As I explained on the pod, there was no Facebook post this week so here are some reactions from the full time whistle in the Harpin WhatsApp group, including my own from Sunday morning when I watched the match myself for the first time…
David Cordial So many moments where we did all the hard work and were inches away and it was only fitting the last pass that cost us
Ciarán Duffy Honestly not good enough from Leinster. It’s been a season of not waking up. Sleepwalking. We’ve had enough kicks up the arse at this stage to switch on, have to learn from this ahead of next week.
Conor Cronin
Heads in next week without earning the right to play there
Richard Mifsud
The reality is we’ve been poor and disjointed all season and this coaching ticket requires a massive shake up because the voices in that dressing room are clearly stale and stagnant Which means we’ll probably go on and win the double 🤣
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your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
The cough I had last week is still hanging around which meant for more challenging editing but thankfully my latest guest Rich Mifsud wasn’t put off as he offered a great analysis of Leinster’s win over Ulster, a result particularly satisfying as a running joke in our WhatsApp group had been that Leinster tended to lose whenever he was on, and this particular week it felt like that trend would return. If you missed the latest pod you’ll find it here.
You may notice a theme of sorts among this week’s Front Five, namely that of women, and not just in terms of them playing rugby.
THE RANDLE SCANDAL
“I’ve known Roger for a long time. I think he’s an outstanding human, well-loved by family and people that have worked alongside him for a long period of time.”
We’ve been down this road before when it comes to rugby players accused of abuse, and each case has its own context that deserves to be considered separately. But in this instance, I genuinely cannot understand how this appointment could be seen as a good fit for Munster in any way, shape, or form.
The appointment has reignited scrutiny of a 1997 rape allegation made while Randle was with the Hurricanes in Durban. The charge was withdrawn when the complainant declined to proceed, but she maintained her allegation, and the incident has resurfaced repeatedly. Randle has always denied the accusation, yet its re‑emergence has prompted backlash from supporters and even resignations from members of Munster’s Professional Game Board.
Given that the incident dates back to 1997 and we are relying on archived reporting and second‑hand summaries, we should be careful about the conclusions we draw. But one thing is clear: the line that “there has been no conviction” does not end the discussion — not even close. It is entirely plausible that the case was withdrawn because the complainant felt her evidence wouldn’t secure a conviction, which is very different from proof of innocence.
This brings us to the core question for a platform like Harpin’ On Rugby: is this a worthwhile appointment from a PR standpoint for Munster Rugby? I would argue no — even without the difficulties they’ve faced on and off the pitch this season, and certainly not with them.
To my eye, the whole thing reeks of a kind of internal conspiracy: everyone involved must have known the appointment would be controversial, which means they needed a rhetorical strategy to present it to the public. And although this is a hot take, I suspect part of that strategy was timing the announcement after Munster’s visit to Durban — the location of the alleged incident — in March.
And honestly, if you find yourself needing to “close ranks” with public statements like McMillan’s above in order to justify hiring someone with a chequered past, then the answer should already be no.
This leads me to believe McMillan may have issued an ultimatum along the lines of “he joins us or I leave.” Even if that were true — and again, this is speculation — I would still argue that the net benefit to Munster would be for Randle not to come. And even if you dismiss that theory entirely, there are still multiple other plausible scenarios that raise the same red flags.
The fact that individuals within Munster Rugby were reportedly willing to resign over this suggests they may know more about the case than the public does. Overall, it’s a horrible situation that doesn’t belong in the Irish rugby story — especially given how similar cases have been handled in the past. Others have been forced to leave these shores (and I agreed with those decisions), so surely the only consistent resolution here is to reverse the appointment.
Anyone who knows me will tell you it gives me no pleasure to see this happening at Munster, or indeed anything that has happened there this season. We’ve said repeatedly on our podcasts that we want four strong provinces. And if the opinion of a Leinster fan isn’t enough, there’s an interesting thread among Munster supporters on BlueSky — mainly contrasting views from Three Red Kings and IWRSC. Below is a sample but click here for the whole thing.
