Our guests…
Category: Ciarán Duffy
497 : Ireland v Italy preview
Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY
IRELAND : 15 Jimmy O’Brien 14 Robert Baloucoune 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 James Lowe 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Craig Casey
1 Jeremy Loughman 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tom Clarkson 4 Joe McCarthy 5 James Ryan 6 Cian Prendergast 7 Caelan Doris (c) 8 Jack Conan
16 Ronan Kelleher 17 Tom O’Toole 18 Tadhg Furlong 19 Edwin Edogbo 20 Tadhg Beirne 21 Nick Timoney 22 Jamison Gibson‑Park 23 Jack Crowley
ITALY : 15 Lorenzo Pani 14 Louis Lynagh 13 Tommaso Menoncello 12 Leonardo Marin 11 Monty Ioane 10 Paolo Garbisi 9 Alessandro Fusco
1 Danilo Fischetti 2 Giacomo Nicotera 3 Simone Ferrari 4 Niccolò Cannone 5 Andrea Zambonin 6 Michele Lamaro (c) 7 Manuel Zuliani 8 Lorenzo Cannone
16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17 Mirco Spagnolo 18 Muhamed Hasa 19 Federico Ruzza 20 Riccardo Favretto 21 David Odiase 22 Alessandro Garbisi 23 Paolo Odogwu
Guinness Six Nations 2026 – Round 2
Saturday, February 14, 2026
Aviva Stadium
KO 2:15pm
Live on : Virgin Media 1
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
AR1: Matthew Carley (RFU)
AR2: Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
492 : Connacht v Leinster wrap
🏉 Comeback Kings
🏉 The gameplan
🏉 Opening night
🏉 Leinster negatives
🏉 Connacht’s form
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
FULL TIME TAKES
Eamon Saunders
Another win on the road glad to get the 5 points but much improvement needed going forward 👍
Greg Kelly
Connacht were plucky and obvious up for the occasion. They applied a lot of pressure in the opening hour but fell away a bit afterwards. They were looking for big moments but fell short of a real catalyst. Leinster were sputtering along and wasteful in attack…again. Ultimately Leinster were the better team and on the hour you always felt they would pull away. As has been said week after week if we do that against the top opposition we’ll get caned but but was enough against a spirited but limited Connacht team.
Kevin Kelehan
Ireland lost big tonight unless Jack Boyle does a Lazarus, have a good bet on England for the Six Nations. The Leinster scrum did amazingly, Niall Smyth passed his exam as did Sparrow and Jerry Cahir again proving the academy let more than Tadhg Beirne slip through their fingers. Charlie Tector again superb but one of the Connacht back row should have got man of the match for over an hour they had the upper hand. Delighted to take 5 points out of a decent Connacht shift.
Chris McDonnell
Another game where harry shows why he was Leinster’s 4th choice last season. He’s good defensively and can kick goals but he’s got nothing in attack.
James Gill
Harry 💯 % kicking might get him an Ireland start. Charlie Tector should b in the A squad. Prendergast was good for connacht but need a few more forwards badly. Leinster building nicely
Eamon Phelan
Sam illo can scrummage
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “IRISH 6N SQUAD”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
484 : Munster v Leinster wrap
🏉 Defending ✅
🏉 Scrum ✅
🏉 Game management ✅
🏉 Attack plan❓
🏉 Discipline❓
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
FULL TIME TAKES
Richard Collumb
Close game, Munster pushed hard & Leinster defence improving. Harry best 10 we have.
Lorcán Murphy
A dogfight of a game which will stand to both teams and Ireland in the longer run. This was all about the result and who wanted it more
Dave Murray
Two very tough inter-pros and 9 points from them, we can’t complain about that. Our attack was very one dimensional, but its a tough defence that wins games in Thomond and we defended superbly. NB Leo with Zebo after the game was also a nice bonus
Louis Hoffman
Just about Fair result, few bruised bodies tomorrow. Ruck was a mess
Kevin Kelehan
Munster pushed Leinster bloody hard, Leinster defence was back where it needed to be. The second half against Ulster may be the time we say that Leinster’s season clicked and where the believe came to win when the chances aren’t there.
Gavin Little
Scrums are a mystery… we win penalty after penalty and Munster don’t get penalised, then in the second half the ref calls “use it” almost immediately on every scrum completely nullifying our advantage
Christy O’Connor
Started off brilliant and the intensity was great, it dropped off as the game went on though. Our defense was great and our attack is still very one dimensional.
The highlight of the night was Leo absolutely ripping Zebo in the interview after the game.
Gerald Williamson
The Leinster defense was impressive. It was a close game with not much free flowing Rugby due to the tight marking. The Ref did not have a bad game.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “2025 YEAR IN REVIEW” (YOUTUBE)
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN (SUBSTACK)
462 : Leinster v Sharks wrap
🏉 Cohesion back
🏉 Gunne firing
🏉 Josh the skipper
🏉 Sleeping giants
🏉 Josh the debutante
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
FULL TIME TAKES
Gavin Hegarty
Normal (ISH) service resumes!
I thought Osbourne was great, most likely Irelands 15 for the autumn internationals in winter. Harry looked confident but did try a tad to hard in parts.
We were south lower and watched the ground covered by Baird to make a tackle, unreal!
Far from perfect but a step in the right direction
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “THE FRAWLEY DILEMMA”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
461 : Leinster v Sharks preview
Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY
LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. James Lowe 10. Harry Byrne 9. Fintan Gunne
1. Paddy McCarthy 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Brian Deeny 5. Ryan Baird 6. Alex Soroka 7. Josh van der Flier (c) 8. Max Deegan
16. Gus McCarthy 17. Jack Boyle 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. James Culhane 21. Luke McGrath 22. Hugh Cooney 23. Joshua Kenny
SHARKS : 15 Edwill van der Merwe 14 Ethan Hooker 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Lukhanyo Am 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jean Smith 9 Jaden Hendrikse
1 Simphiwe Matanzima 2 Fez Mbatha 3 Ruan Dreyer 4 Jason Jenkins 5 Marvin Orie 6 Phepsi Buthelezi 7 Emmanuel Tshituka 8 Vincent Tshituka (c)
16 Bongi Mbonambi 17 Dian Bleuler 18 Vincent Koch 19 Bathobele Hlekani 20 Nick Hatton 21 Ross Braude 22 Siya Masuku 23 Francois Venter
BKT United Rugby Championship 25/26 Rd 3
Saturday, October 4, 2025
Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria
KO 5:30pm Irish time
Live on : Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)
AR 2: Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO: Keith David (WRU)
448 : Brumbies review, AUNZ & Portugal previews
446 : WARvBIL & GEOvIRE previews
435 : Leinster v Zebre wrap
🏉 12 different tries
🏉 Tyler’s attack
🏉 Sam’s starts
🏉 That JB narrative
🏉 Improved forwards
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Kevin Kelehan
Normal service is restored after last weeks slip
David Ryle
Better structure this week.
William Andrew
Flat track bullies. If they didn’t set up a drop goal, they have learnt nothing.
URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “THE LIONS SQUAD”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY
434 : Leinster v Zebre preview
Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY
(200th Harpin contribution)
LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Jordie Barrett 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath
1. Jack Boyle 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan (c)
16. John McKee 17. Andrew Porter 18. Rabah Slimani 19. James Ryan 20. James Culhane 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Robbie Henshaw
ZEBRE : 15. Jacopo Trulla 14. Scott Gregory 13. Fetuli Paea 12. Enrico Lucchin 11. Simone Gesi 10. Giovanni Montemauri 9. Gonzalo Garcia
1. Luca Franceschetto 2. Giampietro Ribaldi 3. Juan Pitinari 4. Rusiate Nasove 5. Leonard Krumov 6. Bautista Stavile 7. Iacopo Bianchi 8. Davide Ruggeri (c)
16. Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17. Muhamed Hasa 18. Ion Neculai 19. Matteo Canali 20. Giacomo Ferrari 21. Alessandro Fusco 22. Giacomo Da Re 23. Filippo Drago
BKT United Rugby Championship 24/25
Saturday, May 10, 2025
KO 5:15pm Aviva Stadium
Live on : RTÉ News Channel, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)
AR 2: Dan Carson (IRFU)
TMO: Colin Brett (SRU)
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 