Josephine Boyd Fantastic performance from our boys in green a great win ☘️💚🏈💪💪👍👏
Alastair McDermott You have to be a little bit worried playing New Zealand in the quarterfinals. But just think: they are shitting it facing Ireland.
Angela Cassin Jackson Simply brilliant ☘️☘️☘️
Christy O’Connor What a performance, every player played their part. Ringrose was motm for me but so many put their hands up. Scotland were giving too much respect before this game by so many pundits. Was never in doubt
Kevin Kelehan Dan Sheehan was superb
Antoinette Nevin Zombie 👏👏👏👏
Hubert Gallagher Scotland outclassed. Hopefully injuries not too serious to Hansen, Lowe, Furlong and Ryan. 1 week to prepare for ABs! Another huge step up!
Join in the conversation by leaving your thoughts
after the full time whistle of Leinster & Ireland matches
A WEEKLY COLUMN LOOKING AT TOPICS BEYOND THE SCOPE
OF OUR FEATURE MATCH OF THE WEEK
WRAP OF A (NOT REALLY A) WRAP
Had a brilliant chat with Messrs Kelly, Scully & Lockhart on Sunday evening, with another one earlier in the week with Mr Long to edit in, and the lads did brilliantly going over the RWC so far.
Then I sat down to do said editing and found out that my own audio sounded like I was talking from behind a cushion!!!! It was really, really, bad. So I had to go back and re-record all of my bits and I think I just about managed to fix it but it took ages.
For the first part the lads summarized Pool B so far, then they each took one of the other pools, and finally we got their expectations for the rest of the tournament. Click here to catch it on Spotify, and there’s a clip below
For the bonus clip since I had an all-provincial panel I thought it would be rude not to get them to also harp on their own URC squads with the kickoff just a few weeks away.
On the audio problems I mentioned above, I also had to re-record mine for this and in the intro I tried to slow down my words just a bit to get it to align with the video but instead I ended up sounding like I was stoned!!!! So needless to say I didn’t bother altering it for the rest of the video.
Honestly….I wasn’t stoned. HONEST!!!!! Stop looking at me like that!!!
DON’T TAKE THE BAIT
Truth be told, I never really liked the word “clickbait” because it suggests that it’s only bad faith actors online who are tricking you into giving them your attention. Why don’t we call a beautiful movie star holding a beer on a billboard “lookbait”?
But when you appreciate that it only really applies to specific types of links, for me it’s not called out often enough so when I saw this article on the totally-media-fabricated bullshit narrative that is the “Ireland and Scotland colluding to produce a result to qualify them both” non-story, I decided to make it the subject of this week’s 80+ TikTok.
Following on from my TikTok bit above, the X below shows what little I thought of the actual theories being shared by some Springbok fans as well as being stupidly suggested in a press conference.
Word has it Ireland's midweek plan has been locked down…
MON : secret meeting with 🏴 counterparts to arrange match to the millisecond TUE : Eiffel Tower WED : Louvre THU : Riverboat down the Seine FRI : Field trip to winery SAT : Relax until kickoff#TheCelticConspiracy
Now to the serious matter of what the actual permutations actually are. The bonus point system as used in this World Cup, which we also see in the URC, Premiership and HCC, means that there are a crazy amount of different ways the match points can be divided, which along with the added wrinkle of points difference means there’s a lot of ways Saturday’s match in Paris can go.
SIDEBAR : just to point out that the alternative bonus point system I have been harping on for years to be standard across the sport, namely the one used in the 🔝🐱🐴 and Super Rugby where you must get 3 more tries than your opponent to get the bonus point, reduces the amount of possibilities a LOT. But I digress.
Full kudos to Glasgow Warriors fan Kevin Millar who took the time to put together this graphic which fully outlines all the possibilities…
And finally, going back to the unlikely option where the Boks get eliminated, I could not have a segment on permutations without a RugbyKino contribution so here is an X from him on the likelihood (barring conspiracies of course)…
Off the back of this, I've looked for games where Scotland conceded more than 20 but still won with a difference of 21 or more.
