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
JLP : Obviously it’s awesome to see Garry is close to returning but those thoughts quickly turn to – who makes room for him? Bundee & Robbie are in a groove together now plus Stu hasn’t put a foot wrong either. There’s a case to be made for Ringrose to play on the wing and he would definitely be good there but that wouldn’t exactly be fair on Calvin Nash would it? Definitely comes under the heading of “good problems” for Andy & co.
2. “What changed?…I will only be able to understand that fully once we have talked to the players”
JLP : Ahead of the Calcutta Cup, I was genuinely concerned about our Round 4 trip to Twickenham, but I still held it back a bit until I saw how they got on at Murrayfield, and after an impressive start the way the Scots, or arguably DVDM, tore them down made me feel a whole lot better. Then I see Borthwick’s words afterwards which basically amount to responding to the question “what went wrong” with “damned if I know” then I feel better again. OBVIOUSLY, I’m taking nothing for granted – whatever goes before I fully expected England to be fully pumped to knock us over, I just feel better about their chances of doing it.
3. “It looked like it might have clipped it, but again the referee was well-positioned. The best to see it, really.”
JLP : Let’s just say this incident didn’t make our wrap pod! To be fair, I actually thought it was a try at that moment, but if some Welsh fans think this is the issue to be focusing on from the match, especially in the area of ‘referee injustice’ when they themselves somehow managed to keep 15 on the park from start to finish, then I say let them at it.
As you’ll see further down this column, we’d much rather focus on the fans who want to have a bit of craic after the match.
4. As the fly-half went to reset the ball on the tee, French players could be seen encroaching forward in an attempt to close down the shot.
JLP : I may have been glued to the telly as this kick was being taken, but I definitely missed this. I’m torn on this…it was such a critical moment of the match and the ball hitting the post caused so much controversy that it would have been a hell of a spot for the officials to call the movement. Has the TMO ever gotten involved for something like this? Perhaps they should. Possibly could have made a great and much deserved result (red card or no) for Italy even better.
5. “The 21-year-old Welshman has come up big for England here!”
JLP : Someone call the Clickbait Police! When I’m just scrolling through my aggregator in general, I tend to cross the road to avoid headlines like this, but for Front Five I will take the odd peek down the rabbit hole and see what’s going on. Obviously the “Irish person does something against English person” factor is being played up but I have to admire the irony in the subeditor’s outlandish use of the word “outlandish”. Look – overall I’m not crazy about emphasising nations of birth for test players, the qualification rules are what they are and the players are technically representing the union. I mean it’s not like Ireland doesn’t rely on players who qualified, but if anyone wants to say they’re not as much Irish rugby players as anyone else in the squad, well, we’re in a whole other area.
Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby
WRAP OF A WRAP
So there I was at my daughter’s match on Sunday morning when a text came in that had me scrambling to put together a traditional 3-person wrap pod. No hard feelings to he who had to cancel, life has a habit of doing that, I just had to throw myself at the mercy of my top band of contributors and thankfully Ciarán Duffy & Kristian Ross were able to cover the win on Sunday.
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.
FULL POD
Because of the scramble I mention above I had to ditch the bonus clip this week, in fact I may leave it for a while as it can be unnecessarily time consuming. So to have something to post to YouTube I made a headline video of the full wrap pod. There is still one extra topic right at the end – what with Kristian being an Ulster fan I thought it rude not to ask him about the Dan McFarland news from during the week.
CAN WE CALL IT A DRAW?
I’m a self-confessed nerd and I love all that wonky talk about competition formats and such so this may not be for you, but I do believe this is a subject that may well come up again despite the tweaks World Rugby has made.
Pretty much a “steady as she goes” report, great to see Jamie and Ross made it through their first match back but still concerning to see names like Jimmy O’Brien and Charlie Ngatai still rooted to the bottom tier. Was a bit worried to see Tommy O’Brien limp off against Benetton but it seems he’s ok, so I doubt there will be that many changes in the 23 for the trip to Cardiff.
Harpin’ matchday 23 v Cardiff
McErlean, T O’Brien, Turner, Osborne, Russell, R Byrne, McGrath
Barron, E Byrne, Ala’alatoa, Deeny, Ruddock, Murphy, Prendergast, Brownlee
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:
Jamie Osborne: came through the game against Benetton Rugby with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury
Ross Byrne: came through the game against Benetton Rugby with no issues after his return from an arm injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Cormac Foley: has increased his training load and will be further assessed this week as he makes his way back from a shoulder injury
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Martin Moloney (bicep), Alex Soroka (foot), Jimmy O’Brien (neck) and Charlie Ngatai (calf)
NOT A TWEETUP
After doing such a great job promoting the hashtag “IrelandWeek” in the lead up to the match, Welsh fan Ed Jenkins suggested a “gathering of individuals who engage on the platform currently known as X”, with the stipulation that it wasn’t called a “tweetup”. Sadly I wasn’t in the vicinity but as you can see a solid front row of Harpin forwards answered the call.
The pool stages were definitely a far cry from the success both Irish genders enjoyed in Perth, but the weekend most certainly was not without silver linings.
Obviously winning one leg in a series offers no guarantees of a repeat in the next one, but after defeating South Africa, we were done over by both Brazil and New Zealand and it wasn’t enough for a quarterfinal spot. Still, once in that position you can only aim to finish as high as you can and with wins over GB and Japan the girls did just that leaving them 9th. On the overall table it doesn’t look like we can aim much higher than 4th with AUS, NZL & FRA leading the way.
