10 December 2023; Ciarán Frawley of Leinster kicks a penalty during the Investec Champions Cup match between La Rochelle and Leinster at Stade Marcel Deflandre in La Rochelle, France. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Away in France to the reigning champs and we finally get it right! I couldn’t be happier to see the team finally figure out how to get the better of them. Delighted to see the only try scored is Larmour, he’s had a tough couple of years.
No trick plays, no bounce off the ball stuff, and no situation where the ref was clearly biased towards us. We beat them fair and square.
The future is bright at 10, the squad will take a lot from this and fingers crossed no major injury concerns as we prepare for Saturday
Chris McDonnell
Fantastic result, can’t fault anything on the pitch. Onwards and upwards.
Greg Kelly
Really well fought win. I seem to remember LAR struggling in similar conditions last year against Ulster. Byrne was pretty solid in what he did and Frawley fronted up well on a difficult night. Certainly a big weekend in the post Johnny period in blue and green.
Bert McLoughlin
What was best about today’s performance was the hunger to make dominant tackles and be physical in poor conditions. That hunger will make us strong contenders this season. No signs of a wc hangover
Gavin Hegarty
To me Byrne stood up when asked and frawley did the same. We’re good @10 for a few years!
Hats off to connors, he delivered and then some. Epic performance.
We had some unleinster mistakes but we’ll learn as the game evolves. Porter was constantly talking to the ref, this I like.
I did not like the ref telling ringer he won’t talk to Ryan but fear this is a result of ‘co’ captains. We need to sort thst.
William Andrew
Appalling display by the Ref, looked like he was been coached by LR. Said it twice to them but still did nothing to shut them up.
Honestly Refs need to realise a big scrum can actually bring a scrum down and play the odds like they play the red zone odds.
Jamie Donohoe
Very proud of that very courageous performance in those conditions. And i thought the Ref handled the game well too
Not ready for analysis yet except for THAT. WAS. AWESOME!!!!#LARvLEI
Hello there and welcome to our latest 80+ column…every weekend we focus on the 80 minutes of rugby played by Leinster and/or Ireland, and here is where we keep tabs on pretty much everything else.
For our latest wrap myself and Conor Cronin harped on Leinster’s robbery victory in Galway on Saturday evening, normally I have two contributors but one had to pull out (the cheek of these people having actual lives!) so I took up the slack myself and prepared some extra chat and while my voice only barely held up (made a lot of use of both the cough button and the editing software) I reckon we did a decent job going over the match between us.
And one thing I keep forgetting to do in these columns is give a shout out to our preview show – it generally goes live 24 hours ahead of kickoff and I guess the reason I forget it is the “mootness” of the previews once the match is actually played, but I am of course grateful to Keego (and the others who occasionally step in) for sitting with me for a quick recording once each matchday squad is named.
HARPIN ON…CHANGES WE’D MAKE TO RUGBY
Last week I mentioned that I had abandoned Mastodon in favour of Blue Sky as I can only handle one Musk alternative at a time. Engagement has been pretty good there so far so I threw out a general question to see what kind of responses I’d get. It helped give us a decent topic for our bonus chat on Sunday, where Conor and myself read out some of the top responses as well as offering a few of our own.
As you can see I have included more of the answers below.
ORIGINAL QUESTION : OK time throw a topic out there see how it flies in the BlueSky….You are put in charge of the entire sport of rugby union for long enough to make just ONE (realistic) change that will be permanent. What’s it gonna be.
Dr Harley Worthy – Lifetime ban for anyone using the phrase “bring back rucking”, you can still ruck the ball backwards with your foot. You just miss people being given a shoeing
Andrew Byrne – If it’s only one thing then it’s….Global Season…. #GoBigOrGoHome
Brian Donnelly – Put the right level of funding, structures and support into the process of creating a panel of consistently competent top level referees. It’s too haphazard at moment.
Sei Williams – I would invent a time machine, go back to 1995 and do Welsh professional rugby properly. Thanks.
Edward Jenkins – Ban union ownership of non-test pro teams.
Cian Ó Muilleoir – Ban private ownership of non-test pro teams.
Stephen Murphy (Master Of None Pod) – Appoint me as the Rugby Czar and I will review every red card individually and dish out appropriate punishments.
Cian Ó Muilleoir – My actual real and genuine suggestion is that if a try is scored with a penalty advantage still accrued the advantage is carried to a penalty kick for the restart.
