Our guest : AILBHE O’NOLAN

MudderRucker podcast

MudderRucker YouTube

Ahead of the 2025/26 season changes are coming to URC.tv customers in the Republic of Ireland with a lower price point, a new upgraded platform, exciting new features and a small change to the live rights available.

From 30th June 2025, the United Rugby Championship is no longer working with RTÉ Commercial Enterprises DAC (“RTÉCED”) to provide URC.tv, which is now operated solely by the United Rugby Championship. As part of this change, RTÉCED is transferring its rights and obligations, including the contract for your URC.tv subscription, to Pro Rugby Championship DAC with effect from 30th June 2025.

When the new platform launches in time for the 2025/26 season, it will be available on Smart TV apps as well as mobile and desktop destinations with new features such as the ability to watch two live games at the same time in a split screen allowing fans to watch more action on the biggest screens. Full-season passes will now be available for just €40.

In the Republic of Ireland, subscribers will now be able to watch seven of the eight games in each round live. The one additional game of the weekend can be viewed exclusively live on Premier Sports. However, this game will be available on URC.tv, in full, 60 minutes after the full-time whistle. Premier Sports exclusives in Season 25/26 can be found here.

URC.tv will remain home to full game replays of all 151 games, bespoke highlights cuts and selected additional content as well as providing live access to seven of the eight games in every round.

Because your active subscription period continues into next season, we will be issuing a refund for the period that these changes will affect. The refund has been calculated based the number of games played since your subscription started compared to the 151 games played in a full season.

Subscribers who want to continue watching URC.tv next season at the new lower price of €40 do not need to take any action as your subscription will auto-renew in September, after which you will have a 14 day cooling off period in case you change your mind. Customers who want to cancel their subscription renewal can do so in the account section of URC.tv.

These changes do not affect your consumer or Data Protection rights and will not disrupt your ability to access live match content. From 30th June 2025, Pro Rugby Championship DAC is the sole Controller of your personal data.

On Nevin Spence’s anniversary here is a repost of an article written on our old Harpin’ site by Munster & Ireland fan Trevor Murphy, days after the tragedy happened .

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I was preparing to write my regular piece on Saturday evening when the news of the tragic events on the Spence family farm started to filter through. Nevin along with his Dad Noel and older brother Graham were sadly taken from us in a farming accident. As a fan I felt for the loss felt by Ulster fans, teammates and fellow professionals that were lucky enough to have met and played with and against Nevin. As a father and brother I can’t begin to understand the loss felt by the Spence family. To the Spence family and friends I offer my heartfelt condolences.

To say he will be missed is a huge understatement. From what I have read about Nevin, it is evident he had an enthusiasm for the game which was unmatched. When teammates weren’t enjoying the prospect of training he was leading from the front. They say a picture paints a thousand words… I think this one says it all.

Nevin was pointed out by Gary Longwell as a definite future rugby professional while at the Ulster academy. This is quite a statement from a man acutely in the know. It is a big step up from academy to full time professional and it takes a special player to cope with the difference in levels. In 2011 his ability was acknowledged by his peers when he was awarded the IRUPA Young Player of the Year. Nevin was brave beyond words and this was evident from a try he scored against Bath in 2010 where he flipped over onto his head and then back. He gave his all for his team and teammates. His final act, in a life cut too short, again displayed his fearless side going to the aide of family members with no thought to his own safety.

As someone who watches and follows all the rugby available, I did not miss Nevins appearance on the scene. The measure of what I thought about Nevin as a player is simply this: When he was on the Ulster team sheet against Munster I knew he was a going to be a real threat. He was strong with a good change of pace. At a smidge under 15 stone he was a difficult man to stop on the gain line. I always thought Nevin was going to achieve 50+ caps for Ireland.

The outpouring of support in the wake of Nevin’s untimely passing is and was a small measure of what the wider rugby family thought about him. He will never be forgotten.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilis.

