Welcome to my 80+ column, a new weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.  

A WRAP OF A WRAP

Obviously I was very happy with that rugby weekend, Leinster v Munster is always a great occasion and although the match didn’t always look like it would end up in a BP win, I certainly didn’t feel like we were lucky once we clinched it.

The wrap pod gave us plenty to harp on, Keego and Tom did a top drawer job going through what happened.  Below you’ll see a bonus clip of our chat over the Kleyn incident – only Keego’s initial take made the pod but we did some back and forth as I disagreed with the notion that a red card would have been harsh, and for topics like this it’s always good that there’s disagreement.

Just to clarify my position, it’s important not to be too black and white about these things – I’m sure many would assume since I suggest Kleyn could have seen red it means I’m only watching with blue goggles.  In fact I certainly don’t feel it’s a slam dunk red, but that it is definitely worth a conversation as I say in the clip.  That’s not to say I feel nobody should ever try to block a kick, far from it, but only go for it if you know you have a decent chance of actually doing it otherwise you, or indeed your opponent, could suffer the consequences.  Contact to the head should ALWAYS put a red card in play in my book and since Kleyn’s jump was nowhere near the ball, let’s just say it mitigates any mitigation.

Anyway, you can judge for yourselves, here’s how the chat went (why not subscribe to our new YouTube channel while you’re at it, it’s the best way to catch our preview show each week)…

NOVEMBER REIGN

Look – I’m just as disillusioned with the rankings as the next guy but that said, when you’re number one why not at least acknowledge it?  Not a bad little bonus for our amazing achievements down in NZ and it really sets up the visit of the reigning World Champions nicely.

For me personally, I’d want to reward as many of those Wellington warriors as I possibly could so here’s my (call it a “fantasy”) 23 for the Boks from the named squad, with alternatives in brackets for injury worries…

As you can probably tell, I’m deliberately ignoring form and a Bok-specific gameplan but like I say that squad is purely meant to be a nod to what we achieved over the summer since nobody seems to be talking about it anymore even when the panel was named.

We not only won a series in NZL, but we won it convincingly.  Of course we have to build on it, of course it guarantees nothing for RWC2023 but until we have another performance to harp on, I for one don’t mind still finding satisfaction from that sentence.

TRANSGENDER RUGBY

You may recall over the summer there was a pretty intense discussion over transgender participation in rugby.  My position was, well, let’s just say, complicated, and I struggled to explain it the way I wanted to in the ruggersphere.  

What I was trying to say was that as much as we want to leave politics out of sport, in areas like this we have to acknowledge the wider topic because it can often lead to abuse from verbal all the way to physical.  

Essentially the argument of needing an outright ban simply because we’re imagining a grown man posing as a woman just to play rugby and the dangers that entails falls way short of the conversation that needs to be had on the matter.

Thankfully John Oliver did a decent job laying out the wider issue IMO so here’s his recent (NSFW) piece on it…

NOVEL GRAPHIC

Been meaning to harp on this for a while – I’m very picky (nerdy?) when it comes to graphics being used by TV networks for rugby matches and there are things that should be standard across all networks that simply aren’t.  Phase counters that appear instantly once there have been 5 would be one.

Another is a timer for yellow cards, and as much as I’m mostly positive about the URC, this is a negative, albeit a tiny one.  But on South African TV, they have gone that extra step further again, by placing a number of the sin-binned player alongside the time, really nice touch and again, I’d hope they would all do this.

Trust me, I get the whole “why make things easier for the guy sitting at home” argument for these things but for one thing, a lot of those guys can’t actually make it to the game and for another, the game needs that market so any sensible way they can make the experience easier has to be a good thing. Below you see an example from the recent Cheetahs v Emerging Ireland clash while Cian Prendergast was on the naughty step.

LEINSTER INJURY REPORT

Obvs the Furlong situation is a concern but good to see Keenan, Josh & Whiskey on the right track with November around the corner.

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Luke McGrath: came through the game at the weekend with no issues following his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

Rhys Ruddock: will train this week following his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

Ryan Baird: will be available to train this week with the IRFU squad following his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Tadhg Furlong: was withdrawn as a precaution from the starting XV against Munster Rugby having rolled his ankle at training last week. Will be further assessed by the IRFU medical team this week

Josh van der Flier, Hugo Keenan & Jamison Gibson-Park: will step up their rehabilitation this week as they return from injury and will be further assessed by the IRFU medical team

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Jamie Osborne: was withdrawn for a Head Injury Assessment against Munster Rugby and has now entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

There are no further updates on:

Jordan Larmour (foot), Will Connors (bicep), Rónan Kelleher (hamstring), Harry Byrne (hamstring), James Lowe (calf), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)

AIL UPDATE

Just a reminder on the quality of the Women’s AIL, of the XV which started Ireland’s last test v Japan, ALL of the backline were in action for their clubs over the weekend just gone.  And to give this fact a little Leinster twist, they all hailed from three clubs, Railway Union, Blackrock College and Old Belvedere.

After 6 rounds those three have opened a gap at the top of the table, with only Belvo having lost a game and while they are all off this coming weekend, they return the following Saturday with the big contest clearly being Railway Union v Belvo at Park Avenue.  

Have to say 5pm is a curious kickoff time though.  You can almost see the DART which will be bringing fans to the Ireland v Springboks match at the Aviva from the Railway Union pitch, and that kicks off at 5:30pm the same day.

Anyway, over in the Men’s 1A division they took a weekend off and will return next Saturday Oct 29, with all 3 teams with 100% records Terenure, Trinity & Tarf all avoiding each other again playing Shannon, Hinch & UCD respectively.

PREDICTION LEAGUE

I’m starting to think it’s my duty to inform rugby fans of my Superbru pick for the Ospreys every week, or maybe instead of “inform” I should be using the word “warn”.

As I said on the pod, they seem determined to do the opposite of what I say.  Had I aa time machine I’d prove it to you by going back and switching my pick from Round 6 to be a Dragons win, trust me that would have ended well for fans of Those Pesky Birds.

Seriously though, there was no change at the top of the Harpin League, though at the bottom where the real “prize” is to be “awarded”, it was a great round for Mr Kristian Ross who not only got Leinster v Munster spot on but he created something of a gap between himself and Keego in the wooden spoon position.

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Leinster travel to Llanelli on Friday night to round off this early season block of URC matches…no bonus pod this week but everything else is as normal with The Preview Show on Friday, the usual wrapup recorded on Sunday evening and of course all the regular features during the week, stay tuned to any or all of our social media platforms.  In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

Welcome to my 80+ column, a new weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.

FINAL #CONvLEI THOUGHTS

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear…Conor & Mark did an excellent job on our main pod this week pointing out key things to look out for in what looked like a forgettable contest.

What intrigued me most was our lineouts.  Although we have managed to win all our matches, we have still been shown just how critical the success of this set piece is to our chances.  Against Benetton the jumper was being hit again and again and again which led to a significant victory.  On Friday both Niall Murray and Gavin Thornbury were doing excellent jobs disrupting our rhythm and it kept the home side close right up to the closing stages.  Maybe in some ways it looks risky to be putting so much stock in one aspect of the game, and should we face an opposition that manages to stifle us BEFORE we manage to create a lead to defend, I hope we’ll be able to either fix it early or go an alternative route.

MUNSTER WEEK

Always, always, love Munster week no matter what the form book says, and besides, we’re bound to hear several times over the coming days about how said book “goes out the window” anyway.

They will no doubt be pumped up after that win over the Bulls, but that said, travelling to the Aviva might not be their ideal place to build on that confidence.  As I type, the injury report is yet to be released but I do see that Gerry “Thorinho” Thornley has already posted that although Sexton is poised to feature, the same cannot be said for Messrs Gibson-Park, Keenan and Lowe.

Here’s hoping the two lineups can be as strong as possible since it is rare we get to see that with these two great rivals.

A TWEAK TO THE URC SHIELDS?

Speaking of interprovincials, a thought occurred to me during the week…you know the way the URC awards a trophy to the winner of each of the four regional divisions, Ireland, Wales, South Africa and the ever-clunky Scots/Italian?

Well the table they use to decide those winners is based on the overall URC league table, which means for example if a team finishes 1st like Leinster did last season, then they automatically win the shield as well.

Just a suggestion…why not instead award the prize to the team that finishes first in a table created only from matches between the clubs?  Six matches each.  If that were happening in the Irish Shield now, the league would look like this so far…

Might raise the profile of the Shields a bit, especially as they will eventually no longer lead to HCC qualification anyway.  

Hey, even the Welsh might enjoy it.  Nah that’s pushing it, I guess.

RE-INVENTING THE PREMIERSHIP

Speaking of re-inventing competitions, and also speaking of Welsh anti-URC feeling, I see there are kites being flown all over the English media with suggestions of what to do with the Premiership after the demise of Worcester and Wasps (the latter’s administration being announced as I type) , with others reported to follow.

Much has been said about the obvious tragedy of these situations for the clubs, their staff and their fans, but it also has to be considered that the Premiership itself has to make drastic changes to its structure in order to prevent the possibility of similar things happening in the future.

One suggestion that was floating around was a 10-team Premiership, and as soon as I saw this I had only one thought on my mind which, naturally, had to go straight to the twitter machine…

I have to say I was surprised this got the reaction it did, but it is a point that cannot be ignored.

But going back to the Prem itself, I reckon the 10-team structure would work, provided there was also a league of 10 or more teams below it with some kind of promotion/relegation mechanism in place.  

Under this scenario, I can imagine Welsh ears pricking up thinking it might be a route for them to their Promised Land as I’m sure a lot of their fans would much prefer playing in a Premiership second tier instead of currently existing in a de-facto URC one.  Not so sure the RFU would see it that way though.

Whatever they plan to do, I really hope they sort something out soon because this season’s competition with all its cancellations, not exactly a million years after Saracens’ demotion I might add, really does make it look farcical.

HOT TAKE ON THE HCC FORMAT

Going back to that tweet posted above on the Premiership for a moment, a word or two on the current HCC format. 

I agree it is very confusing, but it also seems to be something the EPCR is determined to stick with.  Rather than the tried and tested pools of four leading to eight quarterfinalists, we now have two pools of 12 where everyone’s schedule is different.  Each plays two others from the pool home and away and the final table is made from just those four matches, with the top 8 making it into the knockouts.

One aspect of this that makes it seem really weird for European rugby is that for the format to work they need a specific number of teams. 20 wouldn’t fit so they had to expand to 24, even though just a few years ago many went to great lengths to explain to us that the two-dozen figure was too big.

So why do it this way?  Why indeed.  Well, I distinctly remember reading that UEFA wanted to employ a similar model for its flagship tournament the Champions League.  For them it would be an even bigger, clunkier competition with two pools of EIGHTEEN and each team playing six matches, home and away against three different clubs in each case.

The key element for this in a football sense is that it would provide a mechanism for the “elite” clubs, ie the Barcelonas, Citys and Bayerns, to avoid each other completely in the group stage and give them (theoretically) easier routes to the knockouts.

So why is rugby doing it?  Here’s where the smoking hot take of mine comes in, so hot that I probably need to be wearing a tin foil hat as I type it.  What if we were taking that format for a “test drive” for our round ball counterparts?  It was so unpopular last season in the HCC (albeit with COVID cancellations also playing a factor) that you’d assume EPCR would go back to the old way but they seem determined to stick with it.

Are we doing UEFA a favour?  If so, what are we getting in return?  Yeah, crazy I know, but this wouldn’t be a blog if I didn’t at least have one crackpot theory on the go every now and again, right?

⚽ WORLD CUP CLASHES

While I’m harping on things football related, in case you needed reminding we have the crazy situation where their World Cup is taking place in November.

Now I know a lot of people, even hardcore fans, are talking about boycotting the competition altogether, yet while there are people like myself who are so into rugby they write blogs and produce podcasts, and there are also people like yourself, who are so into rugby they read blogs and listen to podcasts, are definitely going to follow the egg-chasing no matter what else is on, we have to remember that our sport is also keen to attract those who might have their attention snaffled by a football World Cup.

So I’ve been interested to see how Leinster’s home matches go up against the competition schedule and here’s what I found…

Thankfully these are the only times our home games come in any kind of conflict so hopefully it won’t be too much of an issue.

LA CRUNCH

As I said on the pod, I really enjoyed the big match in the Women’s World Cup at the weekend.  It was clear that England were the better side but the French were really well prepared to make thighs difficult for them to play and when they had a chance to score themselves they took it to make it a very close one.

LEINSTER INJURY REPORT

Good news about Messrs Doris, Frawley & Kearney, also nice to see Hugo Keenan’s name at least escaping the dreaded “no further news” section right at the end.

The one line that has three massive names from both blue and green camps, Conan, Ryan & JVDF, looks like it could go either way so we’ll see.

Connors out for 12 weeks and Kelleher out for 8 is a pain in the you know where.

AIL UPDATE

Normally when you want to do a brief feature on the AIL you would lead off with what’s happening in Division 1A, but even if the Tullow Tank hadn’t had his unfortunate injury in his debut for Naas in the next tier down, I reckon that match would still have grabbed the headlines.  I hope it’s not too bad, but as we all know hamstrings can definitely have you out for quite a while.

Meanwhile back in the elite division, Terenure with their host of names which would be known to Leinster fans like Marcus Hanan, Jordan Coughlan, Cathal Marsh and Adam La Grue, made it a maximum 15 pts from 15 with a third bonus point victory, this time on the very difficult trip to Dooradoyle to face Garryowen.

They now hold a 1-point lead over Clontarf and Trinity, both of whom also had way victories at the weekend against Hinch and Lansdowne respectively, with Harry Byrne now out for a number of weeks after being a late withdrawal for the Bulls last time out.

Down at the bottom of the table there is an unusual situation in that it’s not often you see as many as four clubs with 0% records in a 10-team divisions after 3 rounds but that is the case with Lansdowne, UCD, Garryowen and Shannon all having the dubious honour.

Over in the Women’s AIL, it is also a trio of 100% Leinster clubs leading the way, with Belvo at the top having played a game more than Railway Union and Rock behind them.

PREDICTION LEAGUE

OK first let me be absolutely clear – I have finally accepted that Those Pesky Birds (the Ospreys) do not play rugby for their fans, nor for the love of the sport, rather for the SOLE PURPOSE of screwing up my Superbru.  The evidence is indisputable.  A draw with the Stormers?   Really???

Seriously though, it was a bad week for me in the Harpin Prediction League with my lead evaporating and master statistician RugbyKino climbing to the summit.  In a way I am just happy to be far from last place where it is more than a wooden spoon waiting for whomever should sit there when all is said and done, but having been at the top for a few weeks I have to admit I was starting to feel comfortable!

It looks like there are three separate mini-battles going on in this league but much can change as we are only at round 5 of 18, with the playoffs as well in the mix.  Again I will say this kind of competition really does give following rugby over the weekend an extra edge.

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

As mentioned earlier, Munster week awaits…  I’ll be talking to Caolán Scully about their squad and season so far during the week, then on Friday I’ll have Keego with me for The Preview Show, with the usual wrapup recorded on Sunday evening and of course all the regular features during the week, stay tuned to any or all of our social media platforms.  In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP