Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Just after 8pm on Saturday evening I was pretty sure I’d have to prepare the first pod under our new format where the subject matter was a Leinster or Ireland defeat but we all know how that second half went and I reckon Tom & Conor did a bang up job harpin’ on all the relevant points from the classic top-of-the-table encounter. If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN’ ON…HEALY RED
Of course if you need a sample of the pod before you commit to clicking, here’s a taste when we harped on the red card which we thought at the time would be the deciding factor on the night – as you can see we were all incredibly one-eyed and fully agreed the decision was in fact a travesty…
TURNING BACK TIME
Before I move on from Saturday night’s classic, I’d like to expand on a point raised by Tom in the above clip.
When the Healy/Stewart collision happened, the clock read 17:58. Yet when the referee finally ruled on the red card, it was at 20:35 and when the ball was finally back in play it was actually 20:56.
So basically, due to a decision that had to be referred to the TMO, three minutes of gameplay were lost. And in actual fact they weren’t just lost, there was actually over two and a half minutes of rugby played in that time which was never going to count towards anything.
I have two points to make about this.
I’m pretty sure that once it’s decided that there was foul play, the clock should be moved back to the precise time when it happened. This shouldn’t take much longer to do as the TMO can confirm it in the booth. We may not notice those 3 minutes in this particular match but imagine if it happened in the 77th minute of a game where Ulster were within a converted try on the scoreboard? The difference between having 3 minutes to take advantage from the penalty and having the clock automatically in the red is pretty big.
This also links to the discussion over concussion safety. Often the officials stop the game when they think there has been foul play and when the TMO finds nothing wrong, there is outcry from the same pundits & fans about holding up the game. Well, those 2 plus minutes from Saturday are exactly why it’s important to err on the side of caution. If an official thinks there may be something that needs looking at, they should absolutely stop play because IMO if there’s possibly anything worse than suffering a serious injury on a rugby pitch, then it’s suffering a serious injury on a rugby pitch in play that didn’t even count towards the final score.
CLUB RUGBY WORLD CUP
I noticed a headline during the week about ongoing talks regarding the formation of a “Club Rugby World Cup”. The more I see these articles, the more I’m convinced that it will eventually happen.
My thoughts are simple, of course it’s a super concept, who wouldn’t want to see a comp with fixtures like Leinster v Crusaders but the drawbacks are pretty obvious – 1) how the hell do you fit it into the calendar without altering it drastically (and harmfully if that’s a word), and 2) I hope I’d reading the room wrong here but I have a feeling there might be a temptation to stage this in a “neutral venue” like Dubai.
Both would seriously take the shine off what would otherwise be an illustrious event for the sport, although sadly I feel both are also very likely to happen anyway.
DUBAI SEVENS
So there I was, off with the family doing the first bout of Christmas shopping on Saturday when I was able to sneak away to a coffee shop and over a flat white I watched the Irish Men’s 7s take on the Blitzbokke in the final of the Dubai 7s. Sadly it wasn’t to be for them as the South Africans made their experience tell for these occasions by running in three tries before we could land a punch, but it’s certainly all not disappointment for Ireland, this will stand to them down the line and having drawn one and lost one in the pool stages they did really well to get this far anyway.
Getting to the final lifts us up to 4th on the overall series after 2 rounds, and over on the Women’s side although they went out at the quarterfinal stage they still managed a decent 6th place finish which is a decent start so hopefully both sides will be able to continue on their upwards curves when the circus rolls into Cape Town this coming weekend.
Be sure to keep an eye out for all the kickoff times and support them on social media as much as you can. Remember – we’re trying to let the organisers know we’re ready willing and able to host a leg on these shores!!!
EUROWATCH
We neglected our TikTok account for a while there in November, but with the Champions Cup starting next weekend we had to bring back our EuroWatch feature with brief “Reeling In The Years”-style presentation of the latest matches from Leinster’s upcoming HCC opposition. Below you see last week’s Racing offering and we’ll have more later during the week just subscribe to our account.
Everyone’s harpin’ on this at the moment so I have to include it I suppose, but to be honest both dismissals have been in the “worst kept secret” category for a while now so there’s not a whole lot more I can add except to say that while both nations might be in turmoil on and off the pitch right now, it often doesn’t take much to turn their fortunes around in the short term, especially with the quality they have on offer, so I reckon Wales v Ireland to open the 2023 Six Nations could be very interesting indeed.
I will also add this meme from Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir which nails the Welsh decision on the head.
Actually one thing I did miss in all the excitement from the match on Saturday was Tadhg Furlong going off and hopefully this was just a precaution. And as well as Jamie Osborne did in the 12 role, it’s still really good news for Leinster that Charlie Ngatai is meant to be back training with the squad this week as we’ll need every ounce of his European experience at the weekend. That doesn’t rule out Jamie altogether of course and actually I reckon he’d be perfect for this match against Racing in the 23 jersey given he has had four starts for Leinster this season, all in different positions.
For what it’s worth here is my ideal 23 for Saturday…
Kelleher, E Byrne, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, McGrath, R Byrne, Osborne.
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
James Lowe: came through the game at the weekend against Ulster Rugby with no issues after his return from a calf injury
Charlie Ngatai: is expected to train fully with the team this week after his recovery from a shoulder injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Johnny Sexton: will be further assessed this week for a calf injury ahead of a final decision later in the week
Tadhg Furlong: will be further assessed this week for an ankle injury picked up against Ulster Rugby ahead of a final decision later in the week
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
There were no further injuries from the game at the weekend.
There are no further updates on:
Robbie Henshaw (wrist), Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee), Will Connors (bicep), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)
AIL UPDATE
Friday night is a massive night for Women’s rugby on these shores as the AIL final between Blackrock and Railway Union is to be broadcast live on terrestrial TV for the first time as TG4 are carrying the broadcast, and especially since there are no Irish men’s provinces involved in European action on the same night, I really think it’s important for rugby fans to get involved by watching and sharing comments throughout on social media.
Remember – women’s club rugby is different to the men’s in that it always features current and former test players, and this final should be no exception with the likes of Enya Breen, Maeve Óg O’Leary, Hannah O’Connor, Nikki Caughey and Lindsay Peat all likely to be involved so be sure to tune in or better still, head along to Energia Park in Donnybrook yourself on the night, kickoff is at 7:45pm
Meanwhile over on the men’s side of things, Terenure had a “slip up” of sorts as for the first time in 9 rounds they failed to get the try bonus point, though of course their win over Trinity keeps their 100% start going. Tarf moved up to second with a tough win down at Cork Con while Young Munster continued their run of form with a win at Shannon and will be more than ready for the visit of Nure this coming weekend. The league then takes a break until the new year.
Women’s AIL
Dec 3
SEMIFINALS
Blackrock 13 – 8 UL Bohemians
Railway Union 34 – 19 Old Belvedere
Fri Dec 9
League final
Blackrock College v Railway Union
Men’s AIL
Sat Dec 3
Cork Con 22 – 29 Clontarf
Garryowen 10 – 28 Ballynahinch
Terenure 23 – 21 Dublin University
UCD 27 – 26 Lansdowne
Shannon 3 – 32 Young Munster
Sat Dec 10
Ballynahinch v UCD
Clontarf v Garryowen
Dublin University v Cork Con
Lansdowne v Shannon
Young Munster v Terenure
AI RUGBY
What the hell is this? You may well ask. Well, I’ve been playing around with one of those AI image generators lately, so I figured I’d share something here with it each week for a while, here’s what came up using the words “Leinster Rugby” in “Comic Book” mode. At least they got the colours right I guess? More to come.
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
Highlight of Round 9 for me prediction wise was my last-second change of my forecast for Connacht v Benetton – I saw a tweet from a western based fan who said he felt in his bones that they’d win by 20 so I switched my margin from 9 to 19 and sure enough it came up trumps. Kristian Ross had an even better round although I’m still closing the gap on Kino at the top of the league while Keego’s grip on both the wooden spoon and the Jersey of Shame seems to be getting even tighter…
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Next up it’s the Heineken Champions Cup and Leinster’s first assignment is certainly a tough one with an away trip to Racing 92 definitely set to be a challenge. Of course we’re giving it the full Harpin treatment with Illtud Daffyd, who briefed us on Montpellier last season, returning for an “Opposition View” pod on Wednesday before Keego has another appearance on Friday’s Preview Show and then it’s wrap up time on Sunday evening , with all the usual other features in between.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
3 December 2022; Garry Ringrose of Leinster dives over to score his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Chris McDonnell Its days like this that make being a leinster supporter worthwhile. Magnificent 1 to 23
Liz Power A warning to all teams. Do not lead Leinster by 22-3 in the first half. It’s a dangerous score as the 2011 finalists Northampton will attest!!
Bert McLoughlin Just home after the game, hoarse and sore hands from 👏. What a comeback
Sean Michaels Still trying to get my breath back after that. Literally a game of two halves. Substitutions made a great difference. Porter, Ringrose, Baird were immense. Whatever was said at half time obviously did the trick. Thought Lowe had a good game after such a long spell injured, has obviously taken the time to work on the areas of his game that were seen as a weakness, he looked hungry and aggressive and deserved his try
Gavin Hegarty And that, dear Ulster, is rugby.
I know Healy’s red is a red by law but to me a red is for malice or two yellows. Ref actually adjudicated the mitigating bits for their yellow very well.
I would have given motm to jgp, speed!!!!
Paul Smith Wow, just wow. That’s all I can say right now
TWITTER
A total tale of 2 halves here. Some of the worst I've seen us play, then to show that level of grit. Incredible.
After that start it’s a very satisfying result, lads showed great character second half. Have to be happy BP win with 14 men for most of the game 💪🏼 #LEIvULS
RichardMifsud If that isn’t a game for the ages I don’t know what is. What a second half from #leinster absolutely blew Ulster away after a dismal first half performance (credit Ulster). Most pleasing was the relentless pursuit of the win. Ringer is some player isn’t he. Ports worthy POTM but Ryan Baird was veeery close Anyway what a game #LEIvULS Great prep for the Heino
Orange Juice brilliant game by Leinster and Gary Ringrose was on fire today and fair play to Ulster for not making it easy for us
Koochulainn Leinster are so innovative they have reinvented the game of two halves
rosscarrick Unreal game from Leinster. Two scores down and only 14 for most the game! Phenomenal comeback win
@KJoanne My beloved Leinster. What a game! Delighted with that win after that first half. Commiserations to Ulster, thanks for a great contest.
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
All due respect to the Glasgow Warriors, but let’s just say Leinster’s win last Saturday is not one that will go down in the memory. Or at least not one that will inspire the province to bring out the available players who took part at half time in a match 10 years down the road, like Leinster did with the 2011/12 HCup winning teams!
Despite the comparative lack of importance, I still think the lads did a really good job describing the action in our Sunday pod, each of them providing their own expertise with Keego bringing the witty references and Mark the coaching expertise, just goes to show what a wide variety of Leinster fans are out there and while I have said it before I’m happy to say again that I’m lucky to have such an awesome set of contributors.
I also consider myself lucky to be able to go to these matches at the RDS since no matter what the overall importance of the occasion I never fail to enjoy being there on matchday.
Our extra chat this week was on Leinster’s defence, we have harped on it before but as we continue to remain this consistent without the ball no matter what the lineup, I’ll feel like bringing it up again and again on these pages until the standards start to slip. And as I bring up the near perfection I see week in week out, it’s always good to have fellow fans to bring me at least a little bit back down to earth as you can see in the clip below.
Mark’s point that Glasgow didn’t really challenge us and Keego’s that we need to be wary of relying too much on it are both well made, in fact that all comes into play in last season’s Champions Cup final. We not only found out that keeping the opposition’s score down isn’t worth much if you can’t find the tries yourself, but also if anything our defending was TOO perfect in those closing minutes – ironically if we had let La Rochelle score much earlier in their late seige we would have at least had time left to respond! Anyway, here’s the chat…have a listen for yourself and maybe subscribe to the channel too if the mood takes you…
DODDIE WEIR
A Lions Tour, 61 caps for Scotland where he scored 19 points from four tries (one under the old money of four points) and starring for both Newcastle Falcons and Border Reivers as the sport was just turning professional is a brief summary of Doddie Weir’s achievements on the pitch, but it’s what happened after his retirement for which he will be most remembered. Of course I don’t just mean the tragic ailment of MND but of course the lengths to which he went to help raise awareness through the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. Here’s the opening couple of paragraphs from their post from Monday, click here for the full article and by all means feel free to contribute if you can.
Instantly recognised as an outstanding rugby player, Doddie was diagnosed with MND just two days before Christmas in 2016, eventually going public with the news the following summer on what was Motor Neuron Disease Awareness Day.
Since making his condition known, Doddie has championed the campaign for more to be done for sufferers of the disease, both in terms of finding a possible cure, and with the treatment and welfare of patients and their carers.
My Name’5 Doddie Foundation
@IRISHWOMENS
We have interviewed the owner of the @IrishWomens account a few times for the pod, but understandably they wish to remain anonymous as their aim is to further the cause of the women’s game throughout the four provinces. We’re very sorry, if not entirely surprised, to learn that they have received a good bit of abuse on social media, especially recently and I hope my readers would join me in offering them and indeed anyone encountering such treatment online our full support.
I was glad to see this particular situation was resolved and I hope it doesn’t happen again although unfortunately I fear there are more bad faith actors than this one so we need to look out for each other and call it out when we see it.
Meanwhile those of us with a genuine interest in full inclusivity in the sport can go on having our rational adult discussions.
I'm relieved to see the defamatory tweet in question has finally been removed.
A difference of opinion is fine. Doxxing, defamation & bullying isn't. I hope now that the person in question can move on.
Rob Russell’s 1st try for Leinster on Saturday, coming as it did after an out-of-this-world offload by Charlie Ngatai, reminded me of technology I have seen in rugby league which could really be used in union.
Thankfully for the boys in blue the try I mention above was clear cut after a couple of looks on the replay, but often in tries in the corner it is difficult to see whether the grounding was made before or after a trailing foot drags into touch. Or at least it’s difficult when you only see one angle at a time.
I have to admit I don’t watch a whole lot of rugby league but I am pretty sure I have seen a feature used where your can watch four different angles at once played simultaneously so everyone can see exactly what they need to see to make a decision. Baffles me how something as helpful as that can’t be brought into Union. We often complain about TMOs for wasting time but sometimes maybe they can be improved.
SEVENS ARE BACK
Unfortunately for all I have said on these pages about football being played in Qatar, Dubai isn’t a whole lot better when it comes to human rights and after the final RWC2023 qualifiers taking place there over the past few weeks, it’s now time for the Sevens circuit to pass through with both Ireland’s Women’s and Men’s teams taking part.
Both squads will be looking to improve on their respective 7th place finishes in Hong Kong in the first round, and the action is all being streamed on the World Rugby website from 5am (Irish time) on Friday.
INJURY REPORTS
Delighted to see Messrs Larmour & Lowe continuing to move up the list and it would be great to see one or both of them involved against Ulster at the weekend. The news is not so great for Robbie Henshaw however and I doubt we’ll see him before the start of the 2023 Six Nations. That also means of course it would be extra beneficial for Leinster if Charlie Ngatai’s injury isn’t as bad as it looked when he was removed at halftime last Saturday, especially as he was playing so well.
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Harry Byrne and Rónan Kelleher: came through the game at the weekend against Glasgow Warriors with no issues after their return from hamstring injuries
Ryan Baird: came through the game at the weekend with no issues following his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols
Jordan Larmour: will train fully with the squad this week after his recovery from a foot injury
James Lowe: will train fully with the squad this week after his recovery from a calf injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Johnny Sexton: will be further assessed as the week goes on for a calf injury before a final decision is made on his availability
Charlie Ngatai: will be further assessed as the week goes on for a shoulder injury before a final decision is made on his availability
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Robbie Henshaw: had a procedure on a wrist injury last week which will rule him out of action until early in the new year
There are no further updates on:
Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee), Will Connors (bicep), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)
AIL UPDATE
The Women’s AIL plays to a finish before Christmas with teams vying for a place in the final which will be screened live on TG4 on Dec 9. This weekend sees the semifinals with 1st seed Rock hosting UL Bohs in one while the other is a Dublin derby between Railway Union and Belvo.
Meanwhile in the men’s version they are at round 7 of 18 with Terenure continuing their perfectly perfect start with 35 points out of 35 although Clontarf did stay close enough to them in the round’s biggest clash for a losing bonus. The Nure have another 1st v 2nd clash in the next round when they host Trinity at Lakelands.
It was a good weekend for most of the Munster clubs in Div 1A with Shannon and Young Munster both defeating Dublin opposition while Cork Con stayed in touch at the top thanks in part to the ridiculously long penalty by George Coomber you see in the clip below.
Women’s AIL
Dec 3
SEMIFINALS
Blackrock v UL Bohemians
Railway Union v Old Belvedere
Men’s AIL
Sat Nov 26
Shannon 36-24 UCD
Ballynahinch 13-20 Cork Con
Clontarf 24-29 Terenure
Dublin University 24-25 Young Munster
Lansdowne 47-28 Garryowen
Sat Dec 3
Cork Con v Clontarf
Garryowen v Ballynahinch
Terenure v Dublin University
UCD v Lansdowne
Shannon v Young Munster
There are long-range penalties, really long-range penalties and then there's *this* from @CorkConRugbyFC's George Coomber who landed this penalty from the car park against @HinchRFC in the #EnergiaAIL this weekend.
The return of the URC also means the return of the Harpin’ Prediction League and the good news for me this week is that I made up a lot of ground on Kino who was getting a little too comfortable at the top. However the bad news for me was that I’d be an extra point closer if only I had remembered to get my prediction for Stormers and Scarlets in on time!!! Still though, at least the Ospreys came through for me this weekend, while the URC’s 2 upset results, namely Benetton beating Embra and Cardiff’s shock whitewash of the Sharks, not being forecast by any of us. Down at the bottom of the table as you can see, it’s not looking good for Keego who may have to don The Jersey Of Shame at season’s end.
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Ulster up next at the RDS so we’ll have Ian Frizzell back on the pod to offer an opposition view on Wednesday, Keego will be helping me with the preview and then for the wrap on Saturday it will be Conor Cronin and Tom Coleman on duty. Also we’ll have all the usual features including the return of Eurowatch with some TikTok videos showing how Leinster’s Champions Cup opponents are getting on in their domestic competitions.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
26 November 2022; Charlie Ngatai of Leinster offloads to teammate Rob Russell in the build up to his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Glasgow Warriors at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Martin Loughrey Good result today with some good performances, but we’d have struggled against a better team. Far too many penalties, 15 in total really held us back. Russell obviously had a great game, I thought the back row were solid, and Osbourne impressed also. Ngatai’s offload for the 2nd try was some kind of witchcraft! Good to see Kelleher come through unscathed. All in all, not a vintage performance, but a solid result.
Andrew Potts Leinster played well and a number of solid performances by the next generation . Not sure about the penalty count, its unlike Leinster to be so spendthrift.
Chris McDonnell Harry made a big difference when he came on as did foley and Cosgrave.
TWITTER
Well Leinster for me are the benchmark in this league. And on the basis of today, we’re a long way behind them.
Brian Nisbet 40-5 in the RDS. Glasgow had so much possession but just couldn’t turn it into points. Leinster did, over and over
RichardMifsud Dominant display by #LeinsterRugby against Glasgow Warriors Great to see returns from key players after injury Poor discipline and inaccuracies will keep the coaches busy but overall a very welcome return to #URC action for the boys
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 