17 April 2026; Stuart McCloskey of Ulster is tackled by Sam Prendergast, left, and Robbie Henshaw of Leinster during the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Leinster at Affidea Stadium in Belfast. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
I was not expecting such a good performance. The defence was great, caught them behind the gain line so many times. Clarkson magnificent all round, carried aggressively and dominated the scrum. I think Angus Bell getting injured was a big blow for Ulster. His replacement was not at the races but Leinster still had to turn that scrum dominance into tries and they did that. The sending off was disappointing but luckily we had enough of a cushion to see it out with 14 men.
Christy O’Connor
The first half took a long time to get going. Not helped by the lengthy injury stoppages. We got a good flow going either side of the half. Delighted for Sam to put in a good shift, he just needs to continue doing the basics, no need to force the game.
Craig Walker
Thought Sam looked good there – played with confidence. And Ulster were smothered in the first half by the Leinster defensive line so couldn’t get anything going – well played Leinster (from an Ulsterman) #SUFTUM
Greg Kelly
Finally a bit if Mojo back. Some questions answered.
The biggest question for me is how exactly Deegan can avoid getting sent off? There is literally nothing he can do. His very existence is rendered a sending off offence. He is looking at the ball and positioning to field it until Koch jumps straight into him 🤷♂️
Bert McLoughlin
Are we starting to click at the right time of the season?
Cormac Mannion
Very happy with the first 60mins. Very cohesive performance. The red card was a joke. Deegan had his eye on the ball and barely got into the air yet was red carded.
Kok puzzles me. All action but not a lot to show for it. Still strikes me as a Sevens player.
Despite that, lots to be happy about although we got burned badly out wide for a couple of tries but onwards and upwards for the rest of the season
Eamon Saunders
A very good performance and some good tries scored Ulster had a very good spell in the second half but We held out and answered a few questions 👍
Chris McDonnell
Great result, especially considering the squad selected. Ulster blew a great chance. I’d say it’s an away quarter final for them now
First half was squeaky bum, cracking rugby but very low scoring, but Leinster stretched their legs in the second half. Tommy O’Brien is having an excellent season. We haven’t looked convincing all season with the exception of a couple of games. We railroaded teams in previous years and haven’t won much so maybe stuttering is the way to go 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
Eamon Saunders
Good win building nicely to be fair ,another semi final to look forward to 💙
Cormac Mannion
I was absolutely bulling at half time. Same crap as last week – awful handling skills and poor ball presentation at the ruck. Needless knock-ons, players taking their eye off the ball etc etc.
Much better second half and it finally clicked.
However, Sale were absolutely atrocious. They offered absolutely nothing in attack bar putting snow on the ball.
Worrying to see some of those potential injuries and we definitely must have been cursed by someone… another prop injury!!!
Dave Murray
Two different,but poor, first 40 minutes of of rugby this week and last. But too much for Sale in the second half, like last week also. Will it be good enough for Toulon at home in May? Let’s see. But good to have a home semi final, to look forward to.
Gavin Hegarty
If we played like that against Bordeaux or Toulouse we’d ship 50. Simply not good enough.
Sale had no lineout and two yellow cards yet were still within 6 of us.
Granted we did pull away but it was hugely frustrating.
Some little mistakes that Leinster of previous seasons wouldn’t make.
Chris McDonnell
What does robin Mcbride get paid for?
We got a bye to the semi final to be honest. The last 2 weeks neither side would make the top 6 in the URC
Just papering over the cracks. We have 3 coaches who clearly are out of their depth. McBride doesn’t know what a scrum looks like.
Kevin Scullion
We will get beaten by a good team, simple as…
CLICK HERE FOR THE REAL-TIME REACTIONS FROM
THE HARPIN WHATSAPP GROUP THROUGHOUT THE MATCH
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5 April 2026; Thomas Clarkson of Leinster streches to scores his side’s sixth try during the Investec Champions Cup match between Leinster and Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Pretty poor despite the win. Disjointed and sloppy really. Not much else to say.