Kevin Beirne – If you score a try under penalty advantage you can choose take the conversion from the location of the penalty
Caolán Scully – All outside backs must their hair cut by a team barber, and oblige to a style that suits their position
Richard Mifsud – My realistic one is one I’ve often mentioned, you only get a try bonus with three clear tries à la Top14
David O’Crampeasy – Scrum reset/free kick/penalties better, I don’t know how, just better. Much better scrum/lineout commentary talk about the power/mass/height involved, celebrate the technicalities of the game rather than try to hide them
James Gotoshay – All games, URC,Champions cup,internationals and all other leagues including southern hemisphere leagues and summer tours are available in one subscription pack.
Sarah Lennon – Crouch, touch, pause, engage.
Bill Byrne – Properly addressing media rights and new media issues. Low key massive issue. Needs to be comprehensively addressed.
Cian Ormond – Establish a women’s touring team akin to the B&I Lions, but not just copying what already exists. Realistically, a current B&I womens team would be all England. Perhaps England could be one of the big opponents for an Irish-Scottish-Welsh team (for example), establishing a new and unique brand.
Rob Gardner – If a technical infringement doesn’t materially impact the game state then it is to be ignored. Example: if a lineout throw isn’t straight but opposition didn’t put a man in the air they are deemed to have conceded possession and it’s play on.
Sale Ben – Rucking. If you’re on the wrong side it’s your responsibility to get out of there. Would speed up the game and reduce head contact at the ruck with players flying in to clear the ruck zone of debris
Peel – pump money into Unions that need/deserve it (Madagascar would be a big one, they bloody love rugby)
Maz McMillan – Tier 1 nations must play at least one tier 2 nation every year. I dislike the word “tier” but you know what I mean
Ross Rugby Ref – Rewrite the laws to the game we want, if crooked scrum feeds are ok, then write laws that way – give us community refs a chance!
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
The news on Ross Byrne was pretty much expected but Jamie Osborne as well…I actually had him in my team before the injury report was released but now I’m hoping James Lowe is available. I understand he has been back in Dublin after some compassionate leave and although it would be asking a lot to expect him to dive into the deep end against La Rochelle if anyone could do it, he can. If he’s not in the frame I’d be more than happy to see Rob Russell get the nod.
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:
Cormac Foley: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury.
Cian Healy: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury.
Alex Soroka: has returned to full training after recovering from a foot injury.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Michael Milne: will be further assessed later this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury.
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Ross Byrne: had a procedure on an arm injury last week and will be unavailable until the new year.
Jamie Osborne: picked up a shoulder injury in the win over Connacht and is having a procedure this week and will be unavailable for selection as a result.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Luke McGrath (knee) and John McKee (hamstring)
WHAT THE FOCAL?
Might have stepped in a minefield here but more often than not I find my view to be right in the middle of two extremes so I’ve decided to address it in my latest TikTok vid. Apologies if my Irish and Welsh pronunciations aren’t what they should be but I couldn’t do this bit without at least having a go!
That headline is about as “IYKYK” as you can get!!! Although I very much doubt that if you love rugby enough to be reading these pages, you haven’t also heard of Squidge!
Having been denied the chance to offer his trademark takes from the World Cup, as well as being denied a decent explanation, all Irish fans will be glad he turned his attention to the career of Johnny Sexton, and this time he reproduces all his hilarious various on the name, and you have to say he left the best until last.
I can’t leave out the fact that both “Rathgar” and “Bective” get mispronounced at the start (though it could be intentional given the running gag on his name) but trust me…as the video goes on all of that ceases to matter and even though I’ve been running this site for pretty much the length of th guy’s career, even I learned a few things.
So just in case you haven’t see in yet, here’s a link.
WELSH RUGBY – WHAT WENT WRONG?
That’s a question that most rugby fans around the world would like answered and thankfully someone has literally written the book on it.
Seimon Williams is the author and I am delighted to say he has agreed to come on the pod for a chat – I reckon the best time to do this will be just before Ireland play Wales in the Six Nations (with Leinster playing Cardiff the following weekend) so it’s a bit down the line but with Christmas “around the corner” I thought I’d get in an early mention, this link is for Amazon but it’s available in several different places.
Here’s the official blurb…
The 2022-23 season may just be the bleakest in Welsh rugby history. Accusations of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia against the Welsh Rugby Union led to resignations, independent inquiries, Senedd intervention and rushed governance reform. Budget cuts, strike threats, uncertainty for players, embarrassing defeats and the dismissal of the national coach presaged another poor Six Nations campaign.
