80+ column : 02/05/23

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

WRAP OF A WRAP

Hopefully Mark Jackson will be able to return to our pod lineup soon, and we’re grateful to Conor Cronin for stepping in for him on Sunday to join Tom Coleman, and as ever they did a bang up job covering all the harpin’ points. There were a couple of incidents that needed some video to help illustrate so I’ll deal with them further down the column, as well as the very selective interpretations from those who MIGHT have been using a little bias…

If you missed it, check it out here on Spotify or on most major platforms.

HARPIN ON…LEINSTER’S ⭐OF THE MATCH CONTENDERS

Disagreeing or at least debating the award of Player or Star of the Match awards (Sidebar – why are some people making such a big deal about the switch away from MotM? Get over it FFS) has been common this season which ain’t a bad position for any team to be in. This match was certainly no exception so for the bonus clip we each selected a player and harped on their performance. And even THAT wasn’t enough so there was an extra name thrown into our main TikTiok clip, see below.

If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

JACK CONAN & JAMES RYAN TIK TOKS

See above for the reason behind the Conan TikTok, but I also thought it was worth producing a 2nd from the Toulouse match because watching it with the naked eye I was blown away by James Ryan’s determined grab ahead of the JVDF try at the weekend. It really did look like it had been turned over but he simply wasn’t having it.

@harpinonrugby
We decided to harp on a little more than the Bulls result on this week’s wrap! I wonder why…
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

@harpinonrugby
Yoink Of The Season contender for sure…
♬ Furious Offroad Racing – Morgan Sansous & Sham Makdessi

THE WEEKLY ABL INQUEST

All day Sunday there was a heated discussion online about a supposed travesty that might have helped Leinster win…well, I suppose that could be said about pretty much ANY given Sunday over the past few seasons, but this time it was over the incidents involving Porter and Neti. When I was watching the match live I missed the Porter one, and while I did see the Neti hit on JVDF, I missed the very important context of the clash just before it, and after watching all the subsequent replays, I still missed it.

This continued online with sometimes still photos and more often slowed-down footage of the second clash somehow serving as “proof” that the incident shouldn’t have been a penalty. Thankfully someone ended up sharing the full incident which you can see below.

But I’d rather focus on the groupthink that is behind these campaigns for now. We started the season by talking about this ABL or “Anyone But Leinster” groupthink. To be clear, I don’t actually mind it, the only thing I’d want to do is acknowledge that it exists. A team that wins as often as Leinster do is bound to have haters, even or possibly especially Irish ones.

Generally their MO is to search for one or two gombeen Leinster fan comments (of which there will be some for sure, because being a gombeen has nothing to do with where you’re from) and make it out like that represents the whole province. Or in the case of Sunday, just make it look like there’s some grand conspiracy to help Leinster and/or Ireland win.

Sad, really.

Funny how different it looks when the clip shows the entire incident in full…. https://t.co/tF1IIWXG5b
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 30, 2023

THAT 5022 AND THE REACTION

I wouldn’t class this as an example of ABL, more someone trying to suit a narrative of online commentary in general.

But anyway I’ll include our exchange as well as my original tweet that sparked it. For full disclosure when Conor said on the pod that it shouldn’t have been a 5022 that was news to me so I went back to confirm it and just wanted to share that with my followers.

I mean, of COURSE it’s over analysis, but isn’t that what’s to be expected from a fansite????

Mate it's really, really simple. We made a podcast about a rugby match and a contributor made a point, so I shared a clip to go with it.

Have to say it is kind of funny to see someone call it out as over-analysis then proceed to over-analyse it. 😜
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) May 1, 2023

GREG MCWILLIAMS

I’ve never met Greg, and all I’ve heard is that he’s a nice guy who apparently has been thrown under the bus. I really think his “I see them as my daughters” comment during the Six Nations campaign was incredibly tone deaf but overall to make it look like it was just his coaching that led to the results over the past month or so doesn’t exactly sit well.

As Tom pointed out on our pod, the fact that Cliodhna Moloney scored two tries and won PotM for Exeter in the Allianz Cup final on the very same day the test side was picking up the wooden spoon speak volumes.

For me this line in a recent article from Sinead Kissane says it all…

She was the only person in the player’s representative group after the explosive letter to the Government who didn’t retire from international rugby. Since then, she hasn’t had a look-in with the national squad.
Sinéad Kissane: Ireland hit rock bottom as Cliodhna Moloney snub comes back to bite Greg McWilliams’ side

…assuming this to be true, the question does need to be asked if there is a blackballing policy in place, and if so, then it surely must be a major contributory factor to all that is going on in Irish Women’s rugby.

And here we see what makes speaking out about these things very difficult. Because when you talk about the Moloneys and the Griffins who aren’t there, plus the likes of Parsons who are prioritised for the Sevens circuit, you end up throwing a good bit of shade at those who actually togged out for those five matches. Unless you’re Ewan McKenna of course, who chose simply to mock them to satisfy his ~~Army of Incels~~ followers.

I know I don’t follow the women’s game regularly but from my vantage point at least within the overall sport, it really does look like it’s not so much dinosaurs in the decision making positions, rather ostriches who don’t want to see what really needs to be done.

Just. Listen.

UPDATE – Just saw a report that rumours of his leaving the post were greatly exaggerated? Very strange to see a story linger in the news cycle for so long if it was that wrong. Anyway, whether he’s still the coach or not, the fundamental issues remain the same.

LONDON IRISH

Not sure where this story is heading but the point to be made is that it is hardly a surprise as it was clear when both Worcester and Wasps were in trouble that they weren’t the only ones.

It’s difficult enough to understand how 8th place in the Premiership can qualify for Europe when it only has 11 clubs without another one going under as well. Fingers crossed they are able to sort something out mostly for the sake of all those employed by the club.

Red flags at London Irish, where the club’s players and staff have not received their salaries for April. https://t.co/xCGWH3O4up
— Alex Lowe 📰 (@AlexMLowe) May 2, 2023

AI RUGBY : LEINSTER V TOULOUSE DRY RUN

Been dabbling in AI in recent weeks, and this time I decided to ask ChatGPT on Friday to “play out” a match between Leinster and Toulouse using the selected teams. Below you see the prompt and how it played out, wasn’t a million miles off the actual result and I have to say I like the way it even had a try disallowed by the TMO!!!

Imagine a game of 15-a-side rugby union between Leinster Rugby and Stade Toulousain over two halves of 40 minutes with the two lineups outlined below, taking into account the reputation and form of all the players involved.

Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ross Molony 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Caelan Doris 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan

16. John McKee 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Ryan Baird 21. Luke McGrath 22. Harry Byrne 23. Ciarán Frawley.

Toulouse : 15 T Ramos 14 JC Mailla 13 PL Barassi 12 P Ahki 11 M Lebel 10 R Ntamack 9 A Dupont

1 C Baille 2 P Mauvaka 3 D Aldegheri 4 R Arnold 5 E Meafou 6 J Willis 7 T Flament 8 F Cros

16 J Marchand 17 R Neti 18 D Ainu’u 19 A Roumat 20 R Elstadt 21 A Placines 22 P Graou 23 A Retière

Write 2000 words on the progress of the match in the form of a timeline (no conclusion, just the timeline only) reporting incidents like tries, conversions, penalties, injuries and yellow or red cards.

0’ – The match kicks off with Leinster receiving the ball and making their way up the field with several phases of play.

2’ – Toulouse gives away a penalty in their own half, which Ross Byrne converts to give Leinster an early lead of 3-0.

7’ – Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack takes a quick tap penalty and makes a break into Leinster’s half, but is tackled well by James Ryan.

10’ – After a couple of turnovers, Leinster’s Hugo Keenan collects a high ball and makes a run down the wing, but is eventually tackled into touch by Toulouse’s Matthis Lebel.

12’ – Toulouse’s Antoine Dupont spots a gap around the ruck and makes a break, but is brought down just short of the try line by Garry Ringrose.

15’ – Toulouse gives away another penalty in front of their own posts, which Ross Byrne slots over to make the score 6-0 in Leinster’s favour.

18’ – Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack misses a long-range penalty attempt, with the ball going wide of the posts.

20’ – Leinster’s Caelan Doris makes a break down the middle of the field and offloads to Garry Ringrose, who finds Jordan Larmour on the wing to score the first try of the game. Ross Byrne converts to make the score 13-0 to Leinster.

24’ – Toulouse’s Cyril Baille gives away a penalty at the scrum, and Ross Byrne makes no mistake in slotting it over to extend Leinster’s lead to 16-0.

28’ – Toulouse’s Piula Faasalele is shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Leinster’s Jimmy O’Brien.

30’ – Leinster opt for a scrum from the penalty, and after several phases of play, Andrew Porter crashes over the line to score Leinster’s second try of the game. Ross Byrne converts to make the score 23-0 to Leinster.

35’ – Toulouse finally get on the scoreboard, with Romain Ntamack sending a perfectly-weighted crossfield kick for Matthis Lebel to catch and score in the corner. Ntamack misses the conversion, leaving the score at 23-5.

40’ – The referee blows for half-time, with Leinster leading Toulouse 23-5.

42’ – The second half begins with Toulouse receiving the ball and making a strong start, working their way up the field through several phases of play.

50’ – Toulouse’s Pita Ahki breaks through Leinster’s defence and is brought down just short of the try line by Hugo Keenan.

54’ – Leinster’s Dan Sheehan is shown a yellow card for collapsing the maul.

57’ – Toulouse opt for a scrum from the penalty, and after a few phases of play, Thomas Ramos scores their second try of the game. Romain Ntamack adds the extras to make the score 23-12.

61’ – Leinster’s Jack Conan makes a break down the wing and offloads to Ciarán Frawley, who crashes over the line to score Leinster’s third try of the game. Frawley converts his own try to make the score 30-12 to Leinster.

65’ – Toulouse makes several substitutions, bringing on fresh legs in an attempt to turn the game around.

70’ – Leinster’s Ross Byrne kicks a penalty to extend their lead to 33-12.

75’ – Toulouse’s Romain Ntamack sends a crossfield kick for Matthis Lebel, who collects and scores his second try of the game. Ntamack adds the extras to make the score 33-19.

79’ – Leinster’s Harry Byrne scores a try in the corner, but it is disallowed by the TMO for a forward pass in the build-up.

80’ – The referee blows for full-time, with Leinster sealing a convincing 33-19 win over Toulouse in a game that saw their defence hold strong and their attack score three tries.

INJURY REPORT

Good to see there are no new additions to the treatment table, but that doesn’t take away the headache of selection for the Sharks in the quarterfinal. With the HCC final date secured we really have no choice but to take out a decent amount of cotton wool even if the Sharks will use that to motivate them in their quest to prove us wrong to underestimate them.

I definitely think Hugo Keenan and our two props should be left out altogether, but elsewhere we might need some first team back up in case we’re chasing the game in the final quarter.

POSSIBLE 23 V SHARKS

Frawley, Larmour, Ringrose, Henshaw, Kearney, R Byrne, McGrath

Healy, McKee, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Jenkins, Ruddock (c), Penny, Deegan

Sheehan, Milne, Clarkson, Ryan, Conan, Foley, H Byrne, J O’Brien.

(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)

Cormac Foley trained fully last week after recovering from a hamstring injury and is available for selection this week.

Ryan Baird came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from a shoulder injury.

Josh van der Flier came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from an ankle injury.

Charlie Ngatai came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Michael Milne has come through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be available for selection this week.

Joe McCarthy will step up his rehabilitation this week as he recovers from an ankle injury.

Rónan Kelleher will step up his rehabilitation programme this week as he recovers from a shoulder injury.

Tommy O’Brien will be further assessed this week as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury picked up against Vodacom Bulls.

Robbie Henshaw will be further assessed this week after picking up a minor quad issue at training last week before a final decision is made on availability.

There are no further updates on:

Vakhtang Abdaladze (neck), Ed Byrne (tricep), Rhys Ruddock (hamstring), James Lowe (calf), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee) and Martin Moloney (knee).