Sandra Seery
We’re a 2nd half team and we proved it tonight
Donna Malone
Quarter final bound 👌👏👌👏
Peter Tracey
The only good thing was the defence. If they didn’t give three intercepts and one blocked kick they wouldn’t have conceded.
Christy O’Connor
My comments I’ve posted from almost any of our games this season is pretty much the same and I’m guessing it will be the same for next week’s game because we are not improving
Richard Kennedy
Need to stop throwing risky passes in our own half. Otherwise it was a very solid performance in attack and defence
Cormac Mannion
Too much off-the-cuff stuff which led to soft scores conceded. Quite frankly, our handling skills aren’t good enough to play that type of game. Our defensive alignment breaks down after a couple of phases. We haven’t looked that loose a team since Ella back in 03-04.
Richard Collumb
A better team would kill us. We are going backwards in terms of how the players are doing vs when with Ireland.
For a defence minded coach Nienaber not showing on pitch
Dave Murray
Very soft scored given away again tonight. This style isn’t suiting us and that isn’t going to change. I have doubts we can win the big one this season, even before tonight. Bordeaux and Toulouse look too good to stop imho.
27 March 2026; Tommy O’Brien of Leinster scores his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
We strolled through Europe last season and came out with a disappointing defeat in the semi’s. This year we’ve been way below that level but we’re still in a decent spot in Europe and the URC. Hopefully with Ryan, Conan, Keenan and Baird to come back in the next few weeks things might improve. Osborne at 12 is the future.
Liz Power
I was bored out of my skull. There was a mass exodus around us between 65 and 70 minutes. Getting to the bar/train was more appealing than watching it
Christy O’Connor
That first half is one to forget. Very poor over all, we had a couple of moments of great play early in the 2nd half but it became stuttery again. JGP has made a number of passes this season that we’re intercepted, luckily the majority never led to tries. JJ Kenny and Tommy O’Brien were in great form.
This has been are poorest season in a long long time, if we win anything I’ll be shocked. The only thing we’ve been consistent with this season has been our ill discipline
Tom Clarke
Need to up the performance big time for next Sunday.
Richard Collumb
Nienaber is our Steve Borthwick.
Cormac Mannion
I thought we could rely on “muscle memory” for the next few matches and Farrell’s influence would still have an effect on the performances. Well that theory went out the window very quickly. The discipline of the team was an absolute disgrace in the first half. Countless penalties and zero defensive alignment.
The attack wasn’t much better. The team lived off raw talent rather than the coaching. It’s awful to watch and the more I see, the more I’m reminded of the 2014-2015 season under MOC. Quite a few players looked disinterested tonight
Kevin Kelehan
This game was always going to be imperfect trying to re-integrate the blue Irish players en masse. Thankfully the second half was better, bodes well for the more important games against Embra and Ulster at Ravenhill. The attendance below 13,000 is however a real worry for financial planning of the game next season, need to be getting much bigger crowds than this
Bernie Cunningham
Overall a patchy performance, lots of errors trying too hard at times. Need to up our game next wk…6/10
Gavin Hegarty
Good few of these players were firing under Andy Farrell two weeks ago. Now they are rudderless and dull. How is this possible? Something seriously wrong in UCD.
Louis Hoffman
We won’t win anything this year.
Chris McDonnell
Can’t play rugby without an outhalf. The best 2 outhalves in the club are frawley and tector. Pendergast is broken and needs to be given time off. 3 seasons ago Cullen should have done the decent thing and walked away. The man is deluded if he thinks he’s not the problem.
Michael Byrne
Harry Byrne and Frawley aren’t getting enough time at 10, no point in investing time with Frawley at 10 now with a move Connacht, Leinster will regret that decision. Harry Byrne needs game time, its going to cost us when we face tougher opposition. We were very nearly full strength and should have put Scarlets away early. They really came to play so it was a decent win but 3 years ago that game would have been over in 20 minutes.
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