343 : Leinster v Northampton Saints preview

also available as a podcast

LEINSTER : 15 C Frawley 14 J Larmour 13 R Henshaw 12 J Osborne 11 J Lowe 10 R Byrne 9 J Gibson-Park

1 A Porter 2 D Sheehan 3 T Furlong 4 R Molony 5 J McCarthy 6 R Baird 7 J van der Flier 8 C Doris (c)

16 R Kelleher 17 C Healy 18 M Ala’alatoa 19 J Jenkins 20 J Conan 21 L McGrath 22 H Byrne 23 J O’Brien


NORTHAMPTON : 15 George Furbank 14 James Ramm 13 Tommy Freeman 12 Fraser Dingwall 11 George Hendy 10 Fin Smith 9 Alex Mitchell

1 Alex Waller 2 Curtis Langdon 3 Trevor Davison 4 Alex Moon 5 Alex Coles 6 Courtney Lawes (c) 7 Sam Graham 8 Juarno Augustus

16 Sam Matavesi 17 Emmanuel Iyogun 18 Elliot Millar Mills 19 Temo Mayanavanua 20 Angus Scott-Young 21 Tom James 22 Tom Litchfield 23 Tom Seabrook


Investec Champions Cup 2023/24 Semifinal

Saturday, May 4, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Croke Park

Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 2


Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)

AR1: Pierre Brousset (Fra)

AR2: Luc Ramos (Fra)

TMO: Thomas Charabas (Fra)

337 : Leinster v La Rochelle wrap

13 April 2024; Dan Sheehan of Leinster dives over to score his side’s fourth try despite the tackle of Jonathan Danty of La Rochelle during the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final match between Leinster and La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

🏉 Nienaber D

🏉 Frustrating restarts

🏉 Excellent exit

🏉 Ross the Boss

🏉 Monkey gone


TOM COLEMAN & MARK JACKSON


FULL TIME TAKES

Neil ‘Keego’ Keegan

That was massive for between the ears

Rewatched highlights. There was only 1 horse in it

I’m trying to figure out the La Rochelle game plan 

Also trying to figure out why Leinster-jitzu didn’t work in the years previous

Today is a (nother) day my aul lad and others didn’t have. France were unbeatable and we were close to thinking the same about La Rochelle. 

Today we showed what the story is. It’s actually unreal because it dismantled a he entire O’Gara La Rochelle gameplan

Paul McSweeney

I went to the game thinking that Leinster at their best might just squeeze a win in. How wrong can I be? That was an emphatic performance. Leinster needed this win way more than LR and it showed.

Now I’m just hoping that Croke Park is fully open and that tickets will be reasonably priced. I have my tickets for the final already…

Kevin Kelehan

Been watching Leinster since 1986 when they beat Munster in that years inter-pro, without hesitation that is by some distance the best Leinster performance I’ve ever seen, no Hugo Kennan, no Gary Ringrose and no James Ryan, yet they completely and utterly destroyed and humiliated the reigning champions in some style. Looking forward to the final in Tottenham and the cinquieme etoile!!!!

Greg Kelly

Usual story. Another 5 year French dynasty falls. The Leinster dynasty and brand continues. A few 50/50 calls saved LAR some extra pain but it feels like a sort of redemption. LARs false economy was built on Leinsters back and it falls to Leinsters sword.

LAR went to Cork looking to harness the local energy and they certainly harnessed some Munster European Energy 😉

William Andrew

Very well thought out performance by the players and coaches. Expected a slug fest with the selection but Leinster were moving LR around the park mercilessly.

I have had my reservations about Neinabar, but my goodness he delivered a class performance today.

Great to see secondary players delivering an emphatic game when it matters so much.

Chris McDonnell

I am not a Ross fan but he was excellent today. Credit where its due. Leo gambled with some calls today and got them right. Well done to them all.

Alan Murphy

A Test quality performance. Professional and tactical perfection. Delighted with the lads today. High pressure game with a lot of nonsense coming out of Cork during the week. Onwards and upwards.

Martin Lynch

Just So Lucky To Be A Leinster Fan. The Relief In The Stadium Was Palpable. Roll On Croker .

John O Halloran

Best performance in a long time, they stepped up . Well done.

Josephine Boyd

A fantastic performance from our boys in blue.💙👕🏈👍👏👏💪☘️


@harpinonrugby

Have wait for the traffic to clear so might as well do an aul TikTok as ya do… #LEIvLAR #InvestecChampionsCup #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

QUARTERFINALS

BORDEAUX 41-42 HARLEQUINS

LEINSTER 40-13 LA ROCHELLE

NORTHAMPTON 59-22 BULLS

TOULOUSE 64-26 EXETER


SEMIFINALS

SAT MAY 4

LEINSTER V NORTHAMPTON

SUN MAY 5

TOULOUSE V HARLEQUINS



336 : Leinster v La Rochelle preview

also available as podcast


LEINSTER :  15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Ryan Baird 7. Will Connors 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Michael Milne 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Josh van der Flier


LA ROCHELLE : 15. Dillyn Leyds, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. UJ Seuteni, 12. Jonathan Danty, 11. Teddy Thomas, 10. Antoine Hastoy, 9. Tawera Kerr-Barlow

1. Louis Penverne, 2. Tolu Latu, 3. Uini Atonio, 4. Ultan Dillane, 5. Will Skelton, 6. Judicael Cancoriet, 7. Levani Botia, 8. Grégory Alldritt (c)

16. Quentin Lespiaucq, 17. Alexandre Kaddouri, 18. Joel Sclavi, 19. Thomas Lavault, 20. Paul Boudehent, 21. Yoan Tanga, 22. Teddy Iribaren, 23. Ihaia West


Investec Champions Cup 2023/24 Quarterfinal

Saturday, April 13, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 3


Referee: Karl Dickson (ENG)

AR1: Luke Pearce (ENG)

AR2: Andrew Jackson (ENG)

TMO: Tom Foley (ENG)

335 : Leinster v Leicester Tigers wrap

6 April 2024; Jamison Gibson-Park of Leinster on his way to scoring his side’s third try during the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match between Leinster and Leicester Tigers at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

🏉 Jamison

🏉 Gibson-

🏉 Park

🏉 Workons

🏉 Nemesis next


MARK JACKSON & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

Got the job done, next week facing into a La Rochelle battered by a round trip from west France to Cape Town and back where they botched their travel arrangements and now return to La Rochelle before moving to Dublin, it won’t be easy for them overcoming that round trip on top of a decent examination by the Stormers. Jamie Osborne really proved himself last night, given the age profile of the 3 best centres in Ireland that is a very positive development for the medium term.

John Hyland

That Leicester pack was good but the ref was astonishingly inconsistent at the set-piece. Only Leinster were asked to leave a lineout gap. Cole and Montoya were up to all kinds of skulduggery. I find that our front row doesn’t lack power but is short of guile at times. I hope Porter and Sheehan are ready for Atonio boring in as usual next week.

Niall Moonan

We have no 10, why will Leinster not give Frawley a consistent run at 10? Why keep trying Ross Byrne he’s proven time and time again he’s not up to it. He was anonymous tonight

Robert Cashell

A win but that performance won’t be good enough next week. Leicester should have exposed our narrow defence but botched it more than one.

Odran John OBrien

Leinster really needs a Five Eighth to win anything in my opinion


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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

ROUND OF 16

TOULOUSE 31-7 RACING 92

EXETER 21-15 BATH

HARLEQUINS 28-24 GLASGOW

BORDEAUX 45-12 SARACENS

NORTHAMPTON 24-14 MUNSTER

BULLS 59-19 LYON

STORMERS 21-22 LA ROCHELLE

LEINSTER 36-22 LEICESTER TIGERS


QUARTERFINALS

SAT APR 13

BORDEAUX V HARLEQUINS

LEINSTER V LA ROCHELLE

NORTHAMPTON V BULLS

SUN APR 14

TOULOUSE V EXETER



334 : Leinster v Leicester preview

also available as podcast

Our guest : NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts


LEINSTER :  15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

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

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Jack Conan 21. Ben Murphy 22. Harry Byrne 23. Ciarán Frawley


LEICESTER TIGERS :  15 Jamie Shillcock 14 Freddie Steward 13 Dan Kelly 12 Solomone Kata 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins 10 Handré Pollard 9 Jack van Poortvliet 

1 James Cronin 2 Julián Montoya 3 Dan Cole 4 Harry Wells 5 Kyle Hatherell 6 Hanro Liebenberg 7 Olly Cracknell 8 Jasper Wiese

16 Charlie Clare 17 Francois van Wyk 18 Will Hurd 19 Finn Carnduff 20 Emeka Ilione 21 Tom Whiteley 22 Phil Cokanasiga 23 Mike Brown


Investec Champions Cup 2023/24 Round of 16

Saturday, April 6, 2024

KO 8pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 2


Referee: Pierre Brousset (FRA)

AR1: Jeremy Rozier (FRA)

AR2: Kévin Bralley (FRA)

TMO: Denis Grenouillet (FRA)

312 : Leicester Tigers v Leinster wrap

20 January 2024; Joe McCarthy of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 4 match between Leicester Tigers and Leinster at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in Leicester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

🏉 Discipline issues

🏉 Accuracy found

🏉 Harry > Handré

🏉 Evil D

🏉 Fat lady sings


@harpinonrugby

Our Leicester v Leinster wrap pod is now available on Apple, Spotify and most major platforms.

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICH MIFSUD & JAY LONG

FULL TIME TAKES

Joe Sheppard

At this rate, Caelan Doris will be getting World Rugby Player of the Year…… Unbelievable in all aspects of his game currently. ☘️💪🏉👏

Jamie Bermingham

Good win and great going getting the BP at the end. We really seem at times to be pushing the physical game this season, as a way to show we can deal with it

Eamon Phelan

Good win harry byrne struggled in forts 10 mins when Leicester were on top after that class . Very good team with loads of options from a jealous Munster fan

Andrew Byrne

I can’t be the only person who is this excited to see just how high the ceiling is for Joe McCarthy…still just 22 years old and he’s playing like an old master. I feel like we are witnessing the start of something special here.

Michaela Monaghan

Can’t believe we’re playing Leicester again In round 16!!

Brian Corr

I thought they showed great determination to chase the bonus point, in the past they’ve kicked out on 80 mins happy with what they got, fair play to Leicester for also trying to get the losing bonus and the ref for not blowing up straight after their knock on.

Leinsters big squad is showing its true value and they’ve shown players stepping in and out doesn’t make much difference

Kevin OCeallaigh

The first time in a long time that I’ve seen true grit, determination and old-school grind by a Leinster side to get that bonus point on 85 minutes. Lowe was imperious in the air. Henshaw looked to be back to where we know he can be, and McCarthy just gets better and better. What a great game!

Bernie Cunningham

Great performance 27 unanswered points after going behind by 10. Lads were brill


I had to head out the door the second Doris got his iconic BP try and couldn’t tweet at the FT whistle like I normally do but Whiff of Cordite pretty much said what I would have…

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

ROUND 4

GLASGOW 29-5 TOULON

CONNACHT 27-10 BRISTOL

HARLEQUINS 47-19 ULSTER

BULLS 46-40 BORDEAUX

RACING 92 48-26 CARDIFF

LEICESTER 10-27 LEINSTER

MUNSTER 23-26 NORTHAMPTON

STADE FRANCAIS 20-24 STORMERS

SARACENS 39-24 LYON

SALE SHARKS 24-37 LA ROCHELLE

TOULOUSE 31-19 BATH

BAYONNE 40-17 EXETER





311 : Leicester Tigers v Leinster preview

also available as a podcast


LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose (cc) 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Harry Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (cc) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Tommy O’Brien.


Leicester Tigers : 15 F Steward 14 H Simmons 13 M Scott 12 D Kelly 11 O Hassell-Collins 10 H Pollard 9 T Whiteley

1 J Cronin 2 J Montoya (c) 3 J Heyes 4 H Wells 5 O Chessum 6 H Liebenberg 7 T Reffell 8 J Wiese

16 A Vanes 17 F van Wyk 18 W Hurd 19 S Carter 20 K Hatherell 21 B Youngs 22 J Shellcock 23 S Kata.


Investec Champions Cup 23/24 Round 4

Saturday, January 20, 2024

KO 3:15pm Welford Road

Live on: TNT Sports 1

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)

AR1: Filippo Russo (Ita)

AR2: Clara Munarini (Ita)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ita)

310 : Leinster v Stade Français wrap

13 January 2024; James Lowe of Leinster dives over to score his side’s first try during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 3 match between Leinster and Stade Francais at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
@harpinonrugby

Our Leinster v Stade Francais wrap pod is out now

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

🏉 Accuracy issues

🏉 New kicking style

🏉 Ryan The Reliable

🏉 Ryan The Rampager

🏉 No 🍔, no Ø, no problem


CONOR CRONIN & TOM COLEMAN

FULL TIME TAKES

Joe Sheppard

Wasn’t the strongest display V poorish opposition tbh. The pure world class of each individual player was clear but as a collective it lacked overall. I’m forever impressed by the strength, skill and athleticism of Baird, McCarthy and especially Doris…… Next week away V Tigers SHOULD be a proper test of where we are currently.

Jamie Bermingham

Looks like the team are still adjusting to a new play style, seeing flashes of great plays but also a lot of silly mistakes and errors. I’m going to hold judgement till later in the season, that being said we may just be holding back till the business end.

Gav Heg

Quite disappointed that we didn’t nil them. We should easily have topped 60 here but we’re let down by stupid and unforced mistakes. It could be put down to an adjustment period but we lacked the ability to just finish moves off.

Ringrose should have been motm but Doris also deserving. I felt sorry for Baird that he didn’t go over after that colossal run.

Can’t help but feel that a decent would have picked is apart. For Leicester we need a far better performance.

Johnny McGovern

Frawley in Leinster is jinxed …Is he robust enough for professional rugby ? I could say unlucky but he just isn’t …happening too often – he actually took two knocks during the game tonight and seemed to have effected his vision. The physios checked one eye and the second issue was the heavy tackle he took . I didn’t see the end of the tackle but he was in bits . Leo said he got a knee in the back which then spasmed but the tackler must have connected with his kidneys . Not a great Leinster performance given a very poor SF team .

Andrew Bailey

Let’s not get carried away. Given the selections – the result was a formality ((When is the last time there has been a decent contest in the Aviva group game). Sloppy game punctuated by mistakes and aimless kicking. The return of Lowe a huge positive. Lineout improvement once Ryan on the pitch marked. Just worry about sluggish performances by so many


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Front Five can now be found as part of our weekly 80+ column.

CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

ROUND 3

NORTHAMPTON 61-14 BAYONNE

LYON 34-20 CONNACHT

EXETER CHIEFS 19-17 GLASGOW WARRIORS

TOULON 18-29 MUNSTER

BRISTOL BEARS 17-31 BULLS

LEINSTER 43-7 STADE FRANCAIS

STORMERS 31-24 SALE SHARKS

CARDIFF 15-54 HARLEQUINS

ULSTER 24-48 TOULOUSE

BATH 29-25 RACING 92

LA ROCHELLE 45-12 LEICESTER

BORDEAUX 55-15 SARACENS



ROUND 4

FRI JAN 19

GLASGOW V TOULON

CONNACHT V BRISTOL

SAT JAN 20

HARLEQUINS V ULSTER

BULLS V BORDEAUX

RACING 92 V CARDIFF

LEICESTER V LEINSTER

MUNSTER V NORTHAMPTON

STADE FRANCAIS V STORMERS

SARACENS V LYON

SUN JAN 21

SALE SHARKS V LA ROCHELLE

TOULOUSE V BATH

BAYONNE V EXETER

309 : Leinster v Stade Français preview

also available as a podcast

our guest : NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts


LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose (c) 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. James Ryan 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Tommy O’Brien


STADE FRANÇAIS : 15 L Monin 14 P Dakuwaqa 13 S Ahmed 12 N Nene 11 K Hamdaoui 10 Z Henry 9 B Weber

1 C Castets 2 L Peyresblanques 3 H Ndiaye 4 PH Azagoh 5 JJ van der Mescht 6 M Hirigoyen (c) 7 R Chapuis 8 G Habel-Kϋffner

16 M Meité 17 V Kakovin 18 P Alo-Emile 19 G Tsutskiridze 20 A Timo 21 J Gimbert 22 P Gabrillagues 23 J Segonds


Investec Champions Cup 23/24 Round 3

Saturday, January 13, 2024

KO 5:30pm Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2, TNT Sports 3


Referee: Christophe Ridley (Eng)

AR 1: Luke Pearce (Eng)

AR 2: Gareth Holsgrove (Eng)

TMO: Tom Foley (Eng)

Citing Commissioner : Shaun Veldsman (SA)

304 : Leinster v Sale Sharks wrap

16 December 2023; Cian Healy of Leinster dives over to score his side’s fifth try despite the tackle of Ethan Caine of Sale Sharks during the Investec Champions Cup Pool 4 Round 2 match between Leinster and Sale Sharks at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

🏉 MUN, ULS & CON reviews

🏉 Sharp Sharks

🏉 Championship minutes

🏉 Bench impress

🏉 Log Toppers


TOM COLEMAN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR


FULL TIME TAKES

Rich Mifsud

My biggest annoyance from this match (and I’m seriously fucking pissed off) was our complacency. Much as I was elated with our attitude last week, today was the complete opposite. That said I believe our expectations as supporters are not taking account of the huge vacuum created by the departures of Johnny and Stu. It will take time for the new coaching set up and 10 to settle and thrive

Alan Murphy
Awful game. A game dominated by pedantic adjudication. Every phase seemed to end with a blow of the whistle. Stop, start. Happy with 5 points but dreadful to watch.

Kevin Kelehan
Sloppy start and lax finish but a lot of grit for the middle half of the game either side of half time. Biggest news from the pool was La Rochelle losing again yesterday

SeanieH
·Terrible for Charlie. He’s had some lovely touches lately. Looking classy

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

ROUND 2

NORTHAMPTON 22-19 TOULON

BAYONNE 11-12 GLASGOW WARRIORS

SARACENS 55-36 CONNACHT

STORMERS 21-20 LA ROCHELLE

BORDEAUX 36-17 BRISTOL BEARS

LYON 29-28 BULLS

LEINSTER 37-27 SALE SHARKS

CARDIFF 32-39 BATH

ULSTER 31-15 RACING 92

EXETER CHIEFS 32-24 MUNSTER

HARLEQUINS 19-47 TOULOUSE

STADE FRANCAIS 24-27 LEICESTER TIGERS


courtesy Cian O’Muilleoir

ROUND 3

FRI JAN 12

NORTHAMPTON V BAYONNE

SAT JAN 13

LYON V CONNACHT

EXETER CHIEFS V GLASGOW WARRIORS

TOULON V MUNSTER

BRISTOL BEARS V BULLS

LEINSTER V STADE FRANCAIS

STORMERS V SALE SHARKS

CARDIFF V HARLEQUINS

ULSTER V TOULOUSE

SUN JAN 14

BATH V RACING 92

LA ROCHELLE V LEICESTER

BORDEAUX V SARACENS