MLR UPDATE

My plan to watch a game every week via The Rugby Network has been foiled for the past few rounds by that ol’ thing called “real life” but over the bank holiday weekend I was able to catch the Eastern Conference derby between the New England Free Jacks and the reigning MLR Champions (albeit rebranded) New York.

Before I describe what happened, just to note that I have chosen New England as my adopted team for this season. I actually hail from the Bay Area but since they are yet to be represented I have to go for New England as I also have a good few relatives out there. And luckily, they are doing pretty well this season so for the rest of the 2023 campaign I’ll be focusing on their matches, although they are on a bye week in round 12.

Anyway for this clash they were at home in Veteran’s Memorial Stadium which is in a town called Quincy on the outskirts of Boston. The weather was awful throughout and the main camera angle was cursed with raindrops on the lens pretty much from start to finish.

Overall I enjoyed this match a lot more than I should have given the scoreline – at first it looked like the Free Jacks would romp to a big win as they went straight into the NY 22 from the kickoff and a sweet crossfield kick from outhalf Portroz to Balekana saw them 5-0 up after just 5m.

But from there thanks to a combination of stubborn NY defence, about a gagillion handling errors mostly forced by the conditions, and missed place kicks from Portroz, they really struggled to add to that lead. In fact there was to be only one more score throughout as Portroz did manage one before halftime.

Even though the second half was scoreless the fact that it remained so close kept the interest up, especially when a deliberate knockon by the NE fullback gave the visitors the last ten minutes with an extra man but they just couldn’t manage it and the home side held on right to the final whistle to secure the four points and keep themselves top of the east.

More on the league next week, since my new team has a bye I might look west and focus on the leaders San Diego as they face the Utah Warriors.

ROUND 11

SEA 61-19 DAL

NEFJ 8-0 NYI

NOLA 40-24 TOR

SD 29-16 HOU

ROUND 12

ATL V CHI

DAL V OGDC

UTAH V SD

NYI V NOLA

HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE

The URC is back for the next couple of weekends with 6 of the remaining 7 matches being played which means the title could be won or lost before the final. As you can see Kino went back ahead in Rd 18 and we certainly can’t rule out Mark Jackson from contention either, will be very interesting to see how the quarterfinals pan out.

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Next up are the “Cell C Sharks” and I can confidently predict I will screw up saying that out loud at least once in both weekend pods. Keego will help me with the preview on Friday and will actually return for the wrap on Sunday along with Rugby Kino so be sure to subscribe to our pod feed to catch those as well as all our other online accounts where we post pretty much every day.

In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP

Throwback Thursday : LEIvTLS (2019 HCC semifinal)

I know we played Toulouse just last season but for our latest TT I thought it best to go back a bit further to 2019 when we met them in the final four having already played them home and away in the pool phase.

GEAR SHIFT

Defeat by 17 in Edinburgh. Narrow 3-point win over a determined Ulster side at the Aviva. Failure to win at the RDS for two successive Saturdays.

That’s not exactly the kind of run we Leinster fans have gotten used to over the years, and coming as it did right after Ireland’s disappointment in Cardiff to round out the Six Nations, we’d be forgiven for having our expectation levels set at ‘apprehensive’ going into this Easter Sunday battle with our fellow four-star bearers.

But if our experience under the Cullen/Lancaster ticket has taught us anything, it’s that they know how to dig deep and find our A game when a big occasion demands it of them. And there was a hint of that in the run I mention above because on the one day the result actually meant something to Leinster’s season, we managed to find a way to win.

But with all due respect to our northern cousins, this semifinal was a step up again. Three of our titles have been won since Toulouse earned their fourth, yet this season they were starting to show that kind of form again, as we saw ourselves back in October, and the entire Top 14 has seen throughout the domestic campaign.

It was pretty clear that if there was even a hint of the lack of accuracy on Sunday that we had shown in recent weeks, we would be punished. And while we have been welcoming a host of our ‘elite’ squad members back to the first team lately, it was essential that they hit the ground running.

What a curious opening spell it was. For the first ten minutes we had only about three phases of possession, while our guests had built series of 6, 8 and 9 – yet thanks to our stringent defence, we came out of it with the scores level at 3-3.

Then came the game’s first major unforced error, when Toulouse’s full back Thomas Ramos put his restart over our end line giving us a scrum at halfway.

We had an earlier put in but it resulted in a free kick which Conan tapped quickly, so after twelve whole minutes we finally found ourselves in an attacking situation, or to put it another way, we had an opportunity to show the rest of Europe just how able we were to put the previous four weeks behind us.

What followed gave everyone the answer and then some. 10 well-thought out phases, with carries accompanied by good clear-outs, gain-lines broken regularly, offloads timed to perfection especially by Cian Healy, and eventually James Lowe, who probably wouldn’t have featured had Jamison Gibson-Park been fit, showed his usual mix of pace, strength and determination to get the ball down.

Now we know for sure which Leinster team has turned up. The only question left that needed answering was could the French outfit raise their game to meet us.

For me, that had already been answered. In that first pool meeting in round 2, they threw the kitchen sink at us and prevailed by just one point. In the return fixture in January, I felt they tried to adjust their game to knock us off our stride and failed badly.

Here I think they may have been guilty yet again of showing us too much respect. To be fair, they were without Zach Holmes and Ntamack was carrying a knock, but for me if an out half is good enough for the bench he should be good enough to start.

Antoine Duponte is a pesky scrum half who can definitely out shine his 10 on occasion and having impressed against Racing in the quarterfinals, there was definitely a case for him to do a job in the playmaker role.

But while we were setting about finding our best game, they appeared to be hell bent on tinkering with theirs, and if you’re going to do that on a stage like this one, you have to be absolutely sure it’s going to work. And it didn’t.

A look at Leinster’s defensive charts might raise an eyebrow as ten of our starters were ‘credited’ with more than one missed tackle. But as often is the case when crunching these numbers, it doesn’t tell the whole story. A high percentage of those missed ones were made up for by tackles made by a team mate.

We were generally hunting in groups of two or three, and often the offloads we would expect from Toulouse weren’t forthcoming. Conan led with 18 tackles, both our starting locks had 16 and perhaps most crucially our centres had 25 between them, with one or two by Ringrose proving particularly key.

So attack after attack was being shut down, even when faced by the ridiculous pace and guile of Kolbe, who after a couple of trademark runs made some inroads, grubbered one along the touchline only to be tidied by Jordan Larmour.

In the ensuing play, we had one of those rare moments on a rugby pitch when you can throw the ball forward to a team-mate and it can legally benefit you. I always thought this was an area that needed tidying up in the laws, but I wasn’t complaining when Larmour ran with the ball from behind his try line before chucking it ahead to James Lowe for him to take the drop out.

Always full of confidence to try something to catch the opposition napping, Lowe dinked a mini drop kick to himself and retained possession for us, and when the ball eventually went through the backs, Robbie Henshaw spotted a gaping hole in the Toulouse backfield and booted a monster kick to find touch on the far side of the pitch.

Yoann Huget retrieved the ball and was clearly keen to get keep the tempo moving so he took a quick throw and found Ramos. Maybe the full back had his overcooked restart on his mind, or maybe he was generally affected by not being trusted with the 10 jersey, but whatever the reason he hesitated and his kick was not only charged down, but pretty much the entire Leinster pack smelled blood in the water and eventually a combination of Fardy, Toner and Ryan wrapped him up in his own 22 to force a scrum.

So to summarise, from a situation where Toulouse’s danger man was running at us at pace in our 22, just moments later we had won an attacking set piece way down the other end of the park. Now we needed to go for the kill and turn this territory into more points.

I’m sure Richie Gray has gone over this moment in his mind several times, even after his 10-minute spell on the naughty step. And I actually think he was making a conscious effort to show Wayne Barnes he had no intention of waving his hand at the ball on the floor of the ruck yet his hand did it anyway. So to make matters even worse for his team, we now had an extra man into the bargain.

And with the iron even hotter than the Dublin Easter sun, we struck. Lineout, maul, over the line, Luke McGrath try. Just like that, we’re up by fourteen in a match I thought for sure would never have a margin of more than seven either way.

But here’s the thing – while this was definitely a day when we brought our A game, that doesn’t mean we always showed it. A lineout would go awry here, a carrier would get himself isolated there, and immediately after our second try Devin Toner struggled with the sun in his eyes and knocked on the restart. Time for Toulouse to have the prime attacking position.

And the repetition was to continue when a Leinster hand got in the way of a Toulouse attacking move. While pounding our try line with carry after carry, a pass to their prop Faumuina was swatted at by Robbie Henshaw and Barnes rightly flashed his yellow once more.

Was that a penalty try? There was certainly a case for it. Had the prop taken the ball his run would have gotten him over the line. That said, had he taken the ball then Scott Fardy and Johnny Sexton were in position to get under him. Call me biased if you want but I’m not sure that was a certain try.

But whatever about that debate, there was definitely a big game error from the French outfit when they sent the kicking tee onto the pitch before properly taking in the situation.

Had they considered that it was now 14 v 14 surely a kick to the corner was the way to go, yet they had to make do with just the three points, and despite the clock reaching 46 before the halftime whistle blew (thanks to a James Lowe try that was rightly disallowed for a block by Conan), there was to be no further score in the half.

Notice how long it took me to mention the name of Sexton? And even then it was in a defensive context? That might seem odd seeing how he was named man of the match, but that doesn’t mean I think he was unworthy. It was one of his more understated performances all round, but it was still one that was in stark contrast to the distinctly-less-than-assured outing by his opposite number.

This put the French coaches into one of those halftime quandries…do we leave things as they are and hope they work out or do we make a switch and admit we were wrong? Well they went for the former and the decision got exactly what it deserved when Duponte threw a pass straight into touch on 48m. Whatever out half prowess he had displayed before, he just couldn’t find it on this day.

And from there, Leinster’s ability to work their way to a crucial score kicked in once more. From the lineout following the Duponte error we stretched their defence through 6 phases before Sexton slipped through an immaculate grubber that sat up perfectly in the 22 forcing Kolbe to play it.

Now on an average day, even deep in his own corner, you wouldn’t bet against the Springbok dancing his way down to the other end of the pitch in a matter of seconds, but further proof the writing was on the wall for Toulouse came when that man Ramos mucked things up again by colliding with his team mate and forcing him into touch – suddenly it’s a lineout to Leinster within sight of the try line.

A penalty advantage and a bunch of phases later, this time it was Scott Fardy crashing over, and with nerves of steel his captain Sexton slotted over the crucial extras meaning the visitors now needed three scores to catch up with us.

NOW they make the switch, bringing on Ntamack and moving Duponte back to 9. Gate locked, horse bolted?

Well they did manage to switch on their famed offloading game and it was having an effect, with series of 13 then 11 phases getting them deep into our 22 before Médard, another who surely could/should have started, dinked one over our defensive line only for Garry Ringrose to make a last gasp lunge for the ball and force a simultaneous touch down.

All they could take from the visit was another three points and such was the order of the day. Sexton added another penalty minutes later to restore the lead and was immediately replaced by Ross Byrne, who got his own name on the score sheet with a penalty with minutes to go.

The final fifteen minutes were way more comfortable than anyone could have imagined going into the match. Ironically the last touch of the game went to young Hugh O’Sullivan, on for Luke McGrath in the closing stages, and possibly thanks to the form of James Lowe, set to take part in a European final in a few weeks.

So after a run of disappointing results, Leinster certainly found a way to produce the goods when it mattered. But despite the impressive display, it was clear at times that we had another level to reach for as well, and with Saracens awaiting for us in Newcastle, we will have to find it.

Thankfully we don’t have any season-defining rugby in the meantime – our trip to Belfast next weekend won’t affect either side while our guaranteed first place finish sees us idle the following week.

Meanwhile, Saracens will have two tough Premiership battles against teams with playoff intentions; first they return to the scene of their European semifinal triumph to face Wasps, then they get a chance to make up ground on league leaders Exeter.

I guess you could make arguments both ways on which is the better way to prepare for a major final but this I know – Leinster have proven time and time again that they can shift into the required gear regardless of what has gone before.