In the last 10 years it happened vs Argentina away in Nov 22 (52-29) and vs Australia in Nov 2017 (53-24).
Can’t believe I can do a third segment on permutations but they are actually so confusing that even the World Rugby account got them mixed out, with Russ Petty having to point out the error of their ways as they tried to srt out what could happen in Pool A…
Tragic news for yet another club in the English system, with the Jersey Reds, ironically the reigning Championship, er, champions, suddenly announcing they’ve gone under, despite the fact that the 2023/24 season had already kicked off with the Premiership Cup which for the first time in a while includes the sides from the next tier down.
I really, really, really don’t understand how professional clubs aren’t forced to prove their financial viability not only before a season begins, but even before the fixtures are released!!!! Obviously going out of business is always terrible for news for all involved with a club, but to let a few matches go before pulling the plug surely has to affect everyone involved a whole lot more, from employees assuming job security right through to fans who had purchased season tickets and merch.
And what’s more it doesn’t look like this is the end of it. I know the Reds weren’t part of the PLR group, but their demise is clearly part of the problem the failed business model English club rugby has operated since the game went pro.
BALL IN PLAY
Had to laugh at Ian Foster’s soundbite about “ball in play”. Apparently the suggestion is that a match with a high BIP time is better entertainment for the fans than one with a low one.
Well if that’s the case, then using the All Black’s drubbing of Italy and the Springboks/Ireland classic weren’t really the best examples for him to use to make his case.
Now I totally get that when a low BIP can often be down to a frustrating series of reset scrums, and in general, I’d agree it would be a good idea to speed things up.
But as for that match last week….come on. Oftentimes, for me anyway, the time leading up to set pieces was a large part of the entertainment!!! Like when the Boks had a couple of scrums under the Irish posts in the first half. South Africa would have been expected to score more often than not, until you factor in the Irish defence.
We have often harped on how missed tackle stats can be misleading, IMO the only thing Foster has done with his remarks is point out that BIP can be too.
AIL UPDATE
Just one rearranged match in the Women’s AIL last week so not much change in the league table. The champions Blackrock travel to Wicklow in round 3 this weekend.
Meanwhile the men’s league gets underway with a full round of matches. Terenure begin the defence of their title by hosting Ballynahinch at Lakelands while the top division’s newly-promoted second Ulster club, City of Armagh, get their first taste of Division 1A action when they travel to Temple Hill to play Cork Con, a match which is to be livestreamed.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 2
SUTTONIANS 10-47 RAILWAY UNION RFC
ROUND 3
SAT OCT 7
SUTTONIANS V UL BOHS
GALWEGIANS V RAILWAY UNION
COOKE V BALLINCOLLIG
WICKLOW V BLACKROCK
MEN’S AIL DIV 1A
ROUND 1
SAT OCT 7
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY V CLONTARF
LANSDOWNE V YOUNG MUNSTER
SHANNON V UCD
TERENURE V BALLYNAHINCH
CORK CON V CITY OF ARMAGH
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Back to Ireland action this weekend, so Ireland v Scotland will of course be getting the full Harpin treatment with a preview Friday, wrap pod Sunday and a whole lot more the rest of the week.
So please comment, like, share & subscribe to our feeds & channels whenever the mood takes you.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Obviously after such a big Irish win the wrap pod is that much more enjoyable, but even on top of that I had two excellent analysts in Mark Jackson and Tom Coleman helping me harp on the 80 minutes. There may not have been a lot of scores but there were definitely a lot of critical moments and as ever we worked our way through the exciting timeline from start to finish. Click here to catch it on Spotify but you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…FINAL THOUGHTS AFTER RSAvIRE
With matches kicking off at both 4:45 and 8pm on Sundays during the World Cup, that puts time restraints on our wrap pod recording and unfortunately we had to ditch plans for a bonus pod this week, instead I put a clip from the actual pod up on YouTube which you see below.