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MISSING LINKS

24/25 POD SQUAD

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150 AND COUNTING

Ireland teams will wear specially produced one-off jerseys (to) be released on 13th September

IRFU Launches 150th Year Celebrations For 2024/25 Season

IrishRugby.ie

CLIODHNA SPEAKS

Moloney made headlines in November 2021 when she was critical of the IRFU’s then-head of women’s rugby Anthony Eddy

Cliodhna Moloney: Ireland set-up now ‘worlds apart’ from old days

Neil Treacy – RTÉ.ie

CURRIE FAVOURED

Originally, the Stormers were due to take on the Bulls in Cape Town and the Sharks were to host the Lions in Durban on Saturday, September 21.

Currie Cup knocks URC into next year

Rugby365.com

GREATEST RIVALRY?

Eight matches – including three Tests, four contests against URC clubs and one match against SA “A”

It’s a go — Springboks and All Blacks to resume full tours in 2026

Craig Ray – Daily Maverick

HOGG WATCH

“Montpellier’s new full-back Stuart Hogg is accused of ‘domestic violence’ by his ex-wife Gillian”

The verdict is in on Stuart Hogg’s current ability weeks after shock return to rugby

Ruck.co.uk

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A FINE BORDEAUX

Click here to watch the full Bordeaux v Leinster preseason friendly

Women’s Interpros

🔝🐱🐴

ProD2

The Rugby Championship

TROLL PATROL

CRYOVER FLYOVER

Currie Cup

[graphic was wrong in the video, apols!!!]

DAN SLAM (Squirrel clip)

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Wed Sep 11 : next 80+ column

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Hi, we’ve made a few changes in the offseason. For one thing this website has had a domain name change to harpinonrugby.blog but going forward we’re going to be promoting our content primarily through Linktree so you should see the above address replacing the old .com link we’ve featured for the past couple of years. I’ll explain a bit more on the next 80+ column video but if you’ve bookmarked the .com feel free to change now ahead of the new season, which isn’t too far away now!!!

Thanks as ever for following our stuff, looking forward to getting back to regular business soon!!!

Regards, Jeff

NB : Info in this post is as of Tuesday evening

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

The tour is designed to give players on the fringes of the Ireland senior squad the opportunity to sample the national team environment

IRFU confirm Emerging Ireland trip to South Africa

Neil Treacy – RTE.ie

JLP : Had to switch off twitter with all the negative reaction to this news.  Apparently taking a young Irish team on a tour is a bad thing now?  Sure it will hurt the provinces for a few weeks but all the URC clubs get impacted by things like this at different stages of the season.  It’s the nature of the sport.  I harp on the need for a more sensible calendar with tournaments in blocks each and every year but even I have made peace with the fact that it is unlikely to ever happen for European rugby.  And once you accept that, then it should be easy to grasp that if you are to do a tour like this which clearly has at least as many benefits as drawbacks if not much more, then no one union is going to be able to pick and choose a time of year that suits them perfectly.

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Benetton made them look very average, there’s too many flaws in their performance. I haven’t been overly impressed by them.

Jackman: Bulls aren’t all that

SA Rugby Mag

JLP : This could’ve been Clickbait of the Week as it looks like they went trawling for an article that Jake White could pin on the dressing room wall at Loftus on Saturday.  I didn’t listen to the full interview but I’d be pretty confident that Berch also qualified those statements with some positives in the Bulls set up.

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According to the Telegraph, the Gulf state is ‘closing in’ on a £800 million (€940m) deal to host the finals of the tournament for the next eight years.

Qatar closing in on mega-money deal to host ‘Super Bowl of rugby’

Martin Healy – Extra.ie

JLP : Pretty much said all I need to say in the tweet, but I will add that I wanted to highlight this story using an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which had the headline : “Rugby’s Qatar option would be a cynical, soulless money grab” – I chose not to as it is behind a paywall but although it is an op-ed I reckon it also serves as a realistic piece of analytical journalism on this story.

Always a bad idea, but earning extra bad idea points by bringing it up in Pride Month.