There will be no assumptions made by fans ahead of kickoff in Newcastle, but there will most certainly be an abundance of belief. Bring it on. JLP

80+ column : AI = Aviva Indignation, Airline Irritation, Actual Injuries

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

WRAP OF A WRAP

For this week’s wrap pod I was honoured to be joined by the Westmeath/Meath coaching combo of Mark Jackson & Tom Coleman and they did their usual excellent job of analysing what went on at the Aviva on Friday. They actually kind of apologised when we finished recording for harpin’ on for longer than usual but the thing about that is all that does is provide me with extra content so I’m not exactly compaining! As you can see below I managed a second bonus clip out of it.

If you missed the pod, check it out here or on most major platforms.

HARPIN ON…JIMMY O’BRIEN & LEINSTER’S SUCCESS

Like I said the lads gave me enough material for two bonus clips. The one we planned for was about Jimmy O’Brien – for the second week in a row I disagreed with the Star of the Match selection, not that Ringer played badly of course and scoring the first two tries was always going to put him up there, it’s just I felt JOB had so much opportunity to show off why he has not only cemented himself in Leinster’s European lineup but has even broken into Andy Farrell’s top tier as well.

Also for our Front Five segment at the start of the show I chose two articles which I felt covered areas usually left out of the discussion over the supposed “unfairness” regarding Leinster’s success – the first one actually turns the spotlight back on the other Irish provinces and their internal issues, while the second tries to appreciate the actual hard work put in across the 12 counties (which, I should probably point out, does not mean it’s ALL down to our hard work).

If you’re playing the clips above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

DEFENCE MANIPULATION & HIGH BALL CATCHING TIK TOKS

I was also able to produce two TikToks for the pod – the first might get taken down at some point as I used footage from the match but I wanted to highlight the amazing work done under the high ball. I actually planned to just do the Leinster catches but there were so many by the Tigers as well I had to do the lot, eleven altogether.

@harpinonrugby
It was quite an evening for catches at the Aviva on Good Friday…. #LEINvLEIC #HeinekenChampionsCup
♬ Furious Offroad Racing – Morgan Sansous & Sham Makdessi

Lots to savour there but for me one thing I havent seen mentioned much is how Stormers, Ulster & Leicester have tested Leinster under the high ball in last three matches and we have coped extremely well. Lots of fine catches made look easy, crucial. #LEINvLEIC
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 7, 2023

For the second TikTok I went our more traditional route by picking a quote from the pod and the second I heard Tom say “if you freeze it there…” I knew this was going to be my clip this was a perfect explanation of how Leinster were finding gaps in the second half.

@harpinonrugby
Check out our wrap pod on most major platforms, with a couple of bonus clips also on our YouTube channel
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

AI = AVIVA INDIGNATION

Every week I have to react to more whinging and moaning about perceived advantages enjoyed by Leinster & Ireland, and this time I thought an extra YouTube clip from the pod would cover it for this column, yet in between producing that and writing this there has been yet more of it.

Now it’s over the possibility that all of Leinster’s knockout matches could well be in the Aviva Stadium. Is that an advantage for us? Well of course it is. But the way it’s being presented in the Birdhouse is making it look like the organisers of the Champions Cup went out of their way to make it so and that is simply not the case.

Many seem to be selectively ignoring these facts…

* Leinster earned home adv in L16 & QF AND SF from pool stage, and the pool stage draw itself was earned from reaching the final four of last season’s URC.

* Semifinal venues meant to be “neutral” yes, but to stage an event you know you can get a crowd of 50k+ anywhere smaller would be madness, especially if anyone is actually suggesting taking it off the island of Ireland. Leinster’s only viable options are the Aviva & Croke Park, with the latter kind of tied up with other sports besides it’s also in Dublin anyway.

* The Final venue changes every year, and rarely has it been in Ireland.

I suppose the question I have to ask myself is…would I be complaining if this were happening with another country? I do know we spent a lot of time talking about how referees seemed to show favouritism towards the All Blacks when they were conquering all before them? Is this what it looks like from the other side and if so, which side is actually right?

Maybe it’s a bit of both, but one thing is for sure, the endless griping after every win does get really boring.

So many different ways to push back on all the selective narratives over Leinster's success, yet no matter how much we try to discuss the full issue, it seems every win will continue to be followed by more tweets, more articles and more tweets about articles. pic.twitter.com/XrOdctacmR
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 10, 2023

OPPOSITION FEEDBACK

For all my talk of whining after another Leinster win last Friday, to be fair I have to share this DM I got from Mike Cooper who hosts the great Leicester Tigers pod Rolling Maul. This is how you respond to a defeat in my book.

Just to say mate, what a privilege it was to see your boys execute in the second half. I was so proud of our chaps in the first 40, I felt we negated your power and carrying game (your ‘plan A’) – hopefully you were impressed by George Martin and Tommy Reffell! – but in the second 40, the switch of style to exploit our weakness out-wide was – on a second (painful) watch – breathtaking. The constant isolation of Potter (poor bastard, not the game to play your 4th pro game at 13!) was honestly the best accuracy and clarity I’ve seen at club level. Cullen/Lancaster, whoever pulled that trigger at half time, it is so, so impressive. I will still say some pundits (including your guest in the preview!) were not fair on where Leicester could trouble Leinster (and I thought that showed in the first half), but ultimately the quality and cohesion of your lads shone through in a big way. A privilege to watch Ringrose, too. Best of luck for the rest of the tourny – one of the best club sides I’ve ever seen!! Happy for you to throw this into your pod as “opposition feedback!”.

AI = AIRLINE IRRITATION

SA teams have travelled more, played away more and had odds stacked against them. Toulouse have yet to fly to SA Lyon, Bordeaux, Clermont, Racing 92 and Stade Francais all lost in SA.
Easy when everything is in your favour.
— Brenden Nel (@Brendennel) April 8, 2023

Have to say I expected more from the Sharks and Stormers last weekend in Europe, especially the latter. Again there has been griping about the amount of travel they’ve had to do over the course of the season, and I guess that’s fair despite the similar distances in Super Rugby because our calendar is a lot more punishing in that regard.

That said, if we’re going to talk about perceived advantages in Europe when it comes to the South African teams, it’s worth pointing out something I have flagged here since it was announced they were joining the HCC – between the pool phase and the knockouts the European clubs all had to pray that their top players survived the Six Nations while the South Africans had no such test involvement.

Overall the answer to most of these cries of injustice is that rugby union is and always will be perfectly imperfect and trying to level the playing field in one area will generally make it more crooked in another.

AI = ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Since I’m on an AI theme for some of my headings in this column, I thought I’d share this experiment I did on Sunday morning when I downloading a ChatGPT app – I asked it to come up with a 500-word report on Leinster’s win over the Tigers and I didn’t give it the final score. As you can see, while it did have the scoreline right a lot of the details in the report were a tad wide of the mark, with a few retired and injured players put in the lineup plus the misconception that it was a pool game. But this definitely sounds like a match I would have like to have seen anyway!!!

“Leinster secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup with a resounding 55-24 win over Leicester Tigers at the RDS Arena in Dublin on Saturday. The Irish team ran in eight tries to Leicester’s three to extend their lead at the top of Pool Five.

Leinster took the lead in the 12th minute through winger James Lowe, who collected a cross-field kick from fly-half Johnny Sexton and touched down in the corner. Sexton missed the conversion but made amends five minutes later with a penalty to extend Leinster’s lead to eight points.

Leicester responded with a try of their own in the 21st minute, with winger Kobus van Wyk finishing off a flowing move from the Tigers. But Leinster hit back almost immediately with a try from prop Tadhg Furlong, who powered over the line from close range.

The home side continued to dominate and added two more tries before half-time, with Jamie Heaslip and Garry Ringrose both crossing the whitewash. Sexton converted both tries to give Leinster a commanding 27-7 lead at the break.

The second half was a more even affair, with Leicester scoring two tries through Dan Cole and Jonny May. But Leinster had too much firepower and responded with tries from Ringrose, Jack Conan and a brace from replacement hooker Sean Cronin.

Leinster’s performance was impressive, with their attacking play causing Leicester all sorts of problems. Sexton was outstanding, controlling the game with his kicking and passing, while Lowe and Ringrose were a constant threat on the wings.

Leicester, on the other hand, were disappointing, with their defence leaking too many tries. They did show some attacking intent, but were unable to match Leinster’s intensity and skill.

The win means that Leinster are guaranteed a place in the knockout stages of the Champions Cup, with a home quarter-final looking increasingly likely. They will be considered one of the favorites to lift the trophy, given their dominant performances in the competition so far.

Leicester, on the other hand, have little chance of progressing to the quarter-finals, with only a slim chance of qualifying as one of the best runners-up. They will be looking to bounce back in domestic competitions, with the aim of qualifying for next year’s Champions Cup.

Overall, it was a thoroughly entertaining game of rugby, with Leinster’s class shining through. They will look to take this momentum into their remaining Champions Cup games, as they aim to lift the trophy for the fifth time in their history.”

“KILLING THE GAME” TWEET

I don’t always agree with Tim’s Twitter takes but I’m right there with him here…one of the best responses to the “killing the game” nonsense I have seen. PEOPLE HAVE DIED FROM HEAD INJURIES SUSTAINED IN RUGBY. Many others have experienced life-altering repercussions. Why oh why oh why are we allowing this debate to continue in such a way as to give so much oxygen to those who’s only inconvenience is to sit in their armchairs a bit longer while the officials review a call. The real debate is happening among people who actually want to save the game, not kill it.

Apparently, protecting players by punishing headshots – ie enforcing what have always been the laws of rugby because a shoulder to the head has always been foul play – is “actually killing rugby”.

And you know what? Good. Any idea of rugby accepting headshots needs to be killed. https://t.co/dMIqFGA76R
— Tim O'Connor (@timoconnorbl) April 9, 2023

AI = ACTUAL INJURY (REPORT)

Obviously the worries from Friday mostly surround Ryan Baird and James Lowe, although following the Leinster report I’ve heard rumblings that Baird’s injury may not be as bad as first thought. As for Lowe, well if he misses knockouts because of a skip of delight following a try then I’ll challenge anyone who tries to say we’re getting all the luck!

At time of writing the squad hasn’t been announced for Leinster’s South African trek although I see Jason Jenkins was put front and centre for a presser so I’m thinking he might be one of the top tier players travelling, along with Luke McGrath and possibly Jordan Larmour.

UPDATE : Leinster have since announced the touring squad and with the likes of Larmour, Frawley and McGrath left behind so below is a revised possible 23…

POSSIBLE 23 V LIONS

Cosgrove, Russell, T O’Brien, Turner, Kearney, Tector, McCarthy

E Byrne, Barron, Ala’alatoa, Deeny, Jenkins, Ruddock, Connors, Deegan

McElroy, Milne, Clarkson, Soroka, Culhane, Murphy/Gunne, Prendergast, King

(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Caelan Doris: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

Garry Ringrose: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from the Graduated Return to Play Protocols

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

N/A

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Ryan Baird: injured his shoulder in the first half against Leicester Tigers and will be unavailable for a few weeks

James Lowe: injured his calf in the second half against Leicester Tigers and will be further assessed this week

There are no further updates on:

Josh van der Flier (ankle), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Rónan Kelleher (shoulder), Joe McCarthy (ankle), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Martin Moloney (knee) and Charlie Ngatai (hamstring)

AI = ALL-IRELAND (LEAGUE UPDATE)

The good news for AIL fans is that all five matches in the final round robin stage have playoff/relegation implications. Even though the top four sides are decided the actual rankings and home advantages are still up for grabs. Tarf aren’t quite mathematically sure of 1st place yet although I reckon Terenure are a bit more concerned with overcoming relegation-playoff–threatened Shannon in case they get caught by Cork Con who travel to play the Cookies. And should Shannon cause an upset at Lakelands, the two Dublin universities will need wins although UCD have a tad more difficult task at Castle Avenue as Trinity host the bottom side Garryowen. Should be an interesting couple of hours from 2:30 on Saturday for sure.

Meanwhile in 1B there’s a three way race to qualify for the promotion playoff between Belvo, who have a tricky Dublin derby at Mary’s, Highfield who face Banbridge down the bottom of the table, and Buccaneers who host the newly crowned champions City of Armagh.