But with Ireland off next weekend, Mark Jackson has kindly agreed to come back and harp on the topic we had chosen, namely how coaches adapt during a match when one part of the game plan isn’t working, hopefully I’ll be able to post this by Saturday.
TENACIOUS IRISH D
It goes without saying but the RSAvIRE rewatch was beyond fascinating, and I for one was fixated on a pair of Springbok scrums in our 22 around the mid point of the first half. We hadn’t even troubled the scorers at this stage and we were in grave danger of going ten points down but with some determined defending, helped out a bit by poor opposition decision making, we kept them out and we put together the TikTok below, all while knowing full well of course that at some point it will be taken down. #LetTheClipsPlay
Here’s another TikTok video, this my weekly “rant” I suppose you could call it. I didn’t really want to have to weigh in on the whole Zombie nothing-burger but in the end it seemed to be the perfect topic for this segment. I’ve added the tweet that appears in the clip plus another one I thought of using.
I’m very much kicking myself that I missed the Women’s AIL kickoff last week in this column so I’ll try to make up for it here (still means I’m giving the league more coverage than most outlets unfortunately).
As you can see, with a 9-team league plus a postponement and a Round 2 fixture still to be played this Thursday, this year’s league is still getting off the ground but still there have been some predictable results for the big teams, although the big opening day Dublin derby between Rock and Belvo was close and got good coverage with a live screening on YouTube.
We’ll be following the competition here throughout as well as the men’s when that kicks off in October.
Round 1
BLACKROCK COLLEGE 22 – 17 OLD BELVEDERE
GALWEGIANS 12 – 25 BALLINCOLLIG
SUTTONIANS P-P RAILWAY UNION RFC
WICKLOW RFC 7 – 27 UL BOHEMIAN
Round 2
OLD BELVEDERE 32 – 0 WICKLOW RFC
RAILWAY UNION RFC 71 – 7 COOKE
UL BOHEMIAN 82 – 0 GALWEGIANS
Thu Sep 28
SUTTONIANS v RAILWAY UNION RFC
WXV SQUAD
While we’re on the subject of the Women’s game the squad for the WXV3 tournament was announced by new head coach Scott Bemand. Obviously I’m not crazy about the fact that we’re in the third tier of this new competition, nor am I crazy about the whole “being played in Dubai” aspect of it either, and finally there’s this “your chances of playing for Ireland are better if you live in or around Dublin” mantra which really does sound tone deaf considering not only all the women’s game on these shores has gone through in recent years, but also how much it has progressed elsewhere.
Still, we plan to give the girls our full support ounce the competition rolls around.
WXV3 Ireland Fixtures
• 13th October v Kazakhstan 16.30 Irish time
• 21st October v Colombia 14.00 Irish time
• 28th October v Spain 14.00 Irish time
All games will be streamed for free on World Rugby’s RugbyPass platform.
Very sad to hear of the retirement of Ian Madigan, although it does look like he has a promising future in the punditry game as he has been demonstrating throughout the World Cup so far.
ICYMI we dedicated a Throwback Thursday post to him last week, looking back to an article I wrote when he announced he would be leaving Leinster, to which he graciously replied.
POSSIBLE RWC FORMATS
This is an issue which comes up every World Cup going way, way back. What is the best way of actually staging a RWC? The four pools of five has been going quite a while now, yet with one team missing out each round and an insistence on midweek matches it has offered some serious challenges to organisers. For example, France play their four pool matches over 30 days while Namibia complete theirs in just 19.
What is the answer? Honestly none will be perfect. Some say they are planning to move to 24 nations, which would be good in one aspect as it would include more lower tier nations, yet while four pools of six might solve the uneven fixture problem, it also adds one extra match which would put extra pressure on squads meaning they would probably have to be increased, thus putting financial pressure on those same smaller nations.
