For this week’s TT I’m going back exactly two years to an article I wrote on the Irish Women’s team after a defeat in the 2021 Six Nations; I thought it was interesting to evaluate what has/hasn’t been done in the meantime. It’s certainly hasn’t been nothing, but it also certainly hasn’t been enough, and it’s noteworthy that the two players I quote at the beginning of the article have both left the team by choice since.
In the meantime we have seen a constant stream of articles, sometimes highlighting positive moves forward, but other times highlighting either actual negative acts or a general lack of necessary action. Then the “debate” proceeds on Twitter where basically anyone who pushes back against the status quo is either asked to forget about the past or gets derided as “nameless keyboard warriors”.
The only way forward is to have less rowing and more listening.
My plan was to give the Ireland v France match the “full Harpin treatment”, ie cover it exactly as I would the men’s team. There was a preview on Friday, I’d tweet during the match, collect opinions after the fulltime whistle which I would then share in a post on the Sunday, and finally this writeup on the Monday.
But as the match wore on it dawned on me – is this really helping? If I left my scheduled Facebook post asking followers to “Feel free to leave your thoughts…” to publish on time would that be guaranteed to provide the constructive debate we usually get each weekend after the Leinster & Ireland men’s teams play?
Now to be clear, I wasn’t asking this because I saw the scoreline as a disaster that wasn’t worth commentary, far from it. My personal impression from the 80 minutes was that this was the same starting XV which won convincingly in Cardiff just seven days before, they opened the match with the same will and determination and managed to get the first score on the board, only to just lack the required accuracy to keep the momentum going and ended up getting punished by a squad which had a lot more rugby in their legs.
“We played into the French hands by trying to move the ball too quickly, by not being set. Our accuracy in the breakdown when we’re challenged by a world-class team let us down.” – Claire Molloy
“I must say, the gap wasn’t huge. If we tighten up a few areas, I’d like to see us go forward and we’ve next weekend and we can show that.” – Ciara Griffin
Those post match comments from senior players in the team perfectly reflected what I saw. There were many positives from them throughout the match, and not just in that opening spell. When we played with accuracy, there were good outcomes, and our two tries off set pieces showed that. Plus with players like Stacey Flood impressing off the bench, we showed that while our depth may not have been as strong as our opponents’, we still definitely had it.
But would the wider viewing public feel the same? Or could they bring themselves to see past the scoreline and at least try to talk about a glass that’s half full?
So I cancelled the Facebook post and just monitored the online reaction myself privately as the weekend wore on, and I also realised that penning a match writeup exactly the same way I do week in week out on these pages probably wasn’t going to help all that much either.
Then on Sunday morning I came across the tweet thread you see below (reproduced with permission of the account owners btw)
“Women’s sport has come a long way in recent years. In particular, the popularity of women’s rugby has grown hugely.
5/6 years ago on SM 80% of the chat about women’s rugby was negative. It was largely abuse, misogyny dressed up as a “joke” all from non-fans.
Nowadays it’s 80% support. People who love the sport, who’ve taken the time to get to know the women’s game. True fans of the team. The game is now getting incredible media coverage. The women are getting some of the exposure they deserve. Our game is being celebrated.
But unfortunately there is still that 20% of abuse. I’m sure it doesn’t sound like much, and the men get online abuse too when they lose, none of it is ever ok.
But what stings when it’s comes to the women’s game is this:
As female athletes, their womanhood is the target. The abusive comments are always dripping with misogyny. Everything from comparing their standard to men’s or teenage boys, to telling them to get back in the kitchen to comments on their sexuality.
Often the abuse is dressed up as “genuine criticism”. Let me tell you unequivocally, that when you’ve seen it for years, you see through it.
The abuse comes from men 99% of the time. It comes from men who hardly know the game and know even less about the women’s side. From men who are silent when we win and loud when we lose.
It’s not ok. Sexism and misogyny aren’t acceptable. The players see it, and no matter how thick skinned they are, it still hurts. Because they’ve fought this misogyny all their life, just to get to play sport at this level. Even when they’ve “made it” it’s still there. Always.
Telling fans or players to “ignore it” solves nothing. It doesn’t lessen the impact of what is said. It doesn’t make it easier to see the abuse. And it doesn’t do anything to stop the abuse. It needs to be challenged. The positivity needs to get louder, drown it out.
As supporters, the 80% you’re already doing so much of that. You’re shouting louder. You’re offering unyielding support. You see the negatives as opportunities to improve and the positives are celebrated. As supporters, whether you know it or not, you are countering the abuse.
You do so with positive support online, by clicking into articles about the team, by listening to podcasts and by buying jerseys.
Thank you for your positivity. Thank you for your support. Onwards to SATURDAY!”
I don’t think I could have found a better explanation of how we can help the team. And I particularly like the use of percentages because it goes toward defining the spectrum of opinion and forces you to ask yourself where you are on it.
Obviously I see myself in the 80% as mentioned and I’m pretty sure nobody would dispute that. However, if you were to break down that majority into smaller groups again, I’d have to hold up my hand and admit that I’m a lot closer to the minority than I’d like.
I know just the mere presence of a word like “misogyny” will trigger a lot of men to react yet anyone who denies it exists is fooling himself, and it’s up to us to call it out whenever we see it. But that’s not all that requires discussion here so this article isn’t about that.
Actually the part that I found myself identifying with the most was this : “Everything from comparing their standard to men’s or teenage boys…“. I know I’ve been guilty of this.
I have thought for a long time that if there was one thing the organisers of women’s rugby should do first it would be to vow not to model every competition on the men’s equivalent. And gradually over time they have done this, like scheduling the Women’s World Cup in a different year to the men and this year even the Six Nations made some changes to make sure it was played this season.
Personally I like the pool format and if anything I’d look to expanding it to include the likes of Spain and the Netherlands in future seasons but if they must return to the six-team round robin, I really think they should consider at least keeping it in a different window to the male equivalent for maximum exposure.
But for all my talk about making sure there was a difference, there was I planning to cover them today exactly the same as the men!!! And had I done my normal writeup, I probably would have over-analysed specific match situations using the sort of thing I’d expect from the men as a framework.
If I really want to help, that has to stop. When I think about it, to appreciate the differences between the two codes you don’t even have to consider gender. We’re talking about two completely different sets of people who might be playing the same sport and wearing practically the same green jersey, yet their journeys to getting there have been very different.
Over the weekend there was an article in the Indo by Sinéad Kissane where she tells the story of the first ever Irish women’s international in 1993. Even though the men’s game was only on the cusp of professionalism at the time, the gulf in how the teams prepared was still incredibly wide then, and unfortunately this disparity was still evident in 2012 on an infamous away date with the French.
Clearly a lot of those issues have been resolved, and much success has followed from there including a Grand Slam and a World Cup semifinal, culminating in our hosting of the 2017 global competition in both Dublin and Belfast.
However things since then haven’t exactly gone so well it’s fair to say, though to blame it all entirely on the IRFU might be a bit harsh. In fact, if anything the shift to professionalism has been a bit similar to what originally happened with the men in that both England and France were the first to make the switch and were always better positioned logistically to bring it about more quickly.
Say what you like about the amount of mistakes the Irish players made on Saturday, but if you think the 80 minutes would have progressed exactly the same if they had played as much top level rugby with exactly the same facitlities as their opposition over the past 12 months then there’s no point discussing further because we’d be on competely different pages.
That said, while the responsibility for the current situation doesn’t lie completely at the door of our own union (also when you factor in COVID-19 and all the uncertainly and reduced funding it has brought) there’s really nowhere else for us to look when it comes to finding a path forward.
Is a completely fulltime set up for the senior women’s squad an attainable goal right now? If not, then what can we do to raise the levels from where they are? And what of the other end of the scale – are the structures right in the club game to attract the Ciara Griffins, Claire Molloys and Beibhinn Parsons of the future?
Obviously those questions are well above my paygrade to answer, but if we want to help as fans, we still need to be asking them, as well as clicking on the articles and listening to the podcasts and buying the jerseys.
And we also need to make sure we don’t let a result like this turn us off from supporting the girls. They now play Italy next week in a third place play-off. For one thing, it will be a great leveller to see where the team really is, especially as the Italians have impressed in their two matches so far with a well-organised defence.
But also, for all the talk about England and France dominating the European women’s game, third place in the Six Nations will carry a lot of weight in future seasons as it will mean qualification for the new WXV tournament which World Rugby announced recently. We definitely want to be a part of that.
And speaking of qualifying, our road to the next World Cup lies through a series involving Italy, Scotland and probably Spain. This should happen later in 2021 so the more rugby the girls can play between now and then the better.
Details like these are ones we need to know and when the matches come about, we must offer our full support. I understand our clash with Italy has been switched to Dublin for COVID reasons so at the time of writing I’m not entirely sure if the kickoff time is still 12pm.
Hopefully it will avoid a clash with the other matches the same weekend – I know the enthusiasm isn’t exactly high for the Rainbow Cup but let’s not forget the match in Cardiff was put right up against Exeter v Leinster so this is another area where the organisers must do better.
In the meantime I will try to do better myself by getting behind the team whenever they play and looking for information in the right places like following @IrishWomens and websites like Scrumqueens and fingers crossed the day won’t be long coming that the 80% gets a lot closer to 100% and I can produce writeups that do the team justice. JLP
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
For a match that supposedly had no value to Leinster Rugby we certainly had loads to harp on and it was great to have Joe Sheppard back on the pod after a long absence, with also of course Rich Mifsud offering his quality takes once more. I can absolutely guarantee you won’t find a better podcast on Irish rugby featuring American, Liverpudlian & Gibraltarian accents anywhere on the planet and yes, you can quote me on that. 😁
If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…SAM PRENDERGAST & THE NEXT GENERATION
I had a feeling there might be a Twitter backlash against Leinster fans acknowledging Sam Prendergast’s Player of the Match performance and sure enough, the ol’ birdhouse didn’t let me down. But will that stop us harpin’ on his display anyway? What do you think???
A 20yo outhalf makes his pro debut thousands of miles from home and earns PotM.
I'd like to think it's OK to talk about that without anyone assuming you're also guaranteeing them a glittering career. Just sayin'.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week. We’ve been keeping the video channels pretty low key this season as we adjust to the pod format so we had a mini celebration of sorts here at Harpin Manor last week when we got our 100th subscriber! But obviously if you can help us get that number higher a little faster it would be greatly appreciated…
TOUR EXPERIENCE TIK TOK
Not only did we give the Rhys Ruddock All Stars praise for their win in Jo’burg but we also stayed grounded by acknowledging what this tour is really about for the province and Rich nailed it on the head here…
Right on the back of the announcement of Jacques Nienaber coming to Leinster, we found out Monday that Connacht were getting a defensive coach of their own, and what a name it is.
I always said that on top of his own personal awesomeness on the pitch at Leinster, Fardy’s contributions went way beyond that and just his mere presence in the setup had to be an inspiration to all our locks and especially our backrowers…in particular Ryan Baird who has really stepped up since the Wallaby left to play a much similar role for us. And if what I’m saying is right about Baird who was just coming into the team at the time Scott came along, I can only imagine what he’ll do with someone like Ciaran Prendergast who’s already banging on the door of the test team as it is.
🤝 | Welcome to Connacht, Scott Fardy!
We are delighted to confirm his appointment as our new defence coach on a two-year deal.
A lot of talk about Heineken Cup formats this season but here’s a couple of alterations being made by the URC for next season. They have to do with the Shields, which are the geographical sub-divisions within the competition that has four distinct tables for Irish, Welsh, South African, plus of course the Scots/Italian one.
Essentially there are three announcements here…
First of all, it’s important to point out they are keeping the shields at all. Could have easily scrapped them but I believe they’re a good way to add spice to the schedule.
My favourite portion of this can be seen in the tweet below – in fact I’m pretty sure I brought this up in an 80+ column earlier in the season. Now there will actually be a proper Irish Interprovincial Championship once more with actual silverware on offer. As if the interpros needed more of an edge, I know, but it’s still very welcome.
Finally and the one that most people will be happy about, the silverware I mention above is the only prize guaranteed to the winners. Since it is now only based on the derby results, it wouldn’t be right to base Heineken Cup qualification on it anymore, which now means the most for Welsh and Italian clubs since they will have to qualify by finishing in the actual URC top 8 as nature intended.
Seemingly only derbies will count towards the URC Shields next season. Very, very much in favour of this, plus no guaranteed HCC place either. Sensible switch. https://t.co/Ee0bWKZu5W
Earlier in the season when he refereed Leinster’s St Stephen’s Day trip to Thomond Park I gave Chris Busby the name “Dr No” for the way he kept shouting “NO!” to forwards at breakdowns saying to stay away from the ball…well on last Friday evening at Scotstoun it caught him out in the incident below.
Much was said about the try being called back, and I was surprised that the debate was only over whether or not Fifita was actually offside. For me, the referee’s call of “no” followed by allowing the player to take the ball was way too misleading for both sides and perhaps the best course of action would have been to blow his whistle immediately, own up to the ambiguity (easy mistake tbf we’ve all done something like that) and restart the match with a Glasgow scrum.
Instead Fifita ran the length of the pitch only for the incident to be looked at several times before being ruled offside which gave the Warriors a penalty. Obviously that is technically the right call but my point is that while I do like the way officials bark instructions at forwards to keep them from doing no-nos that will disrupt the flow of play, there will be times when they can get their instructions mixed up and I reckon this was one of them.
NO TRY!
Fifita scores one hell of a try… but he's offside 😔
Another controversial decision from the weekend of rugby just gone was this one. As you can see, Couch Referee has quoted chapter and verse what the right call was and I can’t argue.
But there are some other factors in the debate which need addressing. First, the offence was NOT considered to be a red card one, and much of those grumbling online seem to be the same ones (including some actual current players sadly) who get their knickers in a twist for every red shown for a blow to the head.
The reason Woodburn had to leave the pitch was because this was his second yellow card offence. We may disagree as to whether or not it deserved a call at all (and tbh I wasn’t 100% sure myself – the ref based the PT award on the fact that Woodburn had dragged the player into touch when I thought it was Hogg).
Actually my own biggest issue with all of this was the fact that he looked at it at all. I have a feeling the TMO check might have been what kicked off the online anger because a lot of rugby fans seem to be WAY too obsessed with anything that might slow down the game. I know delays can be a pain but there have to be limits and foul play in the act of scoring, of which this was definitely in the ballpark on first look, need to be checked. Although having said that, the high tackle on Chris Cosgrave as he scored for Leinster was not only checked, it was called, yet not actual sanction was given but that’s another story I guess…
For all the complaining in the comments and online.
It’s either covered 13.4 or 13.3 c
The game is played only by players who are on their feet.
And Woodburn is not on his feet and prevents a try being scored.
This looks to be sensible. Basically instead of “if in doubt, give a yellow and it will be looked at during the week”, we now have “if in doubt, give a yellow and we’ll have a look while you play on and will let you know if it’s a red”. This will avoid the absolutely bonkers incident involving Super Rugby recently when a flying headbutt went completely unpunished.
World Rugby confirms it will trial 'TMO Bunker' at the U20 World Championship in June.
Details below. NO orange cards or 20 minute red cards.
World Rugby confirms this could also be in place for the 2023 World Cup if trial is successful. pic.twitter.com/HSLZXwaP8Q
Last week I used ChatGPT to produce a report on Leinster’s HCC quarterfinal against Leicester, and while it did get a lot of the players names wrong, the result was perfect and overall looked believable at least to someone with only a passing interest in rugby.
This week however the AI has gone one better as just for the craic I asked it to weigh in on a debate that was been raging in the ruggersphere lately…
Write 500 words on the reasons for Leinster’s success.
Leinster Rugby is one of the most successful rugby union teams in Europe, with a long history of winning championships and producing top-quality players. There are many reasons why Leinster Rugby has been so successful over the years, including a strong coaching team, excellent training facilities, and a relentless focus on player development. In this essay, we will examine these reasons in more detail.
One of the most important factors in Leinster Rugby’s success is the quality of its coaching team. The team has been led by many top-quality coaches over the years, including Joe Schmidt, Matt O’Connor, and Leo Cullen. These coaches have not only been successful in winning championships but have also put a strong emphasis on player development. They have been able to identify and nurture the talents of some of the best players in Europe, such as Johnny Sexton, Tadhg Furlong, and Garry Ringrose.
Another key factor in Leinster Rugby’s success is the quality of its training facilities. The team has access to some of the best facilities in Europe, including a modern high-performance center and a well-appointed training ground. This allows players to train at the highest level, ensuring that they are fully prepared for the challenges of professional rugby. Furthermore, the team has a culture of continuous improvement, with players constantly being challenged to improve their skills and fitness levels.
Leinster Rugby’s success is also the result of its relentless focus on player development. The team has a world-class academy system that identifies and nurtures young talent from an early age. This system has produced many of the team’s current stars, including Jordan Larmour, James Ryan, and Josh van der Flier. It is also renowned for its ability to develop players’ leadership skills, ensuring that the team always has a strong core of leaders on and off the field.
Leinster Rugby’s success is also due to its strong team culture. The team is renowned for its tight-knit group of players, who are all committed to the same goal of winning championships. This culture is fostered by the coaching staff, who encourage players to work together and support each other throughout the season. This has led to a team that is not only successful but also has a great sense of camaraderie and spirit.
Finally, Leinster Rugby’s success is due to its ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Over the years, the team has faced many challenges, including injuries and changes in the rules of the game. However, the team has always been able to adapt and overcome these challenges, ensuring that it remains competitive at the highest level. This is due in part to the team’s strong coaching and training systems, which allow players to develop a range of skills and techniques that can be applied in different situations.
In conclusion, Leinster Rugby’s success can be attributed to a number of factors, including its strong coaching team, excellent training facilities, and relentless focus on player development. The team’s great team culture and ability to adapt to changing circumstances have also been key factors in its success. All of these factors have helped to create a team that is not only successful but also a great ambassador for the sport of rugby.
“WADE-ING” INTO PUNDITRY
I’m bringing our “Eurowatch” feature back this week, where basically I study the latest match for Leinster’s upcoming European opponents and produce a TikTok summarising what happened. This weekend it was Toulouse v Lyon, and what a match it was, like “joué joué on steroids”.
That vid should be ready on Wednesday, but for this column I simply had to share this bit of commentary from Christian Wade. Earlier in the season James Lowe was commentating on a Leinster v Chile friendly and I thought his laid back approach was brilliant – well for this match Wade did a real “hold my beer” on that notion.
After the first try of the match this is what he said…
“See me I love tries, when I touch the field, when I get my hands on the ball it’s like I want to make something happen you know, it’s just in my blood to get like white line fever, I feel that there’s another feeling that’s more than white line fever that’s what I have”
Christian Wade in commentary during 🚽 🚽 v 🦁
We need more of this IMO.
INJURY REPORT
Unfortunately the term “Rhys Ruddock’s All Stars” for Leinster’s travelling squad to South Africa will have to be symbolic for our match against the Bulls next Saturday as he picked up a knock. In our Harpin WhatsApp group we have it between Dave Kearney and Max Deegan for the captain’s armband in his stead.
On the actual injury report itself it was really unfortunate for Vakh to follow up his superb try with a neck injury and hopefully he’ll be back soon. And as ever the “no further updates” section is full of nailed on HCC starters so I try to be in denial so I’d best go back to trying to work out a possible matchday squad for the weekend.
For me it’s all about finding a balance between keeping important units together and getting caps into as much of the touring squad as possible. For me I’d leave 11-15 and 4-8 untouched with the exception of Ruddock.
POSSIBLE 23 V BULLS
Cosgrave, T O’Brien, Turner, Brownlee, Kearney, Tector, Murphy
Barron, Boyle, Lasisi, O’Tighearnaigh, Culhane, Gunne, Prendergast, King
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Tommy O’Brien: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a long-term knee injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Vakhtang Abdaladze: was withdrawn from the game against the Emirates Lions with a neck injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on selection
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Rhys Ruddock: injured his hamstring in the second half against Emirates Lions and will be unavailable for selection this week
There are no further updates on:
Ryan Baird (shoulder), James Lowe (calf), Josh van der Flier (ankle), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Rónan Kelleher (shoulder), Joe McCarthy (ankle), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Martin Moloney (knee) and Charlie Ngatai (hamstring)
AIL UPDATE
There were a few ways the top 4 in the AIL1A could have changed in round 18 yet with the top 3 all winning it was as you were which means the league semifinals will both be Leinster/Munster affairs as Tarf will host the Cookies and Cork Con will travel to Lakelands next Saturday.
When it comes to relegation I have to offer a correction, as I have been covering the AIL all season I was wrong in how I was explaining the format. The way it actually works all through the divisions is that the 9th team in the higher tier is joined by 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the next one down in a knockout playoff for the one place in the higher division. This means Shannon, Old Wesley, Belvo & Highfield will all have a chance to win two matches and join 1B champs City of Armagh in next season’s Division 1A.
Further down the league it’s congrats to Queens, Greystones and Instonians for winning Divs 2A,B & C respectively, especially Inst who won all 18 of their matches.
I’ve said it many times before but it’s worth repeating, it’s a shame the AIL isn’t covered a lot more on an actual TV channel – there was some YouTube streaming but the 2:30 kickoff time on Saturday meant they clashed with both the Women’s 6Nations and the URC.
DIVISION 1A
Ballynahinch 17-7 Lansdowne
Clontarf 50-29 UCD
Dublin University 66-14 Garryowen
Terenure 29-17 Shannon
Young Munster 26-36 Cork Con
PLAYOFFS
Sat Apr 22
Clontarf v Young Munster
Terenure v Cork Con
DIVISION 1B
Banbridge 16-10 Highfield
Buccaneers 24-31 City of Armagh
Naas 35-39 Old Wesley
St Mary’s 21-32 Old Belvedere
UCC 20-10 Malone
Promotion Playoffs
April 22
Shannon v Old Wesley
Old Belvedere v Highfield
DIVISION 2A
CHAMPIONS : Queens University
PROMOTION PLAYOFFS : Banbridge v Barnhall, Blackrock Coll v Nenagh Ormond
RELEGATED : Dolphin
DIVISION 2B
CHAMPIONS : Greystones
PROMOTION PLAYOFFS : UL Bohs v Sligo, Galway Corinthians v Dungannon
RELEGATED : Enniscorthy
DIVISION 2C
CHAMPIONS : Instonians
PROMOTION PLAYOFFS : Galwegians v Bruff, Skerries v Tullamore
RELEGATED : Sunday’s Well
MLR UPDATE
As I’m typing this section the news is just coming through that both Dave Kearney and Adam Byrne have announced they are moving to the MLR to play for the Chicago Hounds, a very interesting development indeed. Definitely a great move for Dave to see out his brilliant career but when it comes to AB I have to assume he’s doing it with a view to qualify for US Eagles caps but whatever the reasons we of course wish both all the best.
On this season’s comp I had intended to feature the Toronto v New England match as one to watch but once I got spoiled on the score over twitter, or more to the point when I realised what a blow out it was, I decided instead to focus on Leinster’s next European opponents Toulouse.
So as you can see by the tables below it’s the Free Jacks and Legion leading the way in the conferences at the halfwy stage
More on the league next week.
ROUND 9
SD 48-24 CHI
OGDC 42-31 NYI
UTAH 41-35 SEA
HOU 33-21 DAL
NOLA 7-23 ATL
TOR 5-80 NEFJ
ROUND 10
NEFJ V ATL
OGDC V UTAH
DAL V SD
CHI V NOLA
NYI V HOU
TOR V SEA
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
I CAUGHT HIM!!!! Slow and steady may not have won the race just yet, but having been behind Kino for most of the season, to overtake him with just 15 matches left to predict isn’t the worst timing ever. The key ironically was Leinster’s match in Johannesburg, I was very tempted to go for the home win but decided against it while Kino thought differently. Still many ways that 2 point lead can still evaporate however, and with Mark and Tom not a million miles behind either.
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
So it’s the Bulls this weekend…Mark Jackson will join me on Friday for the preview, with Conor Cronin & Nathan Johns lined up for the wrap pod on Sunday. This will actually be the first Leinster match this season I’ve been unable to watch live, although I reckon my son’s birthday dinner is a decent enough excuse! We’ll still be doing our regular features where possible so do keep an eye out and get involved in the conversation when you can.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Greg Kelly From the first scrum the Lions looked uneasy. They looked like they expected the young guns to have a crack but to fall away. However they didn’t. Lions lived off Leinster errors and a lack of cohesion.
Up the ladders and age grades Leinster lose very few games and sometimes that shows. Players that are not used to losing generally don’t fall away.
Christy O’Connor Lot of pressure on Prendergast, I originally thought it was a mistake to start him but after a bit of a shaky first half he got more into the game and made the difference in the end.
Big statement to come from behind when down to 13 men and we were nowhere near full strength
Andrew Potts Any win in SA is to be respected, fantastic result for young players and praise also for Ruddock and Deegan for keeping the lads focused when it could have gone South
TWITTER
#LIOvLEI…simply epic…one of my fav games by Leinster.. EVER…the kids were immense…Prendergast…Cosgrave…Murphy when he came on..the scrum solid as a rock…take a bow lads that was simply sensational
— Marcas Mac Siacais 🇪🇺🇮🇪☘️ (@hoomanbear) April 15, 2023
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
For this week’s wrap pod I was honoured to be joined by the Westmeath/Meath coaching combo of Mark Jackson & Tom Coleman and they did their usual excellent job of analysing what went on at the Aviva on Friday. They actually kind of apologised when we finished recording for harpin’ on for longer than usual but the thing about that is all that does is provide me with extra content so I’m not exactly compaining! As you can see below I managed a second bonus clip out of it.
If you missed the pod, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…JIMMY O’BRIEN & LEINSTER’S SUCCESS
Like I said the lads gave me enough material for two bonus clips. The one we planned for was about Jimmy O’Brien – for the second week in a row I disagreed with the Star of the Match selection, not that Ringer played badly of course and scoring the first two tries was always going to put him up there, it’s just I felt JOB had so much opportunity to show off why he has not only cemented himself in Leinster’s European lineup but has even broken into Andy Farrell’s top tier as well.
Also for our Front Five segment at the start of the show I chose two articles which I felt covered areas usually left out of the discussion over the supposed “unfairness” regarding Leinster’s success – the first one actually turns the spotlight back on the other Irish provinces and their internal issues, while the second tries to appreciate the actual hard work put in across the 12 counties (which, I should probably point out, does not mean it’s ALL down to our hard work).
If you’re playing the clips above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
DEFENCE MANIPULATION &HIGH BALL CATCHING TIK TOKS
I was also able to produce two TikToks for the pod – the first might get taken down at some point as I used footage from the match but I wanted to highlight the amazing work done under the high ball. I actually planned to just do the Leinster catches but there were so many by the Tigers as well I had to do the lot, eleven altogether.
Lots to savour there but for me one thing I havent seen mentioned much is how Stormers, Ulster & Leicester have tested Leinster under the high ball in last three matches and we have coped extremely well. Lots of fine catches made look easy, crucial. #LEINvLEIC
For the second TikTok I went our more traditional route by picking a quote from the pod and the second I heard Tom say “if you freeze it there…” I knew this was going to be my clip this was a perfect explanation of how Leinster were finding gaps in the second half.
Every week I have to react to more whinging and moaning about perceived advantages enjoyed by Leinster & Ireland, and this time I thought an extra YouTube clip from the pod would cover it for this column, yet in between producing that and writing this there has been yet more of it.
Now it’s over the possibility that all of Leinster’s knockout matches could well be in the Aviva Stadium. Is that an advantage for us? Well of course it is. But the way it’s being presented in the Birdhouse is making it look like the organisers of the Champions Cup went out of their way to make it so and that is simply not the case.
Many seem to be selectively ignoring these facts…
* Leinster earned home adv in L16 & QF AND SF from pool stage, and the pool stage draw itself was earned from reaching the final four of last season’s URC.
* Semifinal venues meant to be “neutral” yes, but to stage an event you know you can get a crowd of 50k+ anywhere smaller would be madness, especially if anyone is actually suggesting taking it off the island of Ireland. Leinster’s only viable options are the Aviva & Croke Park, with the latter kind of tied up with other sports besides it’s also in Dublin anyway.
* The Final venue changes every year, and rarely has it been in Ireland.
I suppose the question I have to ask myself is…would I be complaining if this were happening with another country? I do know we spent a lot of time talking about how referees seemed to show favouritism towards the All Blacks when they were conquering all before them? Is this what it looks like from the other side and if so, which side is actually right?
Maybe it’s a bit of both, but one thing is for sure, the endless griping after every win does get really boring.
So many different ways to push back on all the selective narratives over Leinster's success, yet no matter how much we try to discuss the full issue, it seems every win will continue to be followed by more tweets, more articles and more tweets about articles. pic.twitter.com/XrOdctacmR
For all my talk of whining after another Leinster win last Friday, to be fair I have to share this DM I got from Mike Cooper who hosts the great Leicester Tigers pod Rolling Maul. This is how you respond to a defeat in my book.
Just to say mate, what a privilege it was to see your boys execute in the second half. I was so proud of our chaps in the first 40, I felt we negated your power and carrying game (your ‘plan A’) – hopefully you were impressed by George Martin and Tommy Reffell! – but in the second 40, the switch of style to exploit our weakness out-wide was – on a second (painful) watch – breathtaking. The constant isolation of Potter (poor bastard, not the game to play your 4th pro game at 13!) was honestly the best accuracy and clarity I’ve seen at club level. Cullen/Lancaster, whoever pulled that trigger at half time, it is so, so impressive. I will still say some pundits (including your guest in the preview!) were not fair on where Leicester could trouble Leinster (and I thought that showed in the first half), but ultimately the quality and cohesion of your lads shone through in a big way. A privilege to watch Ringrose, too. Best of luck for the rest of the tourny – one of the best club sides I’ve ever seen!! Happy for you to throw this into your pod as “opposition feedback!”.
AI = AIRLINE IRRITATION
SA teams have travelled more, played away more and had odds stacked against them. Toulouse have yet to fly to SA Lyon, Bordeaux, Clermont, Racing 92 and Stade Francais all lost in SA. Easy when everything is in your favour.
Have to say I expected more from the Sharks and Stormers last weekend in Europe, especially the latter. Again there has been griping about the amount of travel they’ve had to do over the course of the season, and I guess that’s fair despite the similar distances in Super Rugby because our calendar is a lot more punishing in that regard.
That said, if we’re going to talk about perceived advantages in Europe when it comes to the South African teams, it’s worth pointing out something I have flagged here since it was announced they were joining the HCC – between the pool phase and the knockouts the European clubs all had to pray that their top players survived the Six Nations while the South Africans had no such test involvement.
Overall the answer to most of these cries of injustice is that rugby union is and always will be perfectly imperfect and trying to level the playing field in one area will generally make it more crooked in another.
AI = ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Since I’m on an AI theme for some of my headings in this column, I thought I’d share this experiment I did on Sunday morning when I downloading a ChatGPT app – I asked it to come up with a 500-word report on Leinster’s win over the Tigers and I didn’t give it the final score. As you can see, while it did have the scoreline right a lot of the details in the report were a tad wide of the mark, with a few retired and injured players put in the lineup plus the misconception that it was a pool game. But this definitely sounds like a match I would have like to have seen anyway!!!
“Leinster secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup with a resounding 55-24 win over Leicester Tigers at the RDS Arena in Dublin on Saturday. The Irish team ran in eight tries to Leicester’s three to extend their lead at the top of Pool Five.
Leinster took the lead in the 12th minute through winger James Lowe, who collected a cross-field kick from fly-half Johnny Sexton and touched down in the corner. Sexton missed the conversion but made amends five minutes later with a penalty to extend Leinster’s lead to eight points.
Leicester responded with a try of their own in the 21st minute, with winger Kobus van Wyk finishing off a flowing move from the Tigers. But Leinster hit back almost immediately with a try from prop Tadhg Furlong, who powered over the line from close range.
The home side continued to dominate and added two more tries before half-time, with Jamie Heaslip and Garry Ringrose both crossing the whitewash. Sexton converted both tries to give Leinster a commanding 27-7 lead at the break.
The second half was a more even affair, with Leicester scoring two tries through Dan Cole and Jonny May. But Leinster had too much firepower and responded with tries from Ringrose, Jack Conan and a brace from replacement hooker Sean Cronin.
Leinster’s performance was impressive, with their attacking play causing Leicester all sorts of problems. Sexton was outstanding, controlling the game with his kicking and passing, while Lowe and Ringrose were a constant threat on the wings.
Leicester, on the other hand, were disappointing, with their defence leaking too many tries. They did show some attacking intent, but were unable to match Leinster’s intensity and skill.
The win means that Leinster are guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, with a home quarter-final looking increasingly likely. They will be considered one of the favorites to lift the trophy, given their dominant performances in the competition so far.
Leicester, on the other hand, have little chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, with only a slim chance of qualifying as one of the best runners-up. They will be looking to bounce back in domestic competitions, with the aim of qualifying for next year’s Champions Cup.
Overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining game of rugby, with Leinster’s class shining through. They will look to take this momentum into their remaining Champions Cup games, as they aim to lift the trophy for the fifth time in their history.”
“KILLING THE GAME” TWEET
I don’t always agree with Tim’s Twitter takes but I’m right there with him here…one of the best responses to the “killing the game” nonsense I have seen. PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM HEAD INJURIES SUSTAINED IN RUGBY. Many others have experienced life-altering repercussions. Why oh why oh why are we allowing this debate to continue in such a way as to give so much oxygen to those who’s only inconvenience is to sit in their armchairs a bit longer while the officials review a call. The real debate is happening among people who actually want to save the game, not kill it.
Apparently, protecting players by punishing headshots – ie enforcing what have always been the laws of rugby because a shoulder to the head has always been foul play – is “actually killing rugby”.
And you know what? Good. Any idea of rugby accepting headshots needs to be killed. https://t.co/dMIqFGA76R
Obviously the worries from Friday mostly surround Ryan Baird and James Lowe, although following the Leinster report I’ve heard rumblings that Baird’s injury may not be as bad as first thought. As for Lowe, well if he misses knockouts because of a skip of delight following a try then I’ll challenge anyone who tries to say we’re getting all the luck!
At time of writing the squad hasn’t been announced for Leinster’s South African trek although I see Jason Jenkins was put front and centre for a presser so I’m thinking he might be one of the top tier players travelling, along with Luke McGrath and possibly Jordan Larmour.
UPDATE : Leinster have since announced the touring squad and with the likes of Larmour, Frawley and McGrath left behind so below is a revised possible 23…
POSSIBLE 23 V LIONS
Cosgrove, Russell, T O’Brien, Turner, Kearney, Tector, McCarthy
E Byrne, Barron, Ala’alatoa, Deeny, Jenkins, Ruddock, Connors, Deegan
McElroy, Milne, Clarkson, Soroka, Culhane, Murphy/Gunne, Prendergast, King
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Caelan Doris: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
Garry Ringrose: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
N/A
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Ryan Baird: injured his shoulder in the first half against Leicester Tigers and will be unavailable for a few weeks
James Lowe: injured his calf in the second half against Leicester Tigers and will be further assessed this week
There are no further updates on:
Josh van der Flier (ankle), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Rónan Kelleher (shoulder), Joe McCarthy (ankle), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Martin Moloney (knee) and Charlie Ngatai (hamstring)
AI = ALL-IRELAND (LEAGUE UPDATE)
The good news for AIL fans is that all five matches in the final round robin stage have playoff/relegation implications. Even though the top four sides are decided the actual rankings and home advantages are still up for grabs. Tarf aren’t quite mathematically sure of 1st place yet although I reckon Terenure are a bit more concerned with overcoming relegation-playoff–threatened Shannon in case they get caught by Cork Con who travel to play the Cookies. And should Shannon cause an upset at Lakelands, the two Dublin universities will need wins although UCD have a tad more difficult task at Castle Avenue as Trinity host the bottom side Garryowen. Should be an interesting couple of hours from 2:30 on Saturday for sure.
Meanwhile in 1B there’s a three way race to qualify for the promotion playoff between Belvo, who have a tricky Dublin derby at Mary’s, Highfield who face Banbridge down the bottom of the table, and Buccaneers who host the newly crowned champions City of Armagh.
DIVISION 1A
ROUND 18
Ballynahinch v Lansdowne
Clontarf v UCD
Dublin University v Garryowen
Terenure College v Shannon
Young Munster v Cork Con
DIVISION 1B
ROUND 18
Banbridge v Highfield
Buccaneers v City of Armagh
Naas v Old Wesley
St Mary’s v Old Belvedere
UCC v Malone
SEVENS UPDATE
The Irish men’s side really had a Sevens stinker in Singapore for sure, losing five on the bounce finishing a dead last 16th to pick up just one point in the series. That knocks us out of the top eight and we’ll need a decent showing in the final two rounds to claw our way back up. We have definitely stumbled since our silver medal early in the season. The circuit resumes in May with men’s and women’s events in Toulouse before the final men’s one in London.
MLR UPDATE
For the past few weeks I’ve been featuring an MLR game for this column but with Easter and school midterm and all I just don’t have the time for this round. Stand out result from Round 8 was definitely the San Diego Legion toppling previously unbeaten Seattle making the Western Conference table look pretty interesting.
One thing I have yet to do for this feature is select a team to follow. Coming from the Bay Area of California as I do, there’s no natural choice although I do have quite a few relatives in New England as well so the Free Jacks seem the obvious alternative so maybe I’ll go for them, we’ll see.
More on the league next week.
ROUND 8
HOU 24-30 UTAH
SEA 20-23 SD
ATL 35-27 OGDC
TOR V NYI
NEFJ 31-19 CHI
ROUND 9
TOR V NEFJ
NOLA V ATL
HOU V DAL
UTAH V SEA
OGDC V NYI
SD V CHI
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
I know you’re all dying to be reminded of how the HPL stands going into the next round of the URC…there are only 23 more matches left for us to forecast and as you can see below, while the Jersey of Shame has long been decided, the top spot is very much up for grabs with up to four still in with a reasonable shout.
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s back to the URC for us and we will of course be giving Saturday’s match in Jo’burg the full Harpin’ treatment with a preview before, a wrap pod after and all the usual features in between. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
Andrew Potts Leicester had a very limited game plan and the missed time pass often undid them .They also looked flat footed at times with so many runners going at defenders.
Nice to put 50 on them but some serious teams ahead.
Kevin Kelehan Ruthless demolition job from the point they were down to 14. Watch out Toulouse!
From Leicester Tigers page…
Gaz Coley Great effort. Irish Rugby has ticked all the boxes and are seeing the rewards. We gave a brave spiritated effort but the floors are deeper than today’s result. English Rugby have got it so very wrong
TWITTER
55-24 / 7 tries That's a thumping if ever there was one.
Reminder that Leicester are 3rd in the Premiership.#LEIvLEI
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 