Category: 80+ column

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

“…probably 12 out of the 23 when I shook the hands told me, ‘See you guys in the final’.”

South Africa Star Reveals ‘Arrogant’ Comments From Ireland Players After World Cup Meeting

Gary Connaughton – Balls.ie

JLP : Now of course I can see how that looks not only arrogant but also misguided given how the tournament panned out but I’ll still push back a little bit if I may…let’s look at the context here.  The Irish players were allegedly saying this just moments after a classic low scoring battle between two of the world’s top teams.  Any chance the comment might be simply taken at face value as a compliment?  Yes, maybe a touch of arrogance on our part, but also conveying a sense that we believe you guys will also reach the final?  Oh and another thing…Etzebeth is reacting to the Irish side of things but doesn’t see too much wrong in the suggestion that his side would reach the final?  So if that’s so, was it just the Irish players who were arrogant?  I mean – obviously the way things turned out it would have been justified in the Springboks’ case but again we’re talking about how things stood at the time after that one particular match.

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Cory Heather died after suffering a head knock while playing for Beachlands Maraetai against Patumāhoe at Te Puru Park on Saturday.

Cory Heather, Beachlands Maraetai rugby player who died after tackle, remembered by family as devoted father, treasured son

Raphael Franks – NZ Herald (via MSN)

JLP : Absolutely tragic story of course, and it should only serve to redouble the efforts the game has made to make the game as safe as possible.  And as @ProgressiveRugby points out below, the language we use for incidents like this can definitely play a factor 

RIP Cory Heather. The outpouring of grief has been incredibly moving.

Wish NZ media didn’t persist with the term ‘head knock’ in such devastating circumstances.

It doesn’t accurately reflect the gravity of the brain injury Cory was unfortunate enough to sustain on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/3jOEVjBbuN

— Progressive Rugby (@ProgressiveRug) April 30, 2024

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…the 2024/25 competition will continue its expansion…which will see the six teams play five home and five away fixtures each

Celtic Challenge Returns with Expanded Competition Format 

IrishRugby.ie

JLP : I’d always rather defer to the likes of @IrishWomens on these matters and she outlines the pros and cons in these posts.  For my part I’d agree this is mostly a positive development, and they have done well do move slowly with the development of the competition from year to year.  On the clubs issue, I still believe it wasn’t a complete case of failing the clubs in this instance since they had to work with other unions to bring this competition about and the clubs had been calling out for more fixtures, but hopefully with the advance notice the clubs will be able to be prepared on the personnel front.  When it comes to the CC comp itself, I would hope that eventually Ireland will be able to field all four provinces rather than these two contrived franchises but I do appreciate that logistically that will take some doing.

Celtic Challenge is now a full season, home and away.

This is good and bad news. It's the right step forward for this competition.
It's going to decimate club teams in the AIL. AIL clubs will need to recruit to cover their full season. https://t.co/npGMaMgf30

— IrishWomensRugbySupportersClub (@IrishWomens) May 1, 2024

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A year ago today, I discovered someone had set up two accounts on X…with the sole intention of abusing and harassing me and my family.

The Tea : My story about online harassment, defamation and sexual harassment

Irish Women’s Rugby Supporters’ Club

JLP : In the slot above you see @IrishWomens doing what she does best, ie put forward a realistic comparison between the status quo in the women’s game in Ireland and how it should be.  Hopefully the public’s reaction to her would be nothing less than full support but as you can tell from this brave article in some quarters it was been anything but.  And it’s not like this one guy is the only one to give her negative mysoginistic feedback either, although obviously his is the worst.  Please have a read and be sure to follow her Substack as well for some excellent isights as to what is happening at all levels of the women’s game.

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***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

Despite initial doubts surrounding his proposed move to Montpellier, recent reports suggest such concerns have been dispelled.

Update has been given on Billy Vunipola’s proposed move to Montpellier following arrest

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : From now I’ve decided to use this 5th and final slot in my Front5 segment for my Clickbait Of The Week Award, one which I hope no online publication would actually want to win although you wouldn’t be sure.  For obvious reasons I don’t see the need to actually include a link for this one, as my choice of quote has answered the unnecessary question posed by the headline.

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WRAP OF A WRAP

It’s important to remember we only started doing the wrap pods at the start of the 2022/23 season, when by the middle of April both Leinster and Ireland had won all of their matches so let’s just say it took a while to get the hang of organising a show around a defeat, and it’s not that we personally do want to harp on those matches it’s more like we’re pretty sure our core listeners don’t want to hear a deep dive into a disaster.  But the shows already go on regardless, albeit with a slightly different format.

This time I was joined by Ciarán Duffy & Jay Long and we quickly went back over the Cape Town catastrophe, before thankfully having something good to harp on when it came to the Irish women’s success in Belfast before looking ahead to the big semifinal at Croke Park.  All in all I reckon the lads did a bang up job.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

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QUICK TAP : LIMITED TIME OFFERS

This week’s Quick Tap TikTok (recorded later than usual) pretty much speaks for itself, although I have added one decent suggestion of a fix to the Law anomaly I’m harpin on…

@harpinonrugby

Check out our latest 80+ column at harpinonrugby.com where there’s a decent suggestion for a Law change that might fix this issue…

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

The answer is so incredibly simple, obvious and uncontroversial.

Allow opposing teams to concede any Kick, like a Putt in Matchplay Golf.

Been saying it for years.

Everyone in the Rugby community should get behind the idea.

Literally no argument against it.

— Stephen Wall (@StephenWall1985) April 27, 2024

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Brilliant news of course on Messrs O’Brien & Ringrose but is it worth throwing them in to Leinster’s Champions Cup semifinal squad on their first matches back?  I’m leaning no for both of them, especially if Hugo Keenan is fit to play – if not, then Ringrose could wear 23 but 

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS

As I hinted earlier we weren’t exactly keen to harp so much on Leinster’s latest outing so this brilliant win by the Irish women was just the ticket and we also got a special report from Tom Coleman who was there in Belfast to witness it all.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

It’s the final leg of the “regular season” in Singapore this weekend, then the top 8 move on to the playoffs in Madrid at the end of the month.  Ireland seem to be comfortably through in both genders though obviously it won’t hurt to have a decent showing this weekend.  As ever you can watch back all the action via RugbyPass TV even if you miss the kickoffs at unseemly hours.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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Under the new model, HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their opportunity to compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid, where the women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned.

Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.

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NEXT IN THE SERIES…

6:37AM – MEN V FIJI

MADRID (FINALS) MAY 31-JUN 2

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Standout scoreline has to be Clérmont’s hammering of league leaders Stade Français, even when you allow for the fact that Stade would have one eye on the trip to Toulouse in the next round, it still shows that ASM really seem to be turning things around and might be favourites for the Challenge Cup.  Toulouse for their part both closed the gap at the top and opened one up between them and 3rd as they dispatched Racing while La Rochelle kept themselves in the barrage picture with a win over Toulon, although they’ve Bordeaux away next.  Montpellier’s defeat at home to USAP certainly won’t ease they’re relegation worries.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

I don’t see anyone in the English media complaining about Northampton resting their players over the past couple of weeks ahead of their trip to Croker?  Funny that.  Anyway defeat to Quins at Twickenham didn’t knock them off the top although overall the top four slots are still all to play for in the final four rounds with seven still in the hunt, with Exeter v Quins arguably the biggest 10-pointer in the next round.

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AIL UPDATE 

Not a bad weekend for Munster Rugby all round, province makes it 10 points out of 10 on a RSA swing, then their clubs sweep all the decisive contests with Garryowen earning the right to join St Mary’s in Div 1A in the men’s, Cork Con defying cards of all colours to take Terenure’s AIL men’s crown, while UL Bohs deservedly won the women’s title although again I’ll question the wisdom of having their decider on the same weekend as the Six Nations.  

#SupportYourLocalClub

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

As disastrous a season as Crusaders have been having by their standards, would anyone even consider ruling them out of winning another title, even before their whitewashing of the Rebels?  Meanwhile the Hurricanes fell to their first loss of the season which makes the top of the table interesting for sure given the Blues edged out the Reds in a high scoring Brisbane thriller.

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JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

Only one round left before the playoffs, and although we know what the top four is going to be, there is an interesting match in Round 16 – if Canon Eagles can manage to beat the 100% Wild Knights they could actually avoid them in the semifinals.  One interesting feature of this league is the fact that as many as three teams get relegated and those positions seem to have been decided with one game to go.

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ROUND 16

SAT MAY 4

HONDA HEAT V KOBE STEEL

CANON EAGLES V WILD KNIGHTS

SUN MAY 5

SUNTORY V SPEARS KUBOTA

KINTETSU LINERS V MITSUBISHI

SHIZUOKA V BRAVE LUPUS

BLACK RAMS V TOYOTA VERBLITZ

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

My adopted team for this season the Chicago Hounds, who have Dave Kearney, Nick McCarthy, Conall Boomer & Luke Carty in their ranks, had the week off and remain second in the East although their biggest test of the season will come on Sunday when they travel to the Free Jacks.  Much like last season Houston and Seattle are going neck and neck at the top of the West.

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CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE

One South African team, one French, one Premiership, and one Italian.  Very very interesting set up for this competition and you could see any of them doing it.  And ironically the only team still in contention for domestic playoffs is the Italian team!  

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

If I wasn’t too keen on harpin’ on Leinster’s URC outing last weekend, I definitely don’t want to dwell too much on my URC predictions.  Wasn’t too long since I was comfortably in front but as you can see it doesn’t take much to catch up and a wooden spoon in round 15 has knocked me down to 3rd, anxiously looking over my shoulder too.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Countdown to Croker time here at Harpin’ Manor.  Usual coverage to come, preview on Friday, wrap pod recording Sunday, social media comments throughout.  Do keep in touch and throw in your two cents when you can.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

It’s believed that Munster and Ulster are showing interest but Leinster are keen to retain Boyle, who they regard as a big prospect

Milne and Boyle set to stay but several Leinster men joining other provinces

Murray Kinsella – The42.ie

JLP : Finally we see some flesh put on the bones of all the rumours that have been rattling around the ruggersphere for the past while – even the most dyed in the wool Leinster fan would have to admit we can’t hold on to all of our talent indefinitely so there are bound to be players moving on.  That said, we should be able to keep the top players we produce ourselves (within reason) and if Milne and Boyle do stay that would be a decent outcome for sure.  

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“I’m not French, I’m trying to prove myself and put my name into the debate.”

Ireland legend Ronan O’Gara could be the next France boss

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Is the headline being sensationalist?  Of course it is.  I mean, I ‘could’ also be the next French boss, so could Donald Trump.  But still even with Fabien Galthie seeming to have used up all his 2022 Grand Slam goodwill, I have to admit I never thought too much about ROG getting the job and the more I think of it the more it makes sense, although that may put a certain faction of Munster supporters into something of a quandary when they play Ireland…

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Saracens are one of several sides keen to know exactly how many of their squad will be offered deals and precisely how the new system will operate.

English clubs urge RFU to speed up enhanced hybrid contract plans

Robert Kitson – The Guardian

JLP : “Hybrid contracts” you say?  What an interesting concept.  Maybe we could try something like that here in Ireland, though we’d have to change the name otherwise it might look like we were copying the RFU…maybe we could say, “Central” instead?  Funny how they’re looking to introduce just as we’re debating the notion of giving them an overhaul.

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Kitshoff only arrived at Ulster in November on what was meant to be a three-year deal

Steven Kitshoff’s season over while James Hume facing long layoff for Ulster

RTÉ.ie

JLP : On the latest wrap pod we mentioned how sometimes these NIQ signings don’t work out, with possible Steven Sykes’ 4-cap stint being among the most memorable for being the least memorable at Leinster.   It’s probably better off for all involved he goes home early but it does leave Ulster with something of a dilemma in his position – and with him now unavailable for the rest of the season, plus James Hume also on the sidelines for now anyway, they just don’t seem to have any luck whatsoever on the personnel front.

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The final is scheduled to take place at 2.45pm at the North London venue, and with the FA Cup final set for a 3pm kick-off just 12 miles away at Wembley,

Champions Cup And FA Cup Final Clash Could Spell Chaos For Leinster Fans

James Fenton – Balls.ie

JLP : Another case of the word “could” doing a lot of heavy lifting in a headline, although in this case it’s a good thing because at least it allows for the small matter of a semifinal to take place before it affects Leinster fans.  On the broader subject of the clash, I mean, who could have possibly foreseen that having the two matches in the same city on the same day at practically the same time could cause an issue?  Besides pretty much everybody, of course…

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Many thanks as ever to Conor & Rich for helping me with the latest pod, obviously this wasn’t exactly a match we looked forward to wrapping and I assumed not many regular listeners would be took keen to hear us harp on it so we cut back the actual wrap time and looked forward to the URC’s remaining rounds as well.

I put that run-in segment on the YouTube channel, which has been doing pretty well  on the numbers front I have to say – we recently passed 300 subscribers and the vids are starting to regularly hit 1000 views which may not be much for the more seasoned channels but considering it’s not our primary platform, isn’t too bad and here at Harpin Towers we’re happy enough (for now – don’t let that stop you subscribing and viewing yourself if you haven’t already!!!)

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

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QUICK TAP : NEXT-LEVEL REF-SHAMING

At the end of my latest Quick Tap vid I promise to explain in more detail my reasons for my personal decisions on those tries so here goes…

I’m actually going to do the second one first because it’s a lot easier…I see it as a knock on, simple as.  Just because we see it go the other direction in the video doesn’t mean Carré didn’t knock it on first, and I reckon he did.  Call me biased because it favours the Irish team all you want, this is how I saw it.

As for the Izuchukwu tackle it’s way tricker.  Amazing try saving tackle?  Definitely.  Does he mean to kick it?  For me, no, and here is where most of the disagreement seems to be, but I see it as a natural motion that resulted from his trying to pull the Cardiff player back.  HOWEVER because that area of intent is so subjective I reckon it brings our decision to an almost perfect 50/50 call.  That my seem like a cop out but I actually believe that in all sports whenever you’re not sure which way to lean it should always be in the direction that awards the score, like in baseball where they have the phrase “tie goes to the runner” – that’s not an official rule, but IMO it’s a good overall principle for officials.

Told you it was complicated!!!  Any many of these rulings are, which is exactly why we should debate them without making it personal about the officials.

@harpinonrugby

Our 80+ column posts every Wednesday at harpinonrugby.com #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Fingers, toes and eyes crossed that Messrs Ringrose, Keenan & J O’Brien get back in contention for May but when it comes to Cape Town I reckon we’ll be looking at something close to what we saw in Jo’burg with maybe a few starters and subs swapping roles.

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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RUCKTHIS.IE

Shout out to Peter Burke & co for their relatively new venture RuckThis.ie do check it out and also their live show every Wednesday evening, I plan to be a guest on it next week and he has agreed to appear on one of our wrap pods soon too.

Home

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS 

Hard scoreline to take at Twickers but two very very very VERY different women's programs. They are where we would hope to be one day, but a long long way to go and we need to bring that display v Wales forward. #GuinnessW6N #ENGvIRE

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 20, 2024

Not much I can add to my tweet after the full time whistle blew at Twickers although apart from the online morons who probably have never seen a game of women’s rugby yet still see fit to chime in with things like “they just have to play better”, the consensus opinion seems to be that the other unions need to find a way to bring their standards much closer to those of England and France otherwise these scorelines will continue.  Brian Moore had a good article (behind paywall) about this as did Sarah Rendell in Rugby World. Here’s hoping Ireland can get a result this Saturday.

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AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES

Two Friday night fixtures less than ideal but overall the prospect of us playing all four Rugby Championship nations before the year is out has to be good for our post-RWC2023 group.  It’s also good to see Georgia and Portugal involved although it could be more.  It ALWAYS could be more.

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URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

It took the URC a while to feature the latest Shield tables on their website but better late than never.  That one-point win for Ulster at the RDS has left the race wide open with it very possible that it could boil down to their trip to Thomond Park on the final day of the regular season.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

The Singapore 7s, which will decide the final placings before the grand finale in Madrid (although Ireland seem good in both genders), don’t take place until next weekend but the draw for the pools has been made and you can see the fixtures below.  Funny how the men play one minute later on Saturday than they do Friday….

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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Under the new model, HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their opportunity to compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid, where the women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned.

Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.

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NEXT IN THE SERIES…

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Toulon pipping Toulouse by a point has put some daylight between Stade Français and the rest of the 🔝🐱🐴 while ROG also fell short but a point leaving La Rochelle teetering on the edge of the playoff places.  Down at the bottom Montpellier fell again leaving them as favourites to have to playoff for their survival.  Toulouse v Racing seems to be the pick of round 22.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Let’s be honest – all Leinster eyes are on Northampton now, and although they rested a few regulars they still put their auld enemy Leicester away pretty handily.  Interesting how they face their fellow Prem CC-semifinalist Quins in the next round, although the home side need the points a lot more so I wouldn’t read too much into a lopsided score there.

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AIL UPDATE 

Up until today Wednesday I found it extremely difficult to get any information on the time and date of the Women’s AIL final.  In fact, I have been following the league all season and it wasn’t until the round robin was over that I even knew there wasn’t a top four playoff!  Just the top 2 straight into the final it seems, with UL Bohs facing off against Railway Union in the decider this Sunday, a unique double- header with Terenure and Cork Con squaring off for the men’s crown.  And if that’s not enough consequential Leinster v Munster battles for you, then how about Garryowen v Old Belvedere for the right to join St Mary’s in Division 1A next season?  Lot’s of good club rugby this weekend.

#SupportYourLocalClub

WOMEN’S AIL

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MEN’S AIL 1A

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

The Crusaders fell yet again so we’re way past calling this a blip as they sit rock bottom of the standings.  So I guess from here until the end of the season it makes more sense for this Leinster fan to be focusing more on the Hurricanes at the top of the table!  Especially with Jordie Barrett in top form chipping in with a try and a conversion in their latest win.  Tricky visit to Canberra for them next, might be worth a watch.

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JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

About time I featured League One in this column – obviously with the “Leinster-centric-ness” of my general harpin’ I don’t have a lot of time to follow this league although I am fascinated by it in many ways.  A lot of money has gone it to attract some really big names and it seems in some places it really, really works while in others, well, it really really doesn’t.  

