JLP : On our podcasts, the superstition I like to call the “Gran’s Lamb Protocol” has been put in place where we don’t use the phrase which refers to 5 wins out of 5 on the pod until it either happens or no longer can happen. It’s partly genuine superstition, partly a bit o’ craic. That doesn’t mean I share opinions in the media from other countries however, and after that first round of matches Kitson’s assertion is pretty on the nose.
JLP : Hang on…a Leinster player praising his Munster captain? Surely not! Seriously though…this is great to see and doesn’t contradict a single thing we saw with our own eyes on the night. And as many have commented, during POM’s spell on the sideline Caelan Doris did a bang up job showing leadership as well.
JLP : Here’s a radical idea…how about extend the “mark” rule beyond the 22 all the way to the halfway line? Yeah that probably makes no sense, I literally just thought of it as I was typing, but whatever the solution I totally agree with Berch & Donal that the multiple bouts of kick tennis can be painful to watch.
JLP : When John was in his heyday I was just a wee lad myself so I can’t relate to the impact he had on the game at the time but certainly the anecdotal evidence showed what a superstar he was in Wales at the time. Sad though his passing of course is, one can hope that it might just help bring some unity across the principality that is badly needed with the sport he loved in such disarray. In a couple of weeks I will be speaking to author Seimon Williams about his book “Welsh rugby – What Went Wrong?” where we will of course have much to discuss.
JLP : Terenure v St Michael’s seems to be the pick of the bunch although Monkstown v Mary’s might actually be the closest tie, we’ll see how they pan out. From here on in all matches will be shown live on Premier Sports Ireland.
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
When I say how many “caps” a contributor has, it is generally with tongue in cheek, but it is worth mentioning when they reach a milestone like Conor Cronin did when he earned his 50th in wrapping the France match on Sunday evening. He and Mark Jackson, himself just back from a spell on the sidelines, did an excellent job poring over the timeline of the match, and for once I have actually remembered also to remember the preview which was done by Keego who accurately predicted an Irish win although nobody could have dreamed of a 21-point margin!!!
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.
HARPIN ON…WARREN G, LINEOUTS & BONUS POINTS
Still playing around with the format for the bonus pod but this week’s changes were more on the graphic side of things – having gone with individual videos for my all-provincial panel last week I looked to retain it for this one and I’d say it worked pretty well. Conor focused on Gatland’s tactless post-match presser, Mark on Ireland’s lineout and I rehashed a bonus point theme I have been harping on for a while.
SCRUMS UP IN THE AIR
These TikTok rants are starting to go a bit longer than they probably should be, my original hope was that they should be no longer than two minutes. But that said I have to cut the cloth to suit the topic and I felt the extra bits were worth it for this one.
There was no way Racing could keep losing while holding on to 1st place in the 🔝🐱🐴 but despite slipping to 4th they’re still only a point off their Parisian rivals who have reached the summit. La Rochelle won’t feel so badly about being just six points off the pace given how their season has gone so far.
Meanwhile down at the bottom it is concerning to see names like Lyon and Montpellier in the relegation discussion but with 12 rounds to go and the way results in this league yoyo back and forth, for all we know they could still make the playoffs!
Most importantly, who’s idea was it to have a round on the opening 6N weekend? Crazy all round, and you could argue that it hurt the French Under 20s as well. But the 🔝🐱🐴 takes a breather next weekend.
Round 14
PERPIGNAN 26-5 RACING 92
OYONNAX 19-23 STADE FRANCAIS
CLÉRMONT 38-21 LYON
LA ROCHELLE 18-10 MONTPELLIER
PAU 33-44 CASTRES
TOULOUSE 46-26 BAYONNE
TOULON 32-37 BORDEAUX
Round 15
SAT FEB 17
LYON V LA ROCHELLE
BORDEAUX V PAU
RACING 92 V MONTPELLIER
STADE FRANCAIS V PERPIGNAN
TOULOUSE V OYONNAX
BAYONNE V CLÉRMONT
SUN FEB 18
CASTRES V TOULON
AIL UPDATE
I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure I went looking for a dedicated website for the Celtic Challenge competition and it only seems to be operational in the past week or so. I also thought I was following this comp closely yet only now do I realise that it is not just a straight round robin format, in actual fact after 5 rounds the teams break into a top 3 and bottom 3 with two more matches for each to decide the placings.
All of which means the Wolfhounds v Clovers matchup on the weekend of the 24th will make for a decent final trial ahead of our upcoming 6 Nations campaign.
Now after my assertion in recent weeks that the Celtic Comp clashing with the AIL Cup wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, it will be interesting to see if these extra matches have an effect on the actual Women’s AIL which returns this weekend – as you can see the top four all avoid each other.
And in actual fact the same can be said of the men’s top division which also kicks back into gear this weekend, chances are the playoff spots there too will remain the same.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE
WOMEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
Round 11
SAT FEB 10
SUTTONIANS V BALLINCOLLIG
COOKE V RAILWAY UNION
GALWEGIANS V UL BOHS
WICKLOW V BELVO
MEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 13
SAT FEB 10
CLONTARF V BALLYNAHINCH
TRINITY V CORK CON
SHANNON V LANSDOWNE
TERENURE V YOUNG MUNSTER
UCD V CITY OF ARMAGH
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Kristian was keen to start up a fresh prediction league for the Six Nations so I obliged – no prizes or forfeits, just bragging right and as you can see three of us correctly predicted the three away wins from round 1.
1 Conor 5.00
2 Jeff 5.00
3 Kristian 5.00
4 Jay 4.00
5 Mark 2.00
6 Tom 1.50
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Italy are next on the agenda with the wrap pod moved to a Monday evening recording although the preview should post on Friday as normal.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Intensity ✅, performance very good but quite a few work ons eg scrum etc (perfect scenario for Faz & Co), our D Nienaberesque perhaps (happy to be proved wrong) it must have felt like a horrible cloying rash for the French, France were made to look like 💩 for long periods.
Players: the best compliment I can give Big Joe is he’s the kind of player you grudgingly admire but simultaneously hate if he’s playing against you, Jamo’s best performance for ages, Hugo continues to be class, ditto Doris and Bundee, pack as a whole performed, Robbie’s best outing for a while, Nash not really tested, Crowley solid ish but need loads of experience. JLo 🤌🏻
Bench ✅
Gavin Hegarty
Territory 49-51 and a scoreline of 17-38. Incredible.
Don’t know if France were that poor or if we just outplayed them.
And also that’s twice in two years Doris has played aldritt off the park. Simply unreal.
Kevin OCeallaigh
A terrific team performance, with some great individual efforts (Lowe, big Joe, Bundee) and good captaincy in dealing with some ‘interesting’ decisions. However, a result like that has to credited in large part to how the 10 controls the game. This was Crowleys best performance in green by a mile. Will stand to him for the rest of the 6N.
Josephine Boyd
A brilliant performance from our boys in green an excellent start to the championship.great game from our new lads on the team.☘️💚👏🏈🇮🇪.
Monica Keeler
The World cup final that should have been…hey ho..great start…keep it going lads..in my eyes the best in the world 💚
John Hyland
Watch the scrums again. Atonio was boring in and literally scrummaging vs Sheahan. Porter gets pinged again. The IRFU needs to grow a pair and present the video evidence to World rugby. Teams are obviously buying penalties against Porter. NZ got 4 key penalties in the World Cup because of it. Come on IRFU, GROW A PAIR!!
Colin McConaghie
80-85% superb. Got sloppy for 10 minutes. Biggest plus was the line out which was back to its best.
I think we can actually play better but won’t get too many better score lines than that
John O Halloran
Stunning performance, I said Ireland by5 this morning. The lineout and all round front 5 work was up a massive amount, the back 3 as abrasive as ever.
Crawley passed the pressure test ,individual decisions and discipline excellent. A lot of positives.
Wayne O’Brien
I thought we would lose narrowly. To win and by such a margin – unbelievable. Great attacking intent with room to improve by not letting teams in as was the case last night.
Jack Woods
Awesome performance. Great in defence at times. Very good start to the championship. France weren’t allowed to show their “flair” at times but it still came to the game at times.
William Andrew
Stunning win in France, ref was a homer but Ireland took him out by being so good, they made him irrelevant.
