For our first Opposition View pod of 2023 I was delighted to speak to Lee & Rhys from the excellent WRRAP pod about the regions’ season so far plus the Welsh Six Nations squad.
Our guests…
LEE GRIFFITH &
RHYS JOHN
Their pod on the Welsh 6N squad > https://anchor.fm/wrrap/episodes/Bonus-pod—The-Wales-squad-e1tl9ph/a-a8qnq0j
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Conor Cronin The number of penalties is a concern. A strong win, and some great individual performances weren’t. We’d a strong first and last 20, needed to be more conscious of the ruck in the middle 40, that’s where we lost our most to Racing. I found a group of Racing fans after the game and brought them to the pub, great group, great fans who really love the game and are very passionate about good rugby, I’m really glad we could meet up expectation, particular the O’Brien try
Gavin Hegarty I actually enjoyed how they challenged us. They clearly did their homework. But still, the good will out. Yes we were not at the level we were last week, but class is permanent. Highlight was ringer flick, sublime.
Richard Collumb Racing slowing the game right down caused us problems. Scrum, some sloppy passing & silly penalties will be punished in later rounds, but last 20 minutes was great. Ringrose just gets better & better.
John Hyland (reply to Richard Collumb) don’t agree re scrum. Other teams are cheating and getting away with it. Our scrum is collapsing on the loosehead side because opposition tightheads are boring in, leaving Porter / Milne nothing to push against. Refs have been clueless.
MASTODON
Richard Mifsud We weren’t at our best for long periods and credit R92 for parts of that but it’s an 80 minute game and when we clicked it was sublime. We need these tests to keep us honest and sharp it’s about finding a way and thus far this season we’ve been pretty good at that this season. Very satisfying BPW
Koochulainn The numbers do not lie LEINSTER 4 games 20 points (and did not concede a single losing BP) 28 tries +150 points difference #PerfectRecord
RugbyNerd Too good again! But good game for around 60 minutes and good refereeing. Very clear communication.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
HCC ROUND 4 WRAP
ROUND 4
LYN 31-7 BUL
LEIC 26-27 OSP
HAR 39-29 SHA
NOR 13-31 LAR
BOR 17-26 GLO
LEIN 36-10 R92
STO 30-16 CLE
EXE 40-3 CAS
ULS 22-11 SAL
MON 21-21 LIR
TLS 20-16 MUN
EDI 20-14 SAR
LAST 16 (weekend of Mar 31/Apr 1,2)
LEIN V ULS
LEIC V EDI
TLS V BUL
SHA V MUN
EXE V MON
STO V HAR
LAR V GLO
SAR V OSP
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
Leinster: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose > CAPTAIN 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Caelan Doris 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan
16. Dan Sheehan 17. Michael Milne 18. Cian Healy 19. Ross Molony 20. Ryan Baird 21. Luke McGrath 22. Harry Byrne 23. Scott Penny
Racing 92: 15 W Gelant 14 C Wade 13 O Klemenczak 12 G Fickou (c) 11 L Dupichot 10 F Russell 9 N Le Garrec 1 E Ben Arous 2 J Tarrit 3.T Nyakane 4 B Chouzenoux 5 B Palu 6 W Lauret 7 M Coulibaly 8 K Kamikamica
16 P Narisia 17 G Gogichashvili 18 G Kharaishvili 19 A Hemery 20 M Baudonne 21 A Gibert 22 F Saili 23 M Spring
Heineken Champions Cup 22/23
Round 4
Sat Jan 21 KO 3:15pm
Aviva Stadium
Ref: Matthew Carley (ENG)
AR1: Craig Maxwell-Keys (ENG)
AR2: Gareth Holsgrove (ENG)
TMO: Ian Tempest (ENG)
Live on: RTÉ 2, BT Sport 2
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
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.
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
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
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
Leinster: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose > CAPTAIN 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Michael Milne 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Jack Conan 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Harry Byrne 23. Liam Turner
Gloucester: 15 G Barton 14 J May 13 C Harris 12 S Atkinson 11 O Thorley 10 S Carreras 9 B Meehan
1 V Rapava-Ruskin 2 G McGuigan 3 K Gotovtsev 4 F Clark 5 M Alemanno 6 R Ackermann 7 L Ludlow (c) 8 B Morgan
16 S Blake 17 H Elrington 18 C Knight 19 C Jordan 20 J Clement 21 S Varney 22 B Twelvetrees 23 T Seabrook
Heineken Champions Cup 22/23
Round 3
Sat Jan 14 KO 1pm
Kingsholm Stadium
Ref: Pierre Brousset (France)
AR1: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France)
AR2: Flavien Hourquet (France)
TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)
Live on: ITV1, BT Sport 2
WOMEN’S RUGBY TWITTER ACCOUNTS MENTIONED
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
[plus a special report from CONOR CRONIN]
FULL TIME TAKES
Conor Cronin A few key things from this game that concern me.
The pack were bullied in the first half, and let themselves be.
Harry Byrne struggled behind the pack, but they’re not entirely to blame for his struggles. He needs a lot more time and needs to build confidence behind a dominant pack.
The scrum was awful. We have suffered as a province since Fogarty went to the Ireland set up, that needs to be dealt with.
Grinding out the win is great, and you learn much more from a game like that. But we need to learn fast, especially if the injury Ross Byrne picked up last night is bad.
Paul Smith Probably the poorest we’ve played in a good while, but the sign of a good team is to still manage to win while playing poorly so we’ll the gladly take the points and move on.
MASTODON
WRRAP podcast @WRRAP@toot.wales It is not often you see a Leinster pack hit reverse but deserved the win
Brian Nisbet @natural20 19-24 in Swansea. Come back was quite late, but a win is a win and well done to the lads for doing what needed to be done.
Jay Long @Jay_Long_626 Seriously good win on the road and Ospreys were proper up for it. Turned it on when it counted, I think Nick McCarthy won us that game imo. Just slipped us into a flow. Never in doubt
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND 12 WRAP
ROUND 12
DRA 14-29 BUL
MUN 33-3 LIO
BEN 31-29 ULS
EDI 24-17 ZEB
CAR 22-28 SCA
CON 24-12 SHA
OSP 19-24 LEI
GLA 24-17 STO
ROUND 13
JAN 27
SCA V BUL
ULS V STO
JAN 7
BEN V MUN
DRA V GLA
LEI V CAR
EDI V SHA
CON V LIO
JAN 8
ZEB V OSP
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
OUR GUEST : CIARÁN DUFFY [click here for his fundraising page]
Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley
1. Cian Healy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Brian Deeny 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Jack Conan
16. John McKee 17. Michael Milne 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. James Ryan 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Ross Byrne 23. Rob Russell
Ospreys: 15. Cai Evans 14. Mat Protheroe 13. Michael Collins 12. Keiran Williams 11. Keelan Giles 10. Owen Williams 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams
1. Nicky Smith 2. Dewi Lake 3. Tomas Francis 4. Rhys Davies 5. Alun Wyn Jones 6. Ethan Roots 7. Justin Tipuric > capt 8. Morgan Morris
16. Scott Baldwin 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Tom Botha 19. Huw Sutton 20. Harri Deaves 21. Matthew Aubrey 22. Joe Hawkins 23. Jack Walsh
BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23
Round 12
Sat Jan 7 KO 7:35pm
Swansea.com Stadium
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
AR 1: Dewi Phillips (WRU)
AR 2: Jason Bessant (WRU)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
Live on: TG4, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Gavin Hegarty Boring. It’s tiresome how even after they get ahead we don’t fear the result. Yes I know it’s a good position to be in but we’ve suffered as a result before, Saracens, la Rochelle etc. We need to be challenged more.
Chris McDonnell Another shocking day at the lineout. Its been a while since we had one if them but that was not acceptable. Kelleher will not get his starting jersey back from sheahan until he learns how to throw the ball
MASTODON
rhubarbsticks Ryan Baird in full flight is a sight to behold. A scrappy enough performance but plenty of positives to go forward with.
RugbyKino A tale of 3 parts to that match. A tight, well-matched fast-paced game gave way to more of a broken-up tussle in midfield in the second half. But come the final quarter Leinster flexed their handling muscle and put Connacht to the sword.
A shame Connacht don’t come away with something as the scoreline doesn’t do them justice.
However, Johnny coming off with a big dent in his face is a worry, possibly for the next 2-6 weeks.
RichardMifsud Really entertaining match at the RDS Connacht competitive deep into it but a couple of late tries put a gloss on the score line Good performance from the much changed side with a fair crop of youngsters Lineout issues need to be resolved but that apart a good enough performance Top of the pile in January 2023 let’s see how it pans out 🤷🏻♂️ Good performances from JL and Ryan B Deeny looked good and the Foley cameo was exciting
james @gortoshay putting 40 pts on Connacht while still having plenty of work ons is a nice place to be. Leinster being made to work for their victories this season. I’m hoping it stands to them at the business end. Sexton definitely a worry.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND X WRAP
ROUND 11
EDI 25-32 GLA
ZEB 17-40 BEN
SHA 47-20 BUL
STO 40-8 LIO
CAR 19-22 OSP
ULS 14-15 MUN
SCA 33-17 DRA
LEI 41-12 CON
ROUND 12
JAN 6
DRA V BUL
MUN V LIO
JAN 7
BEN V ULS
EDI V ZEB
CAR V SCA
CON V SHA
OSP V LEI
JAN 8
GLA V STO
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
Leinster : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Liam Turner 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Rob Russell 10. Johnny Sexton > CAPTAIN 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Michael Milne 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Brian Deeny 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris
16. John McKee 17. Marcus Hanan 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. Alex Soroka 20. Scott Penny 21. Cormac Foley 22. Harry Byrne 23. Jamie Osborne
Connacht: 15 T O’Halloran 14 D Kilgallen 13 T Farrell 12 D Hawkshaw 11 J Porch 10 J Carty (C) 9 C Blade
1 P Dooley 2 D Heffernan 3 D Robertson-McCoy 4 D Murray 5 N Murray 6. C Prendergast 7 S Hurley-Langton 8 J Butler
16 S Delahunt 17 D Buckley 18 S Illo 19. O Dowling 20 C Oliver 21 K Marmion 22 T Daly 23 B Ralston
BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23
Round 11
Sun Jan 1 KO 7:35pm
RDS Arena
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
AR 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)
AR 2: Peter Martin (IRFU)
TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)
Live on: RTÉ, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Conor Cronin On the road, taking a win home with us without a lot of players who might have wanted the opportunity to play and might sometimes be considered higher up the pecking order, and having missed out on the chance to get a BP, there’s a lot to be positive about here.
Yes there were some things that we’ll use the video for to tidy up, and yes the referee was not at the top of his game, but you play the ref, you play what’s in front of you, and you take your chances.
I’m happy with that, munster threw their best available team at us, it wasn’t enough tonight
Andrew Potts A collection of random penalties until 50, then a game broke out
Martin Loughrey Scrappy to say the least. Great to get the win and our response to Deegan’s yellow was incredible, but the game didn’t really kick into gear until the 2nd half. I felt Munster had a slight edge on us for long periods but couldn’t capitalise. And of course Busby was poor. It seemed like he heeded the crowd’s reaction after Deegan flipped POM over, and made some strange calls after that. Very quick to ping Leinster after that, and of course there was his own obstruction of Leinster at the ruck that lead to a penalty for Munster. Still though, a win in Thomond is always great to get, so happy to take it!
MASTODON
rhubarbsticks @rhubarbsticks@sself.co
Although that was a tough, valuable and well earned victory it didn’t alter any pecking orders in Leinster.
A win away at Thomond with a rotated side and not playing particularly well is not to be sniffed at. Great runouts from Dan (again) and Big Joe Mac. Luke McG and Ross M made a big impact from the bench. Happy with that and isn’t it brilliant to see a return of the St Stephen’s Day fixture? #MUNvLEI
Bernard McKeever @dregin
#MUNvLEI Would not want to be on the receiving end of Graham Rowntree’s anger after conceding those tries with us a man down.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND X WRAP
ROUND 10
SHA 37-10 LIO
STO 37-27 BUL
CON 20-22 ULS
GLA 16-10 EDI
BEN 38-5 ZEB
DRA 24-29 CAR
OSP 34-14 SCA
MUN 19-20 LEI
ROUND 11
DEC 30
EDIVGLA
DEC 31
ZEB V BEN
SHA V BUL
STO V LIO
JAN 1
CAR V OSP
ULS V MUN
SCA V DRA
LEI V CON
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 