This book looks at the issues which have seen Welsh rugby stumble from crisis to crisis over the past 40 years. At how a nation which led the rugby world in the 1970s declined into the fractured, riven, divided rugby nation of today. At how occasional successes at club, regional and Test level were achieved despite the system, not because of it, and did little more than paper over the cracks. At, fundamentally, what went wrong.
FAZ BREAK
Keego touched on this for the preview pod but I’d just like to add my two cents, totally in agreement with him that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a player taking a break from the game for whatever reason.
The schedule can be hectic, particularly if you are captain for both club and country with all the extra media responsibilities, and although we might have a go at him now and again on these pages, I really do hope none of it is considered anywhere near the kind of treatment that has led to this break.
We all want our teams to win, but we also want them to do it against the top players available and he is of course right up there on that list so here’s to a speedy return for him.
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
I can’t believe the mainstream media never made anything out of the fact that Ciaran Frawley’s late try catapulted Leinster to the top of the Irish Shield!!! All of course could change over the Christmas schedule…
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER V CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER V LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT V MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER V ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER V CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
“SVNS” UPDATE
Since I covered the 7s kickoff on the main pod I’ll just copy my piece here…some may call that lazy but I prefer to see it as “eco-friendly recycling”…
I’d like to take a quick look at Ireland’s involvement in the World Series Sevens, or “SVNS” as it’s called now since they removed the e’s. Sure who needs vowels anyway, amirite?
Anyway…changing the name wasn’t the only rebrand, and probably the most significant new feature is that they have brought equity to the genders by not only ensuring that every leg has both a men’s and women’s event, but also they reduced the number of men’s teams from 16 to 12 same as the women.
Both Irish teams have been doing reasonably well since we finally invested in the code with qualification for the Paris Olympics something to look forward to later in the year, but over the weekend the new SVNS series kicked off in Dubai and Ireland got off to flying starts with the women defeating Japan and Brazil and the men overcoming Australia and Spain.
Three matches in one day in that Dubai heat proved too much for us in the third pool matches, however, with the women falling to Australia and the men against Argentina, and this left our task in the cup quarterfinals that little bit tougher.
The Irish women were up against a Canadian side which had already caused an upset on Day 1 by defeating the USA but although we were down by 7pts with less than a minute left on the clock we were perhaps too impatient with an extra player as Aimee Leigh Murphy Crowe went over in the corner making the conversion too much meaning Canada went through.
Meanwhile over on the men’s side there was a crazy quarterfinal as Ireland’s only involvement in the first half was one overthrown lineout as Fiji ran in five tries to be 29-0 up at the break before Ireland responded with four unanswered tries of their own until Mark Roche tried to be a bit too clever with an attempted restart to himself, knocking on in the process and leaving the Flying Fijians as the winners 29-24
This dropped both sides into the playoffs for placings but still every point counts in the series and the teams had mixed fortunes as the women fell 19-24 to Fiji to finish in 6th place while the men overcame Samoa to end up 5th. Ending up in the top half in both competitions wasn’t the worst result for Ireland but you still feel our ceiling is a little bit higher.
When it came to the tournament winners in Dubai, Australia took the women’s title beating New Zealand 26-19 in the final while the South African Blitzbokke defeated Argentina 12-7 on the men’s side. The series now moves on to Cape Town next weekend, with the remaining destinations being Perth, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Singapore and finally Madrid at the end of next May. As ever we live in hope that one day a venue in Ireland might be added to that list.
#IRLW7s
POOL
IRELAND 35-7 JAPAN
IRELAND 19-14 BRAZIL
AUSTRALIA 33-5 IRELAND
QF
IRELAND 12-14 CANADA
5TH PLACE PLAYOFF
IRELAND 19-24 FIJI
#IRLM7s
POOL
AUSTRALIA 12-19 IRELAND
IRELAND 35-10 SPAIN
ARGENTINA 17-7 IRELAND
QF
IRELAND 24-29 FIJI
5TH PLACE PLAYOFF
IRELAND 28-7 SAMOA
NEXT IN THE SERIES…
CAPE TOWN DEC 9-10
Cape Town pools –
Women: Pool B: New Zealand, Ireland, Brazil, Great Britain
Men: Pool A: South Africa, Ireland, USA, Great Britain
PERTH JAN 26-28
VANCOUVER FEB 23-25
LOS ANGELES MAR 2-3
HONG KONG APR 5-7
SINGAPORE MAY 3-5
MADRID MAY 31-JUN 2
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
All Leinster eyes of course will have been on La Rochelle, and it was interesting to see the tables turned for once as while we were the ones grinding out a victory, it was the CC holders who had the run of the mill BP home win against a side at the bottom of the table! Have a feeling the lineups on Sunday will be very different…
We should also keep an eye on Stade who we play after Christmas, they returned to winning ways with a decent result against the Brennus holders Toulouse, and with La Rochelle next on the list for them in round 10, their task does not get easier.