Oh if only our line out had functioned that well in the WC.
Ireland were full on for 80 and the bench came on like a pack of rabid dogs held back too long.
Celebrate those victories ✌️ they do not come around too often.
That was absolutely superb. Loads to harp on but all that needs to be said for now IMO is hats off to the whole set-up esp the new lads. #FRAvIRE#GuinnessSixNations
(2024 Guinness Under-20 Men’s Six Nations Championship):
Backs (14):
Oliver Coffey (Blackrock College RFC/Leinster) Tadhg Brophy (Naas RFC/Leinster) Will Wootton (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) Jake O’Riordan (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Leinster) Sean Naughton (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht) Hugo McLaughlin (Lansdowne FC/Leinster) Ethan Graham (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) Rory Ellerby (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) Wilhelm de Klerk (UCD RFC/Leinster) Finn Treacy (Galwegians RFC/Connacht) Stephen Kiely (Shannon RFC/Munster) Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
Forwards (17):
Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster) Ben Howard (Terenure College RFC/Leinster) Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster) Henry Walker (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) Patreece Bell (Sale Sharks/IQ Rugby) Jacob Boyd (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) Andrew Sparrow (UCD RFC/Leinster) Joe Hopes (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) Billy Corrigan (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster) Evan O’Connell (UL Bohemian RFC/Munster) (capt) Alan Spicer (UCD RFC/Leinster) Bryn Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster) Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster) Josh Stevens (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster) Brian Gleeson (Garryowen FC/Munster) Luke Murphy (Shannon RFC/Munster)
IRELAND UNDER-20 MEN’S SIX NATIONS FIXTURES:
Saturday, February 3: France v Ireland, Stade Maurice David, Aix-en-Provence, 9.10pm local time/8.10pm Irish time Friday, February 9: Ireland v Italy, Virgin Media Park, 7.15pm Friday, February 23: Ireland v Wales, Virgin Media Park, 7.15pm Friday, March 8: England v Ireland, Recreation Ground, Bath, 7.15pm Friday, March 15: Ireland v Scotland, Virgin Media Park, 7pm
A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere.
As he is Irish qualified, Burns would have additional appeal to Munster, who a few years ago had something of a logjam at ‘10′ Munster line up move for Ulster outhalf Billy Burns Gerry Thornley – Irish Times
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A NON-WRAP
No Leinster or Ireland action last weekend so nothing to wrap which meant it was a good time for one of our “all provincial panels” where we look for some opinions on the Irish squad from outside the blue-jersey bubble. Joining me were two much-capped Harpists in Messrs Ian Frizzell & Pádraig Kelly and we also had an excellent debut from Patricia V who offered a Munster slant on things.
If you missed it, 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.
HARPIN ON…CON, ULS & MUN SEASONS SO FAR
As I say in the intro, it would be rude not to have fans of the other provinces on without asking them to summarize how their respective seasons have gone so far, and thi made for a perfect bonus clip topic.
WONDERS OF THE 7s WORLD
The regular sevens update is below and this was quite a week for it, but I also wanted to harp on the code for my TikTok bit since I was a bit negative a while ago over the whole Duponte thing.
Harped last week about the Caulfield decision…as you can see in the Front Five segment the EPCR has taken up the case to restore my faith in the sport, at least until we see how the matter is finally resolved. To summarise, I reckon that since the referee can clearly be heard saying the stamp was “intentional”, IMO the final ruling has to somehow resolve this, either by cleaning it up by saying he mis-spoke or by applying the appropriate sanction because if a player intends to stamp like that on an opponents’ head, they should know this is not the port for them.
URC WRAP
Couple of extra matches down in SA throughout January which official brought the URC 23/24 regular season to the halfway stage, resuming with a top of the table clash at the RDS in mid-Feb.
ROUND 8
SHARKS 18-20 LIONS
ROUND 9
BULLS 30-28 LIONS
ROUND 10
FRI FEB 16
SCARLETS V MUNSTER
ZEBRE V EDINBURGH
SAT FEB 17
LIONS V BULLS
LEINSTER V BENETTON
SHARKS V STORMERS
CARDIFF V CONNACHT
GLASGOW WARRIORS V DRAGONS
SUN FEB 18
OSPREYS V ULSTER
“SVNS” UPDATE
Both genders got off to winning starts in Perth but then I tweeted about it which of course meant they both went on to lose their next matches so I decided it was best to stop doing that.
