Category: Conor Cronin

Twitter : @ccbooms
HoR.net contributions : 18 pods, 22 overall

245 : Bulls v Leinster & URC Rds 1-18 wrap

22 April 2023; Leinster players huddle during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Leinster at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & NATHAN JOHNS

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Gerald Williamson The Bulls getting the 5pts is immaterial in the last league match. What was important for Leinster was to be able to blood new young players and get the experience of playing against a fully loaded Bulls team. This will stand to the Leinster boys.

Andrew Potts My goodness it was still a masterclass of support play and off loading by Bulls. Hopefully Leinster learn from it, because sometimes you learn more from you failures than your victories

Christy O’Connor Wasn’t expecting us to win but also wasn’t expecting such a spanking. I thought Clarkson and Soroka put in a good shift. We definitely learned more in this game than the bulls did. Roll on Toulouse.

Greg Kelly Hardly good for the competition or if you are Connacht or Munster to see the Bulls get 5 points against Leinsters 4ths and leapfrog you in the playoffs when you had to play against the 1sts. I understand giving the young guns a run but there has to be integrity in both the competition and the jersey and that was lacking today.

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FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. AIL round-up: Deja vu for Clontarf and Terenure (rte.ie) 
  2. Ulster secure home advantage in URC play-offs after battling win over Edinburgh at Ravenhill | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  3. Munster secure trip to Glasgow in URC quarters after dramatic Durban recovery (irishexaminer.com) [Craig Ray]
  4. Ireland show plenty of character and courage despite being outclassed by England – The Irish Times [John O’Sullivan]
  5. Connacht fail to maintain winning run · The42 [John Fallon]

URC ROUND 18 WRAP

ROUND 18

STO 38-22 BEN

ULS 28-14 EDI

LIO 50-35 ZEB

DRA 31-14 SCA

BUL 62-7 LEI

SHA 22-22 MUN

OSP 21-38 CAR

GLA 29-27 CON

QUARTERFINALS (WEEKEND MAY 5/6/7)

LEINSTER V SHARKS

ULSTER V CONNACHT

STORMERS V BULLS

GLASGOW V MUNSTER

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239 : Leinster v Ulster wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & MARK JACKSON

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Paul Smith A game for the forwards and the Leinster pack delivered in spades. It was never going to be a day for free flowing rugby and their dominance in both attack and defence was the winning of the match this evening. Ryan, Baird, and Conan were outstanding and also a mention for Ross Byrne who played some smart rugby and took his points well. Have to be happy to take the win in a game that always had the potential to be a banana skin.

Andrew Potts A wet game but not inspiring. They were good enough for Ulster but it was very low key result.

South Wales Ulster Rugby Supporters Club Leinster deserved the win on the day, but Ulster Rugby didn’t make it easy. Without doubt, Stockdale’s huge kick, chase, collect to Burns & cross field kick for Hume’s try, was the best passage of play, in the whole game 🏉

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MASTODON

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Antoine Dupont named Six Nations Player of the Championship (rugbyworld.com) [Josh Graham] 
  2. London Irish insist all staff will be paid this month amid concern over finances | London Irish | The Guardian [via PA Media]
  3. Nichola Fryday Gives Emotional Interview After Heavy Loss To France | Balls.ie [Colman Stanley]
  4. Injuries and tries galore as Bok-laden Sharks thump Munster | Rugby365 
  5. Connacht bow out of Challenge Cup with comprehensive defeat to impressive Benetton – Independent.ie [John Fallon]

HCC ROUND OF 16 WRAP

ROUND OF 16 

LEI 16-6 EDI

SHA 50-35 MUN

STO 32-28 HAR

LEI 30-15 ULS

LAR 29-26 GLO

EXE* 33-33 MON [aet]

TLS 33-9 BUL

SAR 35-20 OSP

QUARTERFINALS

FRI MAR 7

LEIN V LEIC

SAT MAR 8

TLS V SHA

EXE V STO

LAR V SAR

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236 : Harpin’ Preview Show #LEIvSTO

OUR GUEST : CONOR CRONIN

Leinster : 15. Jordan Larmour 14. Rob Russell 13. Liam Turner 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Michael Milne 2. John McKee 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan

16. Lee Barron 17. Ed Byrne 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. Brian Deeny 20. Will Connors 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Ben Brownlee

DHL Stormers: 15 Clayton Blommetjies 14 Suleiman Hartzenberg 13 Dan du Plessis 12 Damian Willemse 11 Seabelo Senatla 10 Manie Libbok 9 Paul de Wet

1 Steven Kitshoff (capt) 2 Joseph Dweba 3 Frans Malherbe 4 Ruben van Heerden 5 Marvin Orie 6 Deon Fourie 7 Ben-Jason Dixon 8 Hacjivah Dayimani,

16 JJ Kotze 17 Brok Harris 18 Neethling Fouche 19 Ernst van Rhyn 20 Willie Engelbrecht 21 Marcel Theunissen 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Jean-Luc du Plessis

BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Round 16

Fri Mar 24 KO 7:35pm

RDS Arena, Dublin

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, Viaplay Xtra, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)

AR 2: Keane Davison (IRFU)

TMO: Andrew McMenemy (SRU)

235 : IRELAND V ENGLAND WRAP aka “Gran’s Lamb”

ⓒ INPHO/Billy Strickland

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

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Mark Jackson

Ryan Baird immense ..kudos must go to all coaches n staff and squad

10 tries conceeded in 2 6 Nations campaigns combined telling stat..hats off to Simon Easterby for defensive work especially

James Griffin

England brought physicality but not a lot of game nous. Ireland, while not always as precise as in previous games, matched their physicality but in addition, had good game management and made good decisions at crucial times. Delighted for the entire squad; a fully deserved slam.

Gavin Hegarty

Not a good Irish performance but always great to get a slam.

Up for discussion is where rugby is going. A red card should be for a malicious act, not for what steward did. His offence was a yellow at most.

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MASTODON

Tim Stickland  Congratulations Ireland. Great shift from Johnny Sexton. RWC looks fantastic with the French in great form too.

RichardMifsud It seems I’m required to force myself to have a celebratory #whiskey

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Nine tries, 66 points and a frantic finish – Gonzaga claim first Senior Cup after famous win over Blackrock – Independent.ie [Des Berry]
  2. RTÉ and Virgin Media secure Rugby World Cup 2023 rights | World Rugby
  3. Six Nations: Scotland survive incredibly nervy finish as Blair Kinghorn scores hat-trick of tries against Italy | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]
  4. Wales end Six Nations campaign on losing note against France – The Irish Times 
  5. Six-try Ireland U20s make history with back-to-back Grand Slam titles (the42.ie) [Sinead Farrell]

SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 5

SCO 26-14 ITA

FRA 41-28 WAL

IRE 29-16 ENG

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226 : ITALY v IRELAND WRAP

2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 3, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy 25/2/2023 Italy vs Ireland Ireland’s Mack Hansen Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 IRELAND’S CAAAA…..

🏉 Centre, Backrow & Halfback options

🏉 ……..AAAAAAAA………

🏉 Italy’s improvement

🏉 …AAAAAAAAAAAAALL.

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & TOM COLEMAN

PLUS A SPECIAL REPORT FROM RICH MIFSUD

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Imelda Reidy Great Italian performance. Job done. 5 points. On we roll.

Andrew Byrne Today showed one thing in particular, that Gary Ringrose is a world class operator and is streets ahead of the rest of them at playing outside centre. 12 and 13 are two very different positions, as shown by our defensive lapses today.

Alan Murphy Brilliant. Two teams playing the game in a positive way. Italy have really improved. Let’s be honest, some of our team today were 2-3rd choice and a few played out of position. We scored a bonus point, left some tries out there and also managed to think our way out of danger today. Previously we would have lost this game. Building strength in depth. So positive from me.

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Joanne  In fairness to Kieran Crowley, not only has he got Italy playing brilliantly, he’s got them believing too. So good to see and long may it continue.

Koochulainn Another win with a bonus point without conceding a losing bonus.

The performance wasn’t perfect, and Italy found some flaws in the defensive system, but you can’t get any more than five points.

Italy were great value for money too. After today and the 20s last night Italian rugby is heading in a good direction.

POTM Mack Hansen dropping an F bomb in the post match interview was a lovely coda

Colm Splendid match. Continued resurgence and improvement from Italy, and as usual this year, Ireland responded magnificently to pressure. Really looking forward to Murrayfield next month.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Former Ireland international Tom Tierney, who coached Irish women’s team, dies aged 46 – Independent.ie [Ruairidh O’Connor]
  2. Ireland U20s withstand second-half surge to keep back-to-back Grand Slam ambitions alive (the42.ie) [Daire Walsh]
  3. Ulster stun Sharks with sensational victory in Durban | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  4. Borthwick praises England’s tactical nous in ‘incredible Test match’ – england | Rugby365 [via AFP]
  5. Scotland suffer first Six Nations defeat in France despite valiant effort after early red cards | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]

6N RD 3 & URC ROUND 6 WRAP

6N WRAP

ROUND 3

ITA 20-34 IRE

WAL 10-20 ENG

FRA 32-21 SCO

ROUND 4

MAR 11

ITA V WAL

ENG V FRA

MAR 12

SCO V IRE

URC WRAP

ROUND 6

SHA 24-31 ULS

LIO 35-24 GLA

ROUND 15

MAR 3

GLA V ZEB

MUN V SCA

MAR 4

STO V SHA

BUL V LIO

EDI V LEI

OSP V BEN

DRA V CON

CAR V ULS

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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223 : Harpin Preview Show – #LEIvDRA

Our guest : CONOR CRONIN

Leinster : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Liam Turner 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Michael Milne 2. John McKee 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Brian Deeny 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan

16. Lee Barron 17. Jack Boyle 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Will Connors 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Rob Russell

Dragons RFC: 15 A O’Brien 14  Tomkinson 13 S Hughes 12 J Dixon 11 A Hewitt 10 W Reed 9 R Williams (c)

1 R Jones 2 B Coghlan 3 L Fairbrother 4 M Screech 5 B Carter 6 B Fry 7 T Basham 8 R Moriarty

16 J Benjamin 17 A Seiuli 18 C Coleman 19 S Lonsdale 20 R Woodman 21 L Jones 22 JJ Hanrahan 23 J Williams

BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Round 14

Sat Feb 18  KO 7:35pm

RDS Arena

Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)

AR 1: Oisin Quinn (IRFU) 

AR 2:  Sam Holt (IRFU)

TMO:  Dave Sutherland (SRU)

Live on: RTÉ, S4C, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv

221 : IRELAND v FRANCE wrap

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

MARK JACKSON & CONOR CRONIN

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James Griffin

Given the travails experienced by the Murray family this past week, Conor showed immense fortitude and strength of character to even tog out today. Delighted for him and the whole squad! A fantastic performance.

Imelda Reidy

Some game. Outstanding from Ireland. There can be no argument now about the No. 1 team in the world. Need to drive on now and continue to improve. ☘☘

Gavin Hegarty

My god.what a game. We just got a bp over the second best team in the world.

Let’s not mention the definite red card.

Every man in green (bar Hanson in my view) was utterly outstanding.

Tom O’Toole, my god where did that come from? Was worried about bealham before the Wales games now we have three class tightheads.

Chuck Doris, world’s best 8. Completely outplayed alldrit.

Lowe’s try, Mon dieu c’est magnifique.

Take a bow Ireland, you have wrecked me.

TWITTER

MASTODON

Koochulainn @Koochulainn So that’s the “bogey match” and the “defacto title decider” out of the way Bring on the “gimme” (which isnt what it used to be), the “potential banana skin”, and the “Auld enemy”.

Séamus Mac an tSábhaisigh @jamessavage French rugby fans affronted by selective tv replays …  #karma winning big games well but with clear room for improvement each time is a very exciting place to be.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Worcester Warriors change name and drop down leagues amid anger at RFU | Worcester | The Guardian [Michael Aylwin]
  2. How would the Rugby World Cup pools look based on today’s rankings? [Sarah Rendell]
  3. U-20 star Sam Prendergast shows nerves of steel to get Six Nations weekend off to winning start – Independent.ie [Sean O’Connor]
  4. Scotland v Wales: Finn Russell pulls the strings as hosts rampage to record win (theoffsideline.com) [David Barnes]
  5. England 31-14 Italy: Pragmatic hosts claim first win under Steve Borthwick – BBC Sport [Mantej Mann]

SIX NATIONS ROUND 2 WRAP

ROUND 2

IRE 32-19 FRA

SCO 35-7 WAL

ENG 31-14 ITA

FEB 25

ITA V IRE

WAL V ENG

FEB 26

FRA V SCO

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS 

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216 : Pre-6N Panel

A bonus pod to set us up nicely for the Six Nations – our panel gives an overview of the Irish squad as well as the other five nations plus the Irish Under20s ahead of 6Mas Day.

Our guests…

MARK JACKSON & CONOR CRONIN

Think you can out-predict our Harpin panel?

Prove it by joining our Guinness Pint Predictor League just follow the instructions below

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215 : Leinster v Cardiff wrap

28 January 2023; A general view of a scrum during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Cardiff at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4wHHMVqQAnSwAXNs11HCm4?si=abdd7adf387842e3

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SIX NATIONS GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

FULL TIME TAKES

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Gavin Hegarty

We beat a Cardiff team with our thirds. We had the bp quick enough and took the foot off the gas in the second half to allow them two tries back.

Delight to have chopper Connors back and to see him doing what he does best.

Great to see the debutants, Leinster are going to be a force for years to come.

Brian Corr

Feel Cardiff came thinking they were going to have an easy game with so many Leinster players on Ireland duty, they realised their mistake too late.

It’s great to see Deegan playing so well and even better to see Connors back.

It’s a great testament to Cullen and his coaches that they have the back up squad so tuned in and able to step up when needed, even if Cardiff were not really at the races.

Tector getting his first points, Turner with another great try.

Great outcome for Leinster, especially racking up the points for home games in the knockouts.

Karen Brennan

Well done to new young players getting their first cap,a great occasion for them,especially Balbriggan rugby clubs Aitzol King👍🏻

TWITTER

MASTODON

RichardMifsud I always love watching @leinsterrugby play but I particularly love it when the young guns get a run out. TBH I was expecting a tougher game but Cardiff disappointed Deegs very worthy POTM Good outings from Milne Brownlee Turner as well as our starting back row and halfbacks Disappointing 10 minutes in the final quarter but that’s great learning for the kids 

Andrew Byrne Harry Byrne’s kicking out of hand was very good, amazing the difference a bit of game time makes. We got a bit sloppy in the final quarter but to be expected with so many changes. Cardiff’s coaches must be pulling their hair out, their team was outclassed by an inexperienced Leinster team.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. RFU Apologise After Severe Criticism Over Controversial New Tackle Laws | Balls.ie [Colman Stanley]
  2. Bernard Laporte resigns from FFR president role after corruption conviction (talkingrugbyunion.co.uk)
  3. Ulster sink Stormers with home success | Belfast News Letter [Ciaran Donaghy]
  4. Six-try Munster bank bonus in Treviso thriller (irishexaminer.com) [Kevin Fallon]
  5. Jack Carty becomes Connacht’s all-time top points scorer as Lions tamed at Sportsground – The Irish Times [Linley MacKenzie]

URC ROUND 13 WRAP

ROUND 13

ULS 35-5 STO

SCA 37-28 BUL

BEN 30-40 MUN

DRA 28-42 GLA

LEI 38-14 CAR

EDI 19-22 SHA

CON 43-24 LIO

ZEB 24-28 OSP

Feb 4 (Round 1)

SHA v STO

Round 14

Feb 17

MUN V OSP

GLA V ULS

Feb 18

LIO V SHA

BUL V STO

ZEB V CON

SCA V EDI

CAR V BEN

LEI V DRA

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS ARE

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210 : Gloucester v Leinster wrap

14 January 2023; Michael Ala’alatoa of Leinster makes a break during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 3 match between Gloucester and Leinster at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

210 : Gloucester v Leinster wrap – Harpin' On Rugby

🏉 MUN, ULS & CON 🏉 Jamie Osborne 🏉 Clinical finishing 🏉 Cian Healy’s career 🏉 Leinster’s scrum Harpin’ On Rugby match wraps are brought to you by The Irish Rugby Store Our guests… MARK JACKSON https://twitter.com/hoomanbear CONOR CRONIN https://twitter.com/ccbooms FRONT FIVE ARTICLES RFU intervenes to let Borthwick pick Farrell in England Six Nations squad | Owen Farrell | The Guardian [Gerard Meagher] Women’s interprovincials: Munster claim bonus-point win over Leinster to move closer to title – The Irish Times Fourteen-man Munster hold off Northampton in Champions Cup thriller | Rugby365 ‘Heartbroken’ Dan McFarland bemoans decision not to award Ulster penalty try in late La Rochelle defeat – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley] Clinical Connacht put 61 points on Brive to progress to Challenge Cup knockouts (the42.ie) [Daragh Small] Where to find Harpin’ On Rugby Website > https://harpinonrugby.com/ Mastodon > @HarpinOnRugby@mastodon.ie Twitter > https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby Facebook > https://www.facebook.com/HarpinOnRugby Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/harpinonrugby/ TikTok > https://www.tiktok.com/@harpinonrugby YouTube > https://youtube.com/@HarpinPreviewShow

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

MARK JACKSON & CONOR CRONIN

FULL TIME TAKES

FACEBOOK


Andrew Potts The scrum is a concern, probably just needs a little collective focus. Nice to see them using short penalty moves in the red zone, it’s a good variation then going to a line out, plus suits Leinster tempo.
Some of the Leinster play was excellent and Ross has developed into quite the facilitator

Richard Collumb Says it all about current European competition when URC is providing more challenges.
Great to see Osborne step up & some game time to replacements.

Chris McDonnell Too good just too good.

TWITTER

MASTODON

Brian Nisbet @natural20 14-49 A match with a couple of lessons for Leinster (discipline, line-outs), but ultimately another emphatic victory in Europe and the match goes on.


Colin Mehigan @colinmehigan@mas.to @vnvobit @HarpinOnRugby @rugby Lots of impressive performances in Kingsholm today – Jamie Osborne really standing out

Adam Ashby (Gloucester fan) @adamashby@mas.to Well. That was worse than I expected.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. RFU intervenes to let Borthwick pick Farrell in England Six Nations squad | Owen Farrell | The Guardian [Gerard Meagher]
  2. Women’s interprovincials: Munster claim bonus-point win over Leinster to move closer to title – The Irish Times 
  3. Fourteen-man Munster hold off Northampton in Champions Cup thriller | Rugby365
  4. ‘Heartbroken’ Dan McFarland bemoans decision not to award Ulster penalty try in late La Rochelle defeat – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  5. Clinical Connacht put 61 points on Brive to progress to Challenge Cup knockouts (the42.ie) [Daragh Small]

HCC ROUND 3 WRAP

ROUND 3

CLE 29-44 LEIC

SAL 5-27 TLS

GLO 14-49 LEIN

MUN 27-23 NOR

SHA 32-3 BOR

LAR 7-3 ULS

BUL 39-28 EXE

OSP 35-29 MON

SAR 48-28 LYN

CAS 21-34 EDI

LIR 14-28 STO

R92 30-29 HAR

ROUND 4

FRI JAN 20

LYN V BUL

LEI V OSP

SAT JAN 21

HAR V SHA

NOR V LAR

BOR V GLO

LEI V R92

STO V CLE

EXE V CAS

ULS V SAL

SUN JAN 22

MON V LIR

TLS V MUN

EDI V SAR

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