The men also just had one pool win but in their case it got them into the quarters as a best 3rd place finisher, and who did they come up against but France with Monsieur Duponte who of course got the winning try. However they also managed to salvage the most they could out of the position playoffs, defeating Fiji in extra time to leave us 5th in Vancouver and, somehow, SECOND on the overall standings! Argentina seem to be running away with 1st place but to finish behind them would certainly be quite the achievement. Standout player from the matches I saw was definitely Zac Ward, who got that winning try in ET and is quite the strong carrier.
Now the circus moves on to LA and you can see our fixtures below.
VANCOUVER 7S
IRELAND WOMEN
POOL STAGE
28-7 V RSA
7-24 V BRA
5-43 V NZL
9TH-12TH PLAYOFFS
21-7 V GBR
12-7 V JPN
IRELAND MEN
POOL STAGE
14-17 V GBR
14-19 V NZL
22-10 V RSA
QUARTERFINAL
5-12 V FRA
5TH PLAYOFF
24-19 V FIJI (AET)
LOS ANGELES 7S
SAT MAR 2
12:30AM – WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
3:38AM – MEN V SOUTH AFRICA
6:14PM – MEN V SPAIN
8:04PM – WOMEN V FRANCE
11:06PM – MEN V ARGENTINA
SUN MAR 3
12:18AM – WOMEN V JAPAN
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
With Stade winning the Parisien derby inflicting yet more pain on Stu’s Racing, they and Toulouse both hit the 50point mark atop the 🔝🐱🐴 table after round 16. Castres lead the chasing pack while ROG’s La Rochelle are hanging on to barrage contention by their fingernails after the NINTH league defeat of the campaign to go with the two in Europe. It’s actually starting to get them looking over their shoulders at the relegation positions where Montpellier are winning their way off the bottom. Victory next Sunday against Clérmont will be critical for ROG although Toulouse v Castres is the tie of the round.
Round 16
MONTPELLIER 28-23 BAYONNE
PERPIGNAN 27-15 LA ROCHELLE
CASTRES 41-12 BORDEAUX
LYON 43-26 OYONNAX
PAU 17-9 TOULON
RACING 92 11-27 STADE FRANCAIS
CLÉRMONT 33-37 TOULOUSE
Round 17
SAT MAR 2
TOULOUSE V CASTRES
BAYONNE V LYON
OYONNAX V MONTPELLIER
STADE FRANÇAIS V PAU
TOULON V PERPIGNAN
BORDEAUX V RACING 92
SUN MAR 3
LA ROCHELLE V CLÉRMONT
AIL UPDATE
It was essentially a final trial match ahead of the Women’s Six Nations but the all-Irish clash at the Kingspan Stadium also offered the Wolfhounds the opportunity to lift the Celtic Challenge title, and they accepted the offer with a convincing 47-26 victory over the Clovers. They can’t be caught atop the table so congrats are definitely in order! Here’s hoping they can continue the winning ways with the green jersey on, absolutely vital that we get at least a win or two under our belt.
Meanwhile in the AIL both genders return to action after a bye week, with Lansdowne v Cork Con in the men’s comp being the pick of the fixtures.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S CELTIC CHALLENGE
SECOND PLAYOFF ROUND
GWALIA LIGHTNING 43-5 GLASGOW WARRIORS
WOLFHOUNDS 47-26 CLOVERS
THIRD PLAYOFF ROUND
SUN MAR 3
CLOVERS V EDINBURGH
BRYTHON THUNDER V GWALIA LIGHTNING
WOMEN’S AIL
NO FIXTURES LAST WEEKEND
Round 13
SAT MAR 2
SUTTONIANS V OLD BELVEDERE
COOKE V UL BOHS
GALWEGIANS V BLACKROCK
WICKLOW V BALLINCOLLIG
MEN’S AIL
NO FIXTURES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 15
SAT MAR 2
CLONTARF V YOUNG MUNSTER
TRINITY V CITY OF ARMAGH
LANSDOWNE V CORK CON
SHANNON V BALLYNAHINCH
TERENURE V UCD
RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE
I will be very surprised if it isn’t a Georgia v Portugal final but you never know, we’ll see if Romania and Spain can cause an upset.
NO FIXTURES LAST WEEKEND
SEMIFINALS
SAT MAR 2
GEORGIA V ROMANIA
SUN MAR 3
PORTUGAL V SPAIN
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Short but sweet column this week, next up we’re turning our attention to Leinster’s URC visit to Cardiff keep an eye out for the preview & wrap pods.
Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Wales definitely better than most expected, Ireland will need to be more disciplined in Twickers but can get a bonus point win if they iron out the errors. Was delighted to see Frawley score a super try
Colin McConaghie
We need pace in the backline to get to the really top level. Possibly a bit complacent today but Lowe was really poor with his kicking and will cost us against a better team
John Clavin
A couple of big referee decisions didn’t go Ireland’s way. But, a 24 point win in the 6N and we’re all a bit disappointed in the performance…. Heady days for Irish Rugby.
Christy O’Connor
Very sloppy 2nd half. Ref was inconsistent, but it was our own fault that we made such hard work of it.
Wales deserve some credit for not giving up.
Carmel Daly
Not perfect but technically they held Wales scoreless only for penalty try given. Job done 👍
Greg Kelly
If we’d done that any other year we’d be jumping for joy. I think it’s a sign of what we expect from this team that people are nit picking the performance.
What a way to get BP. Class all the way from Stu's hit at halfway to Beirne's finish. We prob deserved the maximum, tho Welsh started 2nd half well, Winnett v impressive. Aki worthy PotM tho TB not far behind. On to Twickers.#IREvWAL
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 