Our guest…FRANCISCO ISAAC
Also check out his own latest podcast for a more in-depth preview
A bonus pod looking ahead to the final round of the Rugby Europe Championship which has a new format this season.
🏉 The RE Championship new format
🏉 How the competition has gone so far
🏉 Preview of Sunday’s finals
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
FULL TIME TAKES
Conor Cronin The wins in the previous 3 rounds with a big injury list, outdone by getting through that game in spite of the injuries.
We allowed the scots to dictate big parts of that game but once we took charge we’d 2 quick tries and that was it. raging for James Ryan not to get the score or the assist with that fine supporting run, and not to have got the BP.
Players really stood up and were counted, and while there were mistakes it’s the attitude of getting up and getting the next phase right that is the core of this team right now.
James Griffin What a very special group of men! To play through so much adversity and win is why they have the ranking they have. Speedy recovery to the injured.
Mark Jackson Think that covers most contingencies ..struggling to come up w new ones ..maybe Hugo Keenan as a LO jumper…Jukebox finally kicking for goal.
Kevin Kelehan Dogged in the extreme, not much more could have gone against them, the disallowed first try, the smashing of Doris in the air in the line out and no sanction, then Sheehan and then Henderson so early in the game. Today was proof that even a much improved Scotland with tails up in front of a noisy crowd could not derail Ireland seriously discommoded by injuries. Time to nail Farrell and Catt down for a contract extension before the World Cup!
Lee O Farrell They always talk about the rub of the green but the lads today made their own luck.
An incredible performance. One of the things that sets this group apart from previous Irish teams is the headspace. And these lads have it in spades!
Andrew Potts Every benefit of the doubt was given to Scotland by the Ref.
Even the fact he was joking around when Ringrose was being attended to for a serious injury was completely tone deaf.
MASTODON
Brian Nisbet Grand Slam still very much on. 7-22 in Edinburgh. Very scrappy match and concerning injuries, but still, it’s a win and any issues will be forgotten after the fifth win next weekend.
Marc Fritsche The players will be in nothing but ice baths for the week, that was extremely physical
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
SIX NATIONS ROUND 4 WRAP
ROUND 4
ITA 17-29 WAL
ENG 10-53 FRA
SCO 7-22 IRE
ROUND 5
SAT MAR 18
SCO V ITA
FRA V WAL
IRE V ENG
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Johnny Sexton > (c) 9. Conor Murray
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Iain Henderson 5. James Ryan 6. Peter O’Mahony 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Ryan Baird 20. Jack Conan 21. Jamison Gibson Park 22. Ross Byrne 23. Robbie Henshaw
SCOTLAND : 15. Stuart Hogg 14. Kyle Steyn 13. Huw Jones 12. Sione Tuipulotu 11. Duhan van der Merwe 10. Finn Russell 9. Ben White
1. Pierre Schoeman 2. George Turner 3. Zander Fagerson 4. Richie Gray 5. Jonny Gray 6. Matt Fagerson 7. Jamie Ritchie (c) 8. Jack Dempsey
16. Fraser Brown 17. Jamie Bhatti 18. Simon Berghan 19. Scott Cummings 20. Hamish Watson 21. Ali Price 22. Blair Kinghorn 23. Chris Harris
Guinness Six Nations Championship 2023
Round 4
Sun Mar 12 KO 3pm
Murrayfield
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
AR1: Wayne Barnes (England)
AR2: Christophe Ridley (England)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
Live on: RTÉ2, ITV1
A bonus pod to set us up nicely for the remaining two rounds of the Six Nations featuring an all-provincial panel.
🏉 The 2023 6N so far
🏉 Ireland’s “work-ons”
🏉 Expectations for Rds 4&5
OUR SIX NATIONS PODCASTS ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY FANZO, DOWNLOAD THE FREE FANZO APP AND JOIN OUR PREDICTION LEAGUE, CODE = HARPIN TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING A SIGNED COPY OF BRIAN’S BOOK.
OUR GUESTS
PÁDRAIG KELLY : https://the2ndrow.com/
CAOLÁN SCULLY : https://caolansrugby.wordpress.com/blog/
PETER LOCKHART : https://www.theredhand.co/
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Peter Murphy Sad to see so many doubters before the game
Kevin Kelehan The machine keeps delivering
Chris McDonnell Seriously good
MASTODON
RichardMifsud Poor start but credit Edinburgh for that. Good response from the boys very clinical in their 22. Absorbed the lessons and adapted. Once we did they were found out because our D was on point and allowed us to kick on. Great 9/10/12/13 interplay and Ciarán F added quality as required. Surprised by Edinburgh’s capitulation after 50” or so. Scott P worthy POTM but Harry B was thereabouts
BrianClontarf Best performance by Harry Byrne for some time. He’s growing into it.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND 15 WRAP
ROUND 15
GLA 50-8 ZEB
MUN 49-42 SCA
STO 29-23 SHA
BUL 25-29 LIO
EDI 27-47 LEI
OSP 20-21 BEN
DRA 20-22 CON
CAR 20-42 ULS
ROUND 16
MAR 24
ZEB V CAR
LEI V STO
MAR 25
BEN V LIO
OSP V DRA
CON V EDI
SCA V SHA
MUN V GLA
ULS V BUL
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP
OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN
Leinster : 15. Ciarán Frawley 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. Jason Jenkins 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan
16. Lee Barron 17. Jack Boyle 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. Will Connors 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Rob Russell.
Edinburgh : 15. Emiliano Boffelli 14. Damien Hoyland 13. Mark Bennett 12. James Lang 11. Wes Goosen 10. Charlie Savala 9. Ben Vellacott
1. Boan Venter 2. Stuart McInally 3. Lee-Roy Atalifo 4. Marshall Sykes 5. Sam Skinner 6. Luke Crosbie > CAPTAIN 7. Hamish Watson 8. Viliame Mata
16. Dave Cherry 17. Jamie Jack 18. Elliot Millar-Mills 19. Jamie Hodgson 20. Nick Haining 21. Charlie Shiel 22. Jaco van der Walt 23. Chris Dean.
BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23
Round 15
Sat Mar 4 KO 5:05pm
DAM Health Stadium
Live on: TG4, Viaplay/Premier Sports, URC.tv
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
AR1: Sam Grove-White
AR2: Ian Kenny
TMO: Jon Mason
With both Leinster & Ireland playing in the Scottish capital the next two weekends, our perfect guest to offer an opposition view was Sandy “@theburghwatch” Smith.
OUR GUEST : SANDY SMITH
🏉 IRELAND’S CAAAA…..
🏉 Centre, Backrow & Halfback options
🏉 ……..AAAAAAAA………
🏉 Italy’s improvement
🏉 …AAAAAAAAAAAAALL.
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
PLUS A SPECIAL REPORT FROM RICH MIFSUD
FULL TIME TAKES
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.
MASTODON
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
6N RD 3 & URC ROUND 6 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
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
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
IRELAND v Italy : 15 Hugo KEENAN 14 Mack HANSEN 13 Garry RINGROSE Bundee AKI 12 Bundee AKI Stuart McCLOSKEY11 James LOWE 10 Ross BYRNE 9 Craig CASEY
1 Andrew PORTER 2 Rónan KELLEHER 3 Finlay BEALHAM 4 Iain HENDERSON 5 James RYAN (c) 6 Caelan DORIS 7 Josh VAN DER FLIER 8 Jack CONAN
16 Dan SHEEHAN 17 Dave KILCOYNE 18 Tom O’TOOLE 19 Ryan BAIRD 20 Peter O’MAHONY 21 Conor MURRAY 22 Jack CROWLEY 23 Stuart McCLOSKEY Jimmy O’BRIEN
Italy : 15 A Capuozzo 14 E Padovani 13 JI Brex 12 T Menoncello 11 P Bruno 10 P Garbisi 9. S Varney
1 D Fischetti 2 G Nicotera 3 S Ferrari 4 N Cannone 5 F Ruzza 6 S Negri 7 M Lamaro (c) 8 L Cannone
16 L Bigi 17 F Zani 18 M Riccioni 19 E Iachizzi 20 G Pettinelli 21 A Fusco 22 L Morisi 23 T Allan
Guinness Six Nations 2023
Round 3
Sat Feb 25 KO 2:15pm
Stadio Olimpico
Live on: RTÉ2, ITV1
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
AR1: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
AR2: Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
🏉 Welsh mess
🏉 Rhys Ruddock
🏉 Dragons fronting up
🏉 Harry Byrne
🏉 G**** S***
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
click here for Ciarán’s fundraising page
FULL TIME TAKES
Greg Kelly
Not a great performance. Probably the worst or amongst the worst of the season. Quite disjointed and not as controlled as Leinster teams usually are.
Performance aside its yet another routine win that was never really in doubt. The URC is great for blooding players but week by week it becomes worse for challenging them.
Andrew Bailey
First up you have to play a referee who’s agenda from the start is to favour the home team. But you can’t do that with poor lineouts , Ruck protection snd an awful kicking game. A big win but worst performance of the season. Why not trust the outside backs more ??
MASTODON
RichardMifsud Had a bit of everything that one. Always love watching the young kids getting a run out. Second 40 saw a dip in intensity that let Dragons back into the game and gave the boys good practice on D. A bit of a flourish at the end with two well worked tries. Invaluable experience for the kids and Rhys a worthy POTM although Lukey pushed for that too Liam Turner had a good outing and it was great to see Jason J and Will on the pitch
John Shine I’m jumping aboard the Jack Boyle hype train!!! In all seriousness it was a nice little 20 mins for him. Held up his end of the scrum. Couple of good carries and a great jackal turnover. Bigger tests await but he’s an exciting prospect.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND 14 WRAP
ROUND 14
GLA 17-11 ULS
MUN 58-3 OSP
LIO 7-29 SHA
ZEB 37-57 CON
BUL 19-23 STO
CAR 30-13 BEN
SCA 42-14 EDI
LEI 43-14 DRA
REARRANGED MATCHES
ROUND 6
SHA V ULS
LIO V 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
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
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