Category: Contributors

253 : HCC final & 22/23 season wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN & MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

The true impact of James Ryan on this team is now fully understood. Better team over 80 minutes won, without Ryan we had no answer to Skelton, ref had a good game. This was the 2011 final won for a second star by a team dead and buried after the first quarter. Jack Conan was again superb.

Andrew Bailey

Hugely disappointing. 17 points up and we stoped playing. Signs of panic Kicked so much ball away. Hard to see how this team progresses .Winning by 40 points each week is no preparation

Christy O’Connor

Sometimes teams need to win ugly and grind a result, Leinster need to learn how to do this. No point taking a big lead and not knowing how to defend it

James Griffin (Munster fan)

Hard luck Leinster folks. That was some start but LaR ground their way back in and then strangled Leinster with their power. I think they were helped in that by James Ryan’s absence (physicality and leadership), kicks out on the full, a blocked attempted clearance, some needless penalties / cards, and some wayward long kicking back to them. The slowdown in tempo from Q2 onwards helped LaR but hindered Leinster. Can’t understand why there wasn’t a drop goal attempt at the end; a try wasn’t needed at that stage.

Aidan O’Leary

We missed Sexton the leader as much as the player today.

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252 : Harpin’ Preview Show – Champions’ Cup Final

OUR GUESTS : NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN & CIAN ‘RUGBY KINO’ O’MUILLEOIR

Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jimmy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

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

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Jason Jenkins 20. Ryan Baird 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Charlie Ngatai 

Stade Rochelais : 15 B Dulin 14 D Leyds 13 UJ Seuteni 12 J Danty 11 R Rhule 10 A Hastoy 9 T Kerr Barlow

1 R Wardi 2 P Bourgarit 3 U Atonio 4 R Sazy 5 W Skelton 6 P Boudehent 7 L Botia 8 G Alldritt (c)

16 Q Lespiaucq Brettes 17 J Sclavi 18 G Henri Colombe 19 T Lavault, 20 R Bourdeau 21 U Dillane 22 T Berjon 23 J Favre

Heineken Champions Cup 2022/23

FINAL

Sat May 20 KO 4:45pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Ref: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

AR1: Karl Dickson (England)

AR2: Christophe Ridley (England)

TMO: Tom Foley (England)

Live on: RTÉ2, BT Sport 2, ITV1

251 – Leinster v Munster wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN & RICH MIFSUD

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Conor Cronin

This is a game I’ll need to watch back.

In the stand, if you believe the boos, comments here, comments all over the Internet etc we can only blame one person but I blame the urc. How did they put that referee in the position that he can be blamed? It’s outrageous that he be put in that position. Any other ref could be chosen so that the “he played” nonsense wouldn’t be am issue.

Regardless, you play the decisions, and adapt.

Well done munster, good luck on the 27th.

Craig Grehan

As an out & out leinster fan. We disrespected munster in cup rugby by not selecting our best team.

A team that does that, does it at their peril. We took the gamble and lost to the MUCH better team on the day.

Andrew Potts

A disappointing day for Leinster fond the demands of a month of weekly knock out rugby a step to far today.

Could have won it but Munster could had a few tries.

Frank Murphy did nothing today but enhance his reputation as a very flawed Ref and biased against Leinster.

In the first minute a player leaves the field unconscious. The result of a high tackle.

I thought three questions had to be answered by the Ref

Was there contact with the head?

Was force applied?

Any mitigation ?

It’s a card but only what colour.

The sanctions must have changed.

The length of time Leinster were defending under advantage was ridiculous, certainly he was a factor.

John Hyland

Munster were the better side today. For right or for wrong, Leo has prioritised the fifth star. This was always going to be a tight game. Let’s hope Munster can do the biz in SA.

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MASTODON

Koochulainn  Munster were up for it… Can’t complain we weren’t clinical enough 😦

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Ireland women sevens qualify for Olympics (rte.ie) 
  2. Terenure Centre Says Provinces Should Give Young AIL Players A Chance | Balls.ie [Colman Stanley]
  3. European Professional Club Rugby | Dublin Heineken Champions Cup final confirmed as sell-out (epcrugby.com)
  4.  Premiership: George Ford boots Sale Sharks past Leicester Tigers to final : PlanetRugby 
  5. Magical Manie sends Stormers to URC final (sarugbymag.co.za)

URC SEMIFINAL WRAP

URC SEMIFINALS
STO 43-25 CON
LEI 15-16 MUN

URC FINAL
SAT MAY 27
STO V MUN

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249 : Leinster v Sharks wrap 

6 May 2023; Michael Milne of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship Quarter-Final between Leinster and Cell C Sharks at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

NEIL ‘KEEGO’ KEEGAN & CIAN ‘RUGBY KINO’ O’MUILLEOIR

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

FULL TIME TAKES

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Christy O’Connor

Another very comfortable game, a slight scare at the start when Sharks got their try, but in the end it was too easy.

Don’t see Munster causing any trouble after watching their game against 14 man Glasgow. Still need to show Munster respect though. Don’t want to put out all the academy players again thinking we will walk it.

Andrew Byrne

Time to rethink the quarterfinals stage? That wasn’t a proper match, Sharks seemed to turn up with a one dimensional game plan, only wishing to front up at the scrum and then return home as quickly as possible. No fight in them to have a shot at Leinster with a proper game plan. Knockout rugby gives you a chance to take down the top teams, Sharks just didn’t look interested in anything other than taking scrums.

Hubert Gallagher

(Munster semifinal will be) a derby – passions will be high, physicality intense, we cannot afford to be as generous as Glasgow yesterday and spurn the chances they did. Otherwise Munster will grow into the game and it will become a dogfight and the outcome less certain!

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MASTODON

Koochulainn  I thought (the Sharks) would be more dangerous, particularly against an unorthodox centre partnership (which I thought didn’t gel early on)  I thought McGrath was and has been fantastic over the last while

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Joe Schmidt likely to be on IRFU’s radar as union target ‘world-class’ successor to David Nucifora | Independent.ie [Rúaidhrí O’Connor]
  2. Terenure earn record-breaking All-Ireland final win over Clontarf (the42.ie)  [Dave Mervyn] 
  3. Stormers stride into home semi (sarugbymag.co.za)
  4. Ulster were second best in URC Quarter-Final against hungry Connacht, admits Dan McFarland | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  5. Munster grind out victory over Glasgow in bruising Scotstoun affair (irishexaminer.com) [Simon Lewis]

URC QUARTERFINAL WRAP

URC QUARTERFINALS

ULS 10-15 CON

STO 33-21 BUL

LEI 35-3 SHA

GLA 5-14 MUN

SEMIFINALS

SAT MAY 13

STO V CON 3PM

LEI V MUN 5:30PM

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248 : Harpin Preview Show – Leinster v Sharks

OUR GUESTS : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN & CIAN “RUGBY KINO” O’MUILLEOIR

Leinster :  15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Ciarán Frawley 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath > CAPTAIN

1. Michael Milne 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ryan Baird 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Scott Penny 8. Caelan Doris

16. John McKee 17. Andrew Porter 18. Cian Healy 19. Joe McCarthy 20. Jack Conan 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Ross Byrne 23. Liam Turner

Cell C Sharks : 15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Marnus Potgieter 13 Lukhanyo Am (c) 12 Ben Tapuai 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Boeta Chamberlain 9 Grant Williams 

1 Ox Nche 2 Bongi Mbonambi 3 Thomas du Toit 4 Corne Rahl 5 Gerbrandt Grobler 6 James Venter 7 Vincent Tshituka 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe

16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Carlu Sadie 19 Jeandre Labuschagne 20 Phepsi Buthelezi 21 Cameron Wright 22 Nevaldo Fleurs 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg 

BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Quarterfinal

Sat May 6 KO 5pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)

AR 1: Sam Grove-White (SRU) 

AR 2: Hollie Davidson (SRU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Live on: RTÉ2, Viaplay/Premier Sports, URC.tv

247 : Leinster v Toulouse wrap

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & TOM COLEMAN

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Mark Jackson

Too disciplined

Too ruthless

Too good …next

Andrew Bailey

Great performance undoubtedly helped by Toulouse indiscipline. Extraordinary tactical failure to have the best scrum half in world along with Ntamack playing out of position for 60 minutes

Craig Grehan

A good win. Flattered by 2 yellow cards.

But, 2nd yellow proves without the “weight” toulouse didn’t seem that strong. (Except dupont)

Gavin Hegarty

Ok so just watched it back and have had time to digest it.

4 tries while they were at 14, but the first two were forward tried and it was Ramos in the bin. Can’t help but feel they kinda imploded and suffered by their lack of back subs but we dominated and beat them at their own game.

I was worried about ngatai, just hadn’t seen enough of him, but he was fantastic.

My 6 year old has watched Conan’s second try on repeat this morning, a dummy of sheer cheeky beauty, it’ll be done many times in the garden today.

Does jack willis’ header to Sheehan count as a try assist?

Byrne was class today, faultless from the tee, this run of high pressure games and form bodes extremely well for the RWC.

TWITTER

MASTODON

Higgs thought it was going to be tighter before the match then how it ended up. Ngatai  made a huge impact in the first half. Plenty of tired legs at the end of the match

JOC IMO, the really soul-crushing moment came when Ryan yoinked the lineout steal. Absolute confidence-shattering stuff.  “yay, I stole a critical Leinster lineout” “Nope” <yoink>  <Heavyweight pack shoved backwards over own line>

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. England hang on to take the win | Scrum Queens [Alison Donnelly]
  2. Ireland fade in second half and fall to first wooden spoon since 2004 (the42.ie) [Lewis Stuart]
  3. Scarlets 17-35 Glasgow: Dwayne Peel’s side run out of steam as injuries take toll in bruising Euro semi-final – Wales Online [Steffan Thomas]
  4. European Professional Club Rugby | 14-man Toulon too good for Benetton (epcrugby.com)
  5. O’Gara’s La Rochelle set up blockbuster Leinster final (rte.ie)

EPCR SEMIFINALS WRAP

CHAMPIONS CUP

SEMIFINALS

LEI 41-22 TLS

LAR 47-28 EXE

CHALLENGE CUP

SEMIFINALS

SCA 17-35 GLA

TLN 23-0 BEN

FINALS

Fri May 19 : Glasgow Warriors v Toulon

Sat May 20 : Leinster v La Rochelle

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246 : Harpin’ Preview Show – Leinster v Toulouse

OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

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

Heineken Champions Cup 2022/23

Semifinal

Sat Apr 29 KO 3pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Ref: Wayne Barnes (England) 

AR1: Luke Pearce (England) 

AR2: Adam Leal (England) 

TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Live on: RTÉ2, BT Sport 3

Click here for our latest “Throwback Thursday” article when we looked back to Leinster v Toulouse 2019

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

FULL TIME TAKES

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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.

TWITTER

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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Harpin’ Preview Show : Bulls v Leinster

Our guest : MARK JACKSON

Leinster : 15. Chris Cosgrave 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Liam Turner 12. Ben Brownlee 11. Dave Kearney 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Nick McCarthy

1. Ed Byrne > CAPTAIN 2. Tadgh McElroy 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Alex Soroka 5. Brian Deeny 6. James Culhane 7. Will Connors 8. Max Deegan

16. Lee Barron 17. Michael Milne 18. Temi Lasisi 19. Conor O’Tighearnaigh 20. Liam Molony 21. Ben Murphy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Rob Russell

Vodacom Bulls : 15 K-L Arendse 14 C Moodie 13 S Gans 12 H Vorster 11 D Kreil 10 J Goosen 9 E Papier

1 G Steenkamp 2 J Grobelaar 3 M Smith 4 R Vermaak 5 R Nortje (c) 6 M van Staden 7 C Brink 8 E Louw

16 B du Plessis 17 D Smith 18 F Klopper 19 J Swanpoel 20 WJ Steenkamp 21 K Johannes 22 C Smith 23 C Hendricks

BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Round 18

Sat Apr 22 KO 3:05pm

Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

Referee: Craig Evans  (WRU)  

AR 1: Adriaan Jacobs (SARU)

AR 2: Aimee Barrett-Theron (SARU)  

TMO: Jon Mason (WRU)

Live on: TG4, Viaplay, Premier Sports & URC.tv

243 : Lions v Leinster wrap

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1HPTtRKNBNe729a2k2kyXQ?si=ljUOnBcMRLqv_WX26a_0jA

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICH MIFSUD & JOE SHEPPARD

Click here for Joe’s site Three BOD Rugby

FULL TIME TAKES

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Greg Kelly From the first scrum the Lions looked uneasy. They looked like they expected the young guns to have a crack but to fall away. However they didn’t. Lions lived off Leinster errors and a lack of cohesion.

Up the ladders and age grades Leinster lose very few games and sometimes that shows. Players that are not used to losing generally don’t fall away.

Christy O’Connor Lot of pressure on Prendergast, I originally thought it was a mistake to start him but after a bit of a shaky first half he got more into the game and made the difference in the end.

Big statement to come from behind when down to 13 men and we were nowhere near full strength

Andrew Potts Any win in SA is to be respected, fantastic result for young players and praise also for Ruddock and Deegan for keeping the lads focused when it could have gone South

TWITTER

https://twitter.com/canice_clooney/status/1647269417745633280?s=20

MASTODON

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Irish rugby likened to ‘old boys club’ with sexism commonplace (telegraph.co.uk) [Fiona Thomas]
  2. Leinster Rugby | Jacques Nienaber to Join Leinster Rugby [Marcus Ó Buachalla]
  3. Ulster increase strain on Stormers by knocking down Dragons | Belfast News Letter [Ciaran Donaghy]
  4. Huge win as Munster end Stormers’ two-year home streak in Cape Town (irishexaminer.com) [Craig Ray]
  5. Connacht give departing figures the perfect home send-off with bonus-point win (the42.ie) [John Fallon]

URC ROUND 17 WRAP

ROUND 17

SHA 43-33 BEN

GLA 12-9 SCA

ULS 40-19 DRA

BUL 78-12 ZEB

LIO 36-39 LEI

STO 24-26 MUN

EDI 45-21 OSP

CON 38-19 CAR

ROUND 18

FRI APR 21

STO V BEN

ULS V EDI

SAT SPR 22

LIO V ZEB

DRA V SCA

BUL V LEI

SHA V MUN

OSP V CAR

GLA V CON

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