The rest, as you probably know, is history as both teams bounced back with two wins on the Saturday to put them in semifinals, the women overcoming Fiji and the men only falling to an Argentine squad which went on to win the whole thing and now tops the series table.
Let us be perfectly clear about what the Irish women achieved to win their final. Australia were not just firm favourites on account of being the home side. They have easily been the form team over the series so far and when Ireland weren’t able to capitalise on them putting their kickoff out on the full, Casslick’s try after 2 minutes to put them ahead seemed to be the beginning of the end for us.
But we stormed right back from the restart with great combinations that allowed Beibhinn Parsons to draw us level before a bizarre series at the end of the half when Ireland attacked their line as Australia shipped 5, yes, FIVE consecutive penalties before the referee flashed a card and even then we weren’t certain to capitalise although eventually skipper Lucy Mulhall got us an absolutely crucial score before the break.
The Aussies struck back to level things up as Levi stormed up the middle for their second converted try but some absolutely savage Irish defending around halfway forced a knockon putting us back in opposition territory before Eve Higgins nudged us back in front. This put the whole ball game on the restart and we won it back to kill the game and claim a famous victory.
We now sit in 4th on the women’s table with Australia still comfortably ahead at the top, while it’s Argentina who have the commanding lead on the men’s side and while over there Ireland are 5th, we’re actually a lot closer to second so there is a whole lot for both genders to play for when the series rolls around to Vancouver in February.
PERTH 7s
#IREW7s
POOL STAGE
USA 14-19 IRE
NZL 21-14 IRE
IRE 26-7 JPN
QF
FIJ 12-14 IRE
SF
IRE 31-7 GBR
F
AUS 14-19 IRE
#IREM7s
POOL STAGE
IRE 17-12 GB
IRE 7-26 USA
AUS 10-19 IRE
QF
IRE 21-14 FRA
SF
IRE 5-24 ARG
3rd place playoff
IRE 24-7 FIJ
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
VANCOUVER FEB 23-25
LOS ANGELES MAR 2-3
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
The big question here is how the hell are Racing still top when they keep losing? This time it was Toulouse overcoming them in Paris and now only 4 pts separate the top 5 with La Rochelle staying in touch with the playoff spots by their fingernails after a 7th loss of the campaign.
You might think the 🔝🐱🐴 might respect the 6mas tradition and take this coming weekend off but you’d be wrong, with Toulon v Bordeaux probably the pick of the seven matches.
Round 13
BORDEAUX 26-30 STADE FRANCAIS
BAYONNE 21-17 OYONNAX
CASTRES 20-23 CLÉRMONT
LYON 36-24 PERPIGNAN
MONTPELLIER 22-17 PAU
TOULON 25-23 LA ROCHELLE
RACING 92 20-27 TOULOUSE
Round 14
SAT FEB 3
PERPIGNAN V RACING 92
OYONNAX V STADE FRANCAIS
CLÉRMONT V LYON
LA ROCHELLE V MONTPELLIER
PAU V CASTRES
TOULOUSE V BAYONNE
SUN FEB 4
TOULON V BORDEAUX
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
After such a successful Champions Cup pool stage, Northampton were able to ease back into the domestic comp with a handy home win over hapless Newcastle but the match everyone was walking about was the West Country derby where Bristol outlasted Bath in a shootout including a very un-Messi-like brainfart from Finn Russell towards the end.
The Saints now have a 7 point lead with 9 wins although there’s quite the chasing pack with SIX clubs all have the same won 7 lost 5 record so it’s all to play for in the next round…which doesn’t roll around until the end of March.
ROUND 11
HARLEQUINS 19-20 LEICESTER TIGERS
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS 38-13 NEWCASTLE FALCONS
BRISTOL BEARS 57-44 BATH
SARACENS 40-22 EXETER CHIEFS
GLOUCESTER 32-20 SALE SHARKS
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
Wolfhounds are on the verge of securing the Celtic Challenge title after a convincing win over the Thunder made it 4 wins from 4 and victory over the other Welsh club Gwalia Lightning next weekend will get the mostly Leinster/Ulster outfit over the line, while Edinburgh hosting the Clovers could be a contest for 2nd place although both are still mathematically in the title race.
