JLP : SNI was the first non-Harpin site I ever wrote for back in the day so I like to check in, here we have one from many articles that suggest it will be Jordan Larmour who will fill the gap at 15 left by the absence of Messrs Keenan & Frawley. More on this in the injury update further down the column.
Following the departure of Jonny Petrie earlier this week, Hugh will commence his role with the province on Wednesday 3rd of April
JLP : All change at the Kingspan and it is good to see it happening at the very top not just coaching level. It has been clear for a while that moves needed to be made higher up the chain. Certainly hasn’t been the easiest for them to start the new era on a South African tour but hopefully there will be enough understanding from the fans that it will take time to turn things around.
Raynal made a remarkably bold decision in a 2022 Bledisloe Cup match…in the fallout, Raynal deleted his social media to protect his family from abuse.
JLP : Sorry to hear, I never had an issue with him and while I’ve never seen an All Black defeat I didn’t like, I still 100% backed his decision to call that free kick the game needed it especially in such a high profile match although you don’t need to justify pushing back against any form of online abuse towards anyone involved in the sport.
JLP : Very important site this, you’d understand why there’s no ‘official’ source representative the POV of officials but this independent one has always been reliable. This is just a straightforward article listing the officiating teams for the last 16 but I pretty much visit this site every week so I thought I’d share it here.
You promised to you were going play like it’s your last f***ing game as a group together. But you lied. You’re a f***ing liar!
JLP : My feelings on Rassie are mixed – of course you have to respect the whole “two World Cups” part but the Lions tour shenanigans did leave a sour taste. I always appreciate these behind the scenes bits, looking forward to watching CTS2.
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
We recorded on Monday this week and aimed to keep the wrap part as brief as possible. Tom & Ciarán did a bang up job with this as well as looking ahead to the matches Leinster have coming up.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : PROMOTING INCLUSION
NGL when I started writing this copy I wasn’t sure where I was headed with it but it became apparent as I went along. The promotion argument has gone on for long enough and it’s about time we started coming up with viable solutions. Obviously the option I suggest in the video is a more long term one, I guess I was being realistic about the length of time it takes this sport to make any kind of change. There are of course many different options that would be fine, the important thing is that they do something soon.
While Hugo Keenan & Jimmy O’Brien were in the dreaded “no further update” section, there actually followed a further update that both could return to action sooner than expected, which is definitely good news at this stage of the season.
Strange Jason Jenkins wasn’t included in the update but anyway I’m assuming he’ll be available for Friday where I may be a mile off with my selection but you have to admit that would not only be a form starting XV but it would also possibly be the most talented bench the RDS has ever seen…
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Bulls
Larmour, Russell, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, R Byrne, McGrath
Healy, Kelleher, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Baird, van der Flier, Deegan
NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Martin Moloney: has returned to full training this week after returning from a bicep injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Cormac Foley: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a shoulder injury
Ciarán Frawley: was withdrawn from the game at the weekend with a foot injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his availability
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Hugo Keenan (hip), James Ryan (arm), Tommy O’Brien (hamstring), Alex Soroka (foot), Charlie Ngatai (calf) and Jimmy O’Brien (Neck)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
Here’s what I read on the pod…
In the Women’s Six Nations Ireland may have fallen in their opening match in France but there were still loads of positives to take from it, first the 21 point deficit was a vast improvement on the 50 from the same fixture last season, plus we showed we could get scores ourselves with two Aoifes crossing, namely Wafer and Dalton. Also despite the scoreline it was still a strong defensive display overall from the girls so plenty to feel good about looking ahead to next week’s task against Italy, who were playing at the same Stadio di Lanfranchi where Leinster had won the night before. Although the Red Roses shipped an early red card for Sarah Beckett, they were still way too good for their hosts and ran out convincing 48-0 winners. So hopefully there will be a full crowd at the RDS next Saturday to cheer on the girls. That really should be a fascinating encounter.
One extra point I’d like to make is that I really thought it was strange that the Red Roses’ opener against Italy was played at exactly the same time as Bath v Sale Sharks in the men’s Premiership. Whatever about the complexities of broadcasting contracts and what-not, that’s a terrible look for the sport overall and women’s rugby in particular. Those fans in The Rec should have been afforded the opportunity to watch their national team play as it happened, even if they weren’t the reigning champions.
