JLP : As much as I’d love to dive head first into the social media meleé over the past few days over this, I chose instead to harp on the wider topic in this week’s Quick Tap column which you’ll find further down the column.
Since the redevelopment of Thomond Park in 2008, Munster have hosted international opposition in the form of New Zealand, Australia, and the Māori All Blacks at the Limerick venue.
JLP : Now I know I said I’ve tried to stay out of Frischgate, but let’s just say this Tuesday morning story kind of pokes a hole in all the “Munster get nothing” narrative.
The Wallabies, two-time World Cup champions, now occupy 10th, meaning bragging rights in the Lynagh family reside firmly with Louis…
JLP : Bad form of course, but also very in sync with all that sadly ails Welsh rugby right now. I wonder if Warren got wind that Gabby had borrowed Sinead Kissane’s notes from her famous interview with Eddie O’Sullivan in 2007…
“I honestly believe that Borthwick’s players had read my pre-match column”
JLP : Only one comment required…HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
Many thanks to Pádrag for contributing on the wrap this week, it was only the second one dealing with an Irish defeat but I reckon we managed our way through it well enough all things considered.
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.
FOUR PROUD PROVINCES
This might come across a bit “kumbaya” but still I think it needs saying once in a while, not that it’s going to stop the rage even a bit of course…
Wait. La Rochelle are 3rd? With a record of 9 wins, 9 losses?
THIRD??????????????????
We all know the home team tends to win in the 🔝🐱🐴 more often than most but these numbers are ridiculous IMO. 11 of the 14 clubs have a win-loss differential of ±2 or less! I mean it’s great when it comes to drama and with just 8 rounds to go there’s a whole lot that can change, but it’s still nuts.
One thing is for sure, whatever about how close things might be, Racing badly needed that win over Toulon on Sunday night, they were getting close to freefall, although their trip to Castres in the next round will be far from easy. Bordeaux v Toulouse on the Sunday seems to be tie of the round.
Round 18
LA ROCHELLE 23-3 STADE FRANÇAIS
CLÉRMONT 15-15 OYONNAX
LYON 34-19 CASTRES
MONTPELLIER 10-3 BORDEAUX
PAU 42-40 BAYONNE
PERPIGNAN 27-17 TOULOUSE
RACING 20-6 TOULON
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
AIL UPDATE
UL Bohs go marching on, with their narrow win against Rock keeping their 100% record intact although the top four stays the same and they all avoid each other next week.
Men’s comp won’t be back until the following weekend.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 14
BLACKROCK 15-17 UL BOHS
OLD BELVEDERE 72-12 GALWEGIANS
SUTTONIANS 24-3 COOKE
BALLINCOLLIG 10-63 RAILWAY UNION
Round 15
THU MAR 14
BLACKROCK V SUTTONIANS
FRI MAR 15
RAILWAY UNION V WICKLOW
SAT MAR 16
COOKE V OLD BELVEDERE
TUE MAR 19
UL BOHS V BALLINCOLLIG
MEN’S AIL
NO FIXTURES 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
Do we need to talk about the Crusaders? Nah – they’ll be fine, especially with 8 of Super rugby’s 12 making the knockouts you’d still be mad to write them off. How bout instead we talk about their latest conquerors the Fijian Drua, what an amazing result for the game there and indeed the comp. After Sevu Reece opened the scoring they responded with two converted tries and two penalties to move them up the ladder.
Tie of Round 4 is easy to spot, Crusaders hosting the 100% Hurricanes.
ROUND 3
MOANA PASIFIKA 23-29 REBELS
WARATAHS 21-23 HIGHLANDERS
FIJIAN DRUA 20-10 CRUSADERS
BRUMBIES 22-19 WESTERN FORCE
HURRICANES 29-21 BLUES
REDS 25-19 CHIEFS
ROUND 4
FRI MAR 15
CRUSADERS V HURRICANES
REBELS V REDS
WESTERN FORCE V MOANA PASIFIKA
SAT MAR 16
HIGHLANDERS V BRUMBIES
CHIEFS V FIJIAN DRUA
WARATAHS V BLUES
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
No sign of Dave Kearney in Chicago’s lineups just yet, though Nick McCarthy has been starting as they fell to Utah. NOLA (which in case you didn’t know stands for New Orleans, Louisiana), Houston and Seattle are the only two with 100% records after 2 rounds.