Stu Lancaster’s Racing are top going into the Champions Cup kickoff.
Round 9
TOULON 36-13 PAU
BAYONNE 34-19 MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX 23-29 BORDEAUX
CASTRES 29-14 LYON
LA ROCHELLE 35-6 PERPIGNAN
CLÉRMONT 23-18 RACING 92
STADE FRANCAIS 27-12 TOULOUSE
Round 10
FRI DEC 22
PERPIGNAN V BAYONNE
BORDEAUX V LYON
SAT DEC 23
MONTPELLIER V CASTRES
RACING 92 V OYONNAX
PAU V CLÉRMONT
STADE FRANCAIS V LA ROCHELLE
TOULOUSE V TOULON
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Getting thumped 3-36 and remaining top of the league isn’t easy to do but Leinster’s Champions Cup opponents Sale Sharks managed it this week, although it has become very tight in the Premiership with just the four points separating the top six in the ten-team league. I wonder when they play Leinster at the RDS will they have half a mind on the visit of Saracens to their ground the following week…
Leicester Tigers probably didn’t learn too much from thumping lowly Newcastle but I’m pretty sure a trip to Sandy Park after the European matches will offer a decent education.
ROUND 8
HARLEQUINS 36-3 SALE SHARKS
BRISTOL 51-26 GLOUCESTER
BATH 41-24 EXETER
SARACENS 12-18 NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
LEICESTER TIGERS 47-3 NEWCASTLE
ROUND 9
FRI DEC 22
NEWCASTLE V BRISTOL
SALE SHARKS V SARACENS
SAT DEC 23
EXETER V LEICESTER
GLOUCESTER V NORTHAMPTON
BATH V HARLEQUINS
AIL UPDATE
Absolutely no doubt that UL Bohs are hot favourites to lift the Women’s AIL title…their 20-15 at Belvo made it 8 wins from 8 in the first half of the season, and in a league that has already seen a lot of big scorelines, you almost fear for the fate of Wicklow RFC when they travel to Limerick in the next round. The three Leinster clubs remain hot in pursuit with Belvo hosting Rock in the pick of the ties in the next round.
Before I move on from the Women’s league, the composition of the teams for the Celtic Challenge, a potential precursor to a Celtic League equivalent, has been announced. Leinster and Ulster will combine to play as the Wolfhounds, while Munster and Connacht will be the Clovers. More details plus the fixture list to be found here.
Meanwhile on the men’s side, Clontarf won the big top of the table clash holding off Cork Con while Lansdowne overcame lowly Trinity to go stay 3rd and Hinch had a great win at Belfield Bowl to remain in the playoff places. Terenure sent a message to the rest of the league that they’re not ready to give up their crown just yet as they thumped Shannon at Lakelands. The Dublin derby between Lansdowne and Tarf seems to be the pick of round 8.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 9
SUTTONIANS 45-12 WICKLOW
BALLINCOLLIG 14-21 GALWEGIANS
RAILWAY UNION 38-22 BLACKROCK COLLEGE
BELVO 15-20 UL BOHS
Round 10
SAT DEC 9
GALWEGIANS V COOKE
BELVO V BLACKROCK
RAILWAY UNION V SUTTONIANS
UL BOHS V WICKLOW
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 7
CLONTARF 30-26 CORK CON
DUBLIN UNIV 3-17 LANSDOWNE
TERENURE 58-7 SHANNON
UCD 17-31 BALLYNAHINCH
YOUNG MUNSTER 32-17 CITY OF ARMAGH
ROUND 8
SAT DEC 9
BALLYNAHINCH V YOUNG MUNSTER
CORK CON V UCD
LANSDOWNE V CLONTARF
SHANNON V DUBLIN UNIV
TERENURE V CITY OF ARMAGH
RE SUPER CUP UPDATE
The predicted final matchup between Black Lion and Tel Aviv Heat has come to pass as both comfortably got through their semifinals, but now the timing is an issue as it was meant to be played on Dec 16 but the Georgian side kind of have other things to worry about like a trip to Llanelli for a Challenge Cup fixture. They begin their historic involvement in European cup rugby this weekend by hosting Gloucester.