I mean, just no. To all of it. https://t.co/WF5hAW71BI

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) June 6, 2024

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Hogg…has changed his Instagram profile picture from a candid off-field shot to one of him playing for Scotland

Stuart Hogg hints at Scotland retirement U-turn as he returns to rugby

John Jones – WalesOnline

JLP : I know I run the risk of seeming obsessed with Hogg when I feature him so often in the Front Five section (baby reindeer hog?) but it’s a risk worth taking because the progression of this story has been fascinating.  Off the top of my head the headlines have been : he retires pre-RWC > he’s having an affair with a jockey > he has a restraining order from his wife > he’s now a pundit > he’s in talks for returning to play with Newcastle > he’s in talks for returning to play with Montpellier > now he’s thinking of returning to test rugby.  And I’m pretty sure there’s more twists and turns to come, so watch this space…

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***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

I’d have him in the squad and I would even consider him as captain because that’s going to be a big one.

Sir Ian McGeechan Makes a Bold Choice for 2025 British & Irish Lions Captain

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Easy choice of clickbait this week. And the answer is Courtney Lawes.  See, they could have said that in the headline which would then persuade you to click to find out why, but no, gotta tease that little bit extra.  Now on the subject matter itself, I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all – no doubting he can do it, he’s certainly in form to make the Lions squad and also he’s unencumbered with Test captaincy.  But we can discuss all of that without clicking the link.

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Conor & Ciarán were on hand to help me go back over the Ulster match and it was an enjoyable chat as ever.  We harped a bit more on the importance of Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe which didn’t make the pod but can be found in the YouTube clip you see below.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

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QUICK TAP : THIS GETS MY GOAT

When we say a particular player is doing good things are we also dissing every other player?  

@harpinonrugby

‘This Gets My Goat’ is part of our 80+ column which will post on Wednesday morning at http://www.harpinonrugby.com

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Once bitten twice shy when it comes to Garry Ringrose.  I don’t think we’ll see him again this season and this is one of those times when I’ll be over the moon to be wrong.  I do believe Jack Conan will play a role in Pretoria and also that we could go 6/2 on the bench.

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URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

Thought I’d update this section one last time, yes, partly because Leinster finished in 1st place but also to add the interpro fixtures for next season, and it was only while doing this that I noticed that not all the matches have actual dates just yet, although it still has to be said the early release was a great idea and long may it continue.

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TROLL PATROL

Why should Leinster have to travel this distance? We are a bedrock of this League with a wonderful support base in Dublin and we should be treated appropriately.

— Bryan De B'star (@BstardDe) June 8, 2024

I suppose if I am to have a proper weekly segment on the subject of trolling, once in a while I’ll have to include it when it clearly comes from a Leinster fan, although I’m not 100% sure if Bryan’s is a serious question or not…either way, it gets the troll label and he managed to reel in a couple of replies.

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

The World Series may be over but the Irish squads are getting some more preparation for the Olympics with the Rugby Europe Championship which consists of two tournaments the first of which was held in Makarska in Croatia over the weekend.  The women got off to a strong start in their pool before going on to lose four in a row which saw them finish in 8th position.  The men on the other hand have continued their good form and 5 wins in a row saw them through to the final against France…but it wasnt to be, we were in it right up to the final whistle and just couldn’t get past the French defence in the second half, losing two lineouts in the process which is criminal in this code, to finish on the losing side by 12 points to 7.  Still it was a good outing for Hugo Keenan to get integrated into the squad and the second and final round of this championship takes place in Hamburg at the end of the month.

CROATIA 7s

V GBR 0-19

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

There were some tight finishes in the final round and probably the most significant was at La Rochelle where the home side won to make the barrages but Racing nicked a losing bonus point with a Baudonne try right at the end (actually it was the conversion from Tedder that earned it because you have to be within 5 in the 🔝🐱🐴 ) and this put both through to the knockouts.

So as you can see below both sides must travel in the first round and it’s interesting that although Toulouse and Stade got straight into the semifinals, if Bordeaux make it past Racing it will effectively be a home match for them as both games are in the Matmut Atlantique.

Meanwhile on the European qualification front Clérmont had quite the late season surge in form to nick the 8th and final slot, which means if Leinster reach the URC final we could well renew our rivalry with them in the Champions Cup pool stage.

Also I’ve decided that from next season all going well I will also feature the ProD2 in these updates as it is essentially one of the top European leagues in its own right…I could probably name at least half a dozen clubs in URC & Premiership that would struggle to finish in the top half.  Vannes earned the direct promotion spot this season and now Grenoble and Montpellier will slug it out for that 14th spot.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Congrats to Northampton Saints, of course we saw them as Leinster fans and they impressed (although they impressed more against Munster, twice 😜) so as a result in and of itself there was no surprise that they got the better of Bath on the day, but of course many are saying the match was defined by the red card for Beno Obano.  I guess I can only say what I always do in these scenarios…keep the tackles low and you’ll never put yourself on this kind of radar.  I understand the frustration for fans especially the Bath ones in this case obvs but those laws are there for a reason.  And speaking of Lawes, I know I mentioned him already in this column, but what a way to finish at a club, eh. 

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Not much in the way of contests in the quarterfinals by the look of it, in fact arguably the most noticeable thing about the four matches is that the Crusaders were not involved in any of them.  One team that won’t be involved at all in the future is the Melbourne Rebels, I can remember their formation with Stirling Morlock (who’s name I can’t even type without saying out loud in a draw out Aussie accent) one of the first to wear the jersey.  It will be interesting to see how their playing staff gets distributed among the other franchises and no doubt it can only make them stronger.

That leaves three NZ and 1 Oz in the semifinals and I really can’t see anything other than a Blues v Hurricanes final.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Chicaco Hounds may have had a lot of narrow defeats in recent weeks but they are still defeats and they have now slipped to 4th in the East – I can’t see them dropping any further but they would want to get back to winning ways soon otherwise they’ll have to play New England, who themselves are finding ways to win the tight matches.  Over in the west it’s still Houston and Seattle leading the way and guess what – they play each other next.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

There are fewer matches to predict at this stage of the season but more points at stake…the QFs are x 1.5, the SFs are x 2 and the final is x 3.  Still tho the last weekend couldn’t separate Kino and Kristian for the title, although Kino has the edge in the first tie-breaker.  Could all boil down to the last minute of the final.  As for myself, I’ll do well to stay in the top 4 at this rate…

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

It’s all about the Bulls from here on in this week….Keego will join us for the preview show then it’s the Meath/Westmeath combo of Tom Coleman and Mark Jackson helping me wrap the 80 minutes in our Sunday evening recording.  Do follow us on all our social media platforms and join the discussion when you can.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

“A surprising but rather logical destination given the Irish squad next season.”

Leinster leading the race for Clermont’s Rabah Slimani – reports

Cian Locke – Irish Examiner

JLP : Obviously the word ‘reports’ does a lot of heavy lifting in the title although just because a province and/or the Irish media hasn’t reported something yet doesn’t mean it’s not happening and there have been question marks over Leinster’s TH stocks after Ala’alatoa leaves.  More on the general topic of NIQ signings further down the column.

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“For those who knew Rob throughout his life, his determination and spirit in the face of MND over the last four and a half years came as no surprise.”

Rugby league star Rob Burrow dies aged 41 after motor neurone disease battle

RTE.ie

JLP : Needless to say it doesn’t matter what code is involved this was sad news across all of sport.  Former players like Rob who have contracted MND have done outstanding work to raise awareness.

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“I think at this pivotal moment in time…I wouldn’t be keen for him to move if I was involved with Leinster.”

Debate rages around Irish Rugby’s biggest prospect’s future

Philip Bendon – RugbyDump

JLP : We have of course been harpin’ on Leinster’s 10 dilemma for ages but it’s interesting to see it popping up in articles outside the four provinces.  The Sam to Connacht thing was big news last week and looked like happening (even if the timing did seem strange right before he was getting ready to PLAY Connacht) but the tweet below from Joe Naughton would appear to have chucked some cold water on the spreading rumours…

Sam Prendergast to Connacht OFF

Well after all the pleading it seems Sam Prendergast loan deal won’t be happening.

It was nearly certain before another Champions Cup loss, but now Sam Prendergast could be Leinster number one by Xmas, so he ain’t moving.

— Joe Naughton (@JoeNaConnacht) May 31, 2024

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As well as a lifetime playing ban, the player also received a 156-week ban – the equivalent of three years – from all forms of rugby, including coaching, refereeing and administration

Namibian rugby player handed life ban after attacking referee

Charles Richardson – NZ Herald (via Daily Telegraph UK)

JLP : Only two words of comment required here : “Proper” and “order”.

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***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

Heaslip disagreed with Murphy’s summation of the danger of the incident, and argued it had “quite a high level of danger”.

Jamie Heaslip Has Theory On How RG Snyman Escaped Card Vs Ulster

Oisin Gaffey – Balls.ie

JLP : This wins COTWA for having all the basic elements of perfect clickbait for Irish rugby fans, following the simple “Leinster player disputes something good tht happened to Munster or vice versa” formula, with the name Ulster thrown in for good measure.  Heaslip’s opinion does feature in the article, but so does Donal Lenihan’s, who also thought it could have been red.  His name in the heading might not have stirred things up quite so much though…

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WRAP OF A WRAP

I was on Caolán Scully’s pod the day after the Champions Cup final and the other guest was a fellow Leinster fan David Cordial so I asked him to come on our wrap pod and he took to it like a fish to water.  Along with seasoned Harpin veteran Rich Mifsud we went back over the win over Connacht and for the final thoughts video we also looked at our favourite RDS memories as well as the upcoming URC quarterfinals.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

QUICK TAP : QUALIFIED SUCCESS?

With all the talk stemming from the Jordie Barrett news I wanted to do a Quick Tap on the whole subject of NIQs and how we should handle them.

@harpinonrugby

From our 80+ column which posts every Wednesday afternoon at http://www.harpinonrugby.com rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

The actual update has been suggesting for weeks now that Garry Ringrose was available for selection but this week it was actually brought up in the text that they release with the update so it looks like it could happen this weekend, and not before time!  

Hopefully we are able to go “full bore” for the rest of the season with the exception of Hugo Keenan who is committing to 7s.  I know the South Africa series is big but it would be really unfair on Leinster fans to have our players denied knockout game time because of it.

Garry Ringrose is available for selection for this weekend's #BKTURC Quarter-Final against Ulster

Injury Update 👉 https://t.co/U3AYRyY3f2 #LEIvULS #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/oLK6BvshT2

— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 3, 2024

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

I very much doubt there will be an open top bus inching through thousands of fans in Ballsbridge to celebrate Leinster’s retention of the Irish Shield any time soon, I’m pretty sure we’d have been happy with Munster winning it if we could swap for first place on the URC log.  The most positive angle from this “sub-competition” for me was the fact that of the 12 matches this season, 9 were decided by 7 points or less.

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TROLL PATROL

Straightforward trolling here.  For context, in our Connacht preview show I asked Keego what he made of the Champions Cup final and after he responded I pointed out that in recent finals we had lost by 1 or 2 points so with this one having been level after 80 minutes you could say it was a zero point loss.  My overall point was that all the finals were close, not that we didn’t deserve to lose them, we have harped on that ad nauseum at other times.  Anyway, this guy jumped on it so I wish to repeat my invitation for him to appear on our show anytime to “show us how it’s done”.  You may be shocked to learn that he is yet to respond.  I’m starting to think he may not want to.

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

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LEINSTER PLAYERS’ GAZA STATEMENT

They say sports and politics shouldn’t mix.  I say bollocks to that. 

I mean, that’s not to say that if we have chosen sports as our principle topic for content, we should be using that platform to also share political views – that would be disrespectful.  HOWEVER some subjects might be called ‘political’ when they actually transcend that, sport, and all other current affairs and IMO Gaza is one of them and I was extremely proud to see the Leinster players releasing this statement.

Also on the Quick Tap video above I chose to use my “final comment” to persuade people to vote in the upcoming local & European elections.  To be clear, I would never say WHO anyone should vote for, just that they exercise their right to vote.

📰 | Statement below issued on behalf of the Leinster Rugby senior men and women squads ⬇️

If you’d like to donate to @unicefireland and their Gaza appeal then follow this link 👉 https://t.co/7ldK8Iit3b#ForEveryChild pic.twitter.com/DPm2j61neG

— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 1, 2024

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LEINSTER AWARDS

Congrats to all, here’s the official Leinster copy…

Aoife Dalton and Jamison Gibson-Park were the big winners as they took home the @BankofIreland Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards at the #LeinsterRugby Awards Ball on Saturday evening.

See the Award Winners here 👉 https://t.co/iu54e47BA5#FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/5mRznzIO69

— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) June 2, 2024

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PERFECT RDS VID

Not much more comment required here, this video was brilliant.

Siri, put the best bits of Leinster Rugby matches at the RDS in one brief video.

💙💙💙💙 https://t.co/NFWM1sgc1w

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) June 1, 2024

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EARLY FIXTURES

According to my Google Calendar, these 24/25 URC fixtures were actually due even earlier, the 22nd of May to be precise.  But still, for them to come out a week later was still an excellent idea to help people plan ahead for trips and whatnot, although I do know many who are keen to wait for the Champions Cup draw before they go clicking for hotels and flights.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

Overall you have to say 5th and 6th placed finishes are disappointing when you consider both our teams are capable of winning medals in Paris.  But it certainly wasn’t all bad, in fact technically the men’s team went the entire weekend unbeaten.  We had to push for last gasp tries in all three of our pool matches but only one of those produced a win and with the “golden point” system in place, we fell short against both Fiji and New Zealand which meant we had to make do with the playoffs for 5th place where we dispatched both GB and RSA.  And going back to those extra time matches, we had more “poor luck” in both of them, with the Fijians lucky not to see red for that challenge and NZ shipping a penalty on our breakaway towards the end which really should have seen yellow.  On the negative side I wondered if both of New Zealand’s opening tries against us were a result of Hugo Keenan being a bit match rusty in this code – I thought he tried to take a bit too much out of his carries allowing the opposition to pounce.  He does have buckets of 7s experience of course he just needs a bit more game time.

Anyway on the women’s side, well nobody would get off to a good start to a comp when facing the Aussies, we couldn’t get past Fiji nor the USA either although wins over France and GB helped us stay away from the bottom two places.

MADRID (FINALS)

Just a yellow …. 😳 pic.twitter.com/rrutRaaty2

— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) June 1, 2024

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Europe’s love triangle of close finishes involving Leinster, Toulouse and La Rochelle continues with the French sides also finishing the 80 minutes level on Sunday night.  There are several fascinating battles in the simultaneous final round, best of which has to be the straight shoot out for an automatic semifinal spot between Stade and Toulon.  But another shootout of note is ROG v Stu as the loser of La Rochelle v Racing could miss out on the barrages altogether.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Have to admit I never got to see either of these matches although both had their moments by all accounts, not least of which was one after the final whistle at the Rec!  Everything stayed with the seedings anyway and it should be an interesting “Battle of the Fin/ns” this weekend.

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Sad, but not surprising, to learn of the imminent demise of the Melbourne Rebels, and had they managed to overcome Fijian Drua in their final regular season match they actually could have sneaked the Crusaders into the final eight.  But despite the defeat the Rebels still must take to the field at least one more time as they DID reach the knockouts where I doubt they’ll have enough to win in Wellington.  In fact all the quarterfinals look like home bankers although the Reds could cause an upset at the Chiefs.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Like I said on last week’s column, my adopted team for this season the Chicago Hounds probably needed the week off to prepare for the final push and from here on in there are no off weeks, just four weeks of rugby as the 12 clubs look to whittle themselves down to 8.  In the east Chicago must look to keep up with NOLA and Old Glory ahead of them while New England look on track to finish first while in the west, Houston are still the team to beat although Seattle are likely to push them close over the coming month.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

The regular season went right down to the wire with only the 1st tie-breaker of “winning predictions” separating Kino and Kristian.  We now move into the URC playoffs where the usual points will be multiplied by factors of 1.5, 2 and 3 across the three rounds until we have a winner, so technically I still have a chance although I have to correctly predict multiple major upsets to do so.  It’s not like I’m without form on this though…last season I was in 3rd place on the day of the URC final but being the only one to predict a Munster win I leapfrogged to the title, so you never know…

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Ulster up next – preview recording Friday, wrap pod on Sunday, and as ever there will be tweets and TikToks and Threads and all sorts in our other usual haunts in the ruggersphere – do keep in touch!

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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FRIDAY, MAY 17

SATURDAY, MAY 18

SUNDAY, MAY 19

MONDAY, MAY 20

* paid streaming service

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