Category: 80+ column

The 80+ Column : Best league, worst weather, average Griquas

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

Obviously, it was a good weekend to be a Leinster fan, no win in Belfast comes easily although we just about deserved the one we got on Friday.  Had a great chat as always harpin’ on it with the lads on Sunday, check out the pod if you missed it, and while you’re at it maybe subscribe to the feed too if you don’t mind.

MUNSTER’S SEASON & LEINSTER’S LINEOUTS

I try to keep the pods to under an hour but often that means leaving out material I really want to keep in.  That was definitely the case on Sunday night as during the “Front Five” section, where I try to keep things brief to get to the main topic quickly, Tom & Mark went off on an excellent riff about Munster’s season so far, so while I cut it from the main pod I thought I’d add it here as something of a bonus.  There’s also a bit more to the audio as I put in a question I asked them about Leinster’s lineouts v Ulster as opposed to those against Benetton the week before.

BEST LEAGUE GETTING EVEN BETTER

I’ll harp on our contributors’ prediction league further down the column but apart from the banter it provides it also makes me focus even more on the full slate of matches every weekend and I have to say it has been a cracking competition so far, even just 23 matches in.

Normally I’m something of a “defensive purist” and multiple scorelines where the losing side has over 30pts isn’t always my idea of perfect, but it’s more about the sides that were towards the end of the table last season doing well, like Zebre and Dragons, both of which have already given top 8 opposition a serious run for their money.

Absolutely no match is a given and that’s as it should be.  Who needs relegation eh?

RAININ’ HILL

I was obviously delighted with the Leinster win on Friday night but I always had soft spot for Ulster and I have said many a time over the years that they have had a continued run of shocking luck.

From losing key players for various reasons beyond the provincial branch’s control, to having controversial decisions go against them in big matches, to my personal favourite – in the one year they actually finish top of the Celtic League and earn a home final, that’s also the year they have to switch it to Dublin…and who do they happen to be playing???

And I know they deservedly did the double over us last season but in real terms that didn’t get them anything more than bragging rights as we ended up finishing first anyway, and even this weekend, the trademark Friday night downpour didn’t hit until after we had built a lead.

I was sure to bring that up when I was a guest on the Red Hand podcast on Saturday, check out the episode here.

EMERGING IRELAND

Not much I can add to Tom’s evaluation of the touring side’s opening fixture last Friday, only that perhaps the Griquas were playing as though they had been sampling some free Windhoek Draught courtesy of their sponsors.  That’s not to take anything away from our lads of course, as the saying goes you can only play what’s in front of you, and it is true that as the game wore on they really started to gel nicely with Jack Crowley pulling the strings.  

Obviously from a Leinster POV it was a shame that Ciarán Frawley was unavailable as he really does need some time in a 10 jersey so he can realise the potential we all know he has.  Still, there’s always room for another quality 10 with the initials JC in a green jersey!!!

INJURY REPORT

Not a whole lot in the line of good news in this week’s report, would wish for the likes of Messrs Keenan and Lowe to be moving up the list soon.  Also the withdrawals of Kelleher before kickoff in Belfast and Dave Kearney during halftime are both concerns, and with Sheehan getting so much game time the past couple of weekends I can’t imagine him also starting against the Sharks at the RDS on Saturday.

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

James Ryan: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after recovering from a hamstring injury

Will Connors: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after recovering from a back injury

Liam Turner: has recovered from a toe injury and will return to full training this week

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Caelan Doris: was withdrawn for a Head Injury Assessment in the first half against Benetton Rugby and will continue to be assessed this week as he comes through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

Rónan Kelleher: was a late withdrawal from the Leinster Rugby match day 23 with a hamstring injury and will be further assessed this week

Dave Kearney: was withdrawn at half time against Ulster Rugby with an adductor injury and will be further assessed this week

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Jamison Gibson-Park: picked up a hamstring injury in training last week and will be unavailable for selection this week

There are no further updates on:

Ciarán Frawley (shoulder), Hugo Keenan (abdominal & knee injury), James Lowe (calf), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee), Tommy O’Brien (knee)

ALL HAIL THE AIL

The Women’s All Ireland League kicked off a few weeks ago, with Old Belvedere leading the way, while the men returned to action the weekend just gone, with champions Clontarf beginning their defence of the title with a win over UCD.  There were also wins for Trinity, Terenure, Ballynahinch & Cork Con.

I always say it – I would LOVE to be able to give the club game more coverage, we tried it a good few years ago with a series called “Roots & All” where we reached out to 5 different clubs throughout the season but it became too time consuming.  What I’ll do instead is offer regular updates in this column, paying particular attention to players in the Leinster provincial system as I go.

For example, Charlie Tector was playing at 10 for Lansdowne as they  were edged out by “The Hinch” on the Aviva back pitch, while the Terenure side that scored an impressive 39-3 win at Shannon included Marcus Hanan, as well as some familiar names from days gone by like Harrison Brewer, Jordan Coghlan & Cathal Marsh.

PREDICTION LEAGUE

So in Superbru whoever earned the most points in a week gets a “yellow cap” but despite the fact I have yet to earn one in the three rounds of the URC I am still somehow top of the Harpin League.  I guess it’s a classic case of “slow and steady wins the race” or at least “leads the race after 1/6th of the race”…but like I’ve said before, this league is not about finishing first, it’s about not finishing last and having to wear The Jersey Of Doom and so far it’s Keego who sits in that position.  He actually did really well on Friday, predicting the Ulster v Leinster margin on the button, but I think going for a Zebre win by 3 at Musgrave Park might have been a risk too far…

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Sharks are up next for Leinster, at the RDS on Saturday evening.  I’ll be talking to AP Cronje about their squad 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

The 80+ : Lancaster, RDS, Injuries

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

LANCASTER

As I sit down to type this column, the official word of Stu Lancaster’s future is making its way through the ruggersphere so I’ll move this point up to top billing.

To go with my tongue in cheek initial thoughts, I first have state a general opinion that I really, really, don’t like the way announcements like these are made mid-season at the best of times, but absolutely not when the talks which led to the announcement involving two teams which are slated to meet in very important HCC encounters over the coming months.

Now I know how my complaint may sound.  Like it means Lancaster would somehow be “compromised” when it came to those matches.  But that’s far from what I mean – I have no doubt everyone involved is professional in their approach to every match regardless of what is due to happen when the season is over.

But still I believe questions need to be asked.  Did Racing make their offer before or after the draw pitted them against Leinster?  Is that not a reasonable thing to want to know, even if it’s unlikely to ever be officially known?

A similar thing happened to Leinster back when it was announced that Jimmy Gopperth was to join or HCup pool mates Wasps, again after the draw was made.  Whatever about levels of professionalism, it just doesn’t sit well with me whenever it happens.

Some are saying it would be better for Stu to leave now because of the arrangement, but I wouldn’t agree.  It’s not like he’s leaving because anything is going wrong, more like the exact opposite.  Anyway, here’s hoping he and Johnny S can have the perfect end to their current respective employments.

BACK AT THE RDS

It goes without saying but I’ll say it anyway…it was BRILLIANT to be back at the RDS, so much so that, as I noted in the pod, I wasn’t even bothered by the first official rendition of “LEINSTER, LEINSTER” by the crowd in the opening stages.  In the past I found it ok on its own yet totally unsuitable as our principal chant.  But this time it sounded good to me.

On the way to the bus stop afterwards I saw a group of young lads coming towards me on Anglesea Road – there were three of them walking side by side and the one nearest the road had a rugby ball.  When a tree blocked his path, without hesitating he ran towards it and made like it was a would(wood?)-be tackler and sent a neat offload around the back of it towards his mate.  The future looks bright.