SEMIFINALS
BLACK LION 41-0 CASTILLA
TEL-AVIV HEAT 31-6 ROMANIAN WOLVES
5TH-8TH PLACE SEMIFINALS
BRUSSELS DEVILS 44-10 BOHEMIAN WARRIORS
DELTA 8-53 LUSITANOS
SAT DEC 16
RE SUPER CUP FINAL
BLACK LION V TEL AVIV*
PLAYOFF FINALS
3RD – CASTILLA V ROMANIAN WOLVES
5TH – LUSITANOS V BRUSSELS DEVILS
7TH – DELTA V BOHEMIA WARRIORS
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Wait – who’s that at the top of the league? Is that really me??? And what’s more I actually have that late Frawley try to thank for it as well. having dropped to 4th a few weeks ago it’s great to see my name back up there but as you can see it’s very close and there are bound to be a lot more changes before this league is done.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
So that’s it for another week. La Rochelle are up next, we’ll have a preview on Friday as usual, but with the match on Sunday, we won’t record the wrap until Monday night so keep an eye out for it on the Tuesday morning. Please do keep in touch on all the usual social media channels in the meantime.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
2 December 2023; Harry Byrne of Leinster kicks a conversion during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Leinster at the Sportsground in Galway. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Andrew Byrne A last minute try can’t paper over those cracks. We were far below where we should be. Is our squad just too big, all this rotation seems to be causing a lack of cohesion in our playing combinations. I only hope we have a better performance in the bank for next week.
Chris McDonnell Seriously not good enough. This rotating the whole team had to stop. Too many players just not good enough to play for Leinster.
Darran Kearney Kinda liking that we are playing so poorly early season, instead of beating everyone out the door and learning nothing. Coaches have 6 months to work with the team for the business end of the season. Hoping we can end this season better than we have in the more recent seasons
Christy O’Connor Way too much rotation, players playing out of position. Lots of schoolboy errors. Have we not learned anything from the last 2 seasons. We rested players that only played 1 or 2 games. This is now getting ridiculous. Stop giving lads time just for the sake of it. We need to give the core players more time and the others should possibly look to move abroad.
Conor O’Shea Poor performance, but a wins a win. No major injuries for next week from tonight
Eamon Saunders A lot of mistakes from both sides but good to get the win 👏👏
Went from deserving to be behind to deserving to be ahead to deserving to lose….to a BP win!!! Way to many unforced errors by both sides, just needed that composure at the end. Talk about getting out of jail. Tough on Connacht. Draw would be better result tbf #CONvLEI
In the latest from our Opposition View series I spoke to Connacht fan Stephen Murphy from the excellent Master of None pod to offer a western perspective ahead of Leinster’s trip to the Sportsground on Saturday.
I give a shout out to Mark Jackson on the pod but I’d just like to give another one here, hope things are better after that weekend and that we can have you back on the pod soon.
Normally I try to avoid having contributors on the pod for two weeks in a row…whether that’s because I have so many who are keen to chat to me or because they generally need a break after chatting to me I’ll leave to your imagination!
Anyway Tom Coleman was thankfully willing to return for a second week in a row along with Irish Times columnist Nathan Johns and they combined to bring a top notch perspective to Saturday. When this was an article based site back in the day my writeups were totally coming from my own point of view but now the pods offer a much broader perspective thanks to my team of fellow fans volunteering their time and expertise.
For this week’s bonus clip for YouTube my pod guests offered some insights to the teams Leinster must overcome to qualify from Champions Cup pool 4. Tom looked at our first two opponents La Rochelle and Sale, Nathan covered Stade Francais and Leicester whom we face in January and finally I harped on the Stormers who we avoid playing yet still mustn’t ignore altogether.
Definitely worth a look between now and the tournament kickoff in over a week, and sure while you’re there why not subscribe as well we often put up other videos including match previews there.
LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE
Some very interesting choices to be made for Leinster’s impending trip to Galway. Far from a match we can afford to take for granted, especially with them hurting from defeat in Pretoria and also likely to have the Akis and the Hansens back in their lineup. That said, it’s hard to ignore the assignment at the Stade Marcel Deflandre eight days later.
The Ross Byrne injury makes our 10 selection the most crucial one. With Frawley seeming to be the best bet to be first receiver against La Rochelle does he need game time or cotton wool? The consensus in the Harpin WhatsApp group is, quite rightly when you think of it, to lean towards the latter by starting Harry Byrne or Sam Prendergast in Galway and give Frawley 20-30 minutes.
But since this column is where I give my own view, I’d rather push the risk v reward side of things, possibly drawing lessons from that URC semifinal, and give Frawley the 10 jersey so he can go the week preparing for a starting role and thus be ready for the following week. If the worst should happen injury-wise, then so be it.
Those are just my thoughts for that particular position, however. As you can see by the 23 below I have gone mostly for a conservative team, yet still one that could do a job in the Sportsground.
Barron, Porter, Clarkson, McCarthy, Doris, Gibson-Park, H Byrne, O’Brien J
NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Michael Milne: will be further assessed later this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
Cian Healy: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he continues his return from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Ross Byrne: will have further examination for an arm injury picked up at the weekend but has been ruled out of selection this week
Cormac Foley: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he looks to return from a shoulder injury
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Tommy O’Brien (ankle), Luke McGrath (knee), John McKee (hamstring) and Alex Soroka (foot)
BLUE SKY AHEAD
Don’t really have time for a Tik-Tok rant this week, they may only be around two minutes of actual content but they take over an hour to produce and I barely have that on “normal” weeks.
So instead I’ve decided to take the plunge and give another Musk-less Twitter alternative a go. I went big into Mastodon last year but I have to say the engagement was underwhelming and after resisting the move for a good while now I finally caved and set up an account at Blue Sky, thanks to long time friend of the pod and super Leinster/Ireland fan Catherine Kavanagh who hooked me up with an invite.
Liking it so far, the follower count after less than 24 hours is already a third of what I got at Masto in over a year. They still don’t publish videos and GIFs yet but no doubt that will come.
Anyway the main feature of my decision is that by starting a Blue Sky account I now must forget Mastodon completely, as my list of social media accounts had grown too large as it was.
Having Nathan Johns on the wrap pod every so often gives us a decent glimpse into the world of the “official” media and while often sources like to decry them for being “mainstream” the fact remains their access gives them insights which can’t be ignored.
After covering one of his own articles as part of our “Front Five” portion, he went on to pen this article on Monday which looked at the two times Jamison Gibson-Park was punished 10 metres for dissent after penalties were awarded to Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
Since it’s my own team involved I reckon it’s a good opportunity for me to point out that I agree that once the second rebuke happens there should be a further sanction and Whiskey was very lucky not to get sent to the naughty step. I certainly wouldn’t blame ref Chris Busby for having an attitude like “look, lads, you guys already have TWO captains, I certainly don’t need to be hearing from a third!”
I’ve always been in favour of a zero tolerance approach when it comes to awarding that extra 10 metres and it really can punish teams. Hopefully if there is to be more of it, we will see it done consistently.
…AND VICE VERSA
Now to the flip side – much has been made of this exchange between Owen Farrell and Luke Pearce in the Premiership over the weekend.
Look – it’s a top flight sporting contest. Adrenaline is pumping, tensions are high, and that’s just with the fans commenting on social media so I can only imagine what it’s like for the players and officials!!!
Obviously your opinion on this is going to greatly depend on your allegiance, whether it’s for or against Saracens, for or against Owen Farrell, maybe even for or against officials in general.
My first impression was that Faz’ response seemed a bit precious, with possibly an air of “do you not know who I am?” about it. Pearce was definitely being a smart-arse but I don’t know if it quite went as far as being “rude”…
Farrell: “That’s three at the maul.” Pearce: “Thanks, I can count.” Farrell: “Don’t be rude to me, there’s no need to be rude to me.”
Owen Farrell was not pleased with referee Luke Pearce's response during Saracens clash against Bristol Bears 😶 pic.twitter.com/v9zIBnqEuE
For the 40+ years I’ve lived in Ireland I have lived in several different addresses and all but one have been close to at least one of the two bus routes that crossed South Dublin without ever going near the City Centre, namely the 17 and 18. And for the years I have been Harpin’ when I’m planning on a beverage or two after the rugby it has been the 18 that always saw me safely home, but now the number has been retired with two different routes replaces it, an “S4” that goes near me but not to RDS and an “S2” that covers the other half.
It was always great to see the 18 full of Leinster fans on match days, and there would be plenty already on it having travelled through Ballyfermot/Drimnagh/Crumlin/Kimmage before it ever got to the likes Rathmines.
The only time I never enjoyed being on it was for Christmas fixtures when as well as the rugby fans there would also be legions of youngsters heading to Funderland in various states of inebriation!
But as the tweet below points out, the route will still be an institution long remembered.
We’ve harped a lot about the whole “get the likes of Georgia more top class rugby” over the years, hopefully this statement is just one point on the road to actually doing it.
Interesting press release from EPCR
• EPCR and the Georgia Rugby Marketing Hub announce a three-year partnership in the tourism sector with both the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup
Before we leave what I call the “Middle Aisle” portion of the column and go into the “Updates”, some sad news from Major League Rugby, which I plan to include below for the 2024 season. Most professional sports in the US include at least one Canadian team but sadly it has transpired that the Toronto Arrows won’t be able to field a team for the coming season, and given neither country qualified for the 2023 World Cup the news does not bode well for things getting better in 2027.
At least there has been a team added from last season, with Miami Sharks joining for the coming season. No doubt eventually we’ll reach a stage where every league in the world has Sharks, and I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing, once they don’t put mouthfuls like “Hollywoodbets” before the name, of course.
The Toronto Arrows will not compete in the 2024 MLR season.
MLR and the Arrows organization explored all avenues to maintain the club's presence in the League. After exhausting all options, Toronto was left with no choice but to voluntarily withdraw.
Saturday’s win in the Aviva was Leinster’s first match in defence of our Irish Shield title (you can’t see me but my tongue was definitely in my cheek while typing that). As you can see Ulster still lead the way but the winner of Saturday evening’s interpro at the Sportsground will lead the table after two matches. Munster haven’t started well although a pair of losing BPs definitely keeps them in the hunt.
NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER
DEC 2 CONNACHT V LEINSTER
DEC 22 ULSTER V CONNACHT
DEC 26 MUNSTER V LEINSTER
JAN 1 CONNACHT V MUNSTER
JAN 1 LEINSTER V ULSTER
MAY 11 MUNSTER V CONNACHT
MAY 18 ULSTER V LEINSTER
MAY 31 LEINSTER V CONNACHT
JUNE 1 MUNSTER V ULSTER
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
With Leinster & Munster battling on Saturday, it’s hard to avoid referencing the same rivalry 24 hours later when Stu Lancaster’s Racing faced ROG’s La Rochelle. A resounding win for the Paris-based club which sent them to the top of the table although Pau are the real story of the season so far as they are close behind them in 2nd after a similar scoreline against the other Parisiens whom Leinster play in January and now sit in 3rd. Stade v Toulouse seems to be the pick of Round 9.
Round 8
TOULON 31-10 CASTRES
BORDEAUX 46-22 PERPIGNAN
LYON 42-29 BAYONNE
MONTPELLIER 21-26 OYONNAX
PAU 30-6 STADE FRANCAIS
TOULOUSE 31-10 CLÉRMONT
RACING 92 32-10 LA ROCHELLE
Round 9
SAT DEC 2
TOULON V PAU
BAYONNE V MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX V BORDEAUX
CASTRES V LYON
LA ROCHELLE V PERPIGNAN
CLÉRMONT V RACING 92
SUN DEC 3
STADE FRANCAIS V TOULOUSE
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Leinster’s Champions Cup pool mates Sale stay top of the pile here after grinding out a 11-9 with over Bath, while Leicester Tiger, also in Pool 4, crawled out of the bottom two with a big win at Kingsholm. Much like the 🔝🐱🐴 there’s a 3rd v 4th clash in the next round that catches the eye as Exeter travel to the Rec.
ROUND 7
NORTHAMPTON 36-33 HARLEQUINS
SALE SHARKS 11-9 BATH
GLOUCESTER 20-38 LEICESTER TIGERS
SARACENS 39-31 BRISTOL
NEWCASTLE 14-20 EXETER
ROUND 8
FRI DEC 1
HARLEQUINS V SALE SHARKS
SAT DEC 2
BRISTOL V GLOUCESTER
BATH V EXETER
SARACENS V NORTHAMPTON SAINTS
SUN DEC 3
LEICESTER TIGERS V NEWCASTLE
AIL UPDATE
Just the one rescheduled match in both genders last weekend, with the scoreline between Railway and Wicklow pretty much what you’d expect. Some big matchups coming up this weekend with the top four playing against each other which will bring the season to its halfway point.