DIVISION 1A

ROUND 18

Ballynahinch v Lansdowne

Clontarf v UCD

Dublin University v Garryowen

Terenure College v Shannon

Young Munster v Cork Con

DIVISION 1B

ROUND 18

Banbridge v Highfield

Buccaneers v City of Armagh

Naas v Old Wesley

St Mary’s v Old Belvedere

UCC v Malone

SEVENS UPDATE

The Irish men’s side really had a Sevens stinker in Singapore for sure, losing five on the bounce finishing a dead last 16th to pick up just one point in the series. That knocks us out of the top eight and we’ll need a decent showing in the final two rounds to claw our way back up. We have definitely stumbled since our silver medal early in the season. The circuit resumes in May with men’s and women’s events in Toulouse before the final men’s one in London.

MLR UPDATE

For the past few weeks I’ve been featuring an MLR game for this column but with Easter and school midterm and all I just don’t have the time for this round. Stand out result from Round 8 was definitely the San Diego Legion toppling previously unbeaten Seattle making the Western Conference table look pretty interesting.

One thing I have yet to do for this feature is select a team to follow. Coming from the Bay Area of California as I do, there’s no natural choice although I do have quite a few relatives in New England as well so the Free Jacks seem the obvious alternative so maybe I’ll go for them, we’ll see.

Throwback Thursday : Last year’s QF v Leicester Tigers

For our latest Throwback Thursday we’re only going back a year to the 2021/22 Champions Cup quarterfinal at Welford Road, and the fact that they played us this recently is one of many reasons why they cannot be taken for granted on Good Friday.

GAME MANAGEMENT

As we all know, bonus points don’t matter a damn in knockout rugby. All you want to do is have at least one more point than the other lot at full time.

But that isn’t the only margin that can be significant in these matches. 8 and 15 are also ones to be aware of because they give you a cushion that makes your opposition need two or three scores to claw you back.

This means that if you can get yourself ahead on the scoreboard early enough, there’s no need to go hell for leather for the rest of the match, especially when you know victory will give you just a week to prepare to go again, this time against the reigning champions no less. Obviously you have to be wary of switching off altogether, but with a “smart” approach you can definitely do all you can to shepherd the lead home.

On Saturday at Welford Road, while there may not have been too many “You Tube moments” to savour, what you did see was Leinster wringing out every last drop of extra European experience they had over their hosts to first build a three score lead and then gradually see it through to the final whistle.

Naturally we needed a bit of luck along the way, every winning team does, but on a day when fans are bound to be nervous whether their team are favourites or not (even if they predicted a win in their own preview) the boys in blue made their return to Leo Cullen’s stomping ground look perhaps not “easy” or “comfortable”, but definitely controlled.

So let’s go through the eighty minutes and see how things transpired, though as you can see, events from elsewhere made that a bit difficult…

0-20

Here’s the thing. Virtually every time I writeup Leinster & Ireland matches for these pages, I take minute by minute notes as it’s being played, before one, sometimes two rewatches on the way to doing the writeup. This one time, being unable to travel, I chose to accept an invitation to a friend’s place to enjoy the action with a few beers as nature intended for the typical fan.

And since the “warmup” quarterfinal at the Aviva Stadium went the way it did forcing the first 15 minutes at Welford Road onto another channel, it meant I was unable to find a recording of the full match which in turn meant my recollection of the first quarter is a little sketchy to say the least.

What I do remember is that on our first bout of possession it looked for a moment that the Tigers had really done their homework on the Sexton wraparound move when George Ford got in the way, meaning a pass went straight to Chris Ashton, leaving me feeling that this could be a long afternoon. But thankfully the officials spotted they came from an offside position, meaning Sexton was able to calmly put us into the lead by three points.

The next twelve minutes or so are a bit of a blur, partly because it has been a couple of days but mostly because I had been drinking since kickoff in the Munster match, but to be fair the recording I did get begins just as they are showing highlights of Josh van der Flier’s try so I’m happy to harp on that with or without context!!!

As ever, we badly needed our lineouts to perform, especially in the opposition 22, and this one from the just-returned Rónan Kelleher to Jack Conan was a thing of beauty, thrown with just the right pace and caught just at the top of its arc and as our hosts might have expected us to set up a maul, instead it was Josh van der Flier who took it and charged towards the line.

Maybe I have said the whole “he’s been working on his carrying” line is getting a bit old, but when he can charge through first one, then two tackles at the line to still be able to reach out and get the ball down, maybe it’s a phrase we should keep on using if only for good luck.

Next I have to apologise to skipper Sexton for having little faith in his kick off the boot after he struck it; I thought it would drift left but instead it held its line and went just inside the upright which meant that after just 15 minutes we had already established a two-score lead.

The match had its first bit of controversy shortly after the restart when James Lowe’s booming exit kick was taken by Ford to be sent back in our direction. The home fans were convinced Ford had been hit late by Hugo Keenan. For me, well, it could have been given though HK was slowing himself down when contact was made. Anyway, there was further pain for the Tigers in that they were themselves pinged instead, for being offside ahead of the kicker.

Now we’re back with the attacking lineout again, only it’s outside their 22. This time it’s Molony taking the confident dart and it’s sent straight to the backs where Robbie Henshaw seeks out contact and pumps his legs until we’re well into their 22 on the front foot.

From here there’s further strong carries by Furlong, Conan, Doris among others, each time with Jamison Gibson-Park directing the traffic like he has been doing in both blue and green all season. Eventually on the 12th phase Conan has two latchers as he drags it to within inches of the line right under the posts as the referee signals a penalty advantage.

But the advantage won’t be needed as just like back at the start of the move, JGP fires a miss pass to Henshaw only this time, his momentum is getting him over the line for try number two, after which a conversion hands us that coveted 15+ point cushion.

Long, long way to go of course, but still a lead any team would have gladly taken if offered at kickoff.

20-HT

This was a quarter that had just the one score, but it was still eventful nonetheless as it was more about Leicester’s inability to get the duck egg off the scoreboard.

As you can see below in our latest TikTok video, their failure to score was partly down to being unable to get their plans to crack our defence to work, and partly down to not having a plan at all when one was needed…

@harpinonrugby
Harpin TikTok 5 – Solving Leinster’s D #rugby
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

When it comes to the controlled confidence I’m saying Leinster displayed on the day, most of that was shown on defence, and when your performance without the ball is at that level it can effect other areas of the game, like decision making for both sides.

But it wasn’t all about our actual defensive tackling cordon when it came to keeping the home side out – on an attacking lineout in our 22, an area where the Tigers have been known to succeed with a rolling maul or two in their day, James Ryan made sure nobody had forgotten him since he was forced onto the sidelines by snaffling the dart and we were able to clear.

And shortly after that last play in the video when the home side let the transition opportunity pass and instead put up a routine high ball, there was Jamison Gibson-Park burrowing his way to a jackled penalty in their half, offering his captain and fellow halfback the chance to push our lead even further to 20, one he duly took.

Finally for this half, if there was ever to be evidence the rugby gods were on our side, it was when Keenan was forced into touch in his own 22 a teeny tiny fraction of a second after the clock went red to end the half, denying them one last chance, although the way our defence was looking we could well have snuffed out that danger too.

My halftime tweet showed my own confidence was beginning to match Leinster’s.

In control. More of the same please.#LEIvLEI
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) May 7, 2022

40-60

Only a fool would’ve been surprised by a Leicester fightback after the break. Steve Borthwick hasn’t assembled this team and gotten them to the top of the Premiership without knowing how to make the right changes at halftime when things aren’t going so well.

And in many ways they seemed to be doing what they were doing towards the end of the first half, only better and more focused. We were really on the back foot during this period and it could have gone several different ways.

For one lineout they threw to the front again, only instead of sending it back to the thrower, this also became a maul, one which had enough traction to get all the way to the line. Even here our defence was holding out around the breakdown except when it was sent wide at just the right moment, George Ford found just the right miss pass to Ashton and he was over in the corner.

A beautiful strike from out wide by Ford made it seven and there was still a long way to go. Now the confidence was showing in Leicester’s play, with Ford and skipper Genge leading from the front. But for me, the remainder of this quarter was easily the most significant of the match.

On the one hand, you could say we saw out this spell, one in which we barely made it out of our own half with the ball once, because of the strong defence I was harping on earlier. But on the other hand, as the BT graphics people were more than happy to point out, we did ship a lot of penalties in a row.

My own words are coming back to haunt me now – just last week against the Stormers I was complaining that the ref had given the home side a warning without following up on it. Here, if we really did give up that many consecutive sanctions, we probably should have been told the next one would mean a card as well.

That said, there was also the question of what the Tigers were doing with those penalties. Some of them were very much in kickable positions and I reckon getting themselves to double digits would be a huge psychological advantage. Instead they went for the jugular and, well, missed when it mattered.

When Nemani Nadolo came onto the pitch you can hear Ben Kay in the commentary box saying “this might change things”. Well he did crash over the line in trademark fashion at one point in this critical spell only to be held up brilliantly by both Jimmy O’Brien and JVDF.

From there they went back for yet another penalty advantage which was put to touch for yet another lineout, only for there to be yet another brilliant grab by James Ryan to deny them yet another rolling maul.

At other times the blue brick wall was standing firm with phase after phase going nowhere, and high balls sent into the Leicester evening sky being caught well by the likes of Jimmy O’Brien and Hugo Keenan.

60-FT

Obviously for all our success in thwarting our hosts we really needed something to happen to allow us some time down the other end of the pitch and it finally came on 61m when a big hit by James Lowe on Harry Potter (I really really want to make some wizard references here but I’d say they’ve all been done to death by others covering Leicester by now) and when Henshaw recovered the ball, Gibson-Park’s first instinct was to send it deep into opposition territory, like perhaps Ben Youngs should have done when the boot was on the other foot.

Since JGP went on to earn Player of the Match, (and rightly so, I felt vindicated for singling him out during the week on the Rolling Maul Podcast for Tigers fans) we’ll take it that it was his kick was perfectly placed and it found grass just inside the 22, allowing enough chasers to get there in time for JVDF (another PotM contender, AGAIN) to block Potter’s clearance before Weise just beat his opposite number 8 Conan to get the ball down. However, because he carried over the line first, it meant there was a scrum to Leinster.

Just to recap, since that Ashton try, the Tigers had done all they could to add to their score to no avail. Now moments after our first touch of the ball in their 22 since the break, we had an attacking 5m scrum. And when Jack Conan took it from the base to just under the posts only for their sub scrum half Richard Wigglesworth (no stranger to beating us in Europe of course) to take out the 9 giving us an easy penalty for Ross Byrne, on at this stage for Sexton (was that booing as he left?), to slot the three.

All of which meant that for those still keeping tabs on the numbers I was on about at the start of this article, our 13-point cushion was now pushed to 16, which meant three scores were needed once more, and now there were only fifteen minutes left.

Up to this point, I haven’t really mentioned penalties awarded at scrums. And I’m delighted that I haven’t needed to, given what happened at Twickenham the last time Ellis Genge squared off against Tadhg Furlong, with this same referee Reynal I might add.

Now it’s not like there were absolutely no penalties at all on the day, there were, but they were distributed pretty much evenly. Maybe the French referees heard us all complaining about them making their mind up for the first few scrum and going the same way. Or, maybe that’s just a stupid narrative that isn’t real.

But for those final fifteen minutes it wasn’t just the penalties at scrum which were a feature, it was more the amount of resets – which are naturally going to benefit the team ahead on the scoreboard. I can’t blame the Tigers for thinking this was going to be an area where they could dominate us, but it has to be said the penalties awarded both ways seemed fair, with Michael Ala’alatoa doing well in his cameo for Furlong.

As the clock was in the high seventies, one rolling maul did find its way over the line as their sub hooker Nic Dolly got it down to make the final score look more respectable but even from the kickoff our defence wasn’t letting them off the hook and we practically bullied them in their own 22 until they turned it over only for Ross Byrne to put it dead to call it a day.

HARPIN’ POINTS

Far from a classic but like I said, when it’s our team playing in a one off match, we want wins not classics. And I really don’t think anyone is disputing that the better team won.

As always after results like these, you do have some commentators making the usual moans about how Irish provinces are put together and how many internationals we have and how it’s all unfair and blah blah blah but one thing is for sure, you never heard anything like that from Leicester Tigers captain Ellis Genge who to his credit soundly rejected the narrative at the post-match presser.

Back on our side, you have to be happy with the performance – I’ve been saying all season how even though we’re top of the URC our matchday squads for Europe seem to find an extra level when it comes to focus, professionalism, cohesion or whatever other buzzwords you might want to use.

There was also a chance to give a European debut and there’s no doubt Joe McCarthy has earned it with some fine displays in the URC this season. Pretty sure it won’t be long before he’s starting on these occasions.

Finally on the Tigers themselves I can only say it again that European experience was the difference. I can totally see them back competing at this stage again next year, only very liekly as Premiership champions and a much better chance of progressing.

WHAT’S NEXT

On the Harpin podcast during the week I’ll be chatting to a Leinster fan who travelled to Welford Road about the whole experience and then our attention, naturally will turn to our semifinal date with Toulouse next Saturday at 3pm. Stay tuned to this page as well as any or all of our social media channels to catch our usual features like previews and such. Thanks as ever for sticking with the writeup to the end. JLP

Throwback Thursday : #IREvENG from 2015

For our latest #ThrowbackThursday we look at Ireland playing England at the Aviva in 2015 which was interesting for many reasons, like it was also before a World Cup, and it was Joe Schmidt v Stu Lancaster. It may not have been decisive for the five-win distinction that Ireland are playing for this coming weekend, but as regular readers/listeners will know we’re avoiding that phrase here at Harpin Manor right now.

TINKER, TAILOR, #SHOULDERTOSHOULDER, SCHMIDT

Stuart Lancaster did mention his side’s lack of discipline in his post-match press conference alright. And in true rugby fashion, the English press were happy to pick up that ball and run with it as the primary reason for this result.

But to be fair to the English coach, that wasn’t the only reason he gave, and I certainly don’t believe it went anywhere near explaining just how this match went.

Preparation was always going to be the prevailing theme of this contest. It’s not so much that talent was irrelevant, more that talent was only going to get you so far in the approach for either side. And right from the very kick off, we could see what England’s plan was…territory over possession.

And to be honest, who can blame them? Since these teams last met, Ireland had won every time they took to the field and while there were always little strategy tweaks made to suit the opposition, there were greater themes to be noted like power plays, lineout/mauls and yes, even that blight on the game called the choke tackle (which didn’t help Ireland this weekend but ironically DID help Wales at one stage in their match).

So for the English to come to Dublin with a plan in place to put the ball as deep as they could in Irish territory in order to try and force a mistake makes perfect sense.

But here’s the thing…particularly in those key opening exchanges, we barely made a significant mistake, and my contention is that if the English hadn’t conceded the kickable penalties that had us 6-0 up with 95% possession after 7 minutes, the margin could very easily have been 14 or even more.

And while we’re at it, what say we look at themes other than discipline – like experience. George Ford certainly has the qualities to not only make that white 10 jumper his own but also to have success with it, but on this day, he was made look like a schoolboy by his opposite number.

In other areas where England had talent, like on the wing with Anthony Watson, they had some bright spots which were outdone but some not so bright ones like getting caught offside after a knockon, possibly one of the most frustrating things you can be pinged for. But much like Ford, that’s not to say his coaching staff should lose all faith in him for the future based on this display – imagine if Ireland had given up on Simon Zebo?

Speaking of Zebo, it was his strong tackle on Watson that led to the lone Irish try. And oh, what a try. We’ve all seen it a gagillion times even just a couple of days later, but I could easily watch it that many times again. The first thing to stand out for me is the reaction of Conor Murray to the penalty advantage.

The scrum half has enough to process going to the base of every ruck as it is without having a play like this one ready to roll out should the ref stick his arm out. But when Craig Joubert called the high tackle on Kearney, Murray had no hesitation in looking sideways to give the call. Right on cue, not only did Henshaw get himself where he needed to be to get the perfectly-weighted kick, but also his centre partner Jared Payne was running in support just in case Robbie felt knocking it to a team-mate was a better option than catching it.

Of course before we get to the try itself we mustn’t ignore the build-up – Zebo’s tackle was strong but wouldn’t have led to much if he didn’t have the support of his forwards to swarm over Watson and win the ball back, and in the half a dozen or so phases that followed, all 15 in green jerseys were involved in finding soft shoulders, clearing out, and even when someone the calibre of Robshaw found a way through to disrupt, tidying up before Kearney drew the penalty advantage and Murray put up his kick.

But once up in the air it was all about Robbie Henshaw. Alex Goode wasn’t a guaranteed starter for England but he was certainly one of their best, most consistent performers on the day so the Connacht star’s task was to compete with both him and the dead ball line and then both catch the ball AND touch it down. Would have been a tough ask for someone with 100 test caps, but he made it look like he had all those and then some.

And it wasn’t just the try which earned Henshaw the man of the match award. The statman credited him with 6 missed tackles, but he still led the side with 14 made, and some of the ones he missed wouldn’t have even been attempted by most test 12s – he was a man on a mission and one of the keys to Ireland’s success so far in this year’s Six Nations is his partnership with Payne which is looking more and more like an inspired selection with each passing game.

Then we have another key partnership, at halfback. I have already highlighted Murray’s excellent role in things but someone needs to link up the Munster man with the Connacht and Ulster centres and what can I say about the job Mr J Sexton is doing that pretty much every commentator in the game hasn’t already said? When you show disappointment in an outhalf for pulling just one placekick wide and putting one garryowen a tad too deep into the opposition 22 then you know you have someone special pulling your strings.

My personal favourite Sexton moment in the match was his crossfield kick to Tommy Bowe in the opening minutes. You’d think in rugby union that any plan which involves putting boot to ball constituted a risk but every aspect of that kick shows the intense technical detail that went into the planning of the move. Sure – it needed skill and accuracy, but at this level, that is demanded anyway and Goode was left with absolutely no choice but to run the ball dead after his catch given the trajectory it took and the way Bowe challenged for it.

I could go on in my praise for Irish performances…Rory at hooker was living up to his surname, Jordi Murphy almost had you asking “Jamie who?” and Tommy O’Donnell pretty much did the same re: Seanie after he was forced from the action. Our locks were as devilish as ever around the park with Paulie the consummate leader and Toner stealing lineouts one minute and playing stand-in scrum half the next.

But once again in my writeup for this great Irish team, I cannot ignore the glue that is keeping them together.

Of course even now you’ll get curmudgeons like George Hook saying this isn’t the type of rugby they would ideally like to see. But when you stop watching through goggles from the amateur days and appreciate the realities of the modern game you can most definitely see the beauty in how Joe Schmidt has his squad operating.

You can turn to someone watching with you and say : “See this lineout? Watch how two phases later we’ll be ten metres further up the park with England on the back foot” and that’s what will actually happen.

You can admire all the hard work put into banishing all our demons in this fixture from the scrum for good not just by technique, but also by tailoring our game to keep them to a minimum.

And most importantly, you can look at all three of our performances in this year’s tournament and appreciate that what we have seen so far isn’t necessarily what we’ll see in future contests so the upcoming opposition are bound to be kept on their toes as they prepare.

Hopefully when you use that lens you will see Joe Schmidt’s Ireland for what it is – a constantly evolving project which has its players growing more and more accustomed to success with every second spent at Carton House.

Sure, with a makeshift team towards the end on Sunday we let the visitors come back at us. And that is always a possibility for the final 20-odd minutes of any test match but if I had a plan which gave me a 16-point cushion when I get to that stage, whatever personnel I had on the park I’d fancy my chances against any team on the planet, at any venue and in any competition.

Now for all the gushing, it is worth noting that of those 10 wins in a row we keep hearing about, 6 of them were at the Aviva and our next two are away so cliché or no, there’s much rugby to be played yet before this Six Nations is done. But can you think of anyone else you’d want in charge?

#TrustJoe #ShoulderToShoulder #COYBIG JLP

80+ column : Over-reacting to over-reacting

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

FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE

First things first…a reminder of the prestigious Harpin Guinness Pint Predictor League.

Our leader in the “Best Score In One Round” category is Andrew Byrne’s 67, including a spot on prediction of Ireland’s 14-point win over Italy. The prize will be a signed copy of Brian Moylett’s “The Book On How You Become A Pro Rugby Player”. Jack Fogarty still leads the overall table with seven points to spare.

REMEMBER YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE LEAGUE AND WIN PRIZES we’re accepting entrants right up to the final round so you can still beat Andrew’s Round 3 score, also every Six Nations match gives you the chance to win a free pint so by all means download the app and enter the league using the code HARPIN and see how you get on.

WRAP OF A WRAP

Mark & Ciarán did their usual excellent job helping me wrap our latest feature match, I on the other hand had issues with my audio – when I heard it back it sounded like I was talking while being locked in a box. Thankfully it didn’t take long to re-record my parts and the result turned out ok if I do say so myself.

If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.

HARPIN ON…DAVE KEARNEY

We’ve been mostly using these YouTube bonus clips as an opportunity to turn the spotlight on certain players who don’t always get the recognition and if anyone in the current Leinster squad deserves this it has to be Dave Kearney. Thankfully his excellent finish in Edinburgh provided the platform for a decent bit of appreciation from our panel.

If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

LIAM TURNER TIK TOK

Unlike the YouTube clips, I never go into our pod recordings knowing what I’m going to you for the brief TikTok promos, it’s one of those things where I’ll know where I hear it and sure enough once Mark said this about Liam Turner definitely knew it.

It might sound like feint praise to say of a player “he’s a definite candidate for our 23 jersey in Europe” but when you’re talking about a squad with the depth of Leinster’s back three talent, that’s some statement yet one I’m more than happy to make about Turner he has had an outstanding season.

On a more personal note we’re proud here at Harpin Manor to have passed 400 followers on TikTok we’re not exactly pushing it as our top platform, simply posting regular clips so we’re happy that the numbers continue to rise and will no doubt do something special if and when we reach 500.

@harpinonrugby
A clip from our latest wrap pod available on most major platforms #EDIvLEI #URC
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

ARDIE AS NAILS – PART 1 (THE INCIDENT)

Ardie made a slit throat gesture to an opponent as he was leaving the field.

He publicly apologised at the earliest opportunity.

He has been cited.

That’s the above water part to this iceberg of a story. If you hold your nose and plunge into the depths though there was a whole lot more.

ARDIE AS NAILS – PART 2 (OVER-REACTION-FEST)

Yikes. Can't let this go. Straying towards criminal charges never mind a citing. https://t.co/eTlgL4XK9w
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) March 3, 2023

My initial thoughts were that if you made it publicly known that you were going to kill/injure someone out in the “real world” you wouldn’t or at least shouldn’t get away with it. So once my mind went to a place where I wanted to suggest on twitter that I thought this wasn’t cool, you can see where I landed.

I guess I assumed that by using the words “straying towards” I would be making it obvious that no, I do not actually think that there should be criminal charges brought against the Hurricanes & All Black number 8.

Enter the “Game’s Gone Soft” crowd. Or the “Woke Hunters” or whatever you want to call them. You see, my “mistake” was that the words “criminal charges” became a beacon for those rage scrolling the second the incident appeared as a clip on social media because, of course, they were actively searching for a poster child. I provided it for them. Do I regret it?

You know what – ten, maybe even five years ago, I definitely would have. I may even have gone so far as to remove the tweet.

But now, fuck it. I know what I meant. And if I’m tailoring my opinions based on how I think a certain corner of the opinion spectrum (especially this one) is going to respond well then I may as not bother. And since I’m a firm believer in sharing opinions, that only leaves one conclusion – leave it there, maybe add a tweet or two to explain what I meant (I even acknowledged that I probably did a bad job wording it but I still couldn’t change my view), and then let the backlash wash over me.

To summarise, we had people over-reacting to my over-reaction to Ardie’s initial over-reaction. Or to put it another way, an average day in the bird house.

I know there are those who will take this as “proof” that “Twitter is a cess pit” but even after last Friday I still disagree. If we defined every pursuit by it’s bad actors then the world itself would be a cess pit.

TRAIL FOUND?

I always make it clear when I’m about to harp on Welsh rugby that I am very aware that I’m far outside the “bubble” and thus am unsure of the minute details and dramas going on between the regions, cities, clubs and personalities across the nation.

But being a URC/Six Nations fan I do claim to have a tangential interest and from where I’m sitting it looks as though they have reached a point where they are going to have to rely on outside investment to get out of this cavernous hole they find themselves in.

And once you have to put your eggs in that corporate basket, you have to accept that there are going to be some options available which will make “unthinkable” actions very thinkable. Like merging one of the regions with a club that keeps on doing well in the RFU’s second tier while being denied entry into its first.

Does that mean it will definitely happen? Of course not. But my point is that if it does become possible they should definitely consider it, while if it doesn’t they need to get ready for another offer which may sound equally ludicrous at first.

Once rugby union went pro, the sport was always going to have to think outside the box, and to be fair, while it’s still far from perfect it’s still a better box for the most part IMO.

INJURY REPORT

Leinster tend not to issue a full report until the Monday before their next match so that would be March 20th. But going from the Irish squad update it looks like Ciaran Frawley has been called up to camp while Scott Penny and Jamie Osborne have been held back for minor knocks so hopefully they are indeed minor. Meanwhile we’re wondering whether or not the likes of Furlong, Gibson-Park, Sexton and Henshaw will be involved at Murrayfield next weekend.

AIL UPDATE

It’s “as you were” at the top of Division 1A as both Tarf and Nure secured BP wins away to Shannon and UCD respectively. Familiar names to Leinster fans among the tries include Ben Murphy and Jordan Coghlan.

Meanwhile in the race for the top 4 it’s looking like we could have two Leinster v Munster semifinals as both Cork Con and Young Munster also won away from home although Ballynahinch’s win over freefalling Trinity (the only home win of the five) keeps them in contention.

Down at the bottom it’s looking like a three-way fight to void joining Garryowen with Lansdowne, UCD and Shannon all having tricky away assignments in round 16 on March 25.

Men’s AIL

ROUND 15

Ballynahinch 36-15 Dublin Univ

Garryowen 21-29 Cork Con

Lansdowne 10-15 Young Munster

Shannon 3-33 Clontarf

UCD 10-32 Terenure

ROUND 16

MAR 25 (all 2:30pm)

Clontarf v Ballynahinch

Cork Con v Shannon

Dublin Univ v Lansdowne

Terenure v Garryowen

Young Munster v UCD

SEVENS – VANCOUVER WRAP

Mixed fortune for the Irish squads in Canada – both started brightly with wins over the host nation and South American opposition but then they went their separate ways. The women went on to lost all their remaining matches and although they remain a respectable 5th in the standings, a gap has appeared above them and they will be anxiously looking over their shoulders for the remaining rounds.

Although the men couldn’t avenge the Aussies in their final pool match, they still made the quarterfinals where a Zac Ward try deep in extra time got them past the USA and into the final four where they may have fallen to Argentina and again Australia but still the points were valuable and put us back into the top 8.

The circuit now moves on to Hong Kong at the end of March.

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

My goal is to watch at least one MLR fixture each week, starting with Houston v San Diego from round 3 they’re all available for free on TheRugbyNetwork.com.

To be clear I won’t be following this competition merely to comment on the rugby. My main interest is in watching how the sport is growing in the USA. I reckon they have a decent model in the MLR to bring it forward but the league hasn’t been without its challenges especially last season when they lost the two Adam Gilchrist-owned teams (though considering the dumb nicknames they had they probably won’t be missed too much in the long run).

So with this in mind I checked out the replay of the Houston Sabercats v San Diego Legion, probably the biggest clash of Round 3 as both are expected to make the playoffs. The familiar names were mostly on the San Diego side which features skipper Blair Cowen, Ma’a Nonu and Mikey Te’o.

The US presentation of the match was pretty much as expected, with a two-man team for commentary with the analyst seeing his role not only to provide “colour” but also to explain some of the more complicated rules, which is a good thing in my book.

One good feature of this match is that it was played on a pitch that wasn’t besmirched by lines from American football, something we do still see in quite a few MLR matches.

It seemed a decent crowd at Sabercats Stadium but it was the visitors who jumped out to an early 14-0 lead with Nonu heavily involved in both tries in the first 10 minutes. Needless to say the defences won’t be up to the standards we’re used to in European rugby but still the general attacking play is to be admired at times.

Houston did manage to claw them back including an intercept try from winger Labuschagne which nudged them in front but a quick pair of San Diego tries created 26-17 advantage going into the last ten minutes. This should have been enough to secure the win but a pair of yellow cards in succession to Sears-Juru & Poidevin gave the home side an opening and they sailed through it with two late converted tries including the winner from their big number 8 Gideon van Wyk to win the day.

Again, if you’re a rugby purist, don’t bother watching these matches. But if you appreciate how the sport can benefit from the game growing, plus that it will take time for a league to establish rivalries and traditions of its own, then you can certainly enjoy keeping an eye on how things are going.

ROUND 3

DAL 10-35 SEA

ATL 29-16 NOLA

CHI 10-14 UTAH

RNYI 34-8 OGDC

HOU 31-26 SD

ROUND 4

NEFJ V OGDC

CHI V TOR

SD V DAL

SEA V HOU

NOLA V RNYI

HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE

I checked back in the records and after being in 1st place after the first couple of URC rounds I had dropped to 3rd by round 7, a whopping 9.5 points behind our resident stats expert RugbyKino, but as you can see I have clawed eight of those points back so I’ll be gunning to retrieve that top spot by the end.

This league is meant to be a race to avoid the bottom spot which rewards you by having to wear The Jersey Of Shame in a social media phot but it would appear Neil “No Picks Keego” Keegan wants that honour for himself so he’s welcome to it!!!

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

The Six Nations is back on the menu and for a bonus pod during the week I will be the Leinster representative on an all-provincial panel giving an overview of the 2023 Six Nations as it stands. Then we turn to our focus to Sunday’s “Triple Crown decider” in Murrayfield with a preview show before, a wrap pod after and also all the other usual features in between so be sure to follow us on any or all of our social media platforms to keep up with it all. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP

80+ column : Anthems, Contracts, Updates

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

FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE

First things first…the all important update in the prestigious Guinness Pint Predictor League.

We have a new leader in the “Best Score In One Round” category as Andrew Byrne’s 67, including a spot on prediction of Ireland’s 14-point win over Italy, put him in pole position. The prize will be a signed copy of Brian Moylett’s “The Book On How You Become A Pro Rugby Player”.

As you can see despite being knocked off his perch Jack Fogarty still leads the overall table with seven points to spare.

WRAP OF A WRAP

Apart from a big mishap on my part where I got the seniors and U20s mixed up in my selection of Front Five articles, Sunday night’s recordings went well and Tom and Conor did their usual sterling work in describing the action.

If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.

HARPIN ON…12 & 13 OPTIONS

For the bonus chat this week we looked at Ireland’s options as centre and looking back at it now we even missed some names like James Hume and Luke Marshall who have both of course done well when called upon. Still I think it’s important to acknowledge that when everyone is fit there is only one pairing for Ireland that ticks all boxes both with and without the ball and while we try to repress the bias when talking about Ireland, I wonder in this case if it’s actually better for Leinster fans to make that point.

If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

HARPIN’ ON…CLOCK GONE RED

Here’s a bonus bonus clip if you will. After Tom described Italy’s interception try at the end of the first half I asked him about Ireland’s mindset in not killing the half after winning the lineout after the clock went red given the BP was in the bag.

TOM O’TOOLE TIK TOK

Halfway through this you’ll see me writing something down, for the record it’s a note to myself reminding me to use Tom’s mention of O’Toole’s display for this week’s TikTok clip. As you can see I remembered!

@harpinonrugby
A clip from our latest wrap pod subscribe on most major platforms #LEIvDRA
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

IRELAND’S TIME-DELAYED CALL

There has been a lot of light hearted indignation on social media about the Italian rendition of Ireland’s Call before the match, and to be honest while I wanted to join in, the fact that the issue was easily sidetracked into that annoying “debate” over whether or not that should be played at all for Irish rugby made me pause. But this column is a much safer space for me to express my thoughts without all that nonsense.

It should be a simple matter – each union should be able to decide on how their anthem is played. Full stop. I’m not even sure why it’s up for debate. Even giving the Italian organisers the benefit of the doubt in that this wasn’t a case of intentional head-wrecking, they still shouldn’t be put in a position where an error can be made.

The anthem playing is a “formality” in every sense of the word. First, it’s a reminder to the player of the extra prestige of playing test level rugby for their native or adopted country (another rabbit hole I’d want to avoid in this discussion) but more relevant is the way we’re not supposed to have the rendition of the anthem as a major talking point especially in something like the Six Nations!!!

You’d hope that regulations wouldn’t be needed for this, but that fiasco would seem to warrant them.

LEO SIGNS

A friend texted me on Monday “Just drove past the Leinster HQ in UCD.. lots of press outside” and within an hour I had learned exactly why. This had been rumoured for a while but the confirmation was obviously very welcome news. With Stu leaving for Racing at the end of the campaign, this provides much needed continuity and I very much doubt there’s a single Leinster fan unhappy about it.

On Stu’s replacement, we’re hearing talk about Leon MacDonald, currently in charge of the Blues in Super Rugby and formally involved with Tasman, the Crusaders and the All Blacks so not a bad resumé at all, plus he has worked with Andrew Goodman. But before I get deep into details like how he takes his coffee, I should point out that nothing is confirmed as yet although apparently this will be sorted over the coming weeks.

Last thing I’d say on it is that a senior coaching position at Leinster Rugby isn’t exactly a tough one to sell to the best coaches.

RDS REDEVELOPMENT

“The funds are there. It’s just a case of going through the boring bit around plans and tenders, dates and project plans. All that boring stuff. That’s all happening now. It’s all systems go. I think we should have something really exciting in the next couple of months to show.”

Obviously COVID knocked back the planned redevelopment of the RDS a good bit so it’s good to see it’s still on track and every update on its progress is welcome. I love going there but still this work is very badly needed.

SCHOOLS FINAL FOUR

After a replayed first round tie set things back a bit, we now finally know the semifinalists in this season’s Leinster Schools Senior Cup : St Michael’s College v Blackrock College, Newbridge College v Gonzaga College.

Both should be quality matches but the first one puts me in mind of the final from ten years ago which featured players like Garry Ringrose, Jeremy Loughman, Oliver Jager, Nick Timoney, Cian Kelleher, Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy, Ross Molony, James Ryan, Josh Murphy & Max Deegan. It was also the day I took this photo which got some decent reception about t’internet and (eventually!) inspired me to start the Harpin Instagram account.

Very much looking forward to both semifinals next Monday & Tuesday.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jeff Pagano (@harpinonrugby)

INJURY REPORT

IRELAND

Biggest news is unfortunately Finlay Bealham’s injury and although his Championship is over his contribution to this campaign cannot be overstated.

Even without the Leinster goggles it has to be good news that Messrs Sexton, Henshaw, Furlong, Gibson Park & Ringrose are all included in the “mini-camp” in the hope that all will be available to face Scotland and England.

On the players sent back to their provinces, well I don’t want to repeat myself from last week on the consternation from certain fans over supposed bias in these decisions, I’ll just say that with a full round of URC matches at a crucial portion of the campaign, I’d say the provinces will take all the personnel they can get.

LEINSTER

The news on Joe McCarthy was unfortunate but not surprising, hopefully he’ll be able to play some part at the business end of the season.

Speaking of which, nine points from Leinster’s final four matches will mathematically clinch 1st place, though with standards at the province as they are I doubt that’s a factor in team selection this coming weekend. Word is they were considering our matches against Cardiff, Dragons, Edinburgh & Stormers as a block which would mostly see the same combinations so we can expect a similar lineup this coming weekend.