INJURY REPORT

It’s always concerning when a matchday 23 is altered at the last moment and it seems to happen to Leinster and Ireland quite a bit.  Last weekend it was James Ryan who was removed before kickoff.  Then just five minutes into the match Caelan Doris went off for an HIA from which he never returned, and later we saw Ciaran Frawley, Jimmy O’Brien and Will Connors all replaced leaving us with an extremely makeshift backline in the closing stages.

The official line on the squad is now this…

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Joe McCarthy: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after recovering from an ankle injury and has joined the Emerging Ireland squad

Jordan Larmour: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after recovering from a knee injury

Jamison Gibson-Park: has recovered from illness and is expected to train as normal this week

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Ciarán Frawley: injured his shoulder late in the first half against Benetton Rugby and will be further assessed this week by the Leinster Rugby medical team after his removal from the Emerging Ireland squad

Will Connors: aggravated his back in the second half against Benetton Rugby and was removed as a precaution and will be further assessed this week

Liam Turner: will look to step up his rehabilitation this week as he recovers from a toe injury and aim to integrate into rugby training

James Ryan: was withdrawn from the match day XV against Benetton Rugby with a minor hamstring injury sustained in the captain’s run on Thursday. Will be further assessed this week

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Caelan Doris: was withdrawn for a Head Injury Assessment in the first half against Benetton Rugby and will now enter the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

NO INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Hugo Keenan (abdominal & knee injury), James Lowe (calf), James Tracy (neck), Charlie Ryan (knee), Tommy O’Brien (knee)

With talk of Johnny Sexton being available for what could in all likelihood be his last match in Belfast this Friday evening, along with the injuries and those gone on the Emerging Ireland tour, I’m wondering if we could be looking at a Leinster XV close to this in our top of the table URC clash…

J O’Brien, Larmour, Ringrose, Henshaw, Kearney, Sexton, Gibson-Park.

Porter, Sheehan/Kelleher, Furlong, Jenkins, Ryan, Ruddock, van der Flier, Conan.

I reckon I’d be happy enough with that.

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP

No need to a load of paragraphs here, just pointing out that the All Blacks won TRC, right after we won a series against them.  I’m not saying that proves anything that’s going to happen in the future, I just enjoyed typing that sentence, especially the last bit.

BUNDEE’S RED

Keego gave his thoughts on the pod, and in that “Front Five” segment I try to keep things brief so I held back my own until here.

Before we harp on what he did, we must put the whole thing in context.  Stormers winger Seabelo Senatla was in a totally illegal position in the ruck, with his hand clearly on the ground as he tried to jackle.

Still, as the saying goes, two wrongs do not make a right, especially when the second one is really, really, REALLY wrong.  It looks like Aki is making the same argument as the one there used to be for what was called “a good shoeing”.  If someone is clearly being illegal at the breakdown, it is somehow fair game for some shithousery in kind.

Well, that’s fine to a point, but this goes way, way, way, WAY beyond that.  “Where do you want me on the clean out?”  Nowhere near his head, mate.  Simple as.

If he had to make protestations to the ref he would have been better off letting the officials know what Senatla was doing in the moment, that surely would have produced a better outcome for his team.

To be clear, I’m a big Bundee fan.  But this was not an isolated incident of poor discipline from him and while I certainly wouldn’t completely rule him out of the Irish centre debate because of it, we surely have to keep it in mind while having the discussion.

PREDICTION LEAGUE

Two weeks into the season and though I am yet to win a round, I actually top the league for now.  Those pesky Ospreys let in a late score for the second week in a row to cost me some points, and I would have made some decent ground had they not done so.  The only other match I got wrong was Dragons v Munster but in that case, nobody saw that coming.

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

It’s All About Ulster this week.  On Tuesday evening I’ll be chatting to regular contributor Ian Frizell about his provinces’ perfect start to the season, then on Thursday shortly after the teams are named I’ll be recording the preview show with Mark Jackson.  There will be the other usual features like Rugby on TV, TikToks involving clips from Leinster’s HCC opponents Racing and Gloucester, as well as the odd tweet here and there when something catches my eye.

So by all means join me on any or all of the social media platforms and of course, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP