Author: jlpagano

80+ column : May 22

On this week’s column…

🏉 NUCIFORA’S LEGACY

🏉 TOULOUSE’S PLAN TO WIN

🏉 TONY O’REILLY RIP

🏉 YET MORE HOGGWASHING

🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 QUICK TAP – FINAL WEEK

🏉 LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE/LONDON 23

🏉 KEEN ON SEVENS

🏉 URC POSSIBLE TWEAKS

🏉 SUPER SUGGESTION?

🏉 JIMMY G 500

🏉 SIMON SAYS ENOUGH

🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl IRISH SHIELD &🔝🐱🐴] 

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).

Is it just me, or for the majority of us – if we failed at nearly 50% of our job for a decade, we would be considered unfit for the role?

What HAS David Nucifora ever done for Irish rugby…

IrishWomen’s Rugby SC Substack

JLP : When I saw the headline for this article in the Irish Times I immediately thought “fluff piece”, admittedly without reading it since they made it “subscriber only” but it wasn’t a great leap to work out it was overwhelmingly positive about his time at the IRFU.  I considered writing a counter article myself until I found out via a substack subscription to friend-of-the-pod IrishWomensSC that it had already been done for me.  It’s quite simple.  He took the job overseeing ALL of Irish rugby in June 2014.  Just a couple of months late, the Irish women reach a World Cup semifinal.  Jump ahead to 2023 and while the men may not have yet done the same, they are still winning Grand Slams, reaching number 1 in the rankings and ticking other long-standing “never done” boxes while the women sunk to missing a World Cup altogether and finishing rock bottom of the Six Nations.  Has there been something of a rebound since those depths? Yes.  But it’s all part of his legacy and for me the IT article cannot be appreciated without reading the IWSC one for context.  

If you follow the link to her substack please subscribe and support her work if you can.

UPDATE – Just as I’m posting this column news is emerging about a new IRFU funding model, I won’t have time to study it properly so I’ll try to have a better critique by next week.

“…we’re a different team than we were three years ago and four years ago, and we keep getting better.”

Emmanuel Meafou and Toulouse on revenge mission against Leinster

Neil Treacy – RTÉ.ie

JLP : This 80+ column is meant to cover topics outside of Leinster rugby but when there’s a major final on the horizon a story or two is bound to creep in.  And one of the biggest narratives leading into Saturday’s clash of the European titans is that Leinster have owned Toulouse on the last number of meetings, but given how we have handled La Rochelle’s ‘owning’ of us this season, it’s pretty clear that things can change and they are bound to be highly motivated, especially when you factor in Ireland’s BP win in France too.

O’Reilly might have reached even loftier heights in the game had his burgeoning business career not intervened at the age of 26

Tony O’Reilly: the Lions cub who earned place in Irish sporting folklore

Robert Kitson – The Guardian

JLP : Have to admit my knowledge on this Irish rugby great wasn’t what it should have been, and articles like this one helped bring me up to speed after his sad passing.

Hogg, 31, who has been blighted by legal and personal problems since walking away from the sport at the end of last season

Stuart Hogg in talks with Gallagher Premiership club

Neil Fissler – RugbyPass.com

JLP : Look – whether he resumes his playing career is totally between himself and any club who wishes to avail of his services, but the framing in that quote???  “He has been blighted” suggests the whole thing is being done to him.  I’m not going to list all the accusations against him here but I reckon Mr Fissler could have, as it would definitely bring proper context to the article.

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

The pecking order at outhalf post Sexton seems a little clearer now but does it give comfort to fans?

Leinster signings, re-signings and depth for the future

OverTheHillProp

JLP : Easy choice for COTWA this week.  And I don’t necessarily mean it in a bad way, like I have said before, the “Anyone But Leinster” narrative is absolutely fine once everyone appreciates it exists.  If nothing else articles like this one from OTHP are good when it comes to “keeping Leinster honest” and he does make good points.  It’s the timing that earns the clickbait tag for me since it was posted knowing a full week of social media posts from Leinster fans looking forward to a major final was imminent.

WRAP OF A WRAP

I keep forgetting to mention our preview in this column – I suppose that since we are looking ahead to a match in the video and by the time I write this the match has been done and dusted, it’s easy to forget but those videos, mostly featuring Keego, are a vital part of our weekly content and the viewing figures have improved steadily in the last couple of years.

The latest wrap pod featured Mark Jackson and Jay Long and while we altered the format after the defeats in South Africa recently, we managed to stick to the status quo for this one and the lads did an excellent job.

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 : FINAL WEEK

All I’ll say along with this video is…changing the tops a gagillion times?  Totally worth it. Ahem.

@harpinonrugby

This is part of our weekly 80+ column which posts every Wednesday afternoon at http://www.harpinonrugby.com #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Slightly different update section this week – we harped on a possible matchday 23 in our chat at the end of our wrap pod and it featured in our YouTube video so I have added it here.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Toulouse : see video below

OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

James Ryan: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from an arm injury.

Hugo Keenan: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a hip injury.

Will Connors: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a minor injury.

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Garry Ringrose: will continue to be assessed this week for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his involvement against Toulouse.

Tommy O’Brien: picked up a hamstring injury against Ulster and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on selection this week.

Charlie Ngatai: picked up a shoulder injury against Ulster and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on selection this week.

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

N/A

NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:

Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).

URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

So Ulster’s win does put them in pole position for the first “proper” Irish Shield (in past seasons although Leinster won it the table was based on ALL results unlike this season which is just on the interpros), but if Leinster can max out a win against the Westies in the final match, Richie Murphy’s men will probably have to win in Thomond Park to lift the trophy.  Not saying they can’t do it but it definitely won’t be easy given the form Munster are in.

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 V CONNACHT

JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER

KEEN ON SEVENS

I’m adding this story after originally posting as I have just learned of it, apparently Hugo Keenan is to “do a Duponte” and join the Irish 7s squad for the Olympics.

From an Irish fan’s point of view and purely looking at the event itself, this is obviously excellent news and it greatly increases our chances of a medal.

However, overall my views on this are complicated. I can hardly change my opinion when it came to Antoine Duponte’s addition to the French set up. For one thing, this “ringer adding” takes a slot away from a squad member who helped the team qualify in the first place. Plus, much like AD, being with the squad will hurt a XVs team in that it seems Hugo will be unavailable for Leinster’s URC playoff push.

For me this goes against everything that rugby is meant to be. Sevens is great, of that there is no doubt, and I have given both Irish programmes full coverage and support on these pages. And the Olympics is not only a special event in its own right but it also offers a unique opportunity to showcase rugby in general so I get that having some XVs stars in there helps with that.

But still, I’m not a fan of this. For what it’s worth.

MAKING THE BEST LEAGUE EVEN BETTER

Yes, I am totally on board with all the “URC=Best League” hype, I just have a couple of teeny tiny quibbles on the format, do bear with me.

The first has to do with the criteria they use for separating teams level on points at the end of the regular season.

Having “matches won” as the number one tiebreaker is brilliant.  Can’t fault it being there.  I would definitely rank a team who had reached its points total by wins ahead of one that had accumulated bonus points.  HOWEVER – why isn’t “most draws” in second place on this list?  Surely a team with, say, 10 wins an 1 draw has a better record than one with 10 wins and 0 draws, yet if that team with 0 draws has a better PD they’ll get the higher position?  I hope it never becomes decisive between qualifying and not for any team, and I don’t see that happening this season, but I still think it’s a tweak that needs to be made.

Another finicky point I have is with the final round being all derby matches.  Three of the four “Shields” involve 4 teams that are governed by the one union and since the final round can be critical in deciding where the quarterfinals will be staged (remember…these matches are extra revenue-generators), for me anyway we don’t want any nation to be in a position where “producing” a particular result to help bring that QF into their jurisdiction might be possible.  To be clear – I’m not suggesting any union would even consider that, it’s just ideally we’d like to avoid making it possible and cross-shield Round 18 matches would definitely help.

SUPER IDEA?

When it comes to Welsh Rugby, one thing is clear – they HAVE to do something to fix what’s wrong.  And their latest attempt seems to be the formation of a tournament called “Super Rygbi Cymru” to exist between club and regional level, and the reaction of the ever critical ‘Welsh Rugby X’ contingent has been, well, predictable.  I’m not one to judge (although perhaps the “Super” branding might be a stretch?) and all I can say is that I really hope it achieves its goals, which I would have thought was mending fences between clubs, regions and WRU while at the same time raising the standard for the prospects making their way to the top.  Thing is though…all involved HAVE to give it time, as in MORE than one full season and I’m not sure all involved, including the media, can do that.

JIMMY G 500

Given his time at Leinster was during the Matt O’Connor era, one Leinster fans are keen to forget, this news may have missed a lot of fans but I for one can’t help but see his 500th appearance as an amazing achievement for any rugby professional.  Besides, if a drop goal against Toulon had gone the other side of the post (and to this day I’m STILL not 100% sure it didn’t) then we may be having completely different conversations about Leinster’s history today.

SIMON SAYS ENOUGH

“For almost fifteen years Simon Zebo has been the embodiment of all this is good in Munster Rugby. That’s why he will be missed.” – The Z Factor by Caolan Scully

I never had a problem with Simon Zebo and there has been no doubting his talent. But going by his social media offerings he has always had a problem with Leinster. To be fair, I reckon he’s taken a lot of shite coming in the other direction but so do a lot of public figures. Anyway – I do wish him all the best for his future but when it comes to offering a full reaction following his retirement announcement I reckon it’s best to hand it over to a Munster fan, in this case Caolán Scully.

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Toulouse, even depleted, won in round 24 to remained top while condemning Montpellier to a relegation playoff, and Stade F outlasted Bordeaux to put them on the brink of a guaranteed semifinal slot.  ROG’s La Rochelle always seem to get a win just at the right time to keep them in the top 6 although their Round 25 trip to Toulouse won’t be easy whatever happens in London the week before.

Round 24

MONTPELLIER 22-29 TOULOUSE

BAYONNE 23-20 PERPIGNAN

OYONNAX 17-27 TOULON

CLÉRMONT 36-20 CASTRES

LYON 20-14 RACING 92

LA ROCHELLE 25-23 PAU

STADE FRANÇAIS 22-18 BORDEAUX

Round 25

SAT JUNE 1

PERPIGNAN V BORDEAUX

OYONNAX V BAYONNE

CASTRES V STADE FRANÇAIS 

MONTPELLIER V LYON

RACING 92 V PAU

TOULON V CLÉRMONT

TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE

PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Looking at Northampton and Gloucester’s results this week you wouldn’t be sure which of them won 90-0 the previous weekend but both were virtually guaranteed their final positions, although the more Bath increased their lead the more that could have changed.  We are now left with two very intriguing semifinals…the smart money would be a repeat of Bath/Saints in the final but you’d rule out Sale & Sarries at your peril.

ROUND 18

BATH 43-12 NORTHAMPTON

GLOUCESTER 54-14 NEWCASTLE

HARLEQUINS 28-53 BRISTOL BEARS

LEICESTER TIGERS 40-22 EXETER CHIEFS

SARACENS 10-20 SALE SHARKS

PLAYOFFS

FRI MAY 31

NORTHAMPTON V SARACENS

SAT JUNE 1

BATH V SALE SHARKS

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

The way Crusaders fell to their latest defeat, seen in x clip below,  might be described as “bad luck” but given their overall campaign so far I’m not so sure.  And their schedule doesn’t get any easier with the league leading Blues coming to town next weekend.  Meanwhile the Hurricanes jumped into a 19-0 lead over Moana P only to be pegged back to an 8-point victory, providing a perfect example as to why the “score 3+ tries more than your opposition” is a much better way to earn a BP than “simply scoring 4 tries”.

ROUND 13

HURRICANES 32-24 MOANA PASIFIKA

REBELS 23-26 CHIEFS

FIJIAN DRUA 28-19 REDS

BRUMBIES 31-24 CRUSADERS

BLUES 47-13 HIGHLANDERS

WESTERN FORCE 27-7 WARATAHS

ROUND 14

FRI MAY 24

CHIEFS V HURRICANES

BRUMBIES V REBELS

SAT MAY 25

MOANA PASIFIKA V WARATAHS

CRUSADERS V BLUES

REDS V WESTERN FORCE

HIGHLANDERS V FIJIAN DRUA

JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

The games were closer than expected but the semifinals produced the expected championship game with Wild Knights facing Brave Lupus in the early hours of Sunday morning.

SEMIFINALS

WILD KNIGHTS 20-17 CANON EAGLES

TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS 28-20 SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH

FINAL

SUN MAY 26

WILD KNIGHTS V TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Another narrow defeat for my adopted team the Chicago Hounds, although a one point loss to high flying Houston isn’t the worst outcome.  They drop to 3rd but can move back up with a win against the Gold next weekend. The SaberCats and the New England Free Jacks are still the conference leaders.

ROUND 12

ANTHEM RC 29-33 LOS ANGELES

HOUSTON 23-22 CHICAGO

NOLA GOLD 21-14 UTAH

SAN DIEGO 23-24 NEW ENGLAND

DALLAS 14-7 SEATTLE

ROUND 13

SAT MAY 25

SEATTLE V OLD GLORY DC

SUN MAY 26

MIAMI V NEW ENGLAND

CHICAGO V NOLA GOLD

LOS ANGELES V SAN DIEGO

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

I forgot to mention this last week, probably because I was so embarrassed I tried to scrub it from my memory…every Friday I send a WhatsApp reminder to everyone in the HPL so they remember to make their SuperBru predictions, only in the last round, I proceeded to forget myself to do the two URC matches on that Friday evening.  O, the slagging I got, and of course, it continued the following Friday.  Obviously that didn’t do my chances of moving back up the league any good and as you can see, it still looks like a two-horse race between Kino and Kristian.

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

All that’s left now is Final Week.  We plan to have Keego AND Kino on our preview show this Friday, as well as some special pre-final offerings from all of our contributors, then we’re going to leave the wrap pod recording until the Monday night as Tom will be travelling back from London to give a full report on the atmosphere and such.  Hopefully we won’t mind the wait for the right reasons…

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

348 : Ulster v Leinster wrap

18 May 2024; Charlie Ngatai of Leinster evades the tackle of Rob Herring of Ulster on his way to scoring his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Leinster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

🏉 Disjointed

🏉 Somehow ahead

🏉 Much butchering

🏉 Take the three

🏉 Cool Cooney

@harpinonrugby

CHeck out our latest wrap pod on Apple, Spotify and other major platforms rugbytiktok LeinsterRugby URC

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

MARK JACKSON

JAY LONG

FULL TIME TAKES

Paul Smith

Whoever made the call to kick to the line when we are 1 point ahead with 10 minutes to go and straight in front of the posts probably cost us the chance to top the table. A win and we were top and had it totally in our own hands but for sone reason I still can’t fathom we decided to completely f**k it up. Totally sickened right now. Not to take anything away from Ulster who completely deserved the victory tonight but its very rarely you can be so outplayed and still have the chance to come away with a win. We need to see a completely different mindset from Leinster next weekend if we are finally going to get our hands on star number 5.

William Andrew

A dreadful lack of nous to lose that game. Continually kicking the ball away with 5 mins on the clock hoping to make ten meters is not great. A 30 meter through kick to force a Ulster line out in their 22 would have burned a min at least. Plus they are now in danger of conceding a penalty.

Several generations of former Leinster 10s and 9s must be shaking their heads.

Berchmans Gannon

From the sideline the box kicking is not the way to go.

Chasing a bonus point ahead of a win is questionable.

Shit happens! I will still support Leinster without the need for a slaughter of Managment.

Kevin Kelehan

Decent game that could have gone either way, the losing bonus point will get Leinster at least a home QF, the win will guarantee Ulster top tier cup rugby next season.

Colin Mehigan

Another uninspiring performance if I’m honest….our high profile coaching ticket need to rethink strategy

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

ROUND 17

ZEBRE 18-32 SCARLETS

EDINBURGH 26-29 MUNSTER

BULLS 56-35 BENETTON

OSPREYS 26-13 DRAGONS

LIONS 44-21 GLASGOW

CONNACHT 12-16 STORMERS

SHARKS 14-36 CARDIFF

ULSTER 23-21 LEINSTER

ROUND 18 [final round]

FRI MAY 31

LEINSTER V CONNACHT

GLASGOW V ZEBRE

SAT JUNE 1

STORMERS V LIONS

BENETTON V EDINBURGH

SCARLETS V DRAGONS

SHARKS V BULLS

MUNSTER V ULSTER

CARDIFF V OSPREYS

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

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347 : Ulster v Leinster preview

also available as a podcast

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jimmy O’Brien 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Rob Russell 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley

1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. James Ryan (c) 5. Brian Deeny 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. Jack Conan

16. John McKee 17. Michael Milne 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Ross Molony 20. Scott Penny 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Ben Brownlee

ULSTER :  15 Ethan McIlroy, 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, 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Kieran Treadwell, 5 Alan O’Connor (C), 6 Cormac Izuchukwu, 7 David McCann, 8 Nick Timoney.

16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Matty Rea, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Stewart Moore, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.

BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Round 17

Saturday, May 18, 2024

KO 7:35pm Kingspan Stadium 

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

AR1: Robbie Jenkinson (Ireland) 

AR2: Keane Davison (Ireland)

TMO: Leo Colgan (Ireland)

Rugby on TV : May 17-20

FULL LIST

(all times Irish)

FRIDAY, MAY 17

7:55AM – AUSTRALIA V USA – WOMEN’S PACIFIC FOUR – RUGBYPASS.TV

8:05AM – HURRICANES V MOANA PASIFIKA – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

10:35AM – REBELS V CHIEFS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

7:35PM – ZEBRE V SCARLETS – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 2, BBC 2 WALES, URC.TV*

7:35PM – EDINBURGH V MUNSTER – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

7:35PM – BOROUGHMUIR V HERIOTS – SUPER 6 – SCOTTISHRUGBY.ORG

SATURDAY, MAY 18

3:05AM – FIJIAN DRUA V REDS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

5:35AM – BRUMBIES V CRUSADERS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

6:05AM – SAITAMA WILD KNIGHTS V YOKOHAMA – JAPAN LEAGUE ONE – RUGBYPASS.TV

8:05AM – BLUES V HIGHLANDERS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

10:35AM – WESTERN FORCE V WARATAHS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

1PM – BULLS V BENETTON – URC – URC.TV*

2PM – MONTPELLIER V TOULOUSE – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2, TV5MONDE

3PM – OSPREYS V DRAGONS – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 2, URC.TV*

3:05PM – LIONS V GLASGOW WARRIORS – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

3:05PM – BATH V NORTHAMPTON, GLOUCESTER V NEWCASTLE – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*

3:05PM – HARLEQUINS V BRISTOL BEARS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 2

3:05PM – SARACENS V SALE SHARKS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1

5:05PM – CONNACHT V STORMERS – URC – RTÉ2, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

5:15PM – SHARKS V CARDIFF – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 2, S4C, URC.TV*

7:35PM – ULSTER V LEINSTER – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

12AM – ANTHEM RC V LOS ANGELES – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

SUNDAY, MAY 19

1AM – NEW ORLEANS V UTAH, HOUSTON V CHICAGO – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

5:35AM – NEW ZEALAND V CANADA – WOMEN’S PACIFIC FOUR – RUGBYPASS.TV

6:05AM – BRAVE LUPUS V TOKYO – JAPAN LEAGUE ONE – RUGBYPASS.TV

3PM – EXETER V SARACENS – WOMEN’S PREM – TNT SPORTS 2

8PM – STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 1 

9PM – SAN DIEGO V NEW ENGLAND – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

12AM – DALLAS V SEATTLE – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

MONDAY, MAY 20

8PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ2

10:30PM – 🔝🐱🐴 HIGHLIGHTS – PREMIER SPORTS 2 

* paid streaming service

RUGBY ON TV 

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

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YOUTUBE CHANNEL

80+ column : May 15

On this week’s column…

🏉 GOOD, BAD & UGLY NEWS FOR ULSTER

🏉 LAW CHANGE PROPOSALS

🏉 POST-RUGBY CAREERS

🏉 GAME PAUSED (STILL)

🏉 ROG LIVID (COTW)

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 LEINSTER’S IDEAL 10

🏉 QUICK TAP – CRICKET SCORES

🏉 THANK YOU LOCKY

🏉 BEST SPREADSHEET FOR BEST LEAGUE

🏉 LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl IRISH SHIELD &🔝🐱🐴] 

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).

Murphy will be without five of the starters from that game at the RDS.

Ulster’s Henderson and Hume to miss rest of season

BBC.co.uk

JLP : Some good, bad and extremely ugly news for Ulster during the week…obviously Richie Murphy being made permanent coach is a positive step in the right direction for all involved but for that to be followed up by such devastating injury news really has to hurt (and trust me I take no pleasure in typing any of that) making their task all the more difficult at the weekend.  I still reckon it would be very unwise to underestimate them in the Kingspan, of course…

I’m not convinced that this package is anywhere near as robust as it should be.

Let’s stop the law tinkering – safety issues apart

Owen Doyle – Irish Times

JLP : World Rugby announced a rake of law tweaks and trials last week.  Safe to say there is a lot to unpack but most of the attention seems to be going to the taking away of the scrum as an option for a free kick and, as ever, that 20-minute red card.  For the former, I see the desire to cut the time down but I reckon it would be better to try and speed up the set piece itself rather than limit the amount of times they set.  My suggestion is an extra official in the TMO box, ideally a retired pro front rower.  On the 20 minute red, well, I have harped several times on this, no point harpin any more, it’s madness to my eyes yet seemingly essential to the southern hemisphere so we are where we are.

Building a sustainable post-rugby career involves more than just the skills acquired on the field

Navigating Career Paths: The Transition Journey for Rugby Union Players

Joe Sheppard – RuckThis.ie

JLP : We recently introduced you to the RuckThis site and here’s a good article penned by Joe ‘Big Joe Shep’ Sheppard, it does exactly what it says on the tin/in the headline.

The reason given for the persistent delays was issues with licensing and player likenesses

‘Rugby 24’ Developers Give Insight Into Delays To Game Release

Eoin Harrington – Balls.ie

JLP : I’m not at all a gamer, though not because it’s not right up my alley (I can assure you 15 year old me is furious about this) it’s more that I just don’t have the time necessary to become halfway decent at any of the amazing sophisticated offerings out there today.  But I have to say I’m fascinated by the ongoing saga over the production of a rugby simulation.  Since the heyday of Rugby 08 and Jonah Lomu nobody seems to have come close to offering an alternative to compare.  How much of the failure is due to an inability to get the graphics etc just right and how much is down to inability to secure the rights to all the players from all the teams in all the leagues remains to be seen I guess, but while it would obviously never reach the heights and sales of something like Madden or FIFA/FC, you’d think there would be enough of a demand to warrant at least a new version every couple of years.

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

“We were punished by players who have crucial responsibilities in this team.  I will not give names.”

The shocking rugby howler that’s left Ronan O’Gara livid

Dylan James – WalesOnline

JLP : Not all my clickbait awards will necessarily be for bad reasons, sometimes the headline needs that extra bit of spice to catch your eye. I mean…it is true that Aldritt’s howler was worthy enough of attention all on it’s own given who he is but adding in the reaction of his coach gives the story that extra, eh, je ne sais quoi? 

WRAP OF A WRAP

Had a late withdrawal (matron!) from the pod on Sunday evening so it would have been unfair to ask someone to prepare to review half the Ospreys match but thankfully Ciarán Duffy agreed to join the second half of the recording while I took over responsibility for reviewing the 2nd & 4th quarters.  If I do say myself I thought it went pretty well, in fact I might do the reviewing duties again for the Ulster match next weekend.  Anyway, like I said Ciarán joined us to restore the triumvirate for our YouTube recording which involved final thoughts from the match plus a couple of other topics like Leinster’s 10 and a possible selection for Belfast…

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 : CRICKET SCORES

The European rugby calendar issue has been without doubt my biggest bugbear over the 15+ years of the existence of Harpin On Rugby.  It really annoys me how coaches are forced to pick and choose between two competitions in their selections week to week, and you could say Leinster have suffered from this more than most as we are consistently heavily involved on two fronts going into every month of May.  Anyway – Northampton’s big win over Gloucester gave me my latest excuse to harp on this as you can see in this week’s Quick Tap.

@harpinonrugby

Check our our 80+ column every Wed afternoon at http://www.harpinonrugby.com #rugbytiktok #irishtiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Hopefully Alex Soroka will forgive me for saying that this has been the best “No Further Update” portion of this segment in a long, long time!  May he too return to fitness before too long, but with big knockout games on the horizon no squad would have too much complaints about seeing the likes of Hugo Keenan, Garry Ringrose and James Ryan get closer to some game time.  I have a feeling we won’t see Ringer for until the URC playoffs at earliest so I’ve tried to make my selection show the best balance between the rights amount of cotton wool, getting some rugby into the legs of the returnees and keeping some of the London starters active.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Ospreys

Keenan, J O’Brien, T O’Brien, Ngatai, Russell, H Byrne, McGrath

Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony (c), Jenkins, Connors, Penny, Deegan

Sheehan, Porter, Clarkson, Ryan, Doris, Foley, Prendergast, J Osborne

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:

Tommy O’Brien: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a hamstring injury

James Ryan: is expected to return to full training this week ahead of the game against Ulster this weekend

Hugo Keenan: is expected to return to full training this week ahead of the game against Ulster this weekend

Will Connors: is expected to return to full training this week having been a late withdrawal from the team to play Ospreys at the weekend as a precaution

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Garry Ringrose: will continue to be assessed this week for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his involvement against Ulster

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Liam Turner: picked up an arm injury last week at training and will not be available for selection this week

Lee Barron: picked up a shoulder injury in South Africa and had a procedure last week which will rule him out for the remainder of the season  

NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:

Alex Soroka (foot)

.

URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

You definitely don’t need me to scribble anything to point out the importance of the match in Belfast when it comes to the Irish Shield, the standings do that all on their own!!!  BP win for Leinster will wrap it up, although I’m not even remotely suggesting that will be easily done whatever about Ulster’s injury list!

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 V LEINSTER

MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT

JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER

THANK YOU LOCKY

When I was putting together my suggested Leinster matchday 23 for Belfast at the weekend, I struggled a bit for a 13 since Liam Turner is injured and both Osborne & Henshaw could do with at least a half match break.  I settled on Tommy O’Brien as he has played there before but had he remained at Leinster another fine option would have been Rory O’Loughlin, in fact one of many fine moments he produced for Leinster was a try against Ulster, scored in a New Year’s fixture at the RDS when we actually won!

Sad to hear of his forced retirement, we of course wish him all the best in the future.

BEST SPREADSHEET FOR BEST LEAGUE

No better man than RugbyKino to come up with a spreadsheet that allows you to plug in all the permutations for the final two rounds of the URC to see how the playoffs might shape up, if you’re a fully fledged rugby nerd like myself you’ll have stopped reading this sentence by now and you’ve already clicked the link below and you;re admiring his handiwork but on the off chance you’re still reading, be sure to follow the instructions and let us know if you find any bugs… 

(PS working out that your team won’t win the title does NOT count as a ‘bug’)…

Click here to use the spreadsheet – just save a copy to your own account & plug in your predictions, it does the rest!

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

I said it last week – by rights Toulouse’s convincing win over Stade Français to put them on top of the league SHOULD be the big result from round 23 but even for this Leinster fan who probably should be keeping tabs on les ‘rouge et noir’, I can’t ignore La Rochelle’s latest defeat, a pretty heavy one away to Bordeaux in a match strewn with errors as has already been pointed out in the Front 5 above.  This leaves them in a precarious position when it comes to reaching the playoffs, and will definitely need a win at home this weekend to Pau who are right below them.  Definitely the match of the round this time though is Stade v Bordeaux, aka 2nd v 3rd, aka two teams coming off losses and vying for a semifinal spot.

Round 23

PERPIGNAN 28-35 CLÉRMONT

CASTRES 27-26 MONTPELLIER

PAU 39-17 OYONNAX

RACING 92 28-37 BAYONNE

TOULON 30-24 LYON

BORDEAUX 34-14 LA ROCHELLE

TOULOUSE 49-18 STADE FRANÇAIS 

Round 24

SAT MAY 18

MONTPELLIER V TOULOUSE

BAYONNE V PERPIGNAN

OYONNAX V TOULON

CLÉRMONT V CASTRES

LYON V RACING 92

LA ROCHELLE V PAU

SUN MAY 19

STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX

PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Already harped on the Northampton win, but even that didn’t quite clinch them top spot just yet, they’ll need to win at the Rec to secure top spot and Bath still have home semifinal hopes of their own and of the five matches in the final series this weekend, only Gloucester v Newcastle can be called a ‘dead rubber’.

ROUND 17

SALE SHARKS 31-22 LEICESTER TIGERS

NEWCASTLE 17-28 BATH

NORTHAMPTON 90-0 GLOUCESTER

BRISTOL 20-41 SARACENS

EXETER CHIEFS 58-26 HARLEQUINS

ROUND 18

SAT MAY 18

BATH V NORTHAMPTON

GLOUCESTER V NEWCASTLE

HARLEQUINS V BRISTOL BEARS

LEICESTER TIGERS V EXETER CHIEFS

SARACENS V SALE SHARKS

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

I managed to watch the top of the table clash between the Blues and the Hurricanes, mostly to mancrush on Jordie Barrett and he did play well but in a thriller of a match it was the Blues defence at the end that got them the win – Canes had a 5m tap n go with the clock counting down and got driven back on the very first play so it put the Auckland based franchise to the summit for now.  For the most part I felt their back row including Papali’i and Akira Ioane gave them the edge.  Meanwhile the Crusader lost AGAIN…that’s just 2 wins in 11 matches and a quarterfinal spot is actually starting to look very unlikely although I wouldn’t rule them out until it was mathematically possible.  A win in Canberra in the next round certainly wouldn’t hurt.  Blues have another home NZ derby while the Canes will hope to get back to winning ways in hosting Moana P.

ROUND 12

MOANA PASIFIKA 7-43 CHIEFS

REDS 26-22 REBELS

BLUES 31-27 HURRICANES

HIGHLANDERS 32-29 CRUSADERS

WARATAHS 21-29 BRUMBIES

WESTERN FORCE 48-10 FIJIAN DRUA

ROUND 13

FRI MAY 17

HURRICANES V MOANA PASIFIKA

REBELS V CHIEFS

SAT MAY 18

FIJIAN DRUA V REDS

BRUMBIES V CRUSADERS

BLUES V HIGHLANDERS

WESTERN FORCE V WARATAHS

JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

Semifinals time this weekend, though we should probably expect a Wild Knights v Brave Lupus final.  Matches are to be shown live on RugbyPass AFAIK.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

SEMIFINALS

MAY 18

WILD KNIGHTS V CANON EAGLES

MAY 19

TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS V SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Chicago’s impressive run came to a halt as Old Glory pipped them by a point, with Dave Kearney getting a start.   The Hounds are still very much in the playoff hunt but they won’t find it easy next weekend as they travel to Western conference leading Houston.  New England remain top of the East but they too have a trickey western assignment next in San Diego.

ROUND 11

ANTHEM RC 15-38 HOUSTON

DALLAS 26-29 LOS ANGELES

NOLA GOLD 32-31 SEATTLE

CHICAGO 21-22 OLD GLORY

MIAMI 20-19 UTAH

ROUND 12

SAT MAY 19

ANTHEM RC V LOS ANGELES

HOUSTON V CHICAGO

NOLA GOLD V UTAH

SAN DIEGO V NEW ENGLAND

SUN MAY 20

DALLAS V SEATTLE

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

My performance in this season’s HPL now comes with a soundtrack, namely “Freefallin” by Tom Petty.  Seems like five minutes ago I was comfortably in front and shameless bragging about it as though Mocker Gods didn’t exist…well, I’ve paid the price and don’t be surprised if I fall further!!! Meanwhile the top spot changed yet again as Kristian jumped over Kino. 

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Ulster up next, we’ll have a preview with Keego on Friday then a wrap with Jay Long and possibly an Ulster fan recording Sunday evening.  Do join us if you can and also keep up with all our usual content around the ruggersphere.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

346 : Leinster v Ospreys wrap

11 May 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster scores his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ospreys at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
also available on Apple podcasts and most major platforms

🏉 3 up 2 down

🏉 Just the JOB

🏉 Another JL hat-trick

🏉 🍔

🏉 A perfect 10?

@harpinonrugby

Check out our full Leinster v Ospreys wrap pod on Apple, Spotify etc #rugbytiktok #irelandtiktok #LeinsterRugby

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

FULL TIME TAKES

Hubert Gallagher

Frawley looked very comfortable when he went to 10. Another very accomplished game for him. Just wished he got more game time there! Lots still to work on.

Peter Tracey

O’Brien looked sharp and has some serious pace. JGP and Frawley really sped the game up when they played together.

Frankie Taylor

Buzzing. Jimmy was incredible

David White

The spies from Toulouse in the stands leant nothing coz Ospreys were so poor

Tony Doyle

Good win and a great second half by Leinster

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

ROUND 16

DRAGONS 21-44 STORMERS

EDINBURGH 40-14 ZEBRE

BULLS 40-34 GLASGOW

SCARLETS 20-31 ULSTER

SHARKS 24-25 BENETTON

MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT

LIONS 34-13 CARDIFF

LEINSTER 61-14 OSPREYS

ROUND 17

FRI MAY 17

ZEBRE V SCARLETS

EDINBURGH V MUNSTER

SAT MAY 18

BULLS V BENETTON

OSPREYS V DRAGONS

LIONS V GLASGOW

CONNACHT V STORMERS

SHARKS V CARDIFF

ULSTER V LEINSTER

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP

AT ELVERYS

345 : Leinster v Ospreys preview

also available as podcast

Our guest : NEIL ‘ KEEGO’ KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Ciarán Frawley 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

 1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ross Molony 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Ryan Baird 7. Will Connors 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Dan Sheehan 17. Michael Milne 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Jack Conan 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Charlie Ngatai 23. Tommy O’Brien

OSPREYS :  15. Max Nagy 14. Luke Morgan 13. Owen Watkin 12. Keiran Williams 11. Keelan Giles 10. Dan Edwards 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams

1. Nicky Smith 2. Dewi Lake 3. Rhys Henry 4. James Ratti 5. Huw Sutton 6. Harri Deaves 7. Justin Tipuric (c) 8. Morgan Morris

16. Sam Parry 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Tom Botha 19. Victor Sekekete 20. Jac Morgan 21. Luke Davies 22. Jack Walsh 23. Evardi Boshoff

BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Round 16

Saturday, May 11, 2024

KO 7:35pm RDS Arena 

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)

AR1: Keane Davison (Ireland)

AR2: Oisin Quinn (Ireland)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (Ireland)

Rugby on TV : May 10-13

FULL LIST

(all times Irish)

FRIDAY, MAY 10

8:05AM – MOANA PASIFIKA V CHIEFS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

10:35AM – REDS V REBELS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

7:35PM – DRAGONS V STORMERS – URC – BBC2 WALES, URC.TV*

7:35PM – EDINBURGH V ZEBRE – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

7:45PM – SALE SHARKS V LEICESTER TIGERS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1

7:45PM – NEWCASTLE V BATH – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*

SATURDAY, MAY 11

12AM – ANTHEM V HOUSTON – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

1:30AM – DALLAS V LOS ANGELES – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

3:05AM – NEW ZEALAND V USA – WOMEN’S PACIFIC 4 – RUGBYPASS.TV

5:35AM – BLUES V HURRICANES – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

7:55AM – AUSTRALIA V CANADA – WOMEN’S PACIFIC 4 – RUGBYPASS.TV

8:05AM – HIGHLANDERS V CRUSADERS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

10:35AM – WARATAHS V BRUMBIES – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

1PM – BULLS V GLASGOW WARRIORS – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

2PM – PERPIGNAN V CLÉRMONT – 🔝🐱🐴 – TV5MONDE

2:35PM – LLANDOVERY V NEWPORT – WELSH PREM – S4C

3:05PM – SHARKS V BENETTON – URC – URC.TV*

3:05PM – SCARLETS V ULSTER – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 2, URC.TV*

3:05PM – BRISTOL BEARS V SARACENS – PREMIERSHIP – ITV1, TNT SPORTS 2

3:05PM – NORTHAMPTON V GLOUCESTER – PREMIERSHIP – PR.TV*

5:15PM – LIONS V CARDIFF – URC – URC.TV*

5:15PM – MUNSTER V CONNACHT – URC – RTÉ2, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

5:30PM – EXETER V HARLEQUINS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 2

7:35PM – LEINSTER V OSPREYS – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

8PM – NEW ENGLAND V SEATTLE – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

11PM – CHICAGO HOUNDS V OLD GLORY – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

SUNDAY, MAY 12

12:30AM – MIAMI V UTAH – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

3PM – LOUGHBOROUGH V GLOUCESTER – WOMEN’S PREM – TNT SPORTS 1

8PM – TOULOUSE V STADE FRANÇAIS – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2 

MONDAY, MAY 13

8PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ2

8PM – THE RUGBY REVIEW – TNT SPORTS 3

10:30PM – 🔝🐱🐴 HIGHLIGHTS

* paid streaming service

RUGBY ON TV 

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY 

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

80+ column : May 8

On this week’s column…

🏉 ENGLISH MEDIA AT IT AGAIN

🏉 HOGG (REPUTATION) WASH

🏉 SEVENS COVERAGE

🏉 MARLER’S LATEST

🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 LEINSTER’S SQUAD DILEMMA

🏉 QUICK TAP – WOULD YOU BE ABL?

🏉 LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

🏉 CHURCH 111

🏉 CROKE PARK ISSUES

🏉 THAT STAR WARS INTRO

🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl SVNS & CHALLENGE CUP] 

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).

…several English press outlets have used strange language to subtly chastise Leinster and Toulouse for hosting their semi-final encounters in their home cities over the weekend.

English Press Push For Huge Champions Cup Change After Leinster’s Croke Park Triumph

Eoin Harrington – Balls.ie

JLP : Not even going to go into much detail here, because whatever way you slice the actual subject matter, these stories all boil down to the same thing.  English clubs winning Champions Cup = everything is fine.  English clubs not winning = format must change.  Boo hoo.  Maybe spend more time reporting on why the financial model has failed so many clubs and what’s being done to sort it?

Mr Hogg will return to court on 15 July for an intermediate hearing ahead of his trial on 30 July.

Ex-Scotland rugby captain Hogg ordered to stay away from wife

BBC.com

JLP : Of course I believe in the concept of innocent until proven guilty but with the above dates so relatively close and given the severity of the accusations, I don’t see why any broadcaster would consider putting him in front of a camera or any microphone until due process has full taken place.  Just baffles me to have seen him since the first reports came out.  And it’s not just TV where we see his reputation-washing, this article on Ruck.co.uk from just last Sunday would have you think he wasn’t having any legal issues at all.

“In the past, players would start in sevens, and move to 15s, which was the much bigger focus in Ireland. In the past few years, there has not been much movement, and look at the quality they have delivered. They are sevens players, and have consistently performed in that code.”

Singapore Sevens: resurgent Ireland banishing ‘impostor syndrome’, says bullish legend Brian O’Driscoll

Paul McNamara – South China Morning Post

JLP : The South China Morning Post is far from a normal source of Front Five material for these pages but I wanted to see if the Irish sevens were getting much coverage over the past week or so and well, this was up near the top of the list, despite some respectable results from both genders, especially the men who reached the final in Singapore as you’ll see further down the page.

‘F***ed it. Sorry. Harlequins fans were huge. Boys were incredible. Juvé.’

Joe Marler admits he ‘f***ed it’ after cheap penalty giveaway vs Toulouse

Mark Donlon – Extra.ie

JLP : If you weren’t watching the Toulouse/Harlequins match then you heard Quins had a penalty towards the end that could have given them a chance of staging another amazing fightback, only for one of their players to go and get the penalty reversed, you wouldn’t believe it.  Unless you heard it was Joe Marler of course, in which case you’d TOTALLY believe it.  To his credit though, at least he owned it.  So there’s that.

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

Ulster are poised to steam the flow of players leaving Belfast after swooping on Champions Cup semi-finalists Leinster to land Ireland back row Max Deegan on a two-year deal.

Leinster No.8 Max Deegan to switch provinces

Neil Fissler – Rugbypass.tv

JLP : Now – to be fair, much like Joe, Neil has owned up to this and I have made more than my fair share of mistakes on these very pages over the years.  Still, this is a pretty big one, and the reports we’re hearing now since it was announced that Deegan has decided to stay at Leinster that the agreement was reached ‘several months ago’.  So assuming the story was rushed to maximise exclusivity and thus to maximise clicks, Neil wins this week’s COTWA.

WRAP OF A WRAP

I brought the same team back from the quarterfinal against La Rochelle and Tom & Mark did a their usual excellent job going back over the match, striking the right tone when it came to the scary finish. We used the final thoughts section for our latest YouTube clip.

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 : WOULD YOU BE ABL???

When I switched from an article-based to podcast-based format, our first show was a chat on the whole concept of what I call “ABL” or “Anyone But Leinster” but this TikTok is basically my taking another swing at defining it and expressing its relevance to contemporary Irish rugby discourse.

@harpinonrugby

Our 80+ column posts every Wednesday afternoon at http://www.harpinonrugby.com #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

We discussed on the pod how Leinster selections would go over the coming weeks and we kind of agreed we’d like to see a combination of returning injured players given game time and keeping the team for the final fresh, with some cotton wool for the likes of Lowe & JGP but not many more.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Ospreys

Keenan, Russell, Ringrose, Ngatai, Larmour, H Byrne, McGrath

Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony (c), Jenkins, Connors, Penny, Deegan

Sheehan, Milne, Clarkson, Deeny, Culhane, Foley, Prendergast, J Osborne

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

There is good news for Jimmy O’Brien who came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a neck injury and also for Tommy O’Brien who has returned to full training from a hamstring injury.

Garry Ringrose returned to full training last week from a shoulder injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his involvement.

Hugo Keenan will also be further assessed this week for a hip injury before a final decision is made on his involvement.

There is no further update on James Ryan (arm) and Alex Soroka (foot).

URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

The Shield comes back into play with Connacht still mathematically in contention and Munster trying to get off the mark.

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 V CONNACHT

MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER

MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT

JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER

CHURCH 111

We didn’t actually mention this on our wrap pod, but it did come up in our preview with Kino and to be fair, when he did come on Leinster fans were kind of more focused on us, you know, winning the match!  And I thought the PA guy went a little bit too far with his announcement, they should never bleed into the actual gameplay IMO.

All that said, what an amazing achievement and so fitting for him to reach the milestone at Croke Park given he’s a link back to the classic 2009 encounter.

CROKE PARK ISSUES

Speaking of Croke Park according to reports all was not plain sailing, and not just when it came to getting the full complement of bums on seats either.  Look – overall I’m happy enough to accept that for what is effectively a one-off event rugby-wise there were always going to be some issues, but if this one below is genuine (and I’ve no reason to believe otherwise) then never mind what the policy of the stadium is, I’m looking squarely at the EPCR, as they had control of the event.  Surely it’s in their policy for these spectators to be guaranteed an unobstructed view, and if that meant keeping some areas clear that meant the attendance would be a thousand or so less, then so be it?  Will definitely have to be sorted before more matches are played there next year.

THAT STAR WARS INTRO

Might as well get my money’s worth from this clip and repeat it here…I decided to go all in with some Star Wars puns what with the Leinster v Northampton match being on May the 4th and all, and after the preview show was recorded I got the idea to look for a site that helped produced a video like this one, I was very confident I would easily find one, and I was right.

@harpinonrugby

May D4s be with you (in D3) – check out our #LEIvNOR preview on our YouTube channel #LeinsterRugby #InvestecChampionsCup

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

“SVNS” UPDATE

Yet another exciting weekend for the Irish sevens programme, with the men coming within a whiskey of a first leg victory yet still closing the gap with Argentina at the top of the standings, and the women fighting back from defeat in the quarterfinals to clinch fifth spot with the help of the usual plentiful amount of tries from Aimee Leigh Murphy Crowe.  Now the circuit moves to its finals stage, the points are wiped clean and the top eight playoff in Madrid at the end of May.  No reason to believe why both Irish sides can’t push for podium finishes, same goes for the Olympics.

SINGAPORE 7S

WOMEN

POOL STAGE

V CANADA W 5-0

V NEW ZEALAND L 12-31

V SPAIN W 25-7

QUARTERFINALS

V AUSTRALIA L 24-14

5TH PLACE PLAYOFF

V JAPAN W 19-17 

MEN

POOL STAGE

V GREAT BRITAIN W 19-5

V USA L 7-10

V FIJI L 19-26

QUARTERFINALS

V ARGENTINA W 21-5

SEMIFINALS

V GREAT BRITAIN W 15-12et

FINAL

V NEW ZEALAND 14-17

Under the new model, HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their opportunity to compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid, where the women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned.

Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.

NEXT IN THE SERIES…

MADRID (FINALS) MAY 31-JUN 2

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Toulouse v Stade Français is obviously the match of the weekend as the home side have little time to be impressed by reaching another CC final.But I’d wonder if the Bordeaux v La Rochelle tie could have more significance.  When the last 16 bracket of the Champions Cup was set many thought this could have been the final, yet now defeat could leave either with doubts as to making the 🔝🐱🐴 playoffs at all.

NO MATCH LAST WEEKEND

Round 23

SAT MAY 11

PERPIGNAN V CLÉRMONT

CASTRES V MONTPELLIER

PAU V OYONNAX

RACING 92 V BAYONNE

TOULON V LYON

BORDEAUX V LA ROCHELLE

SUN MAY 12

TOULOUSE V STADE FRANÇAIS 

PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

The English press might have a been in their bonnets about Irish clubs resting players for European matches but if Gloucester don’t put out mostly academy sides for their remaining two Premiership matches ahead of their Challenge Cup final date with the Sharks, then I don’t know what to say because they are totally stranded in 9th place on the table and can’t move so their only bet is to push for the automatic Champions Cup qualification that would come with the trophy, which would probably deny Leicester a spot.  For this reason I’m expecting Northampton to have an easy enough return to domestic action while the four clubs in pursuit somehow avoid each other in round 17.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

ROUND 17

FRI MAY 10

SALE SHARKS V LEICESTER TIGERS

NEWCASTLE V BATH

SAT MAY 11

NORTHAMPTON V GLOUCESTER

BRISTOL V SARACENS

EXETER CHIEFS V HARLEQUINS

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Thought maybe the Crusaders were on the march in the last round then boom!  Up come the Reds to knock them back again.  Seriously wondering if they’re going to make the quarterfinals now.  Hurricanes and Blues still taking the top two slots and they meet each other in Auckland next.

ROUND 11

HURRICANES 41-12 WARATAHS

REBELS 11-38 BLUES

MOANA PASIFIKA 17-28 HIGHLANDERS

CRUSADERS 28-33 REDS

CHIEFS 56-7 WESTERN FORCE

BRUMBIES 28-20 FIJIAN DRUA

ROUND 12

FRI MAY 10

MOANA PASIFIKA V CHIEFS

REDS V REBELS

SAT MAY 11

BLUES V HURRICANES

HIGHLANDERS V CRUSADERS

WARATAHS V BRUMBIES

WESTERN FORCE V FIJIAN DRUA

JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

No surprises in the final round of matches and the playoffs are set for two weeks from now.

ROUND 16

HONDA HEAT 31-33 KOBE STEEL

CANON EAGLES 14-43 WILD KNIGHTS

SUNTORY 26-45 SPEARS KUBOTA

KINTETSU LINERS 36-46 MITSUBISHI

SHIZUOKA 20-59 BRAVE LUPUS

BLACK RAMS 18-45 TOYOTA VERBLITZ

SEMIFINALS

MAY 18

WILD KNIGHTS V CANON EAGLES

MAY 19

TOSHIBA BRAVE LUPUS V SUNTORY SUNGOLIATH

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

GO HOUNDS!!!!  We have adopted Chicago for this season and they really did a number on the conference-leading Free Jacks as they matched each other for tries with 3 each only for the placekicks of Hounds outhalf Adriaan Carelse to keep the visitors ahead and it narrows NEFJ’s lead down to just 3 points and things dont get any easier for them as high flying Seattle come to town next while Chicago host DC.  Houston are also doing really well and got their 8th win of the campaign at Utah.

ROUND 10

SEATTLE 29-13 ANTHEM

OLD GLORY 13-10 MIAMI

UTAH 24-29 HOUSTON

NEW ENGLAND 20-26 CHICAGO

SAN DIEGO 30-24 DALLAS

ROUND 11

SAT MAY 11

ANTHEM RC V HOUSTON

DALLAS V LOS ANGELES

NOLA GOLD V SEATTLE

CHICAGO V OLD GLORY

SUN MAY 12

MIAMI V UTAH

CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE

To be honest I would not have been surprised if both semifinals went the other way but the result is that whoever looks like finishing 8th in the URC or Premiership will be anxious watching the final as their spot in next season’s Champions Cup will be in jeopardy.  Despite all the negative talk about formats around the place, I for one like this rule.  Scraping into the last qualification spot should have some kind of jeopardy to it.

SEMIFINALS

SAT MAY 4

SHARKS 32-31 CLÉRMONT

GLOUCESTER 40-23 BENETTON

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

Just 31 matches left to predict so I’ll need a good round this weekend to make up for all the ground I’ve lost over the past month or so.  Might even need to take a few gambles along the way.

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

It’s Those Pesky Birds up next for Leinster, on Ross Molony’s 30th birthday no less.  I’m doing a guest appearance on Mauls, Balls and All on Wednesday evening, while their host Peter Burke is down to help with our Ospreys wrap on Sunday.  We will of course have our usual preview show on Friday plus all the other usual features around the different social media channels so please be sure to comment, like, share & subscribe whenever you can.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

344 : Leinster v Northampton wrap

4 May 2024; James Lowe of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s second try during the Investec Champions Cup semi-final match between Leinster and Northampton Saints at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

🏉 Jamie & James
🏉 Chronic knockonitis
🏉 First score after break
🏉 Saints go marching
🏉 Captain Caelan

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Ronan McManus

After the high of La Rochelle, there was always the risk of a down day.

That being said, we were great in bursts, and were in control for most of the game. The third try had as many “moments” in the buildup phases as any I can remember (I haven’t rewatched it, so I may be misremembering). Furlong’s reverse offload out of the tackle Bairds gallop, Henshaw somehow staying in field to keep the ball alive.

John Hyland

They did well kicking behind us, and using their wingers’ speed in the chase. Our back three look short of pace. Keenan is needed and I reckon Rob Russell might come in for Larmour.

Kevin Kelehan

Great stadium, great crowd, never say die opponents who were an absolute credit to themselves when down and out but dragged themselves back into make it very tight game. Leinster played well for 50 minutes but some very aimless kicking will doubtless be lacerated in the debrief, the pack who gave better than they got must have been super frustrated at times. Doris as always a terrier on the gainline

Gavin Hegarty

A great place to be in to say that we weren’t good but we still won a semi. If we play against Toulouse like that they will take us apart. At halftime we should have been further ahead but my god in the second half we fell asleep. The most unleinsterlike performance in a longtime.

Byrne left a few points out there from the tee but other than that was epic first half.

I was at it and feel as a club we let ourselves down. Atmosphere was lacking anything. Was dead quiet at times. Yes the stadium was blue but we failed to create the cauldron we needed.

I’ll watch it again but from the davin lower it looked like reynal was a bit indecisive. Not checking Frawley being taken out in the air again? I think peno and yellow

Pat Curran

Leinster will have to include Gary Ringrose, Hugo Keenan and James Ryan for the final. It could be what’s required for a European final.

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