Over in the Men’s AIL, Cork Con edged the big clash with Tarf by the point to narrow the North Dublin side’s lead at the top to just one point while Lansdowne, Terenure and Hinch all kept themselves in the playoff picture with victories.
The league takes a break for 6Mas weekend.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE
ROUND 4
GLASGOW WARRIORS 10-29 CLOVERS
WOLFHOUNDS 41-10 BRYTHON THUNDER
GWALIA LIGHTNING 19-20 EDINBURGH
ROUND 4
SAT FEB 3
EDINBURGH V CLOVERS
WOLFHOUNDS V GWALIA LIGHTNING
BRYTHON THUNDER V GLASGOW WARRIORS
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 12
BALLYNAHINCH 40-13 UCD
CITY OF ARMAGH 29-21 YOUNG MUNSTER
CORK CON 27-26 CLONTARF
LANSDOWNE 31-19 DUBLIN UNIV
SHANNON 5-31 TERENURE
ROUND 13
SAT FEB 10
CLONTARF V BALLYNAHINCH
TRINITY V CORK CON
SHANNON V LANSDOWNE
TERENURE V YOUNG MUNSTER
UCD V CITY OF ARMAGH
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Just the one URC match last weekend which formally ended Round 9 – and while everyone predicted the Bulls to beat the Lions, it was actually only Keego who said it would be as close as it was so just this once he was one with bragging rights…until he saw the overall table of course. He’ll need a lot more forecasts to go his way over the second half of the season if he is to avoid retaining the Jersey of Shame.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s 6mas week and thus a busy one…on Wednesday I’ll post a special pod interview with Ball Handling Hooker looking at the latest crop of Irish Under 20 players ahead of their own Grand Slam defence, then with the big match being on Friday, our preview with Keego moves to Thursday but the wrap pod will stay in its usual slot, recording on Sunday.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
11PM – BORDEAUX V STADE FRANCAIS (REPLAY) – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2
SUNDAY, JANUARY 28
6AM – TOULON V LA ROCHELLE (REPLAY) – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2
11:15AM – MONTPELLIER V PAU (REPLAY) – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 1
3PM – GLOUCESTER V SALE SHARKS – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 1
8PM – RACING 92 V TOULOUSE – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2
MONDAY, JANUARY 29
2:45PM – ST MICHAEL’S V ST VINCENT’S – LEINSTER SCHOOL SENIOR CUP – PREMIER SPORTS 1
* paid streaming service
PRESS RELEASE
Leinster TV to stream a further five Round 1 games from Energia Park
Premier Sports coverage of the 2024 Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup kicks-off next Monday, 29 January 2024.
The broadcaster will show eight games live from the competition with the clash of St Michael’s College and St Vincent’s Castleknock College first up in Round 1.
The coverage gets under way from Energia Park at 2.45pm with interviews and analysis from Connor Morris and Bernard Jackman.
Leinster TV will also stream a further five Round 1 games live from Energia Park, starting with the meeting of Clongowes Wood College and Belvedere College on Sunday, 28 January 2024.
Thereafter, all four quarter-finals of the competition will be broadcast live on Premier Sports in the week commencing 18 February 2024, while both semi-finals will be scheduled live on the week beginning 3 March 2024, at the same venue.
All roads lead to the RDS Arena on St Patrick’s Day where Premier Sports will bring you live coverage of the 2024 Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup final – always a special occasion in the domestic rugby calendar.
“We’re delighted to continue our long standing relationship with the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup” commented Premier Sports founder and owner Michael O’Rourke.
“It seems every year we get fantastic entertainment, drama and top quality matches in an ultra-competitive environment. I have no doubt this year will continue to deliver and viewers on Premier Sports will be there for the very best moments”.
Matthew Dowling, Chief Commercial Officer with Leinster Rugby said, “The Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup never disappoints but I think the drama that we have seen over the last few seasons has been exceptional.
“To have first time winners in Gonzaga College last year sets it up perfectly for others who will take inspiration from that and will know that they too can go on a similar journey and lift the trophy in the RDS.
