Category: Ciarán Duffy

398 : Munster v Leinster wrap

27 December 2024; Luke McGrath of Leinster scores his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
NOTE : this week we posted the ‘Final Thoughts’ portion separately on our YouTube channel

🏉  Vanishing pillar

🏉  Set piece revival

🏉  Steady Sam

🏉  Ahern SUAF

🏉  Through the Ringer

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post Sport – blog

FULL TIME TAKES

Chris McDonnell

I am not a McGrath fan but he was good tonight. Credit where its due. Munster’s refusal to take points when they are on offer is just daft against a defence as good as Leinster’s. Lineout was better and the scrum was good mostly.

Gavin Hegarty

Let’s not get carried away here, that was a terrible Munster team. They need to rebuild from the ground up.

Adrian Hickey

Being cautious with Super Sam is key. No Jordie or RG was a killer blow to a real soft Munster outfit imo. No real reason to egg them on

Jackie McEachern

Happy to see the lineout functioning better. Thought VdF was excellent again. Really happy to get the BP win. Still lots to work on but lots of positives too.

Kevin Kelehan

11 points clear of the pack, selecting a stronger squad to tour South Africa in March is vital, now the meat of the season kicks off, La Rochelle away, Bath home and the Six Nations title defence

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URC WRAP

397 : Munster v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS PODCAST

Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY

POST TO POST SPORT

LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Andrew Porter 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Scott Penny 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jordan Larmour 

MUNSTER : 15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan

1 Dian Bleuler, 2 Niall Scannell, 3 Oli Jager; 4 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Tadhg Beirne (C); 6 Tom Ahern, 7 Alex Kendellen, 8Gavin Coombes.

16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Ben O’Connor.

United Rugby Championship 24/25 Rd 9

Friday, December 27, 2024

KO 7:35pm  Thomond Park

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 2, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)

AR 2: Chris Lough (IRFU)

TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

392 : Bristol Bears v Leinster wrap

8 December 2024; Jordie Barrett of Leinster during the Champions Cup Round 1 match between Bristol Bears and Leinster at Ashton Gate in Bristol, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

🏉 Defences up

🏉 Scrum lottery 

🏉 Yellow fever

🏉 Euro mode

🏉 Bench press

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICHARD MIFSUD

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post Sport blog

FULL TIME TAKES

Aonghus O’Brien

First half was poor, but the second half was loads of fun and I especially enjoyed the two tries from Sam ‘Not A Running Threat’ Prendergast

Louis Hoffman

Could a scrum ‘expert’ explain to me, what all that nonsense was about? Was it the refs fault?

Kevin Kelehan

Dreadful ref, his scrum time nearly wrecked the game completely. The bench was ridiculously over strength but thankfully it worked a charm when introduced, a BP on the road is all that history will record in a game of two halves.

Jackie McEachern

Definitely a “game of two halves”. As others have said, our bench obviously made a huge difference. While the reffing was horrible, we showed good composure in the first half when we had two yellow cards to attack and score a try.

Brian Patrick Donnelly

match ruined by inept, pedantic, awful refereeing. We were good for 20 minutes and that was that.

Shane Mcdonald

Just watching it it now at half time but how on gods green earth did the ref linesman tmo miss the very very very obvious hands in the ruck when jvdf nearly got over in the corner

Stevie wonder could have seen that and tv kept showing it over over over 🤦

Greg Kelly

BP away to the 2nd placed team in England is not to be sniffed at. The officiating was poor. We got little change from the officials in the first half but credit to the lads they worked around it well. Not sure how the TMO doesn’t intervene to card Thacker for pulling the ball out of Joshs hands on the goal line in the first half but comes in to reverse a lineout🤷‍♂️

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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

390 : Ireland v Australia wrap

IRFU 150 Test Match, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 30/11/2024 Ireland vs Australia Ireland’s Cian Healy Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 Just not clicking

🏉 Schmidt tactics

🏉 Ten point swing

🏉 Back to adversity

🏉 Saved by the bench

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICHARD MIFSUD

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post to Post Sport blog

FULL TIME TAKES

Cormac Mannion

I’m not too worried about the attack just yet. It took Catt a bit of time to sort that out when he took up the role so let’s hope Goodman makes improvements by the 6N.

However, our lineout is appalling and this is nothing new. Serious questions to be asked of O’Connell and what he’s doing there.

Big step up for Prendergast today and he’ll learn from it. Suddenly we now have options at 10 post Johnny. Crowley was really up for it when he came on too.

Another issue though seems to be the back row. We seem to get isolated an awful lot at the breakdown and giving away a lot of turnovers. Ruck clearance has definitely gone downhill this year.

Ronan McManus

I’m not sure that Prendergast’s more languid passing style helped us against the Aussie rush defence. They were in among us by the time the ball came into the centre.

Some real flashes of quality from him though.

Sort.out.the.lineout.

Kevin Kelehan

Bench was the difference between the sides, Dan Sheehan will be back once fit and Gus McCarthy should be on the bench, you need to win your own line outs, something that only happened once McCarthy came on. Jack Crowley also showed so much more accuracy and energy in his time, Prendergast just not up to the pace aged 21. Craig Casey also full of energy when introduced. Josh VDF also superb and was Doris as was Big Joe and Porter.

Sean MacDonnchadha

Can’t sweep this under the rug and say a win is a win and move on. That lazy mentality has only ever gotten us to the same QF exit in world cups. Lineout and attack are serious issues and can no longer be ignored – changes needed.

Jackie McEachern

Lineout needs to be sorted. Bench made a big impact (esp Crowley, Casey and McCarthy). Glad we got the win but that could easily have gone the other way.

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386 : Ireland v Fiji wrap

Autumn Nations Series, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 23/11/2024 Ireland vs Fiji
Ireland’s Sam Prendergast takes a kick Mandatory Credit
©INPHO/Ben Brady

🏉 Sam, Gus & Izzy

🏉 Attacking flow

🏉 Discipline

🏉 Awkward positions

🏉 Pecking orders

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post Sport

FULL TIME TAKES

Hubert Gallagher

Sam P’s ability to pick out a late pass and put a player into a gap was otherworldly! Set up a number of clean breaks. Loved the fact he made a number of errors but the head didn’t do down and he just played on as if it didn’t matter. Great temperament.

Gus was also brilliant- another couple of games and he’ll be pushing Kelleher and of course Sheehan when he’s back! What a debut.

Lots of really good performances from more established players Henshaw, Aki, JVDF, Doris and loved Casey’s performances – much better then I’ve seen him play before.

Lastly a word for Frawley – he took some punishment and kept going and did very well!

Opposition was quite poor however and we need to keep that in mind.

Jackie McEachern

Bearing in mind that Fiji were poor, I think we can still take away positives. Great first time starts from Sam and Gus. And many of the veterns put in strong performances – Aki, Henshaw, Doris, VdF. I was also really impressed with Casey.

I think Crowley should definitely start next week and the #10 jersey is his. But I’m excited for what Sam will also bring as he matures and his skills grow.

Bert McLoughlin

Fijian discipline shocking. Gus McCarthy had a great debut 3 assists and a try👏. Sam had a mixed bag with the yellow and a few mistakes after he can back on, but his passing gains space for players around him and is definitely a playmaker 10.

Chris McDonnell

Casey played his best game, sam recovered from some silly mistakes and played well especially after frawley came on and took loads of the pressure off playing as a second play maker. Said before the game the balance on the bench with so many 12’s and no back 3 players was always going to go badly.

Eamon Saunders

A win is a win some great individual performances but for me Robbie Henshaw was back to his best but again great performances all over the pitch

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AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES WRAP

WEEK 3

FRANCE 37-23 ARGENTINA

IRELAND 52-17 FIJI

WALES 12-45 SOUTH AFRICA

ITALY 11-29 NEW ZEALAND

SCOTLAND 27-13 AUSTRALIA

ENGLAND 59-14 JAPAN

WEEK 4

SAT NOV 30

IRELAND V AUSTRALIA

@harpinonrugby

Could’ve been the first to get a yellow before kickoff! 😜

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373 : Benetton v Leinster wrap

5 October 2024; Ciarán Frawley of Leinster beats the tackle of Tommaso Menoncello of Benetton on the way to scoring his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Benetton and Leinster at Stadio Monigo in Treviso, Italy. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

🏉 The Perfect 10

🏉 Injury worries

🏉 On the blitz

🏉 Split decision 

🏉 He’s alright, Jack

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

CIARÁN DUFFY

FULL TIME TAKES

Michaela Monaghan

Very one sided but another BP win in the bag 😃😃… Frawley needs to stay at 10 instead of Ross Byrne

Richard Collumb

Scrum poor & got very scrappy, very quickly, still it’s PB win & a few players coming back but need to be sharper next week.

Hubert Gallagher

Frawley Frawley Frawley – there should be no other 10!!!

Eamon Saunders

Good to see some of the big boys back but really good to see some fringe players get game time (BRIAN DEENY ) Up Wexford

Denise O’Brien

I think the 10 situation became even more clear…

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369 : Edinburgh v Leinster wrap

20 September 2024; Jamison Gibson-Park of Leinster scores his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Edinburgh and Leinster at Hive Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
also available on Apple & most major platforms

🏉 Mixed bag

🏉 Pro-Tector

🏉 Whiskey, neat

🏉 Bouncebackability

🏉 Two Healys

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

CIARÁN DUFFY

(Post To Post Sport)

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

JGP’s try was the catalyst that delivered that burst of scores that changed the game, lucky the Edinburgh butchered their kicks 5 minutes out but on balance a decent start to the season that needs to deliver silverware

Chris McDonnell

We handed over 5 tries to the second worst attack in the league. If we don’t send him back to SA it’d going to get worse. Good to see some of the attack and Sam and Charlie were very good.

Gavin Hegarty

First game, away, mainly young team v full Edinburgh. A lot of positives. Sam was sublime, techtor could be a great 12 with his new bulk.

Scott Penny is relentless.

Can we talk about Byrne’s reaction to his yellow? Pathetic and I think he’ll get scolded for it in the review.

William Andrew

Tector, was competent at 12, that might be a better fit for him considering the glut at 10. Prendergast was very effective too. Nicely timed passing constantly. Defence a bit leaky, but a good start

David Lawlor

Nice to banish the opening game yips we seem to have been suffering from. A joy to watch a Leinster 10 take the ball to the line and his passing was sublime too. The last minute try makes it seem closer than it really was and while it’s disappointing to concede five tries I think the defence will improve as the season goes on. Roll on Friday in the Aviva!

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URC ROUND 1 WRAP

@harpinonrugby

Check out our first wrap pod of the season, available on Spotify, Apple and most major platforms.

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362 : RSAvIRE 1st test wrap

Castle Lager Incoming Series First Test, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria, South Africa 6/7/2024 South Africa vs Ireland Ireland’s Jamie Osborne Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 Shaky start

🏉 Punishing mistakes

🏉 TMO issues

🏉 Bomb squad

🏉 Frantic finish

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIARÁN DUFFY

https://posttopost.sport.blog

DAVID CORDIAL

FULL TIME TAKES

Brian Patrick Donnelly

They got the rub of the green, big time, but we probably didn’t do enough.

Reasonably confident we can win 2nd if “end of season-itis” doesn’t kick in.

Gav Heg

If it was reversed, we won and the ref treated SA like he did us, rassie would release a two hour analysis slating him. The officiating simply wasn’t good enough at this level. like how can they review and disallow Lowes try but not notice the neck roll on Kelleher? Penalties were given for far less in NZ v Eng. And how was Casey stretchered off without any review from Pearse? Nonsensical and inconsistent

Greg Kelly

Is the call by the TMO to disallow Lowes try wrong in law? No…

Is the game in an absolute state if this is where it is going? Absolutely!

You can be guaranteed that in the lead up to all the tries today there were infringements but the TMO didn’t come back to those?

Even after the turnover Lowe beats 3 defenders to score so the manner of the turnover is not the material issue. It’s a great individual try called back for a debatable TMO intervention. Furthermore once the TMO comes in to disallow the try he must commit 100% to catching EVERY breakdown infringement from there. What if he let’s one go and 3 phases later there’s a kickable penalty awarded to the offending team? Does he call the referee back?

PSDT is off his feet in the field of play when he holds up Doris’ grounding attempt. By the letter of the law it’s an illegal intervention. It happens in all games and is never penalised but if we are going into the detail we did for the Lowe try then it’s another incidence of a player off feet affecting the play and consistency demands it’s flagged by the TMO.

If this is where we’re going it’s going to be a sh1t show.

Kevin Kelehan

Half back pairing was not disrupted, got reasonable parity at the breakdown. Unlucky with a few ref decisions that were 50:50 calls, particular Kelliher being driven back. Lots of industry and effort but also lots of shooting themselves in the foot. The series remains alive at only 7 points down, that is very encouraging, dust themselves down and be more clinical next week.

Sean MacDonnchadha

Have to look inward and be honest. Otherwise we’re only fooling ourselves again. Lineout and scrum came back to bite us after being highlighted as potential weaknesses. Backline stuttering for most of the game and no real director at 9/10. Felt like we were having to react to everything instead of dictating play. Dorris and Bundee tireless efforts. Ryan and Baird impacted well off the bench – only ones who did really. Needing Porter and Furlong to do a full 80 if possible is a massive system failure. Boks can’t wait to unleash their bench, if we’re honest we fear what will happen when we do.

Cuan Mulligan

In the first half, Kolisi was tackled, in the breakdown the ball is coming back to us and he sweeps the ball back with his hand.. not hard to see yet no tmo call. It felt like they were going out of their way to not give us a call

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354 : Leinster v Ulster wrap

8 June 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster evades the tackle of Ethan McIlroy of Ulster on his way to scoring his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship quarter-final match between Leinster and Ulster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

🏉 Slow start

🏉 Misleading margins

🏉 Soccer skills

🏉 Marvellous McCarthy

🏉 Southern soujourn

@harpinonrugby

Our Leinster v Ulster wrap pod is now available on Apple, Spotify, etc, with a bonus clip on our YouTube channel

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

FULL TIME TAKES

Cuan Mulligan

Ross while having some good moments, is too predictable, and offers little variety in attack…. Sam tried some outrageous moves , came off, granted they won’t always but means teams are unsure what to expect…

Greg Kelly

Watched the game on SuperSport and I get the impression the Saffas don’t watch Leinster in detail because they’re a bit worried 😂

It’s nice to see Leinster going full guns in the league for the first time in a while. It was a high quality game that Leinster managed well.

Strangely enough I wonder if Prendergast being in the squad and then coming in and showing some good touches means he’s not going anywhere next season. Personally I think they have to look to make him the solid number 2 next year with an eye to him getting the starting shirt if performances warrant it.

Brian Corr

I’m almost afraid to say anything because of the backlash of you’re arrogant and typical Leinster, but with almost the full squad available it’s hard to see how Ulster would have really threatened Leinster, particularly without their captain and next best second row out.

Ulster came out flying but could not get over the line, a couple of tries some would call lucky and they were buried by 1/2 time. Lucky translates into the harder I work the more luck I get.

While Ulster never went away, they conceded within minutes of scoring their first tries.

For Leinster it was great to get a comprehensive win and a fairly hard fought one which will stand to them next week.

Osbourne and Henshaw were everywhere, though it was a full team performance, I don’t know if anyone had a bad game.

Robert Webster

Good win by Leinster but thought score flattered them a little. Next week should be a good game but would expect Leinster to have too much for the Bulls, who will need to up their performance from today to have any chance. Would add that I thought it was a pretty disappointing crowd for a knock out derby.

Gordy Graham

Ultimately I’m a disappointed Ulster fan again but the boys gave it everything today and it was always going to be a big ask after losing four second rows. Murphy has had a big impact at Ulster and there’s a bit of positivity about the place now which is nice!

From an impartial view point I can’t understand Leinster’s continued obsession with Byrne, he seems to have lost his confidence and offers very little in the way of attacking threat. I think that’s why Leinster’s attack as a whole has slowed down.

Colin Mcconaghie

Massively depleted Ulster team gave their all. Not to be against a very strong Leinster.

Proud of our young lads after being written off all season.

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QUARTERFINALS

MUNSTER V OSPREYS8

BULLS V BENETTON

LEINSTER 43-20 ULSTER

GLASGOW WARRIOR V STORMERS

SEMIFINALS

SAT JUNE 15

BULLS V LEINSTER

MUNSTER V GLASGOW

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346 : Leinster v Ospreys wrap

11 May 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster scores his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ospreys at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
also available on Apple podcasts and most major platforms

🏉 3 up 2 down

🏉 Just the JOB

🏉 Another JL hat-trick

🏉 🍔

🏉 A perfect 10?

@harpinonrugby

Check out our full Leinster v Ospreys wrap pod on Apple, Spotify etc #rugbytiktok #irelandtiktok #LeinsterRugby

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THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

FULL TIME TAKES

Hubert Gallagher

Frawley looked very comfortable when he went to 10. Another very accomplished game for him. Just wished he got more game time there! Lots still to work on.

Peter Tracey

O’Brien looked sharp and has some serious pace. JGP and Frawley really sped the game up when they played together.

Frankie Taylor

Buzzing. Jimmy was incredible

David White

The spies from Toulouse in the stands leant nothing coz Ospreys were so poor

Tony Doyle

Good win and a great second half by Leinster

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URC WRAP

ROUND 16

DRAGONS 21-44 STORMERS

EDINBURGH 40-14 ZEBRE

BULLS 40-34 GLASGOW

SCARLETS 20-31 ULSTER

SHARKS 24-25 BENETTON

MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT

LIONS 34-13 CARDIFF

LEINSTER 61-14 OSPREYS

ROUND 17

FRI MAY 17

ZEBRE V SCARLETS

EDINBURGH V MUNSTER

SAT MAY 18

BULLS V BENETTON

OSPREYS V DRAGONS

LIONS V GLASGOW

CONNACHT V STORMERS

SHARKS V CARDIFF

ULSTER V LEINSTER

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