Take the match in Round 14 between Toyota Verblits, who had a 7-8-9-10 combo of Himeno, PSDT, A Smith & B Barrett, and Saitama Wild Knights, who have Lood de Jager and Damien de Allende among the recognisable names.  Without looking at the league table you certainly wouldn’t imagine a 40-7 scoreline in favour of the visitors would you?  The top 4 seems pretty much set with two rounds to go although there is an interesting 2nd v 3rd battle this weekend.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Chicago’s winning run continued as they put away Los Angeles in Round 8, with Luke Carty having replaced Dave Kearney at fullback, Conall Boomer starting at 8 and Nick McCarthy coming off the bench.  They get a break in the next round as New England and Seattle are the conference leaders.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

As usual I got a bit cocky as I regained top spot in the HPL after Friday’s results and bragged about it in the WhatsApp group only to see Kino come storming back on the Saturday to actually increase his overall lead at the top from the previous round.  I certainly can’t afford to let him get too far ahead.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Stormers up next for Leinster, usual preview on Friday, plus don’t forget our rugby slot on Dubin South 93.9FM after the 5 o’clock news then we’ll have our wrap pod on Sunday evening.  Please be sure to follow, comments, like, share and subscribe as much as you can across our social media platforms.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

…the IRFU are undertaking a review of their contractual system, which will be completed before Humphreys takes over from Nucifora.

Blue bloods: IRFU ‘national’ contract system will continue to load the dice in Leinster’s favour

Gerry Thornley – Irish Times

JLP : Massive news dump in Leinster/Ireland news since the weekend, so much so that two stories broke after our “emergency pod” you’ll see further down the column.  Part of me thinks making all those announcements together was a bad idea from a PR standpoint, especially days after a weekend where Leinster became the only team left in European competition.  But then again the whole idea of a “news dump” is to concentrate all the supposedly negative info into one news cycle so maybe this is what happened, we’ll never know for sure.

On the subject of central contracts, of course 10 for Leinster and just 1 each for the other three provinces is not the best look.  But would making it an even 3 each or something like that be an answer based on where the talent is?  

All I’m saying is that it’s not straight-forward.  Yes, it’s part of the IRFU’s remit to oversee rugby in all four provinces, but when it comes to central contracts we have to remember what they are for, namely keeping our best players within the Irish system.  I can’t see a way of building a need for parity across the provinces into the process, especially when we have absolutely no control over the offers coming in from abroad.   Maybe as long as they are coming in for Leinster players, they are the ones we should be looking to hold onto for now.  Plus, as I say on the emergency pod, it’s not like the test team is doing badly, World Cup QF aside.  

Obviously none of that means I think the system is perfect, it’s just who else is going to push back on the over-simplistic “Leinster get everything while the other provinces get nothing” narrative we hear.  There are areas where the ratios should be closer to 1 for 1 across the provinces.  But there are others where they can’t help but be skewed more towards the balance of the so-called “demographic” differences.  And finding the right levels is never going to be easy.

It seems to be a majority opinion that David Nucifora’s tenure as the puppet-master across the sport in Ireland was one which failed to find those correct levels, particularly when you factor in the women’s game (also club level for both genders) into the equation.  If there is any “mitigation” it could be that it was a job that nobody had ever tried before, although it’s not like he didn’t have enough time to fix any errors as he went along.

Our only hope is that his successor David Humphreys can learn from those mistakes and find approaches that at least come a bit closer to pleasing everyone in the game here.  I feel like there’s an opportunity that comes with this changing of the guard, one that if done the right way can build on the many successes the men have achieved to make it a sport for absolutely everyone, a trick I always felt was tragically missed by the FAI after the accomplishments of the Irish teams in the early 90s.

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Since retiring, the former New Zealand Under-20 captain has been part of the…coaching team…(of) The Hurricanes (who) are currently first on the Super Rugby table…

Another Kiwi joins Leinster set-up

Rugby365.com

JLP : Another announcement that missed the cut for our extra pod – as much as we’ll miss Andrew Goodman there’s definitely no harm getting someone over from the brains trust of the top team in Super Rugby right now.

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To date the leagues have not agreed to EPCR’s request but there remains hope that change could still be introduced next season

Champions Cup overhaul planned after damaging defeat of weakened Bulls

Gerard Meagher – The Guardian

JLP : We can’t have a Champions Cup weekend come and go without more talk about formats, which is fair enough but like I always say, if the league can agree on going back to two more weeks for the pool stages that might be an improvement on what we have at the moment, but for me it definitely won’t fix the tournament’s biggest problem, namely that the matches are peppered out throughout the season forcing coaches to prioritise between playing in this year’s comp and qualifying for next year’s, which will always lead to selection like Jake White’s last weekend.

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The Irish Rugby Football Union has elected to use the funds to host additional women’s U18 and U20 camps and training matches to accelerate player development

Women’s Lions sponsors will provide funding to avoid imbalance

The Rugby Paper

JLP : We often harp on negative things to do with women’s rugby so I suppose it’s only fair to mention good news, obviously we’ll have to see if this investment is sufficient to increase our player pool but at least it is good to see that money generated from a women’s team is going directly to the lower levels, with the caveat that there is much more still to be done of course, especially with the clubs.

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“It is not to cast aspersions on anyone, but the last time they played an away game, their boots had wooden studs.”

Stephen Jones Incandescent Over Leinster Hosting Semifinal at Croke Park

Joshua Bell Curran – Balls.ie

JLP : Ireland is small and doesn’t have a lot of big stadia.  If we can sell out the Aviva Stadium and that’s not available for a given weekend, then we have to look at Croker.  It’s as simple as that, and what’s sad about this is that SJ knows this full well, he’s just feeding into that ridiculous and inaccurate “neutral venue” spiel that’s going around.

But looking at this article another way, if Leinster/Ireland success is somehow making him “incandescent”, then I take that as more success.

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Normally I try to keep the wrap pods under an hour but for this match/performance I reckon it was ok to make an exception.  Tom & Mark earned the right to be the guests as they bravely stepped up to the plate after that Final Of Which We Much Never Speak last May, and they did their usual bang up job.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.

For a taste of the pod here’s a YouTube clip featuring their analysis of the “championship minutes” from the match.

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QUICK TAP “EMERGENCY POD”

Normally I do a “Quick Tap”, aka a solo TikTok video, for this column but at the request of Keego and Kino, I instead set up an “emergency pod” recording on Tuesday to try and go over all the news that broke on the Monday…the Ross Molony news broke after I had set the whole thing up but still made the cut, while the Bleyendaal, JGP & Bank of Ireland sponsorship didn’t but I’ll touch on them in this column.  BTW I know we already did a full pod on the La Rochelle win but we hadn’t heard from these two yet so let’s just say we didn’t mind going over it once last time…

Topics were

1. La Rochelle win
2. Croke Park
3. Dan Sheehan
4. Jodie Barrett
5. Ross Molony
6. Demographics?

I also put out a sample from the pod on YouTube, covering topics 3, 4 & 5…

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Always tricky trying to anticipate who we plan to send to South Africa but I had a stab at Saturday’s 23 anyway.  I reckon whether Ross B will be available to play against  Northampton or not we should probably bring Harry anyway for some game time but as ever I should point out it’s with good reason that it’s not my decision to make!!!

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NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS 

Here’s what I said on the wrap pod…

“…the incredible Irish women who recorded their first Six Nations win in two years with a convincing 36-5 victory over Wales at Musgrave park with tries from Higgins, Parsons, Jones, Corrigan & player of the match Aoife Wafer.  The victory has actually moved Ireland up to 3rd on the table and although that could change after facing the all conquering English Red Roses next, we can definitely look at our final match against Scotland in Belfast with more confidence.  Any for now, many congrats to all involved.”

Obviously the task against England is daunting to say the very, very least but what this convincing win over Wales has done is give us the confidence to look beyond to that final match with Scotland and the way the fixtures play out, 4th spot or possibly even 3rd are within our grasp which is an amazing position to be in.

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THE LAZY ABL NARRATIVE

I really don’t like harpin’ on this too much but still I have to give a hat-tip to contributor Kristian Ross for bringing this TikTok to my attention.  I have spoken and written much bout what I call the ABL narrative and it has been trotted out much over the past couple of days in written social media posts, but this….well, if this guy was looking to audition to be the face and voice of ABL then congrats mate, you have it.

Putting aside the neutral venue misinformation I already mentioned further up the article wrt Stephen Jones, I never thought it would be humanly possible to fit more worn out tropes into one clip, but these lads managed it, including going to that picture of two “typical Leinster fans” which has to be at least 10 years old by now.  For obvious reasons I won’t embed the thing on this page but if you want to check it out it’s here.

"All Leinster fans are saying this"

"All Munster fans are saying that"

Blah blah blah.

Boring AF.

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 13, 2024

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Only two French teams left in Europe, Toulouse who have to be well placed for a double and Clérmont, who I thought might be more focused on their relegation battle but instead put Ulster to the sword at the Michelin.  Toulon v Toulouse looks like the pick of the bunch although it will be interesting to see how La Rochelle pick themselves up again as they must travel to Castres.

I also must hold my hand up and say I got a fact wrong the preview pod & radio slot, I was sure Clérmont played La Rochelle in this round, and, well, they’re not.  Apologies.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

All Leinster eyes will be on Franklin’s Gardens as our Croker opponents Northampton might be top but certainly can’t afford to slip up in their derby against Leicester.  Bath v Exeter also catches the eye as both look to bounce back from Euro disappointment as well as stay in top 4 contention.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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AIL UPDATE 

UL Bohs just about held on to top spot in the Women’s AIL by beating Belvo as Railway Union won at Rock, at the time of writing I can’t seem to find details on their semifinals yet but the men’s definitely take place this weekend with both apparently being live-streamed, check out our Rugby On TV post on Thursday for details.

#SupportYourLocalClub

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Last week I pointed out that Tahs v Saders would be the match of the round, and boy I wasn’t wrong.  Apparently the lead changed hands a dozen times and a last minute penalty put it into “golden point” extra time with Will Harrison nailing the game-winning drop goal to keep the Crusaders in danger of missing the playoffs, surely the unthinkable.  They go to Perth next, with the unbeaten Hurricanes playing the Drua.  Kudos to Moana btw for their 3rd win of the season (could be wrong but I don’t think they’ve done that before), this one over the Reds.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Dave Kearney lined out at full back for Chicago Hounds as they got their second win in a row against the expansion side Anthem RC from Charlotte, North Carolina, and should fancy their chances for another W next week as they play the other new team, namely the reinvented Giltinis who are now just called “Rugby FC Los Angeles”.  Meanwhile New England & Seattle lead the conferences and guess what – they meet each other next.

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CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE

I really thought we’d get at least one from Ulster & Connacht through to the final four but it was not to be.  The remainder of the comp will take place in England since the semifinals cannot be in SA so the Sharks will host Clérmont at Twickenham Stoop.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

The URC resumes this weekend which means so does the HPL and I have to regain my top spot somehow….meanwhile Keego has all but conceded the Jersey of Shame will be his for another year…

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Hopefully that’s the last I’ll have to harp on the ABL narrative for a while although I may have to stay off social media to make sure, anyway, the SA tour is next on our radar with the Lions up for Leinster next in Jo’burg.   Don’t forget our slot after the 5 o’clock news on Dublin South 93.9 radio this Friday, we’ll also post our own preview that afternoon with a wrap pod to come on Sunday.

As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

“Jacques [Nienaber] is mainly a defensive mastermind and he has brought in a completely different defensive system and it is working. I can understand why South Africa were so successful under him.”

James Lowe: ‘The only way you measure a season is trophies’

Johnny Watterson – Irish Times

JLP : Going by the few interviews I’ve seen with Lowe over the years, it seems like he talks like he plays, to say “he doesn’t understate things” would itself be an understatement.  But while the goals outlined his quote which is the title of the piece are yet to be fulfilled, the quote I chose speaks to the effect Neinaber has had on the Leinster set up.  When a quality coach joins an already quality organisation, it’s not about reinvention, rather refining, and not only have we seen results on the pitch, it sounds like the lads have bought into his ways off it too.  Obviously this will get tested even more as we go deeper into the business end of the season.

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According to a  report over the weekend from Afrikaans newspaper Rapport, Kitshoff met up with Stormers coach John Dobson about a potential return.

Two-Time World Cup Winner Ready To Leave Ulster After One Season

Jonathan Browne – Balls.ie

JLP : Always need a pinch of salt with this kind of story, but this certainly wouldn’t surprise me if true, although not for the reasons you might think.  Many speculators are linking it with all that has been going on at Ulster Rugby, and it’s true that the Ravenhill garden has been close to rosy this season (bar one at the RDS on New Year’s Day of course, obvs I don’t like bringing it up but I know any Ulster fans reading are thinking it ha ha)  but I’m not 100% sure it only has to do with his current environment.  Moving can have a profound affect on people if it’s just up the road let alone across hemispheres.  Many NIQ signings haven’t worked out, to Leinster fans I’d say “remember Steven Sykes?” only I’d wonder if they all actually would.  Hey, maybe it’s just a Steven thing.  Anyway – if SK does move on they’re going to need a decent loose head option so it would be interesting to see what happens next.

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Herbst was penalized and sent to the sin bin during the 63rd minute…he reentered the game after only seven minutes

RFU apologises for sin-bin error in Premiership game between Harlequins and Bath

Matthew Wood – Talking Rugby Union

JLP : Look – mistakes happen.  Ones like this absolutely shouldn’t, but they do.  It’s just as a Leinster fan, it’s interesting to see that even 15 years after #bloodgate Harlequins are still going onto the pitch when they shouldn’t… 😜

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He didn’t want to be that guy who tarnished his reputation by playing too long 

Sam Whitelock retiring instead of shock All Blacks comeback is the right decision

Gregor Paul – NZ Herald

JLP : Paul makes all the right points here; all the greats need to acknowledge when it’s time to step away from the highest level.  What led me to include this story was the stat outlined in the tweet below…Russ Petty’s number-crunching offerings justify my continuing to endure the Musk-infested platform all on their own!

New Zealand 637 Tests (1903-2023), Sam Whitelock played in 24% of them

— Russ Petty (@rpetty80) April 2, 2024

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…maybe (he will have to) change his body type slightly so that he could then be ready to the physical challenges of playing American football.

NFL boss reveals how Louis Rees-Zammit ‘aced’ Kansas City Chiefs visit and why new rule is game-changing for him

Dylan James – WalesOnline

JLP : I would love to have the time to live my life, follow rugby enough to  run this site AND follow other codes like the NFL as closely but that’s never going to happen.  That’s not going to stop me opining on them though!!!!  While I would hope that the positive reports on LRZ’s efforts are genuine, I can’t help but be sceptical that this is a pudding that still needs to be proven, for two reasons.  First, signing with a franchise does not guarantee that you will actually take to the field when the season rolls around in September, even if it is the reigning champions.  Plus, I have to wonder about the way the league has made such a big deal about this “international player pathway”.  Why so keen to get players in from abroad?  Are participation levels dwindling at home?  With 32 professional rosters not to mention hundreds of college level ones to fill, could it be that the concussion element has had an effect on those taking up the sport?  Hey, I’m a blogger, crackpot conspiracies are kinda my thing, but I wonder how crackpot this one is.  Anyway, I wish LRZ all the best, although I was surprised to see the Chiefs list him as a running back, he will certainly need to work on his physique for that role.

Rees-Lightning has arrived ⚡

Help us officially welcome @LouisReesZammit to Chiefs Kingdom! pic.twitter.com/6d7S4XQMLp

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) March 29, 2024

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Completely new experience for me when it came to the wrap – I actually got to watch the match sitting next to one of my guests with Nathan Johns beside me in the media box…obvs with him working and all we didn’t chat much (though since I forgot my headphones I may have bent his ear more than I should have done, sorry mate!).

He and Conor did a great job going back over the match, and a special mention to Harry Murphy of Sportsfile for the snap below which does a brilliant job of capturing the RDS experience for Leinster fans.

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If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.

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THE LUKE MCGRATH CHALLENGE

Midterm break means kids are off which in turn means I don’t have time for a Quick Tap video this week, instead I’ll share this clip from the wrap pod where we discussed at length Luke McGrath’s challenge on Kurt-Lee Arendse.  Obvs we don’t want to dwell TOO much on these things because it might put too much attention on one player and it goes without saying Luke himself is a major part of Leinster’s plans,

but we also must not forget the overall issue of player safety and the need to properly sanction these situations.  On top of that is the whole assumption that because we’re a Leinster-centric pod then we’d rather ignore it so I reckon this bit of harpin’ dispels that myth pretty well.

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Good news this week in that the “Unavailable for selection” portion of the update seems a hell of a lot lighter, but the heavy “further assessment required” section means it’s nigh on impossible to forecast a Leinster 23 for the Champions Cup knockouts…as you can see I have gone for the two extremes, one where any or all of those players are available (although I’m thinking neither Ringrose and Ngatai will make it whatever happens) and another (tactfully avoiding the word “worst”) where none of them are.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Leicester

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NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS 

Very frustrating watching Ireland on Sunday, they did so well right at the start and right at the end but the bits in between needed a lot of work.  I still firmly believe it was absolutely the right thing to take the likes of Eve Higgins and Beibhinn Parsons, but at the RDS the team did have the look of one that has had players parachuted in and it might take time for them to gel to the standards required for the Six Nations.  Maybe if they were together for the WXV as well the team would be better set, but look, we are where we are and now it’s imperative that we get ourselves ready for the Welsh in Cork on Apr 13, because with the Scots doing well and England being England, the schedule certainly does not get much easier from there.

Anyway like I always say you should probably take any analysis of mine on this with a pinch of salt so here’s a good thread on Ireland’s chances from friend of the pod @IrishWomens…

What strengths and weaknesses do this Irish side have, and what should we expect?

A 🧵

Let's start with strengths

— IrishWomensRugbySupportersClub (@IrishWomens) April 2, 2024

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WHO’S THE FOOL?

Another April 1st has been and gone and the multitudes of Fake News articles thankfully has too.  As one who loves to kid around, you’d think I’d be all in favour of this practice but I’m actually the exact opposite, pretty boring at this stage if I’m honest…rather than have them all concentrated on one day I’d much rather have these scattered throughout the year; I did like most of the East Terrace stuff.

I’m also ashamed to say I DID fall for one tweet, by regular commenter and Leinster fan Cian Ormond (although this doesn’t fall into the boring category because I meant from content-creators rather than individuals)…

"THEY'RE ALL OFFSIDE!!!!!"

Just getting in some practice with ya 😜

Srsly, congrats!!!!

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 1, 2024

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“SVNS” UPDATE

The series resumes this weekend with the famous Hong Kong festival which as you can see has a lot of unsociable kickoff times and some tricky tests for both Irish genders.  Still definitely worth a watch, remember they can all be played back via RugbyPass.tv.

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NEXT IN THE SERIES…

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Starting with the bottom of the table this week, Oyonnax look pretty much doomed and I have to say it’s starting to look worrying for Montpellier although they could well pick themselves up for a one game playoff if required.  Back at the business end, Stade Français and Toulouse both won by 2 to stay top while Stu Lancaster & ROG stayed in the barrage picture although with 6 rounds still to go you could say everyone down to 10th is in with a shout.  I’m going to go for Castres v La Rochelle as the pick of the next round although much will depend on their respective involvement in Europe at that stage.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

70% of the Premiership clubs have won 8 and lost 6 of their matches so far this season.  Might need a moment to let that sink in…but we still need to be clear that however well their 7th and 8th placed teams may be doing, it’s still not exactly fair that they should gain entry into the Champions Cup when it’s so much more difficult to qualify from the URC and 🔝🐱🐴 .  And I’m only pointing this out because it was the Premiership clubs/English media that was always pointing out European qualification injustice in the past.  Anyway…Northampton remain top of the pile with a decent home win over Sarries not the worst preparation for the visit of Munster.

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AIL UPDATE 

If I were a betting man I’d say the Women’s AIL final would likely be between Railway Union and UL Bohs and guess who play each other next in the regular season?  Should be a fascinating encounter and might be the best chance of halting Bohs’ unbeaten run.

In the men, champions Terenure finally put their shaky start to the campaign behind them by reaching the summit after a convincing 29-15 win over Tarf at Lakelands with Leinster caps like John McKee and Aitzol King among the try scorers.

But while the top 4 teams are now set, the home semifinals are far from certain.  Despite being in pole position, Nure will find their final match at Hinch anything but easy and should they slip up, both Cork Con and Tarf are ready to overtake them should they overcome Armagh and Trinity respectively.  Although Dublin Univ face the drop to 1B they did have some glory with victory in the colours match over UCD, who had another Leinster player among their try scorers in Conor O’Tighearnaigh.

One last thing about Div 1A…while Trinners are down, the team finishing 9th must survive a playoff to avoid the drop and it is now a straight fight between City of Armagh (who host Cork Con) and Shannon (who go to Belfield Bowl) with the Ulster side having the points diff advantage should they remain level, although you could argue than maybe wins should be the first tiebreaker in which case Shannon would have the edge.

Then on the other end of that playoff, Old Wesley picked up a LBP at already-promoted St Mary’s to keep them in pole position but should they slip up at home to Queens in the final round, Garryowen and Highfield face each other with the winner likely to jump into 2nd.  Still much to play for in that second tier.

#SupportYourLocalClub

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WOMEN’S AIL

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MEN’S AIL 1A

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MEN’S AIL 1B

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Crusaders are finally off the mark, putting away the Chiefs handily enough on home soil but they still very much need a bye week to regroup for the remainder of the campaign and the schedule has obliged.  The Hurricanes stay top after a big win in Otago with the Blues and Brumbies hot in pursuit.  Unfortunately none of the Round 7 ties really jump out at you.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Houston won the Texas derby (tho I doubt they call it that over there) to stay top in the West while New England survived their bye week to stay in 1st over in the East.  My “adopted” team for this season Chicago Hounds dropped to their third defeat, this time at home to Seattle with Nick McCarthy, Conall Boomer and Luke Carty all starting while I forgot to mention Dave Kearney actually made his debut last week against New England although he didn’t feature this week.  They won’t have it any easier this coming next week as they must travel to New Orleans.

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CHALLENGE CUP UPDATE

Time to return to having this update in the column especially with two provinces involved and both having 🔝🐱🐴 away dates.  If I had to say either assignment was “the easier” I’d have to say it was Ulster’s since Montpellier will most definitely be much more focused on their domestic situation (see update above) while despite Pau being in the playoff picture they might see this comp as a realistic chance of silverware.  Quite an interesting draw this when you study it closely.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

Although my actual performance this week was an improvement on the last round, I still gave up my long-standing 1st place status after Kino’s stats-based approach finally got the better of me in real “tortoise over hare” fashion although there is of course still quite a way to go and nobody can be ruled out of contention.  Well, when I say “nobody”, I mean of course nobody except ‘No Picks Keego’…

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Champions Cup is next, hopefully for both of the next two weeks when it comes to Leinster but first we must of course focus on the visit of the Tigers to the Aviva Stadium.  We’ll have our usual preview on Friday as well as our usual pod recording Sunday eve, and naturally we’ll continue to post our regular amount of content across all the different platforms.

As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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On this week’s column…

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A NEW DAY FOR THE COLUMN… 

…literally.  In a bit of housekeeping news we’ve switched this column’s publication date from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning – the Quick Tap videos take so much time to produce we need the extra window to get it all together along with, of course, all the “real world” stuff.

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

“The diagnosis of a young person with CTE is significant as it indicates how early in life the brain has been affected by head knocks.”

First professional rugby union player confirmed to have died with CTE

Michael Aylwin – The Guardian

JLP : I know it was the build up to the final round of Six Nations matches and this was a story from the southern hemisphere, but I really think the wider rugby community could have been more engaged with this story.  Unfortunately my second article from this week’s Front Five suggests we are instead moving in a different direction.

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…a global red card trial where a carded player is removed for the duration of the match but may be replaced by another player after 20 minutes.

World Rugby reveals phased plan to enhance rugby’s global appeal

http://www.world.rugby

JLP : To be fair, this is but one of several changes being proposed and many of them look like they will genuinely help speed up the game (such as actual enforcement of the “use it” call) but effectively reversing the zero tolerance policy on dangerous tackling technique by allowing a player’s team to replace them after 20m is clearly going in the wrong direction and I hope this proposal falls off the sport’s radar for good.

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“People are actually genuinely just excited to get going and see where we’re at with the rest of teams.”

McMahon Looks Forward To Opening Weekend

IrishRugby.ie

JLP : I firmly believe separating the men’s and women’s Six Nations was a good idea, but only if there is enough hype around the start of the women’s because the wider public have been trained over the years to switch off from rugby altogether once the men’s tournament is over, there has generally a drop off in engagement with the men’s provincial level anyway without a top women’s event vying for attention as well.

As for Ireland’s task over the coming weeks, well after a whitewash wooden spoon last season, relative success will be a low bar this time around but hopefully the WXV3 triumph together with the inclusion of some of the sevens players will inspire us to greater things.  Starting away to France isn’t the ideal start, however, and hopefully the media can succeed in realistically portraying our expectations over the coming weeks.  

Best wishes to Scott, Edel, Sam & all involved with the team.  There’s a bit more on the Women’s Six Nations further down the column.

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Burns’ arrival at Munster will coincide with Joey Carbery’s move to France.

Billy Burns: Munster sign Ulster fly-half on one-year deal

BBC.com

JLP : One of Irish rugby’s poorest kept secrets this season, and if other rumours are to be believed, this isn’t the last out half provincial switch we’ll be reading about this season, with Leinster likely involved in the next announcement.  I’ve never had a problem with these moves, once the player and the teams involved are happy it makes sense that the pieces on the board be moved around once in a while to spread out the talent.

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“Sometimes [fans]…are so used to Ireland winning that sometimes the way they win is maybe not what they want”

Jacques Nienaber: Opponents raised their game against Ireland

Michael Glennon – RTE.ie

JLP : I actually spotted this article after I recorded my TIkTok rant for this week, it’s like we’re of one mind, even if we do have different amount of RWC winners’ medals….

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Note – views expressed in “Front Five” links do not necessarily reflect those of HarpinOnRugby

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Great to have Tom & Rich to help me go back over the Ireland/Scotland match, it might not have been a classic from an attacking standpoint but they did come up with some fascinating talking points from it, one which I actually had to cut out as part of my attempt to keep the whole thing around the hour mark, but FWIW I did post that little discussion on YouTube.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe and/or leave a review if you can.

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QUICK TAP : DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY

I am always intrigued by the two extremes of rugby watchers, with us hyper-critical nerds at one end and the so-called “casual fans” at the other so I cover that in this week’s QT. 

@harpinonrugby

Enjoy the win, worry about the technical stuff later. #rugbytiktok #Irishtiktok #guinnesssixnations

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Obviously the names Keenan and Ryan were not ones we wanted to see on the update although for right now it’s more that of the woefully unfortunate Tommy O’Brien that stands out the most as he most certainly would have featured in Parma at the weekend.

I reckon our 23 to play Zebre will be very similar to what we have seen over the Six Nations period.

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NB : the above matchday 23 is completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS LAUNCH INTERVIEW

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After I had set up the Front Five segment at the top of this column, I got an email from the organisers of the Women’s Six Nations complete with free-to-use quotes & links from the tournament launch.

I was fascinated not just by the responses of coach Scott Bemand, but more so by the nature of the questions that were put to him and Edel McMahon – they covered some very pertinent issues that one would assume might not be covered in a high profile press conference like this one.

So here is what they released : 

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A BONUS TALKING POINT

I simply couldn’t resist getting my sarcasm on after France beat England in that final match, not to rub it in for the English fans rather those in their media who tried to push the narrative that should the results go another way and Ireland win the title on bonus points despite having fewer wins than England (a mathematical possibility that has always been possible in over two decades since we’ve had this method in rugby), it would somehow de-legitimize us winning the trophy.

Bottom line is that while this is not my ideal method for deciding a rugby tournament winner, the fact that everyone knows the rules as it kicks off means nobody should really complain about it afterwards.

So…….do I have this right?

Ireland have 4 wins.

Everyone else has less than 4 wins.

And Ireland are Champions.

And that's OK?

Maybe a leading publication out there can help me…. #GuinnessSixNations

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) March 16, 2024

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EURO REFS

Teams of officials have been announced for the last 16 of the EPCR tournaments, Leinster’s is below, click here for the full list.

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RUGBY BULLETS ON POST TO POST SPORT

Frequent Harpin contributor Ciarán Duffy hosts his own podcast Post To Post Sport which mostly covers Irish women’s football but also does much rugby and as well as updating his site and branding he has started a new feature known as “Rugby Bullets” please follow the link to check it out.

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

I was actually surprised the 🔝🐱🐴 was willing to take a week off even for the final round of Six Nations matches, but anyway it’s back this week and with just eight rounds left and the gap in match points between 6th (last playoff place) and 13th (top relegation place) just NINE, pretty much every match will be significant over the coming weeks.  Bordeaux v Toulouse seems to be the pick of Round 19.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

After a super-long mid season break during which they played out the final matches in the Cup as well as had those money-spinning friendlies with Leinster & Munster, the Premiership kicks back into gear this weekend and has 6 rounds to go.  Northampton lead the way but it’s all to play for as only two of the ten clubs have a losing record.  Saracens v Quins seems to be the tie of the round.

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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ROUND 13

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AIL UPDATE 

A rare upset in this league last weekend when Suttonians, outside the top 4, won convincingly away to Blackrock College, although with Ballincollig falling to runaway leaders UL Bohs the gap between the playoff places and the rest remains the same.  The league takes a break this weekend, presumedly to make way for the launch of the Women’s Six Nations.

Over in the men’s AIL, only three matches left in the regular season and easily the tie of the round is Ballynahinch hosting Lansdowne, more than likely the Ulster side’s last chance of staying in touch with the top four.  Cork Con hosting Terenure also looks tasty.

#SupportYourLocalClub

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WOMEN’S AIL

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MEN’S AIL

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Eh, do we need to talk about the Crusaders?  I mean, obviously with eight of the twelves teams making the playoffs there is still plenty of time for them to claw their way back and who among us would rule them out from securing their millionth SR title, but four defeats out of four to start the season?  Wowza.  I watched their defeat to the league leading Hurricanes last Friday and it certainly wasn’t the Saders I’ve been used to seeing.  Almost reminded me of Leinster’s Matt O’Connor years…anyway overall it’s good for this league to see Aussie teams with winning records plus Moana & the Drua picking up wins.  For me Blues v Crusaders is the standout match from the next round.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Have to say I was disappointed to see that the MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY was in fact using the conference system this season, having only seen one league table over the first few weeks I thought maybe they had seen sense and gone for a model simpler to Super Rugby.  Anywho…after three rounds only Seattle and Houston are 100% and they play each other next weekend while my “adopted team” the Chicago Hounds have had a mixed opening three weeks so far and the visit of New England next time out will definitely be a challenge.

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RUGBY EUROPE CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE

No real surprise here with Georgia capturing another title and I have to say it was ironic that France chose to move their Six Nations fixtures away from Paris because of the Olympic preparations yet this final was held at the Stade Jean Bouin when maybe it could have enjoyed a better atmosphere in either Tblisi or Lisbon?  Anyway if you missed the highlights here they are…

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

Congrats to Kristian who convincingly won our Six Nations Superbru – he successfully predicted 12 of the 15 results, as did I although with nowhere near enough “margin accuracy” meaning I just about pipped Jay to 2nd spot.

Anyway now it’s back to the big prize, namely the Harpin URC Prediction League which of course resumes this weekend.  As you see I am in line to retain my title if I keep going as I have but there’s still a long way to go.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

In my Quick Tap video I point out the contrast between a Six Nations title decider for Ireland in Dublin one week and a URC regular season fixture for Leinster in Parma the next, but here at Harpin Manor we will of course still be giving it the full Harpin treatment starting with a preview on Friday, as ever stay tuned to all our usual places in the ruggersphere for all our content.

Finally, as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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