ROUND ONE
ITALY 0-48 ENGLAND
WALES 18-20 SCOTLAND
FRANCE 38-17 IRELAND
ROUND TWO
FRI MAR 30
SCOTLAND V FRANCE
ENGLAND V WALES
SAT MAR 31
IRELAND V ITALY
“SVNS” UPDATE
The series doesn’t return until the weekend of April 5-7 but the draw for the Hong Kong pools has been made, here’s some copy straight from the tournament page…
The pools have been drawn for the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens (5-7 April 2024) at the Hong Kong Stadium, the sixth of eight tournaments on the HSBC SVNS, and the full schedule has now been confirmed.
Pool C sees Ireland – currently second in the standings after finishing as runners-up in Perth and the USA, atop the pool with tenth-placed Spain, eleventh-ranked Samoa and seventh-ranked South Africa, who were winners of the Series opener in Dubai.
In the 12-team women’s competition, a taut battle between Australia and New Zealand is developing, with both sides claiming two cup wins to date. Australia won the two opening legs in Dubai and Cape Town, while New Zealand won the two most recent tournaments in Los Angeles and Vancouver. Ireland won the cup in Perth.
Only four points separate the two women’s leaders ahead of Hong Kong with Australia on 90 and New Zealand on 86. France is in third on 74. USA and Canada round out the top five as the action moves to Hong Kong.
New Zealand top Pool A ahead of France, Brazil and Team Great Britain. Australia head Pool B over South Africa, Ireland and Fiji, while fourth-placed USA head Pool C with Canada, Japan and Spain.
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Some mad results from Round 19, with Toulon’s margin of victory over Montpellier being greater than all the other 6 matches put together. La Rochelle fell again, but despite having more losses than wins they are still clinging on to a playoff position by their fingernails. Stu Lancaster’s Racing had a much needed win to keep them up there while Parisian rivals Stade Français inched a little further ahead at the top as Toulouse were edged out in Bayonne. Round 20 is interesting in that all 7 matches involve one team from the top half against a team from the bottom half so we’ll see if there are any upsets.
Round 19
TOULON 54-7 MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX 14-15 PERPIGNAN
CASTRES 21-23 RACING 92
CLÉRMONT 31-28 PAU
STADE FRANÇAIS 22-13 LYON
BAYONNE 13-12 LA ROCHELLE
BORDEAUX 31-28 TOULOUSE
Round 20
SAT MAR 30
MONTPELLIER V STADE FRANÇAIS
PERPIGNAN V CASTRES
LA ROCHELLE V OYONNAX
LYON V BORDEAUX
RACING 92 V CLÉRMONT
TOULOUSE V PAU
SUN MAR 31
BAYONNE V TOULON
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
After a long, long break the top two, Saints and Quins, both shipped 50 burgers which made this league even tighter than it already was, with now 8 of the ten clubs having won more than they lost so far!!!! Leicester fans were obviously disappointed by their defeat at home to Glaws, definitely not a good start to preparations for the Aviva in a couple of weekends. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers approach their trip to Newcastle, who have lost all 13 of their matches so far, this weekend. Obviously the points are vital but will they hold back some players for Dublin?
Northampton v Sarries seems to be the tie of Round 14 but on the subject of Sarries, this tweet was interesting, we’ll see if anything develops from it…
ROUND 13
BRISTOL 52-21 NORTHAMPTON
LEICESTER TIGERS 25-27 GLOUCESTER
BATH 42-24 SALE SHARKS
EXETER CHIEFS 25-16 NEWCASTLE
SARACENS 52-7 HARLEQUINS
ROUND 14
FRI MAR 29
NEWCASTLE V LEICESTER
NORTHAMPTON V SARACENS
SAT MAR 30
GLOUCESTER V BRISTOL
HARLEQUINS V BATH
SUN MAR 31
SALE SHARKS V EXETER
AIL UPDATE
Feels like a while since there has been an “all Top 4” clash in the Women’s AIL and we have one this weekend when Belvo host Railway Union.
Some big results in the Men’s 1A, first leaders Tarf fell at Belfield Bowl while champions Terenure scored a big win in Cork so while the top four seems pretty much set, with just two rounds to go the race for a home semifinal seems to be all to play for. Terenure v Clontarf is easily the pick of Round 17 but both will be keeping an eye on Cork Con who host a Ballynahinch side still in with a shout for the playoffs themselves.
This is the time of the season we include the race for promotion to 1A in our updates…St Mary’s have already clinched their spot but the playoff is up for grabs with Old Wesley in 2nd at the moment but with them heading to Templeville Road, it will be a chance for Garryowen and Highfield behind them to catch up.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 30
BALLINCOLLIG V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V RAILWAY UNION
SUTTONIANS V GALWEGIANS
WICKLOW V COOKE
MEN’S AIL 1A
ROUND 16
BALLYNAHINCH 10-5 LANSDOWNE
CITY OF ARMAGH 36-26 SHANNON
CORK CON 23-26 TERENURE
UCD 38-32 CLONTARF
YOUNG MUNSTER 26-10 TRINITY
ROUND 17
SAT MAR 30
CORK CON V BALLYNAHINCH
LANSDOWNE V ARMAGH
TERENURE V CLONTARF
TRINITY V UCD
SUN MAR 31
SHANNON V YOUNG MUNSTER
MEN’S AIL 1B
ROUND 16
BLACKROCK 21-17 OLD BELVEDERE
BUCCANEERS 7-24 HIGHFIELD
GARRYOWEN 55-26 QUEENS
NAAS 20-39 OLD WESLEY
UCC 26-31 ST MARYS
ROUND 17
SAT MAR 30
HIGHFIELD V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V GARRYOWEN
QUEENS V NAAS
ST MARY’S V OLD WESLEY
UCC V BUCCANEERS
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
All I can think about in this comp right now is the Plight Of The Crusaders. Fifth loss in a row, rock bottom of the log, and with David Havilli injured and the second place Chiefs coming to town next, they are going to have to find their mojo soon otherwise we’ll be questioning as to whether even a playoff place is possible. Hurricanes will look to stay top although they’ll have to win in Otago to do so while the Fijan Drua notched another W albeit after sudden death extra time.
ROUND 5
HURRICANES 54-28 REBELS
BRUMBIES 60-21 MOANA PASIFIKA
FIJIAN DRUA *39-36 WARATAHS
CHIEFS 28-21 HIGHLANDERS
BLUES 26-6 CRUSADERS
WESTERN FORCE 40-31 REDS
ROUND 6
FRI MAR 29
CRUSADERS V CHIEFS
WARATAHS V REBELS
SAT MAR 30
FIJIAN DRUA V WESTERN FORCE
MOANA PASIFIKA V BLUES
HIGHLANDERS V HURRICANES
REDS V BRUMBIES
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Houston edged a high-scoring battle between the two 100% sides to stay top in the West while New England and NOLA lead the East with the former having won in Chicago – the Hounds are my Harpin MLR adopted team for 2024 and things don’t get much easier for them as Seattle visit the Windy City next week.
ROUND 4
SEATTLE 40-42 HOUSTON
OLD GLORY 11-27 SAN DIEGO
MIAMI 50-21 ANTHEM RC
DALLAS 22-35 NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO 17-22 NEW ENGLAND
LOS ANGELES 36-32 UTAH
ROUND 5
SAT MAR 30
DALLAS V HOUSTON
CHICAGO V SEATTLE
ANTHEM RC V OLD GLORY DC
SUN MAR 31
MIAMI V SAN DIEGO
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Somehow a late score in the Dragons v Bulls match kept me top of the league by just half a point, I had a horrible round 12, although I’d like an official Superbru Stewards Enquiry over my “wooden spoon” for the week – surely “No Picks Keego” should have gotten it? Anyhoo…as you can see it’s only the fact that I have correctly predicted the winner in more URC matches than anyone else that’s keeping me top (Kino with his stats based approach has him well ahead in the closest to winning margin category) and if I don’t find my mojo soon I could easily slip into the bottom half.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Really looking forward to returning to the RDS this Friday, we will of course have a preview of the Bulls match earlier in the day, then the wrap will record Sunday evening.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your Easter ‘egg-chasing’ wherever you are. JLP
23 March 2024; Rob Russell of Leinster evades the tackle of Simone Gesi of Zebre on his way to scoring his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Zebre Parma and Leinster at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi in Parma, Italy. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Score flattered Leinster who finished ruthlessly and tackled and tackled, great squad depth
Shane Gallagher
We need to talk about Liam Turner. I know we can all see Jamie stepping up to a possible first choice centre position but Turner is so fast and powerful…love to watch him both in defence and attack!
Karen Mooney
As always leinster come out in the second half.. and put the match to bed…
Came up with the goods after the break, no offence meant to Luke but Deegan was PotM for me. Good shift for 4th quarter defence, 5 points in the bank, back home to RDS for Bulls on Fri.#ZEBvLEI
…literally. In a bit of housekeeping news we’ve switched this column’s publication date from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning – the Quick Tap videos take so much time to produce we need the extra window to get it all together along with, of course, all the “real world” stuff.
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 diagnosis of a young person with CTE is significant as it indicates how early in life the brain has been affected by head knocks.”
JLP : I know it was the build up to the final round of Six Nations matches and this was a story from the southern hemisphere, but I really think the wider rugby community could have been more engaged with this story. Unfortunately my second article from this week’s Front Five suggests we are instead moving in a different direction.
…a global red card trial where a carded player is removed for the duration of the match but may be replaced by another player after 20 minutes.
JLP : To be fair, this is but one of several changes being proposed and many of them look like they will genuinely help speed up the game (such as actual enforcement of the “use it” call) but effectively reversing the zero tolerance policy on dangerous tackling technique by allowing a player’s team to replace them after 20m is clearly going in the wrong direction and I hope this proposal falls off the sport’s radar for good.
“People are actually genuinely just excited to get going and see where we’re at with the rest of teams.”
JLP : I firmly believe separating the men’s and women’s Six Nations was a good idea, but only if there is enough hype around the start of the women’s because the wider public have been trained over the years to switch off from rugby altogether once the men’s tournament is over, there has generally a drop off in engagement with the men’s provincial level anyway without a top women’s event vying for attention as well.
As for Ireland’s task over the coming weeks, well after a whitewash wooden spoon last season, relative success will be a low bar this time around but hopefully the WXV3 triumph together with the inclusion of some of the sevens players will inspire us to greater things. Starting away to France isn’t the ideal start, however, and hopefully the media can succeed in realistically portraying our expectations over the coming weeks.
Best wishes to Scott, Edel, Sam & all involved with the team. There’s a bit more on the Women’s Six Nations further down the column.
Burns’ arrival at Munster will coincide with Joey Carbery’s move to France.
JLP : One of Irish rugby’s poorest kept secrets this season, and if other rumours are to be believed, this isn’t the last out half provincial switch we’ll be reading about this season, with Leinster likely involved in the next announcement. I’ve never had a problem with these moves, once the player and the teams involved are happy it makes sense that the pieces on the board be moved around once in a while to spread out the talent.
“Sometimes [fans]…are so used to Ireland winning that sometimes the way they win is maybe not what they want”
JLP : I actually spotted this article after I recorded my TIkTok rant for this week, it’s like we’re of one mind, even if we do have different amount of RWC winners’ medals….
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
Great to have Tom & Rich to help me go back over the Ireland/Scotland match, it might not have been a classic from an attacking standpoint but they did come up with some fascinating talking points from it, one which I actually had to cut out as part of my attempt to keep the whole thing around the hour mark, but FWIW I did post that little discussion on YouTube.
If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.
QUICK TAP : DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY
I am always intrigued by the two extremes of rugby watchers, with us hyper-critical nerds at one end and the so-called “casual fans” at the other so I cover that in this week’s QT.
Obviously the names Keenan and Ryan were not ones we wanted to see on the update although for right now it’s more that of the woefully unfortunate Tommy O’Brien that stands out the most as he most certainly would have featured in Parma at the weekend.
I reckon our 23 to play Zebre will be very similar to what we have seen over the Six Nations period.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Zebre
McErlean, King, Turner, Osborne, Russell, R Byrne, McGrath
NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Cormac Foley: will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a shoulder injury
Ciarán Frawley: is continuing to follow the Graduated Return to Play Protocols having been released from Ireland camp last week and will be further assessed as the week progresses
Martin Moloney : will be further assessed this week as he nears a return from a bicep injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Hugo Keenan: was ruled out of the Ireland game at the weekend with a hip injury and will be assessed on his return to Leinster
James Ryan: had a procedure on an arm injury and will be assessed over the coming weeks regarding a return to play date
Tommy O’Brien: picked up a hamstring injury last week and will be unavailable for selection
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Alex Soroka (foot), Charlie Ngatai (calf) and Jimmy O’Brien (Neck)
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS LAUNCH INTERVIEW
After I had set up the Front Five segment at the top of this column, I got an email from the organisers of the Women’s Six Nations complete with free-to-use quotes & links from the tournament launch.
I was fascinated not just by the responses of coach Scott Bemand, but more so by the nature of the questions that were put to him and Edel McMahon – they covered some very pertinent issues that one would assume might not be covered in a high profile press conference like this one.
So here is what they released :
Excited?
Scott: Really exciting, a new challenge. We don’t shy away from what went on results wise last 6 Nations but we’ve done WXV, we’ve built some winning momentum and connections and hopefully now just excited to crack into this year’s 6 Nations.
How much value is there in the Celtic Challenge?
Scott: The Celtic Challenge is going to become bigger as we go through, as a preparation tool. It’s actually been hugely beneficial because of the training piece. The results have been pretty close, pretty competitive. The level of challenge has been appropriate. It’s a good way of bringing the group together albeit across two teams.
Have you found it a challenge to have players further apart geographically?
Scott: I don’t know if it’s more of a challenge. It’s a younger programme. With England, professionalism started a few years before so you would say the maturity of their programme is on a couple of years in terms of how people are developing within the programme.
There’s a reasonable amount of touch points, w’ere going to continue to grow those touch points as we go through. I would say the challenges have always existed. But when you get back into camp, there’s a palpable level of excitement to get back in a room together.
Disappointing Championship in 2023. What is outlook now?
Edel: I was injured for the last 6 Nations so my mindset is a little bit different. A lot of girls have grown since that campaign to be senior players, stepping it up having been to a successful WXV. Like Scott was saying they’ve had an opportunity to play in the Celtic Challenge. We’ve seen where we’ve grown from those performances until now. I think people are excited to see where we’re at.
What is target?
Edel: To qualify for the World Cup. We’ve spoken as a squad, that’s what we want to achieve.
Lots of talk about 7s programme. Is it frustrating that you won’t have access to some of your best players throughout the Championship?
Scott: There’s a strategic goal to do well at the Olympics, there’s a strategic goal to qualify for the World Cup. We’ve got some 7s girls in the programme going into the 6 Nations which will be a continued big part of our pool of players.
Other nations have done it reasonably successfully. You look at New Zealand at the last World Cup with some of the 7s girls coming back into the XVs programme. It can be done.
They’re great people. They add a bit to the environment as well. I think as we get more seamless with those transitions it’ll become smoother and smoother.
When does it get to that next step where the programmes are independent?
Where the game is in terms of playing numbers, that may be some years off. The challenge we face is to get better at transitioning and both succeeding. If we’re successful at an Olympics and a World Cup, that’s got to shine a great spotlight on women’s rugby in Ireland. That’s going to get more interest and traction and help us grow the game.
On the Celtic Challenge, how much of a look-in have you seen to how it’s bridging the gap from the club game to international?
It was coached by IRFU coaches, so it’s almost inside our circle. We had some great conversations. There’s a big piece about the development of coaches, how you can get enough training and support to improve on-pitch performance. There was Ireland coaches at every session. It was hand in hand.
Playing France in France?
Edel: I got to play there two years ago in Toulouse and that was a full crowd. We chat about our experiences on the pitch. I heard quite a lot of noise – from a line break, a big hit, a try score, a turnover of momentum. That was engulfed on the pitch. From an Irish perspective maybe they liked us a bit more than ye found them (to Scott). You kind of zone out of it. It’s an experience to relish.
Sometimes they’ve turned on their own when they make a mistake but it’s a cool experience.
Are you getting enough of a test from prior opponents through WXV or Celtic Challenge?
Scott: It’s a fair point. WXV3 – putting 100 points on Kazakhstan, perhaps it’s not the level of challenge you need going into a 6 Nations. The things that we can control is the training piece. Had experience before about how you can make some quite big gains with how competitive you can make training. Players seem to buy into it as well instead of just drilling.
Being able to try and win it in training. We’ve made it not about preparing a team but preparing a squad. That was one of the successes of WXV3. Girls that were either on the bench or not involved would have felt that they were being prepared and improved to attack training and show what they can do which breeds natural competition. The Spain game did give us a bit of physical nuance. Going into a France game, we know it’s going to be physical, we know what to expect.
I’d like to think the levels of training would prepare us for that.
What is the contracts scenario in Ireland?
There’s currently 43 contracts which is a merge of the 7s and XVs. They got that going relatively not that long ago. So in terms of cycles, it’s in its first iteration. There’s real intent to grow that and to grow that quickly. Post 6 Nations we’ll review that and see where we stand with it – who is developing, progressing and which new players are coming into the market. Celtic Challenge has definitely shown some youngsters coming up through.
Have you spoken to Cliodhna Moloney?
Scott: I know Cli from being based in the UK. I’ve spoken to Cli informally just around wider stuff. There’ll be a time but at the moment it sits where it sits.
A BONUS TALKING POINT
I simply couldn’t resist getting my sarcasm on after France beat England in that final match, not to rub it in for the English fans rather those in their media who tried to push the narrative that should the results go another way and Ireland win the title on bonus points despite having fewer wins than England (a mathematical possibility that has always been possible in over two decades since we’ve had this method in rugby), it would somehow de-legitimize us winning the trophy.
Bottom line is that while this is not my ideal method for deciding a rugby tournament winner, the fact that everyone knows the rules as it kicks off means nobody should really complain about it afterwards.
Teams of officials have been announced for the last 16 of the EPCR tournaments, Leinster’s is below, click here for the full list.
Leinster v Leicester Tigers
REFEREE : Matthew Carley (Eng) AR1 : Hamish Smales (Eng) AR2 : Paul Dix (Eng) TMO : Andrew Jackson (Eng)
RUGBY BULLETS ON POST TO POST SPORT
Frequent Harpin contributor Ciarán Duffy hosts his own podcast Post To Post Sport which mostly covers Irish women’s football but also does much rugby and as well as updating his site and branding he has started a new feature known as “Rugby Bullets” please follow the link to check it out.
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
I was actually surprised the 🔝🐱🐴 was willing to take a week off even for the final round of Six Nations matches, but anyway it’s back this week and with just eight rounds left and the gap in match points between 6th (last playoff place) and 13th (top relegation place) just NINE, pretty much every match will be significant over the coming weeks. Bordeaux v Toulouse seems to be the pick of Round 19.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
Round 19
SAT MAR 23
TOULON V MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX V PERPIGNAN
CASTRES V RACING 92
CLÉRMONT V PAU
STADE FRANÇAIS V LYON
BAYONNE V LA ROCHELLE
SUN MAR 24
BORDEAUX V TOULOUSE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
After a super-long mid season break during which they played out the final matches in the Cup as well as had those money-spinning friendlies with Leinster & Munster, the Premiership kicks back into gear this weekend and has 6 rounds to go. Northampton lead the way but it’s all to play for as only two of the ten clubs have a losing record. Saracens v Quins seems to be the tie of the round.
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 13
FRI MAR 22
BRISTOL V NORTHAMPTON
LEICESTER TIGERS V GLOUCESTER
SAT MAR 23
BATH V SALE SHARKS
EXETER CHIEFS V NEWCASTLE
SARACENS V HARLEQUINS
AIL UPDATE
A rare upset in this league last weekend when Suttonians, outside the top 4, won convincingly away to Blackrock College, although with Ballincollig falling to runaway leaders UL Bohs the gap between the playoff places and the rest remains the same. The league takes a break this weekend, presumedly to make way for the launch of the Women’s Six Nations.
Over in the men’s AIL, only three matches left in the regular season and easily the tie of the round is Ballynahinch hosting Lansdowne, more than likely the Ulster side’s last chance of staying in touch with the top four. Cork Con hosting Terenure also looks tasty.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 15
BLACKROCK 5-17 SUTTONIANS
RAILWAY UNION 72-12 WICKLOW
COOKE 5-67 OLD BELVEDERE
UL BOHS 41-7 BALLINCOLLIG
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 30
BALLINCOLLIG V BLACKROCK
OLD BELVEDERE V RAILWAY UNION
SUTTONIANS V GALWEGIANS
WICKLOW V COOKE
MEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 16
SAT MAR 23
BALLYNAHINCH V LANSDOWNE
CITY OF ARMAGH V SHANNON
CORK CON V TERENURE
UCD V CLONTARF
YOUNG MUNSTER V TRINITY
SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE
Eh, do we need to talk about the Crusaders? I mean, obviously with eight of the twelves teams making the playoffs there is still plenty of time for them to claw their way back and who among us would rule them out from securing their millionth SR title, but four defeats out of four to start the season? Wowza. I watched their defeat to the league leading Hurricanes last Friday and it certainly wasn’t the Saders I’ve been used to seeing. Almost reminded me of Leinster’s Matt O’Connor years…anyway overall it’s good for this league to see Aussie teams with winning records plus Moana & the Drua picking up wins. For me Blues v Crusaders is the standout match from the next round.
ROUND 4
CRUSADERS 10-14 HURRICANES
REBELS 26-53 REDS
WESTERN FORCE 14-22 MOANA PASIFIKA
HIGHLANDERS 21-27 BRUMBIES
CHIEFS 46-29 FIJIAN DRUA
WARATAHS 10-12 BLUES
ROUND 5
FRI MAR 22
HURRICANES V REBELS
BRUMBIES V MOANA PASIFIKA
SAT MAR 23
FIJIAN DRUA V WARATAHS
CHIEFS V HIGHLANDERS
BLUES V CRUSADERS
WESTERN FORCE V REDS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Have to say I was disappointed to see that the MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY was in fact using the conference system this season, having only seen one league table over the first few weeks I thought maybe they had seen sense and gone for a model simpler to Super Rugby. Anywho…after three rounds only Seattle and Houston are 100% and they play each other next weekend while my “adopted team” the Chicago Hounds have had a mixed opening three weeks so far and the visit of New England next time out will definitely be a challenge.
Round 3
NEW ENGLAND 27-21 NOLA GOLD
OLD GLORY 22-22 CHICAGO
HOUSTON 30-19 MIAMI
UTAH 13-23 SEATTLE
SAN DIEGO 19-18 LOS ANGELES
ANTHEM RC 28-68 DALLAS
ROUND 4
SEATTLE V HOUSTON
OLD GLORY V SAN DIEGO
MIAMI V ANTHEM RC
DALLAS V NOLA GOLD
CHICAGO V NEW ENGLAND
LOS ANGELES V UTAH
RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
No real surprise here with Georgia capturing another title and I have to say it was ironic that France chose to move their Six Nations fixtures away from Paris because of the Olympic preparations yet this final was held at the Stade Jean Bouin when maybe it could have enjoyed a better atmosphere in either Tblisi or Lisbon? Anyway if you missed the highlights here they are…
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Congrats to Kristian who convincingly won our Six Nations Superbru – he successfully predicted 12 of the 15 results, as did I although with nowhere near enough “margin accuracy” meaning I just about pipped Jay to 2nd spot.
Anyway now it’s back to the big prize, namely the Harpin URC Prediction League which of course resumes this weekend. As you see I am in line to retain my title if I keep going as I have but there’s still a long way to go.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
In my Quick Tap video I point out the contrast between a Six Nations title decider for Ireland in Dublin one week and a URC regular season fixture for Leinster in Parma the next, but here at Harpin Manor we will of course still be giving it the full Harpin treatment starting with a preview on Friday, as ever stay tuned to all our usual places in the ruggersphere for all our content.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Well we got the win and that’s great, but it’s back to the drawing board not just for SA but for next year as well. Delighted with the win though 😂
Kevin Kelehan
Won the game and the championship, was happy to see Ireland come through yesterday with Keenan and Ringrose off the pitch from the start against a Scotland side a lot stronger out wide than in tight. What England has exposed is Ireland need a second row size 6 to compliment Van Der Fliers speed, Ireland are only pressured by teams with a weight advantage 4-8. Fix that weight deficit whilst retaining poachers like Doris and Van Der Flier and Ireland will reach the next level.
Craig Boyd
Job done, our expectations have all changed so today was a bit of an anticlimax. All the same what a great team they are.
John O Halloran
Great to get the wins and the championship but big tests and rejigging needed.
England and Scotland were well up to that Irish attack.
The Scottish 6 was excellent.
Alastair McDermott
I was hoping to see Andy Farrell bringing his kids out on the pitch to celebrate
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 