Round 2
NEW ENGLAND 34-35 OLD GLORY
NOLA 34-19 ANTHEM RC
UTAH 29-15 CHICAGO
SEATTLE 29-15 MIAMI
DALLAS 23-30 SAN DIEGO
LOS ANGELES 12-27 HOUSTON
Round 3
SAT MAR 16
NEW ENGLAND V NOLA GOLD
OLD GLORY V CHICAGO
SUN MAR 17
HOUSTON V MIAMI
UTAH V SEATTLE
SAN DIEGO V LOS ANGELES
ANTHEM RC V DALLAS
RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Portugal can count themselves lucky to make the final and I will be very surprised if they manage to overturn the Lelos but we’ve seen bigger surprises than that in recent times so it should be a final worth watching on RugbyEurope.tv
FINAL
SUN MAR 17
GEORGIA V PORTUGAL
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
That’s it for this week, now it’s time to gear up for Paddy’s Weekend/Super Saturday, we will of course be focusing on the Championship/Triple Crown decider with a preview on Friday and a wrap pod recording Sunday evening.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
England had their best game in about 3 years and only beat us by a point. Lads gave everything and just a bit off and that’s what happens. Suppose there is a reason we’ve not seen back to back grand slams in 30 years
Ciara Lennon
Big wake up call for Ireland. England came to play and played the better rugby on the day. They never let Ireland settle. Too many handling errors from Ireland. Too many penalties conceded. I love Peter O Mahony but 2nd yellow card for a captain in one tournament is just not good enough. He needs to get a better example. Should Murray have kicked it away with 90seconds on the clock? Probably not but at thr end of the day, Ireland were just out played
Craig Boyd
In simple terms England should have been out of sight, Ireland in no way deserved the win. That being said they got themselves in a position were they should have won but can’t help but thinking when Murray kicked the ball away with 90 seconds to go that he offered England the perfect opportunity for them to win the game. Did he not trust his forwards to see out 90 seconds?
Jamie Bermingham
So much arrogance from the media in the build up and then after both tries we didn’t put any pressure on them. England came to play rugby and got the win simple as
Big Joe Shep
• England were exceptional today and outplayed us in everything.
• It was a poor day at the office and it happens but as a collective, we didn’t turn up I’m afraid
• An aging Murray with a wasted box-kick in the last embers of the game was woeful buddy!!! Give the ball to your opponents who have dominated the entire game, require only a Pen is NOT what this Ireland team does. I’m afraid he’s way way out of kilter with THIS Ireland team and it ultimately cost us!! 🤷♂️😥🏉
• All that said, we lost by 1 Pt and that shows how good we are….. We go again next week and put Scotland to the sword!!!
James Griffin
Far too much talk about how much Ireland would win by during the lead up. And blaming Murray is just provincial shite. He didn’t give away penalties, drop passes, or miss tackles. A little bit of honesty wouldn’t go astray. Wake up call, big time!
Gavin Hegarty
So disappointing. Mainly because it wasn’t how we should play. First four minutes were great but then we dropped off and honestly if England were better they would have put us away. You’d think Murray with his ‘experience’ would know how to close out a game. His box kicking is infuriating yet he still does it to no benefit.
Better team won, we just didn’t show.
Kevin Kelehan
England could have been out of sight after 20 mins, Ireland had the game won around 78 minute but lost it, se la vie. Arsen Wenger spoke of great teams playing badly but winning, thats where Ireland need to get
Colin McConaghie
If people properly analysed the Welsh game this performance was coming. We created very little against a very limited Welsh team and our back line looked one paced and lacking creativity. The Bundee bash it up played straight into Englands hands. It showed on the two occasions we actually passed wide we scored.
Penalty count far too high and poor kicking from Lowe and then Murray gifted easy possession to run back at us and score.
We are still a very good team and will likely win the Championship but the over hype has been embarrassing and we are still far too over reliant on our “first choice” players.
The beauty of the Six Nations is how competitive it is. All matches are lose-able. Italy beat Scotland, who beat England, who beat us, who hockeyed Italy. That’s what makes back to back slams so hard, or even individual slams. You’ve to win 10 in a row!
Congrats to England just about deserved it. Really hope the Irish knives won't be out that was a top test match and Championship still there to be won.#ENGvIRE
JLP : I don’t normally put these Front Five articles in any particular order, but still this one had to be first this week. Two weeks can be an age in modern day media at the best of times, but when England have just failed to Scotland and have to wait before an even more daunting task in the next round even if it is at Twickenham, I’m not so sure that publications will get a whole lotta clicks if they fill their news cycles and column inches with doom and gloom for the duration. So in a way I get why the English media might be tempted to think “outside the box” for narratives but in some cases, especially Oliver Brown’s if we’re being honest, I’m not sure there ever actually WAS a box. Sam does a brilliant job here of calling them out.
…the men’s and women’s sevens (are) to be played at the Stade de France from Wednesday 24 July 2024 to Tuesday 30 July
JLP : More on the Sevens below but it’s hard for an Irish fan to avoid being even a little bit begrudging when your side has been eliminated for two tournaments in a row by someone I’m calling “Le Ringer” at least until the IRFU decides whether or not to use provincial players for the Olympics (and I hope we don’t FWIW).
“I knew there was interest from over there, but I was never going to go.”
JLP : I’d say at this stage that it’s almost a non-story when we hear someone on the fringes of a successful test side attracts interest from another nation for which he is qualified. But in Frawley’s case it’s still newsworthy as his future has been the focus of much speculation over the past year or so.
…the…double header (will) be played at Aviva Stadium, on Sunday 28, April. Both games will be broadcast live on TG4
JLP : Club rugby, particularly on the women’s side, is in serious need of a rethink, so while any kind of innovation to do with coverage is good news, hopefully it won’t end up papering over the cracks and that much more work will be done in the near future. More on the AIL and who is likely to feature in those finals in the Updates section below.
“…we are on the same field so if you could show me the same respect that I show you, that would be very much appreciated.”
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
Many thanks to Conor & Ciarán for contributing on the wrap, I have decided to shelve the “Bonus Clip” feature for the next while which makes for a much more manageable recording and editing time, obviously. I would like to encourage the lads to harp on more non-Leinster & Ireland topics but I’ll just have to find another way of doing it, possibly with more regular midweek bonus pods.
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.
THANK YOU ROSS
I have rebranded the TikTok videos as “Quick Taps” but in actual fact they have been getting longer as I try to say all I want to in the copy, however in this case I think it’s ok because the news of Ross Molony leaving at the end of the season left me with much to say. His career has been a perfect example of how it’s possible to establish a decent reputation in the sport without actually playing at the highest level.
Many try to compare rugby to the American football but in many many ways they are chalk and cheese, not least because rugby has the international element. The NFL is basically the highest level you can play at in the sport (unless you distinguish between regular season and playoffs) so basically if you are one of the best 30 or so players in the sport, chances are you will be a starter for one of the franchises.
That just cannot happen in rugby. It’s not inconceivable for the second best outhalf on the planet to get only a handful of test caps simply because the best one plays for the same nation. And apart from tweaking residency laws there’s no way to fix that, nor should there be btw.
Anyway, many, many thanks, Ross and I hope Leinster fans join me in giving you a proper send off.
Technically the Women’s side improved on their 9th in Vancouver by finishing 8th in LA but having won in Perth we would have expected a lot more from the past couple of weeks, although the Aussies were clearly lying in wait for us in that first pool match having beaten them on their home turf.
Over in the men’s it was a case of double redemption because after losing to Spain and runaway series leaders Argentina in the pool phase, we overturned them both in the knockouts. However…in between those bouts of revenge there was the small matter of facing Antoine “Le Ringer” Duponte in the semifinals on Sunday evening Irish time, and you could definitely make a case that he proved the difference.
From my limited knowledge of this code I thought perhaps Terry Kennedy could have made an effort to make the conversion of his after-buzzer try a little easier for Billy Dardis but still, the win over Spain gave us another bronze finish to both keep us in 2nd position on the series table and draw us that little bit closer to Argentina.
There’s a break for a few weeks until the circus moves to Hong Kong.
LOS ANGELES 7S
IRELAND WOMEN
POOL STAGE
0-31 V AUS
5-21 V FRA
26-12 V JPN
QUARTERFINAL
12-36 V NZL
7TH PLACE
14-28 V BRZ
IRELAND MEN
POOL STAGE
17-0 V RSA
14-19 V ESP
26-14 V ARG
QUARTERFINAL
24-12 V ARG
SEMIFINAL
24-26 V FRA
3RD PLACE PLAYOFF
24-7 V ESP
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Even more daylight now between Stade Français, Toulouse and the rest of the league making them likely candidates for home semifinals. But again for me the headline makers have to be Racing after defeat in Bordeax means they have now lost more than they won although they are holding on to a top six spot by their fingernails. On Sunday evening La Rochelle also badly needed a win and Clérmont duly obliged, although they will face a sterner test next weekend when the league leaders come to visit. Why should the small matter of a Six Nations round stand in the way of more 🔝🐱🐴 fixtures eh?
Round 17
TOULOUSE 33-6 CASTRES
BAYONNE 39-10 LYON
OYONNAX 35-39 MONTPELLIER
STADE FRANÇAIS 25-12 PAU
TOULON 44-22 PERPIGNAN
BORDEAUX 21-5 RACING 92
LA ROCHELLE 42-3 CLÉRMONT
Round 18
SAT MAR 9
LA ROCHELLE V STADE FRANÇAIS
CLÉRMONT V OYONNAX
LYON V CASTRES
MONTPELLIER V BORDEAUX
PAU V BAYONNE
PERPIGNAN V TOULOUSE
SUN MAR 10
RACING V TOULON
AIL UPDATE
I know I’m being picky here but the format of the Celtic Challenge is really weird. After a round robin portion it seems they split into top 3 and bottom 3 for the next three rounds so if that’s the case, you shouldn’t be able to finish lower than 3rd IMO, but anyway with the Wolfhounds already having clinched the title last week, the Clovers’ draw against Edinburgh in Llanelli (another oddity, surely they’d have had a better attendance if one team was at home) left them in 4th.
In the Women’s AIL there was actually a shock as a bottom 5 team actually defeated a top 4 one, a very rare occurrence so fair play to Galwegians who overcame Blackrock. Meanwhile UL Bohemians continue their 100% start and while their trip to Blackrock next weekend is tie of the round, I still assume their record ill continue.
Finally in the men’s 1A Cork Con scored a big win on the Aviva back pitch to stay in touch with Tarf at the top while Terenure crept into 3rd. Trinity’s win over City of Armagh made the relegation picture interesting with Shannon also in trouble with just three rounds to go. Cork Con v Terenure is easily the pick of the next round although the league will take a break for the next couple of weekends.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE
THIRD PLAYOFF ROUND
CLOVERS 12-12 EDINBURGH
BRYTHON THUNDER 30-5 GWALIA LIGHTNING
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 13
SUTTONIANS 12-39 OLD BELVEDERE
COOKE 7-28 UL BOHS
GALWEGIANS 14-10 BLACKROCK
WICKLOW 32-24 BALLINCOLLIG
Round 14
SAT MAR 9
BLACKROCK V UL BOHS
OLD BELVEDERE V GALWEGIANS
SUTTONIANS V COOKE
BALLINCOLLIG V RAILWAY UNION
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 15
CLONTARF 31-12 YOUNG MUNSTER
TRINITY 31-26 CITY OF ARMAGH
LANSDOWNE 19-25 CORK CON
SHANNON 20-14 BALLYNAHINCH
TERENURE 19-12 UCD
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
Don’t know why I haven’t updated this comp here before but better late than never. Round 2 was the “Super Round” and apparently what made it Super was the fact that all 6 matches were played at the AAMI Stadium in Melbourne. Perhaps the name “Help Out Rugby in Oz Round” would have been closer to the mark, if a little more clunky. Anyway the Waratah’s convincing win over the Crusaders was easily the result of the round, I wonder could they repeat the result if they meet each other again in the knockouts. Overall the round was full of very “Super Rugby looking” scorelines, with only the Brumbies failing to score at least 24pts.
Next week all eyes will no doubt be on the Tahs who host the Highlanders.
ROUND 1
REDS 40-22 WARATAHS
HIGHLANDERS 35-21 MOANA PASIFIKA
BLUES 34-10 FIJIAN DRUA
WESTERN FORCE 10-44 HURRICANES
REBELS 3-30 BRUMBIES
CHIEFS 33-29 CRUSADERS
ROUND 2
HIGHLANDERS 29-37 BLUES
REBELS 38-24 WESTERN FORCE
MOANA PASIFIKA 39-36 FIJIAN DRUA
CRUSADERS 24-37 WARATAHS
CHIEFS 46-12 BRUMBIES
HURRICANES 38-33 REDS
ROUND 3
FRI MAR 8
MOANA PASIFIKA V REBELS
WARATAHS V HIGHLANDERS
FIJIAN DRUA V CRUSADERS
SAT MAR 9
BRUMBIES V WESTERN FORCE
HURRICANES V BLUES
REDS V CHIEFS
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE
Last season my adopted team was the New England Free Jacks but for the 2024 campaign I think I’ll switch my allegiance to the Chicago Hounds who have added Dave Kearney & Nick McCarthy to their ranks and had a decent away win to start the season.
Of course the 2023 season became a bit farcical with multiple clubs going to the wall but somehow they managed to scrape together another 12 teams this season with the LA Giltinis rebranding as Rugby LA (hallelujah) with new franchises in Miami & Charlotte (Anthem RC).
Round 1
NOLA 18-6 OLD GLORY
HOUSTON 22-15 UTAH
SEATTLE 25-19 SAN DIEGO
MIAMI 19-23 CHICAGO
ANTHEM RC 15-46 NEW ENGLAND
LOS ANGELES 29-32 DALLAS
Round 2
SAT MAR 9
NEW ENGLAND V OLD GLORY
NOLA V ANTHEM RC
UTAH V CHICAGO
SUN MAR 10
SEATTLE V MIAMI
DALLAS V SAN DIEGO
LOS ANGELES V HOUSTON
RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
Last week I said “I will be very surprised if it isn’t a Georgia v Portugal final” and overall I wasn’t surprised but that said, Spain sure gave Os Lobos a run for their money. Georgia will of course be heavily favoured in the final on St Patrick’s Day.
SEMIFINALS
GEORGIA 43-5 ROMANIA
PORTUGAL 33-30 SPAIN
FINAL
SUN MAR 17
GEORGIA V PORTUGAL
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
I really was pulling too far ahead of the pack so I decided to let them catch up a bit in Round 11, with Kino taking the yellow cap, but from here on in it there will be No More Mr Nice Guy I assure you #ahem.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
That’s it for another week, next we look to rounds 4 & 5 of the Six Nations with an England preview recording on Thursday eve followed by a wrap on Sunday. By all means do leave your thoughts on our Facebook page after the full time whistle it’s always great to get your opinions.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
2 March 2024; John McKee of Leinster celebrates as Michael Milne of Leinster, obscured, scores his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Cardiff and Leinster at Cardiff Arms Park in Cardiff, Wales. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
🏉 Pack mentality 🏉 Offloadin’ Will 🏉 Carré-d away 🏉 Doin’ sh*t well 🏉 10 outta 10
The interval really did come at the perfect time, came out of the break really well, thought Leinster's pack won us that although Turner impressed on wing. Good night for the Front Row Union Loosie Branch try-wise. Five more in the bag, onwards we go…#CARvLEI
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 