I’ve wondered if some kind of “cross pool” method might work with a draw instead creating six pools of four. With the pools paired off AB, CD and EF, everyone in one pool could get four matches against teams from the other one. Then the top eight (pool winners + 2, old school HCup style) could advance to the quarterfinals, with possibly a plate competition for the next eight with next RWC qualification on the line. That way no team plays more than 7 matches, plus with 3 set groups of teams playing each other, they could be held exclusively Friday, Saturday and Sunday thus ensuring 7-day turnarounds for all squads.
Everyone seems to be offering suggestions so that’s mine!
MORE PERMUTATIONS
When he’s not going back and forth to Paris offering excellent reports from Ireland’s RWC matches, Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir has also been known to produce excellent spreadsheets allowing us number crunching fans to look at all the possibilities with bonus points and what-not, and here he has done one for the four World Cup pools, simply plug in the results you think might happen and find out who makes the last 8 and who plays who. Simples!
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
By rights I should be taking things easy this week what with Ireland off next weekend, but I guess the World Cup bug has got hold of me so I have a few little things planned for the coming days. Biggest one is on Sunday and instead of a wrap pod I’m assembling another “all-provincial panel” to look at not only the tournament so far, but also the prospects for the 4 provinces with the URC kickoff coming think and fast.
Please comment, like, share & subscribe to our feeds & channels whenever the mood takes you.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
after Leinster & Ireland matches to leave your thoughts….
Neil Keegan
Thanks be to jaysus we have 2 weeks off Let’s get everyone together for all the games going forward. That was magic. Our parents / grandparents never had that moment.
Andrew Potts
It was some match, take a few days to process that one.
Amazing SA power and physical
ity and amazing resilience by Ireland. Cough up 6 lineouts and not looked phased by big South African forwards.
Kevin Kelehan
Ireland made so many mistakes, but they have a clear winning mentality, between O’Connell and Farrell you have the two parts of winning, coolness and passion.
Pieter Smit (SA fan)
Well played Ireland. Deserved winners
I can't speak.
One of the most tense games against two totally equal sides.
To my SA friends, the rounds on me when we cross paths. You're an incredible team and a set of fans to match
In a way I wish I wasn't so invested in that game so I could enjoy it for the incredible test match it was between two of the best teams in the world #IREvRSA
IRELAND : 15 H Keenan 14 M Hansen 13 G Ringrose 12 B Aki 11 James Lowe 10 J Sexton (c) 9 J Gibson-Park
1 A Porter 2 R Kelleher 3 T Furlong 4 T Beirne 5 J Ryan 6 P O’Mahony 7 J van der Flier 8 C Doris
16 D Sheehan 17 D Kilcoyne 18 F Bealham 19 I Henderson 20 R Baird 21 C Murray 22 J Crowley 23 R Henshaw
SOUTH AFRICA : 15 Damian Willemse 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Cheslin Kolbe 10 Manie Libbok 9 Faf de Klerk
1 Steven Kitshoff 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi 3 Frans Malherbe 4 Eben Etzebeth 5 Franco Mostert 6 Siya Kolisi (c) 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 8 Jasper Wiese
16 Deon Fourie 17 Ox Nche 18 Trevor Nyakane 19 Jean Kleyn 20 RG Snyman 21 Marco van Staden 22 Kwagga Smith 23 Cobus Reinach
Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool B
Saturday September 23 KO 8pm (Irish time)
Stade de France
TV : RTÉ2
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
AR1: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
AR2: James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)
Also Leinster v Ulster, Fri Sep 22 6:30pm, Navan RFC
LEINSTER : 15. Chris Cosgrave 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Rob Russell 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley
1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rory McGuire 4. Brian Deeny 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane (C)
Replacements : Lee Barron, Paddy McCarthy, Thomas Connolly, Ross Molony, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, Ben Murphy, Sam Prendergast, Andrew Osborne, Ben Brownlee, Liam Turner, Aitzol King, Jordan Larmour
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 