15 COSGRAVE 14 LARMOUR 13 TURNER 12 OSBORNE 11 KEARNEY 10 H BYRNE 9 MCGRATH

1 MILNE 2 MCKEE 3 ALA’ALATOA 4 MOLONY 5 JENKINS 6 RUDDOCK (C) 7 PENNY 8 DEEGAN

16 MCELROY 17 BOYLE 18 CLARKSON 19 CONNORS 20 DEENY 21 N MCCARTHY 22 TECTOR 23 RUSSELL

(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Jason Jenkins: came through the game against Dragons Rugby with no issues following his return from injury

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Ciarán Frawley: will look to increase his training load this week as he continues his recovery from a knee injury

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Joe McCarthy: has had a procedure on an ankle injury and will be out of action for two months

There are no further updates on:

Charlie Ngatai (hamstring), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Ed Byrne (knee), Martin Moloney (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)

AIL UPDATE

First of all congrats to the Combined Provinces XV for their clean sweep of wins in the inaugural Celtic Challenge, no doubt they gave the test coaching set up plenty to think about over the four matches, and the squad for the upcoming Six Nations was announced on Tuesday, albeit over the backdrop of the tragic news of the passing of Tom Tierney.

Back to the Men’s AIL, Jack Boyle, Alex Soroka & Ben Murphy were among the Leinster players bagging tries in another important round of 1A matches. Tarf stayed on top with a good win at Trinity while Terenure stayed close to them by overcoming Lansdowne.

Meanwhile down at the bottom Garryowen finally slipped through the trap door although the race to avoid joining them is really hotting up and for the remainder of the campaign I can’t see there being too many dead rubbers.

Men’s AIL

ROUND 14

Cork Con 29-34 UCD

Dublin Univ 21-38 Clontarf

Garryowen 16-26 Shannon

Terenure 43-24 Lansdowne

Young Munster 21-0 Ballynahinch

ROUND 15

MAR 4 (all 2:30pm)

Ballynahinch v Dublin Univ

Garryowen v Cork Con

Lansdowne v Young Munster

Shannon v Clontarf

UCD v Terenure

SEVENS – FROM LA TO VANCOUVER

Just the men’s World Series resumed last weekend and to say Ireland’s fortunes varied over the two days would be an understatement. On Day One which was marred by torrential rain and several delays we won all our pool matches, including a win over the Blitzboks, to set up a quarterfinal against Australia, yet on the Sunday we just couldn’t stop shipping penalties and slipped to two defeats which meant we also slipped further down the series table to 9th after 6 of 11 rounds.

The circuit now moves to Vancouver, Canada where we get a chance for revenge over the Aussies in our pool and we also face Chile and our hosts.

Meanwhile the women return to action as well and with just three rounds to go we’ll be looking for another final four appearance to get us higher than our current fifth position.

VANCOUVER 7S

IRELAND’S FIXTURES

FRI MAR 3

6:43PM WOMEN V CANADA

9:45PM MEN V CANADA

SAT MAR 4

12:58AM WOMEN V BRAZIL

4:35AM MEN V CHILE

7:50PM WOMEN V USA

10:57PM MEN V AUSTRALIA

11:28PM WOMEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN

MON MAR 5

1:54AM MEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY

Getting pressed for time as I type so I’ll just leave the results, table & fixtures in this section. Hopefully I’ll have time to catch a game or two soon, they’re all available for free on TheRugbyNetwork.com.

ROUND 2

SEA 28-22 ATL

UTAH 33-25 DAL

HOU 35-14 NOLA

RNYI 39-3 TOR

SD 29-12 NEFJ

ROUND 3

DAL V SEA

ATL V NOLA

CHI V UTAH

RNYI V OGDC

HOU V SD

HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE

Kudos to Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir for reminding us all of the extra URC matches last weekend, I chose to reward him by being the only one to take a punt on Ulster winning in Durban, thus allowing me to narrow his lead down to just two and a half points!!! We both got the Lions/Glasgow game wrong though, which has us both anxiously looking over our shoulders at Mark Jackson in 3rd so there are a few interesting weeks of Superbruing ahead for us. Oh, and we’d also like to announce Keego’s new full official nickname of Neil “No Picks Keego” Keegan…

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Obviously we’ll be turning our attention to Leinster’s trip to Edinburgh next weekend and we’ll have an Opposition View pod during the week talking to Sandy Smith although it would be rude not to also ask him about the Scots whom Ireland play in the same city a week later.

Then we return to our URC focus with a preview show before, a wrap pod after and also all the other usual features in between so be sure to follow us on any or all of our social media platforms to keep up with it all. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP

Throwback Thursday : IREvITA 2018

For the latest dip into the Harpin archives we go back to when we played Italy in 2018, maybe not the perfect choice ahead of Saturday’s clash in Rome since 1) we were at home then and 2) we’re ‘outlawing’ the full use of the GS phrase on the Harpin platform for the forseeable future, but I thought it was interesting in that there are kind of parallels with Robbie H & Tadhg F picking up injury concerns. Plus it’s an opportunity to compare the Farrell and Schmidt eras, not necessarily to see which one was better, rather to notice the differences.

PROS AND CONS

O what we wouldn’t give to see Robbie still able to do that with a rugby ball right now! And to have Tadhg Furlong fit and ready to face Wales. AND to have prevented the Italians posting their highest ever points total at the Aviva Stadium.

[Update – just getting word from the Irish camp before posting, not good news for Robbie but it looks like Tadhg will be ok so that’s another plus]

Yet here at Harpin Manor we seem to have something of a reputation for accentuating the positive, so I don’t see any reason for changing when it comes to this match. Much better to focus on the 56 points more than the 19, the eight tries for more than the three against and the quality of our performances more than the quantity of our injuries.

I mean, when all is said and done, this result is overall a good thing for Ireland? Right? Time to scatter a few headings down the page and tack on a few paragraphs to each…

SCHMIDTBALL CLINIC

Loads of Irish online comments were negative at full time, but I’m wondering how much of that was down to the fact that our second half, and thus the most recent in the memory, was far inferior to the first. Yet even that forty minutes was won 28-19 with a bonus point won even not counting any scores from the first half.

But when taken in isolation, I’m not sure we could possibly hope for a better demonstration of the way Joe Schmidt wants test rugby played than minutes one through forty. Fine, maybe the opposition wasn’t exactly world beating, but do I really have to dig up the phrase ‘you can only play what’s in front of you’? I guess I do.

The Italians took the opening kickoff and right off the bat we were able to settle into our familiar pattern, getting front foot ball here, creating space for the backline there, before we get all the way to the visitor’s 22. Yes, they were soon able to clear, but the resulting lineout being still in their half was very much a contingency of our initial exit strategy.

Over the next couple of minutes, some things didn’t go to plan – a knockon from Aki running a hard line for example – but when that happened and Italy tried to get going, we were able to seamlessly revert to defensive mode and it wouldn’t be long before we were on the attack again.

Before long we’re winning a penalty, getting back into their 22 and then we’re hammering away at their line…Conor Murray gets over and is held up but not to worry, after the following scrum Robbie Henshaw is running a line with more than enough momentum to get him over.

Just 11 minutes gone, it’s already 7-0 and just four minutes later Sexton is already lining up another conversion after some great link play between Stockdale and Conan puts Murray over in the corner…and not surprisingly our star outhalf made light work of the touchline extras.

By the end of the first quarter, we’ve a third try in the bag after maul gets to the line and Bundee Aki gets his first for Ireland with a similar line to that of Robbie earlier, now it’s 21-0 and time for the game’s longest spell without a score – eleven whole minutes!!!

During that time Conor O’Shea’s men tried to make some headway yet found yards after the tackle extremely hard to come by until eventually Dan Leavy burrows the ball out of a ruck before putting Aki through and with Earls in support it becomes an easy finish. It hardly feels like we’ve broken sweat and we’ve the try bonus wrapped up already.

Whatever the opposition, that was a dream first half. They won’t come oftenat test level but when they do it should be applauded. The only drawback in that time of course was the early removal of Furlong but it came as no surprise to Leinster fans in particular that Andrew Porter was ready to step in and put in a decent shift in his place.

ROBBIE

Is there any chance I can suggest Robbie Henshaw deserved man of the match without anyone thinking I’m only saying that because he’s Leinster and the actual winner Conor Murray is Munster? Well I guess I’ll just have to take that risk but in my defence I was tweeting the opinion as he was being stretchered off before the award was given.

The guy has world-class ability, world-class work rate, world-class knowledge of the game, and he is clearly getting world-class coaching. I sincerely hope nobody has him in their ideal XVs at full-back anymore…he belongs in the centre and is first choice there when fit.

However – since he’s now unavailable for a while, we need to crack on. If we really think we can reach the final four of a World Cup, we have to be able to handle absences like this. So who do we go for?

KEITH

Here’s another Irish starter at the peak of his powers. It would have been more surprising if Earls WASN’T among the tries when we got as many as eight, but his contribution will be most remembered for ‘that tackle’ at the very end.

Is there any chance I can suggest that Mattia Bellini missed a trick in his run that could have resulted in a try without anyone thinking I’m trying to take the shine off of yet another Munster player’s achievement? Well I guess I’ll just have to take that risk.

Actually I think Earls did everything he could do to catch the Italian, picking where he thought his prey would be caught in a straight line, and setting off at full pace hoping the sight of him in the rear view would cause Bellini to panic. For me, that’s exactly what happened – a quick step at the 22 could well have gotten around Keith but the overall intimidation factor plus the actual tackle which still had to be made were a delight to watch.

Perhaps Chris Farrell is a more ‘like for like’ replacement for Robbie in the 13 jumper against Wales but my instincts tell me Earls is the way to go, assuming Ringrose won’t be ready of course. He has played there before for Ireland, he has already spent about half an hour there with Aki, he has two whole weeks to prepare, and he’s in the form of his life right now. Plus, we have plenty of wingers to take his place.

BEST OF THE REST

Bundee Aki looked like he belongs in Joe Schmidt centre pairing from the opening minutes against the Springboks, and he seems even more settled as he goes along. I still think ‘Henrose’ is our ideal pairing but like I say it’s all about having alternatives and Aki is a huge part of our plans for the rest of this championship.

Jacob Stockdale played like someone who was keen to put Paris behind him, especially the way he took his second try. I was delighted he got another chance to start and now I see no reason why he should relinquish his starting jersey just yet. And towards the end we got a little taste of what Jordan Larmour can bring though I really do believe he needs to playing in a more central position to fully display his talents.

And I have one more of these…is there any chance I can suggest that Luke McGrath is a better option to play with Joey Carbery off the bench without making it look like I can’t let go of my Leinster bias? I guess I’ll have to take that risk. The pair of replacement halfbacks started well when they came on but I just feel Luke has done better with his test chances than Marmion.

Meanwhile our pack was relatively quiet by their standards, with only captain Rory Best getting his name on the scoresheet among them, though as I suggested earlier it was the prolonged cameo from young Andrew Porter which was the highlight. The decision to swap him to tight head might go down as one of the more important ones in recent Irish rugby history if he keeps going the way he has been.

Also once the numbers were crunched we were 8/8 in scrums, 15/15 in lineouts, a mere six tackles missed in total and just three penalties conceded so if that’s not a good day at the office for the forwards I don’t know what is.

OKAY NOW FOR THE NEGATIVES

Of course we can’t ignore the mini Italian fightback, one which very nearly earned them an unlikely try bonus point. The likes of Leavy, Larmour and Stockdale will all have defensive questions to answer at the DVD session on Monday, but I’d much rather let Joe handle those technicalities, especially when we had as many as six converted tries on the board before our guests had as much as one.

But can I make one point about those three Italian tries…I really do think they should have seen yellow at some point and I very much doubt their score gets near 19 if that happens. It’s like we had a homer ref in Paris and one sympathetic to an inferior away side in Dublin.

Devin Toner had two knock ons in the space of a few minutes at the start of the second half…I point that out not because I wish to have a pop at him, rather than because overall errors were so few and far between that his were head and shoulders above most of the others [pun intended] although neither really cost us.

After the injuries, the only other negative I can think of from this match is that the poor quality of opposition made it difficult to prepare for the Triple Crown contests that lie ahead for us, but that’s hardly our fault.

THREE TO GO

Now it’s time to evaluate where this leaves us in the Championship. Two wins out of two and nine match points out of ten is exactly where we want to be. And I really don’t know what to say to those who look at our displays against France and Italy and say ‘Well you wouldn’t want to do that against Wales or England’ because the simple fact of the matter is that we’ll be set up differently on those days.

Elsewhere on the second weekend, England had some great individual performances yet overall were as vulnerable at Twickenham as I have seen them in a long while, Wales should be forgetting that ‘try that should have been’ and instead ask themselves why the couldn’t get over the line with their other chances, while Scotland will be on a high after a slew of second half penalties seem to have eliminated the French.

All of the above tells me the road ahead for Ireland is only going to get tougher as we travel along, as if we didn’t know that going into this Six Nations. We will need to make the most of the two-week break but on the evidence of these opening matches, I have seen plenty to make me believe that we have a squad of players that are up to the task, with the right coaching staff at the helm. Bring on those Welsh. JLP

80+ column : Competition update, troll’s tropes, taboo phrase

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

FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE

First things first…the all important update in the prestigious Guinness Pint Predictor League.

As you can see an amazing round by Jack Fogarty including a perfect prediction of IREvFRA catapulted him into first place in both categories; ‘Overall score’ as you see in the graphic, and also ‘best one round score’.

REMEMBER YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE LEAGUE AND WIN PRIZES we’re accepting entrants right up to the final round and you can still beat Jack’s Round 2 score of 58 and also every Six Nations match gives you the chance to win a free pint so by all means download the app and enter the league using the code HARPIN and see how you get on.

And we can announce an extra prize for the Best Score In One Round category – a signed copy of Brian Moylett’s “The Book On How You Become A Pro Rugby Player” [he’ll be a guest on our bonus pod this week] so like I say there’s still plenty of time to throw your hat in the ring.

We can announce a special prize for our Fanzo Guinness Pint Predictor League, a copy of this book by @offfieldrugby – best score from a single round gets it so there's still time to enter just download the free app and our code is HARPIN

1/2 pic.twitter.com/waSymUu33y
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) February 13, 2023

WRAP OF A WRAP

That was a real Six Nations classic at the Aviva on Saturday, and we thought it might take myself, Mark & Conor about six hours to record the wrap. In the end it was more like an hour and a half so a lot had to end up on the cutting room floor although as you can see below I managed to salvage a couple of bonus YouTube clips.

If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.

ATONIO ATONIN’

Thankfully, Wayne Barnes’ decision that “I’m not starting at a high degree of danger” didn’t affect the result too much in the end, and pretty much everyone who saw the match was expecting news of Atonio’s citing on Monday, we’ll see how the hearing goes.

Unfortunately, the non-call brought two of my most hated tropes to the fore on the social media, the “go overboard slagging off the ref” and the one I pointed out here.

The problem is the "look at what (insert team here) fans are saying" trope. It's incredibly dumb. https://t.co/gvZvqqIsDX
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) February 13, 2023

HARPIN’ ON…THE KICKING GAME

I got given out to on our YouTube channel for apparently copying a theme recently highlighted by Squidge, well as much I love his work I have to point out that I did not see that video and even if I had, I still wanted to let Mark, an actual head coach at Nat 2 level in the English system, a chance to harp on the topic in his own words.

If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

HARPIN’ ON…THE WORCESTER MESS

Mark also gave some decent background on the omnishambles at Worcester so I included the extra chat in a “bonus bonus clip”.

DORIS PASS TIK TOK

Couldn’t let Mark get all the social media airtime so Conor’s depiction of “That Doris pass” made for a perfect TikTok promo and seems to be getting decent engagement so far…

@harpinonrugby
A clip from our latest wrap pod available at http://www.anchor.fm/harpinonrugby and most major platforms #IREVFRA #GuinnessSixNations
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

I just got permission from the missus to have an affair with that pass from Caelan Doris#IREvFRA
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) February 11, 2023

THAT DUPONT TACKLE

I might get into trouble here as it’s going to look like I’m slagging off two world class players, but I can’t help wondering if we’re going a tad overboard gushing over Antoine Dupont’s holding up Mack Hansen around the try line at the Aviva?

Don’t get me wrong, it did show great strength but I don’t see anyone pointing out that Hansen had zero momentum when AD grabbed him plus, while the Connacht star would definitely kick my ass one on one, he’s not exactly our biggest player? Would he have held up James Ryan the same way for example?

Again to be absolutely clear, I’m not saying the try denial wasn’t impressive, just that maybe the praise needs dialling down a few notches. I’ll shut up now, it’s probably for the best.

Quel 👏 plaquage 👏de folie!

Antoine Dupont déploie une force incroyable pour éloigner Mack Hansen de la ligne d'essai 🤯#SixNations #ChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/lyt3TqWvWX
— Investec Champions Cup France (@ChampionsCup_FR) February 13, 2023

TABOO WORDS FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

This point is very simple, and shouldn’t need any explanation to long time readers, although according to this tweet by Ulster fan and occasional contributor Ian Frizzell the BelTel subeditors definitely need a crash course.

After two Irish wins to kickoff this season’s Six Nations, ALL MENTIONS of that two word phrase that rhymes with “bland jam” are OFF LIMITS whether spoken, typed or signed until further notice. Please observe and pass it on to all around you.

INJURY REPORT

IRELAND

On top of the concerns we already had that Robbie, JGP, Tadhg & Dan would miss the remainder of the Six Nations, now the other Tadhg and even Sexton have become doubts. All are presumptive starters but as we have seen so far the wider squad have earned themselves a ton of good faith so hopefully the supporters will buy in.

LEINSTER

Most encouraging bit of Leinster’s report was JJ moving out of the “no further updates” category we could really do with having him back when the knockout matches come around. Given we’re also getting four back from Irish camp all in need of some game time I reckon we can put out a pretty decent lineup at the RDS on Saturday night…

J O’Brien, J Larmour, L Turner, B Brownlee, D Kearney, H Byrne, L McGrath

M Milne, J McKee, M Ala’alatoa, R Molony, J McCarthy, R Ruddock, W Connors, M Deegan

T McElroy, M Hanan, T Clarkson, B Deeny, S Penny, N McCarthy, C Tector, R Russell

(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Will Connors: came through the game against Cardiff Rugby with no issues following his return from injury

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Jason Jenkins: will look to increase his training load this week as he nears a return from a hamstring injury

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Cormac Foley: picked up a hamstring injury training last week and will be unavailable for selection

There are no further updates on:

Charlie Ngatai (hamstring), Ed Byrne (knee), Martin Moloney (knee), Ciarán Frawley (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)

AIL UPDATE

First a word on the Women’s Celtic Challenge, the Irish Combined Provinces XV had a week off and resume their campaign with a match against the Welsh at the Kingspan on Saturday hoping to make it three wins from three, best of luck to them.

Next the men’s AIL is back with some interesting 1A matchups in round 13 as you can see.

Finally ICYMI our bonus pod last week was an interesting chat with Justin Middleton where he outlined his route to becoming the voice of the AIL and he also talks about what can be done to help promote the league to a wider audience. Do check it out here.

Men’s AIL

Sat Feb 18

Ballynahinch v Terenure

Clontarf v Young Munster

Lansdowne v Cork Con

Shannon v Dublin University

UCD v Garryowen

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

As I said earlier our bonus pod this week features an interview with Brian Moylett about his book.

Then of course we will turn our attention back to the URC with the rebranded Dragons coming to the RDS on Saturday and of course the match will be getting the usual Harpin treatment with a preview Friday featuring Keego, a wrap on Sunday plus a whole lot of other features in between.

In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP

80+ column : Predicting Prowess, Rank Rankings & Emoji Empathy

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

FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE

To important admin business first, serious kudos to Christy O’Connor who finished top of the pile in the first round of our Guinness Pint Predictor League on the Fanzo app.

His forecasts of Ireland by 16, Scotland by 4 and France by 9 were closest of the lot so he not only won some free pints for himself but he’s also given him a shot at winning two league categories, namely Best Round Score and of course Overall Winner.

As for the added challenge of beating our Harpin panel of experts, well…let’s just say we’re all a little bit further down the ladder for now but as the saying goes it’s early doors and all that…

REMEMBER YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE LEAGUE we’re accepting entrants right up to the final round and you can still beat that one round score of 46 (top score overall on the app was 60) and also every Six Nations Match gives you the chance to win a free pint so by all means download the app and enter the league using the code HARPIN and see how you get on.

WRAP OF A WRAP

Rich Mifsud & RugbyKino helped me wrap the Welsh match and as ever did a bang up job going back over the eighty minutes and offered some excellent insights, as well as harpin’ on stories from beyond the Irish men’s senior bubble in our “Front Five” feature.

If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.

HARPIN’ ON…HUGO “MR DEPENDABLE” KEENAN

This week’s bonus clip was on Leinster & Ireland’s nailed on starting full back Hugo Keenan. Often I disagree with the selection of Player of the match and for Saturday’s match at Cardiff there certainly could be a cae made for Caelan Doris but having said that Keenan is long overdue a prolonged discussion and like I say in the clip if we don’t make a point of having it, he could go his entire career with us taking his high standards for granted.

If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.

ANDY FARRELL TIK TOK

I never go into my pod recording knowing what portion I’m going to use but the second Kino said this I knew I had my TikTok clip.

@harpinonrugby
Check out our latest wrap pod at anchor.fm/harpinonrugby and most major platforms #GuinnessSixNations #WALvIRE
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

A SHOWER OF RANKERS

A curious thing happened on Monday, well two curious things, the first being the new Bank Holiday but the second was a flood of posts in my rugby timeline pointing out that Scotland’s win over England moved them up the World Rugby rankings to ensure that all of the top five are now on the same side of the draw in RWC2023.

That, of course, is ludicrous, but maybe it is also ludicrous for us to keep going on about it because I very much doubt there is anything that can be done to change it. The practice of holding the draw three years in advance (supposedly in part because it offers a bit of a competitive edge to that year’s November internationals???) has been going on for a few RWC cycles now so it’s nothing new.

Obviously this “top 5” element is an extreme outcome but the thing is we have known about it for years and this was pointed out as a possible consequence long ago. We’re just going to have to grin and bear this one and hope they fix things for 2027.

What could be done instead? I’m not sure if holding the draw later is necessarily a solution because the rankings always change, but maybe they could drop the “fixed bracket” element of the quarterfinal makeup? So keep the pool winners apart in the last 8 but have their seeding in the draw determined by the rankings at the time?

That of course leads this point towards the rabbit hole of reforming the entire World Cup format altogether so I’ll stray away from that for now, but it’s an interesting one to think about all the same.

THE SIX EMOJIS

Interesting tweet from Jay Long here on twitter Emoji etiquette. He went on to get a good deal of negative reaction to pointing this out but I don’t see the problem with reminding folks of the make-up of the Irish rugby team.

As Jay points out, often people don’t mean anything by it, but I dare say the vast majority of times people use the tricolour it has no added meaning, and once they learn of this they’ll use the shamrock in future.

I also added that it’s critical to be sure to use the three-leaf emoji rather than the four otherwise you could find yourself in serious “trouble”!!!

100% and also to stress the importance of ☘ over 🍀 that extra leaf can bring you a world of twitter pain
— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) February 6, 2023

INJURY REPORT

Obviously the news that Messrs JGP, Furlong & Healy will also be unavailable to play France was less than ideal news, yet still their standins all did extremely well in Cardiff and I see no reason why we can’t be confident going with the exact same 23 and in many ways the fact that all appear to be available makes this overall a decent injury report for Andy Farrell’s squad. Plus, it was great news that Rónan Kelleher has resumed full training, and congrats to both Caolin Blade and Michael Milne for their call ups.

THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Short but sweet 80+ column this week, on Wednesday we’ll be posting an interview with Justin Middleton about his career as a rugby commentator so far as well as a chat about the All Ireland league.

Then of course we will turn our attention back to the 6N starting with our massive clash with France getting the usual Harpin treatment with a preview Friday featuring Rugby Kino, a wrap on Sunday plus a whole lot of other features in between.

In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP