
SAT JUNE 15
HURRICANES V CHIEFS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Chicaco Hounds may have had a lot of narrow defeats in recent weeks but they are still defeats and they have now slipped to 4th in the East – I can’t see them dropping any further but they would want to get back to winning ways soon otherwise they’ll have to play New England, who themselves are finding ways to win the tight matches. Over in the west it’s still Houston and Seattle leading the way and guess what – they play each other next.
ROUND 15
OLD GLORY DC 30-31 NEW ENGLAND
HOUSTON 29-12 LOS ANGELES
SAN DIEGO 34-24 ANTHEM RC
MIAMI 13-20 NOLA GOLD
DALLAS 22-20 CHICAGO
SEATTLE 68-29 UTAH
ROUND 16
SAT JUNE 15
DALLAS V OLD GLORY
SUN JUNE 16
HOUSTON V SEATTLE
NEW ENGLAND V UTAH
ANTHEM RC V MIAMI
LOS ANGELES V NOLA GOLD
TUE JUNE 18
CHICAGO V SAN DIEGO
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
There are fewer matches to predict at this stage of the season but more points at stake…the QFs are x 1.5, the SFs are x 2 and the final is x 3. Still tho the last weekend couldn’t separate Kino and Kristian for the title, although Kino has the edge in the first tie-breaker. Could all boil down to the last minute of the final. As for myself, I’ll do well to stay in the top 4 at this rate…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s all about the Bulls from here on in this week….Keego will join us for the preview show then it’s the Meath/Westmeath combo of Tom Coleman and Mark Jackson helping me wrap the 80 minutes in our Sunday evening recording. Do follow us on all our social media platforms and join the discussion when you can.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
354 : Leinster v Ulster wrap
🏉 Slow start
🏉 Misleading margins
🏉 Soccer skills
🏉 Marvellous McCarthy
🏉 Southern soujourn
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Cuan Mulligan
Ross while having some good moments, is too predictable, and offers little variety in attack…. Sam tried some outrageous moves , came off, granted they won’t always but means teams are unsure what to expect…
Greg Kelly
Watched the game on SuperSport and I get the impression the Saffas don’t watch Leinster in detail because they’re a bit worried 😂
It’s nice to see Leinster going full guns in the league for the first time in a while. It was a high quality game that Leinster managed well.
Strangely enough I wonder if Prendergast being in the squad and then coming in and showing some good touches means he’s not going anywhere next season. Personally I think they have to look to make him the solid number 2 next year with an eye to him getting the starting shirt if performances warrant it.
Brian Corr
I’m almost afraid to say anything because of the backlash of you’re arrogant and typical Leinster, but with almost the full squad available it’s hard to see how Ulster would have really threatened Leinster, particularly without their captain and next best second row out.
Ulster came out flying but could not get over the line, a couple of tries some would call lucky and they were buried by 1/2 time. Lucky translates into the harder I work the more luck I get.
While Ulster never went away, they conceded within minutes of scoring their first tries.
For Leinster it was great to get a comprehensive win and a fairly hard fought one which will stand to them next week.
Osbourne and Henshaw were everywhere, though it was a full team performance, I don’t know if anyone had a bad game.
Robert Webster
Good win by Leinster but thought score flattered them a little. Next week should be a good game but would expect Leinster to have too much for the Bulls, who will need to up their performance from today to have any chance. Would add that I thought it was a pretty disappointing crowd for a knock out derby.
Gordy Graham
Ultimately I’m a disappointed Ulster fan again but the boys gave it everything today and it was always going to be a big ask after losing four second rows. Murphy has had a big impact at Ulster and there’s a bit of positivity about the place now which is nice!
From an impartial view point I can’t understand Leinster’s continued obsession with Byrne, he seems to have lost his confidence and offers very little in the way of attacking threat. I think that’s why Leinster’s attack as a whole has slowed down.
Colin Mcconaghie
Massively depleted Ulster team gave their all. Not to be against a very strong Leinster.
Proud of our young lads after being written off all season.
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URC WRAP
QUARTERFINALS
MUNSTER V OSPREYS8
BULLS V BENETTON
LEINSTER 43-20 ULSTER
GLASGOW WARRIOR V STORMERS
SEMIFINALS
SAT JUNE 15
BULLS V LEINSTER
MUNSTER V GLASGOW
HARPIN MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
AT ELVERYS
353 : Leinster v Ulster Preview
LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Max Deegan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Ciarán Frawley
ULSTER : 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney;
1 Eric O’Sullivan, 2 Rob Herring (C), 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Harry Sheridan, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 6 Matty Rea, 7 David McCann, 8 Nick Timoney.
16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Greg Jones, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ethan McIlroy, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.
BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Quarterfinal
Saturday, June 8, 2024
KO 5pm Aviva Stadium
Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, URC.tv
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
AR1: Craig Evans (WRU)
AR2: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
TMO: Brain MacNeice (IRFU)
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 