“It is great to have partners such as Premier Sports on board again and delivering such a high quality offering with the level of talent they have in front of and behind the cameras. It promises to be another great season of action.”
Premier Sports is available on Sky (channels 412 & 419), Now, Virgin and Vodafone platforms.
In addition, Leinster Rugby have confirmed that five Round 1 games in the Bank of Ireland Leinster Schools Senior Cup will be available to purchase and that access can be purchased on a game by game basis or as part of a five-game bundle at www.irishrugbylive.ie.
The stream will be brought to Leinster supporters by Videos on the Net, the Wicklow based streaming and video providers, who also work closely with the IRFU.
The five additional games being streamed by Leinster Rugby are:
Sunday, 28 January 2024 Clongowes Wood College v Belvedere College at 2:30pm
Tuesday, 30 January 2024 CBC Monkstown v St Gerard’s School at 3pm
Wednesday, 31 January 2024 Newbridge College v Cistercian College, Roscrea at 3pm
Thursday, 1 February 2024 Kilkenny College v Terenure College at 3pm
Friday, 2 February 2024 St Mary’s College v Wesley College at 3pm
In a poll run by the NZ Herald…41% of readers [gave] the former Ireland head coach the thumbs up….Only 37% of readers voted for Robertson Kiwis snub Razor for Schmidt SA Rugby Mag
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
Thankfully we didn’t lose any actual rugby to Storm Isha but we nearly lost our wrap pod as Jay reported power outages in his area up to an hour to our recording time but he made it through and along with Rich they did a top job going back over the win at Welford Road.
If you missed it, 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.
HARPIN ON…JOE TO AUS, PREM IN CC & WHAT IS “RECKLESS”?
In our latest bonus clip we have Rich looking at some rare positive news for Australian rugby, Jay points out the success of the Premiership clubs in this season’s Champions Cup and below you see the transcript of my contribution where I harp on the continued misunderstanding when it comes to anti-concussion regulations.
RECKLESS DEFINITIONS
Well we’ve had to do a lot of rethinking of how we look at tackles over the past decade or so. From all the talk of zero tolerance which somehow reduced itself to zero over time to the bunker system trialled at the recent Rugby World Cup that seemed to work pretty well for the most part, the game’s powers that be have made several efforts to make the game safer.
And whenever I go to harp on this topic I always feel I have to point out that safety is the driving force behind these changes, because every time there’s a debate over the way a particular on-field decision is worked out, there still seems to be a lot of people out there who just can’t get that concept.
Without fail when a red card gets flashed you’ll find somebody somewhere using one of the most triggering phrases for me right now, namely “that’s a disgraceful call there’s no way that was intentional.” I really can’t get my head around just how this issue hasn’t been put to bed years ago.
Just this weekend we had at least two perfect examples of this in the final pool round of the Champions Cup, first there was a stamp by Bristol’s Josh Caulfield on the head of Connacht’s Finlay Bealham and then on Saturday evening Tom Ahern got the knee of Northampton’s Curtis Langdon to the head twice, with the second one leading to another red.
Now it might be wrong for me to choose these particular examples since in both cases the injured parties were players for Irish provinces which might make it look like I’m biased, but I have to look past that because the only way we can have a proper discussion about this is by taking the jersey colours out of the equation.
In Caulfield’s case the bulk of the disagreement stemmed from the referee’s use of the word “intentional” as he announced his final decision. This led to a flurry of reactions which implied that if there was no intent, then it couldn’t be red and that literally could not be further from the truth.
On the official list of criteria that citing commissioners use to assess foul play, there are 13 items listed in order of importance. At the top of that list is “intentional/deliberate”. But right behind it at number 2, or b to be precise, is the word “reckless”. I really hope the problem here is that people don’t know what that word means, rather than it’s that they don’t realise just how important recklessness is in determining a red card and further sanction. It’s just one below actual intent and it still leads to red.
Now the referee’s ruling for the Langdon dismissal at Thomond Park made this much, much clearer. He said QUOTE “The first contact was clearly accidental. The second one we can’t say it’s intentional, but it is reckless the player is definitely injured so it is red card.” END QUOTE Not even the French accent of Monsieur Trainini could mask this very clear explanation of the Laws and guidelines right there.
I really hope we can at least come to a point where the vast majority of those enjoying these top rugby matches appreciate what’s involved in these decisions, because while it’s bad enough to see those watching at home on their sofas not understanding, when we’re still getting it from ex-players in the media in the year 2024 it really does make you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall which of course leads to the very kind of injuries these sanctions are genuinely trying to avoid.
TRUST YOUR CAPTAIN
It really bugs me to see all the speculation over Peter’s contract, especially when I see it going to such lengths as to compare his situation to others suggesting there is some kind of conspiracy at work against him and/or his province. We don’t know enough, it’s none of our business, AND he is the ‘War God’ so let’s just trust him and get on with supporting the boys in green.
Nothing released at time of posting and Leinster are off until February anyway so might leave this segment aside for the next few week – besides, it’s time to start giving Irish team updates starting next Tuesday.
FOUL PLAY ‘✓’ RED CARD ‘✖’ ME ‘?’
Having referenced the Caulfield challenge in the bonus clip which was recorded Sunday, his actual hearing came just 24 hours later and the result was disappointing if not surprising.
Please don’t get me wrong – I don’t actually want to see any player banned for a long length of time but the fact remained the player was sent off for a stamp to the head which the referee clearly described as “intentional” so I was very curious to see how the final ruling would address this because if a player is judged to have intentionally stamped on the head of an opponent surely the only option is for a lengthy ban.
As you see below, instead, they just ignored that part of it altogether.
“Caulfield was sent off by the referee, Pierre Brousset (France), in the 13th minute of the match for stamping on the Connacht Rugby prop, Finlay Bealham, in contravention of Law 9.12.
The committee determined that Caulfield had committed an act of foul play, however, it found that the offence did not warrant a red card, and the red card decision was therefore overturned.”
I assumed they’d clean up the “intentional” remark like perhaps saying the ref mis-spoke and to be honest I prefer that much more to actually pretending it wasn’t said at all or at least wasn’t significant.
But on top of that, to determine it was both foul play AND not a red card is like saying 2+2=62,387 as far as I’m concerned.
How can they say this is foul play but not red card. If it’s not foul play and complete accident then play on. If It’s reckless and foul play then it has to be RC. For what it’s worth it’s a RC for me as it’s not a natural action of rucking and reckless. Glad I retired 🙈 https://t.co/VYHam8NtgL
The new look “SVNS” circuit gets back underway this weekend with the latest event in Perth. Significance of this one is that it’s over three days so teams won’t have more than two matches per day which should obviously help the fitness levels. After two rounds the women sit in 7th and the men 5th with both more than capable of moving up their respective ladders. As ever all the action will be streamed live via Rugbypass.tv.
IRELAND’S PERTH FIXTURES
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26
5:32AM – WOMEN V USA
7:51AM – MEN V GREAT BRITAIN
9:56AM – WOMEN V NEW ZEALAND
12:50PM – MEN V USA
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27
2:44AM – WOMEN V JAPAN
6:11AM – MEN V AUSTRALIA
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
VANCOUVER FEB 23-25
LOS ANGELES MAR 2-3
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Some big clashes at the top of the table as 1st plays 3rd and 2nd plays 4th in Round 13 (which is the halfway point of the regular season btw) but for me the match of the round is La Rochelle’s trip to Toulon – defeat for ROG’s men would be their 7th of the campaign and put them even further away from that elusive Brennus.
Round 13
SAT JAN 27
BORDEAUX V STADE FRANCAIS
BAYONNE V OYONNAX
CASTRES V CLÉRMONT
LYON V PERPIGNAN
MONTPELLIER V PAU
TOULON V LA ROCHELLE
SUN JAN 28
RACING 92 V TOULOUSE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Northampton are arguably the form team in Europe right now and with winless Newcastle due to visit Franklin’s Gardens in round 12 they could well extend their lead at the top with many of the chasing pack playing each other.
ROUND 11
FRI JAN 26
HARLEQUINS V LEICESTER TIGERS
SAT JAN 27
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS V NEWCASTLE FALCONS
BRISTOL BEARS V BATH
SARACENS V EXETER CHIEFS
SUN JAN 28
GLOUCESTER V SALE SHARKS
AIL UPDATE
A lot of online chatter in women’s rugby has been about the postponements in the AIL Cup but to repeat an opinion I shared here a few weeks ago, I’m not altogether sure this represents another stick to beat the IRFU with necessarily.
Sure, it is far from a good look for senior clubs to be unable to field players in an official competition, but we need to remember why the competition exists in the first place.
Last season both the interpro series & WAIL were done and dusted before Christmas, definitely a “stick” as mentioned above. So this season, they turned the WAIL into a home-and-away competition AND with the expansion of the international Celtic Challenge to include an extra team, they made sure there were no league fixtures overlapping with it and instead used the cup to give the clubs some rugby in that time.
So while it is true that this ended up exposing the lack of available players, I would argue that it was done with the best intentions, while adding that it is certainly not MY intention to defend the IRFU for the sake of it.
In this case, just to be devil’s advocate if nothing else, I’d suggest maybe they tried to offer more competitive rugby but just overshot the mark.
Anyway…back to the Celtic Challenge, and after a week off it returns to action with the table-topping Wolfhounds hosting Brython Thunder while the Colvers must travel to Glasgow. Live coverage will be on RugbyPass.tv again.
Over on the men’s side, Tarf slipped up at home to Lansdowne allowing the chasing pack to catch up and with Hinch narrowly losing out to the Cookies it means the top four are starting to see some daylight. Pick of the next round is an easy one with the top two going at it down in Cork.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE
ROUND 4
SAT JAN 27
GLASGOW WARRIORS V CLOVERS
WOLFHOUNDS V BRYTHON THUNDER
SUN JAN 28
GWALIA LIGHTNING V EDINBURGH
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 11
CITY OF ARMAGH 13-37 TERENURE
CLONTARF 26-29 LANSDOWNE
TRINITY 38-9 SHANNON
UCD 24-34 CORK CON
YOUNG MUNSTER 26-25 BALLYNAHINCH
ROUND 12
SAT JAN 27
BALLYNAHINCH V UCD
CITY OF ARMAGH V YOUNG MUNSTER
CORK CON V CLONTARF
LANSDOWNE V DUBLIN UNIV
SHANNON V TERENURE
CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE
Even with the round of 16 pairing being decided after round 4 the highlight for me was the news from Tblisi as Black Lion may have fallen at the final hurdle and missed out on further progress but still that 17k attendance for the visit of Clérmont certainly caught the eye.
And while we’re at the bottom end of the competition we really have to mention the demise of the Scarlets this season, for a club that won a major title as relatively recently as 2017 it’s a real disappointment to see them struggling in both competitions now.
So anyway back to the competition itself, like I said there are now 16 left in contention with four dropping down from the Champions Cup which included both Ulster and Connacht, both of which face tricky challenges away to 🔝🐱🐴 opposition.
Personally I’m looking at that bracket and wondering if Benetton aren’t worth a sneaky bet to win it all?
ROUND 4
GLOUCESTER 35-5 CASTRES
SCARLETS 19-31 EDINBURGH
BLACK LION 3-36 CLÉRMONT
PAU 28-27 ZEBRE
OYONNAX 28-27 CHEETAHS
BENETTON 27-19 MONTPELLIER
PERPIGNAN 23-32 NEWC ASTLE
LIONS 28-38 OSPREYS
DRAGONS 9-29 SHARKS
Georgian Rugby on the up ⬆️
More than 17,000 fans were in attendance in Tbilisi, Georgia as Black Lion took on French giants Clermont in Challenge Cup on Saturday 🔥
Black Lion already beat the Scarlets away in round 2 by 23-7 💥
Time to hang up the blue jersey for a bit and go back to the green, in fact I’ll have to take the time to go change the logos on all the social media channels too. On Sunday evening with no wrap pod I will instead be having fans from Ulster, Connacht & Munster on to look at Ireland’s Six Nations chances, and while I have them it would probably be rude not to ask them to harp on their own provinces a bit too.
We should have some other content floating around as well so keep tabs with any or all of our social media channels and please comment, like, share & subscribe whenever the mood takes you.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 