Over on the men’s side the match of the round is an easy one to spot, with Clontarf, 1st place with 26pts, hosting Cork Con, 2nd with 25. UCD v Hinch also has top four implications while Trinity really need to start putting some points on the board when they host Lansdowne.
Also on the club scene it was announced that an Irish Club XV will travel to play a Portugal A side in March 2024.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 6 (rescheduled)
SAT NOV 25
WICKLOW 10-78 RAILWAY UNION
Round 9
SAT DEC 2
SUTTONIANS V WICKLOW
BALLINCOLLIG V GALWEGIANS
BLACKROCK V RAILWAY UNION
BELVO V UL BOHS
MEN’S AIL
NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND
ROUND 7
SAT DEC 2
CLONTARF V CORK CON
DUBLIN UNIV V LANSDOWNE
TERENURE V SHANNON
UCD V BALLYNAHINCH
YOUNG MUNSTER V CITY OF ARMAGH
RE SUPER CUP UPDATE
Semifinal time already in the Super Cup and expectations will be high for a Black Lion v Tel Aviv final, we’ll see if the Spaniards or Romanians can have something to say about that.
SEMIFINALS
SAT DEC 2
BLACK LION V CASTILLA
TEL-AVIV HEAT V ROMANIAN WOLVES
5TH-8TH PLACE SEMIFINALS
SAT DEC 2
BRUSSELS DEVILS V BOHEMIAN WARRIORS
SUN DEC 3
DELTA V LUSITANOS
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
The wins for Cardiff and Benetton on Friday night made it a bad start to the weekend for all of us, but the rest of the weekend went much much better for yours truly as I got my second “yellow cap” in three weeks to jump into 2nd spot in the table right behind Conor. Meanwhile “No Picks Keego” continues to live up to his name, he must really like that jersey…
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Connacht are up next for Leinster, I’ll be chatting to Stephen “Master Of None” Murphy for an Opposition View pod which will publish on Wednesday, then it’s the usual Friday preview and wrap pod on Sunday. Stay tuned to all the usual social media channels, plus the new one on Blue Sky of course, for all the latest harpin’.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
25 November 2023; Dan Sheehan of Leinster dives over to score his side’s second try despite the efforts of Gavin Coombes and Jack Crowley of Munster during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Munster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Leinster were not at their best tonight, and indeed far from it. A few players that might be considered world class might need a break ad they haven’t been at their best for a while and (a la Richie McCaw) might benefit from the rest
On the plus side, far from our best we ground out a win, Jordan Larmour back scoring tries, and Frawley proving he’s the real deal at 10 are my personal biggest positives for tonight, I only hope these are consistent positives, not one off.
The scrappy start probably suited us to need to fight back, the errors and lack of clinical finishing did not suit us and weren’t the Leinstertainment we would expect, give me more in the red zone please!
Gavin Hegarty
Leinster were far from their best but still ground out a win. Some very uncharacteristic errors from seasoned internationals.
A few bad missed tackles from Ringer, dropped balls from Jimmy, Doris is left wanting and Furlong just ambling along.
Nice for Frawley to get proper time at ten and show what he can do.
Take a bow Jack Conan, great game.
Ronan McManus
It was a bit scrappy (maybe partially Ireland hangover) but a decent win against a team whose only other loss was Ulster away.
6. Jack Conan should be delighted with his performance. The option of keeping him and Doris on the pitch together more often gives a bit more depth (Nienaber influence, presumably)
Jimmy OBrien looked sharp, but missed a few opportunities to weave gold from shit, that the great wingers would have seized.
Very disappointing for Ross Byrne, who looked good. This could have been an important one as far as Ireland is concerned.
Great finish by Larmour for his try. Hopefully the sign of things to come.
Christy O’Connor
Hard to take positives from that display except for Frawley stepping up. School boy errors the whole game.
Couldve, possibly shouldve, nicked a BP at the end but not sure we deserved it but definitely earned the win from top notch D some relentless series of double hits when it counted, Conan worthy PotM but D as a unit outstanding. Some interesting 10 calls for next wk #LEIvMUN
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 