This week’s Throwback Thursday goes back ten years (to the day as we publish) to what seemed at the time like a brilliant Six Nations start for Ireland so hopefully you can forgive the optimism in my writeup as I wasn’t to know the tournament would end with the roles very much reversed as Wales took the title anyway while we finished fifth (as France got the wooden spoon btw!).
Now it is they who are coming off a fifth place finish so we’ll see what happens…one last thing; speaking of 2013, of the Welsh matchday 23 selected by Gatland to play Ireland back then, SEVEN are also involved in the 2023 selection, and it would probably be eight had AWJ been fit at the time.
I honestly have to laugh at those “commenters” out there who are more interested in focusing on Ireland’s second half than they are their first when it comes to this match.
This was always going to be a cup final, and much like last night’s Super Bowl in which the scoring followed a very similar pattern, it always about who took the spoils, not how the result was achieved.
So if you want to spin this epic Cardiff contest as a failure by Declan Kidney’s side then go right ahead…but that’s just simply not what transpired.
The main weakness in the Irish camp was well documented before kickoff – backup to Mike Ross. And that wasn’t a slight on Declan Fitzpatrick either, it was more about the way the talent deficit was handled by the coaching staff since the Twickenham Twagedy last March.
All of which meant that if Ireland was going to come up with a plan to win this match, there was only one way to go…aim to hit the Welsh from the off, build up a lead, and tackle like demons to bring it home. Guess what – that’s exactly what they did.
Not that all was rosy from the Irish, and don’t you worry I’ll get to that in this piece, but I have to start by saying that this was a monumental result achieved with a mostly well-worked, well-executed gameplan that not only got the Welsh monkey off our backs but also injected a huge dose of championship-winning belief into a squad that badly needed it.
Since I’m pretty sure you’ve heard “that BOD pass” and “that Zebo flick” mentioned to death since Saturday, I’m going to start looking at the action itself by focusing on two other pivotal moments that I feel proved to be the difference on the day.
You want to talk about a Welsh comeback in the second half? Fine – but imagine how strong it would have been if the halftime score was 10-20 and not 3-23 as it ended up being. Well by rights it should have been the first score, only for an amazing goal-line stand.
All things considered, it was a decent first Six Nations appearance from Craig Gilroy. It seemed that the home side’s offensive strategy from the kickoff was to target him, and although he wasn’t exactly perfect under the high ball, he certainly did enough to make them go looking for a Plan B. Still…it was his poor clearance towards the end of the first half that lead to strong carries from the likes of Cuthbert, Coombes & Warburton and suddenly the Welsh were having their first serious foray into our 22. Several tough tackles & phases later, Rory Best forces a holding penalty and Ireland have the chance to clear. That defensive series was as good as a try to Ireland in my book.
Then we march down the field and get three points ourselves to widen the margin even further, which meant a whopping 20-point margin going into the break. But anyone who knows this game will tell you that the result was by no means certain. In fact, that very same stadium had experienced similar comebacks in its day.
So Sexton put the restart deep, and the Welsh, desperate for possession, decided to run the ball. Enter Mike McCarthy, Donncha Ryan & Sean O’Brien with quite possibly the most perfectly-executed “choke tackle” you’ll ever see, certainly the most timely. In an instant the possession the home side craved was taken from them, and a steady scrum plus a few phases later, the great BOD himself was diving over the line and THAT was the ball game.
From then on, the Welsh had only one option…burn the playbook and throw the kitchen sink at us. They knew it, we knew it, and the battle was on.
But there was an asterisk beside the O’Driscoll try. As Sexton was lining up his conversion (which he nailed to seal an amazing 6 for 6 haul which nobody anywhere seems to be highlighting), Gordon D’Arcy was being taken off with a dead leg that had been bothering him since the first half.
With all the talk about our lack of backup to the 3 position, very little was said about what we would do if our number 12 got injured. I did think of it before the match, but always assumed that should it happen, O’Gara would come on at out-half and Sexton would move to 12. That thinking, don’t forget, was before the match when the thought of us having a 30-3 cushion into the second half would have been pure fantasy.
Now I KNOW the formbook doesn’t look favourably on O’Gara when it comes to tackling. But I also can’t think of a more reliable out-half to run down a clock and bring home a decent lead. And I also believe a weakened 10 channel is a lot easier to protect than a 12 or 13 one, especially when you consider the tackling talent we had at 4,5,6,7,8 plus of course Sexton himself, who kept going despite getting a mouthful of shoe for his trouble.
Instead the coaching staff chose to go for Keith Earls, who went to outside centre while O’Driscoll went to 12. Yes, both players have abilities in those positions, but in one fell swoop we went from having arguably the world’s greatest ever 12/13 combo to a pairing who have only played together once. In this age of rugby where decoy runners play such a large part in creating space, it really was no surprise that once the kitchen sink was thrown at us there would be a way through and just like that the first Welsh try from Cuthbert was made look remarkably easy.
I don’t want to be too hard on Earls for being stranded like he was. But having seen the replay I’m surprised a photographer didn’t nab a shot of him grasping through mid-air at nothing much like Gavin Henson did with Tommy Bowe back in 2009. If I had to fault Declan Kidney for his selection of this Irish squad, I would say that if he wasn’t going to go for the O’Gara 10/Sexton 12 thing, he at least needed a number 23 on the bench who had played both 12 and 13 at provincial level. Like Fergus McFadden maybe?
But anyway…Earls was only on the pitch, and to be fair to him he went on to make 9 tackles which is decent for a full 80 minutes at test level, let alone the 36 minutes he was on. So it could be said that he and BOD sorted out their positioning somewhat…the Welsh would need something else to close the gap even further. Enter Monsieur Roman Poite.
Some people wonder why a lemon only squirts them in the eye. I say it’s because it doesn’t ONLY squirt you there, it’s just that’s the only time you really notice it. Same goes for sports fans and officials. Many say they dislike certain refs because they’re convinced they only give calls against their team…but that’s to be expected and one-eyed fans are a big part of what makes sports discussions so entertaining.
Personally I tend not to be so hard on Poite. For example, the “holding after the tackle” call on Cian Healy that led to the first Welsh score on 33 minutes seemed a bit harsh. Yet shortly after that, he made a similar call on Jamie Roberts (thanks to Best as I mentioned earlier) that got us out of jail big time. So at least he was consistent in that regard.
Yet on 46 minutes, Mike McCarthy got pinged for not releasing. A fair enough call. But it was the first time we had conceded a defensive penalty in our own 22 the entire match, and Poite chose to issue a warning to Jamie Heaslip, one which meant that Rory Best had to be sent to the bin later on.
I wouldn’t have much objection to the events of the last paragraph if the ref had at least spoken to Warburton after what Andrew Coombes did in the first half (click pic for better look). In fact, I could make a strong case for his transgression being a straight yellow, but if Poite was about issuing warnings on the first red zone no-no, he should have done it then, which should have eventually led to the final yellow card tally being a lot more reflective of the two sides’ no-nos than 0-2 did.
All of this meant not only was the kitchen sink being hurled at us for the final quarter, it was being done with an extra man. If anything it was a credit to our tackling that the second Welsh try from Halfpenny was over in the corner. Who knows how the match would have turned out had the Welsh full-back gotten the conversion, but it being out wide helped it be a 15 point deficit rather than a 13 point one and at that stage of the game, that was crucial.
On the subject of Leigh Halfpenny… (or ½p as the Welsh twitterati call him) he was outstanding on Saturday. When it comes to Lions selection he may have had a head start on Rob Kearney this season but with running with the ball, strong tackling and overall reliability he certainly must have the inside track for Gatland’s 15 jumper. In a way it’s a testament to Kearney’s ability that the opposition won’t kick to him anymore but this means that he has to show his mettle in other areas and the Welshman is certainly ahead of him right now.
And overall credit MUST go to Wales for the whole “kitchen sink” thing. George Hook will probably never live down his “lacking moral fibre” comment and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t represent the majority view of Ireland fans. They had been put on the back foot but found a way to come roaring back and they certainly shouldn’t rule themselves out of this tournament just yet.
On the 69th minute came Faletau’s almost-try at the base of the post when he was brilliantly held up by Sexton, followed by the sin-binning of Conor Murray for waving his hand (again incredibly soft compared to what Coombes did) and although we had been lucky to survive Best’s absence without a scrum being called and O’Brien throwing the darts, we were again down a man, this time for the final ten minutes.
A look at the tackle stats shows you how awesome Ireland’s defence was. Warburton and Faletau led the home side with 11 each – nobody else got to double figures. On the Irish side, everyone who did deserves a mention : Sexton & Best 10 BOD 11 Healy 15 Ryan & Heaslip 16 McCarthy 18 and finally Sean O’Brien a Herculean 23.
You say Ireland folded in the second half? I say we came out on top in a 40-minute period when both sides played out of their skins, literally in some cases given all the stitching that needed doing afterwards.
NOW I can get to the two moments of magic everyone is talking about.
The Zebo thing is the one we will all remember. And no doubt kids everywhere will be trying it. And yes, it was awesome “tekkers”. But to make Cian Healy’s try all about that would take away from all else that went with the move. Rory Best’s block & catch? Heaslip’s pluck out of the air and pass despite being tackled? Gilroy’s pirouette and keeping the ball alive? O’Mahony and Murray’s urgency? All of the above combined to keep the Welsh defence scrambling allowing Church to have the space to barge over.
But I have saved the best for last, the BOD pass that led to first try. Actually the first Baltimore Ravens touchdown was very similar in that the quarterback put the ball where he expected the receiver to be, rather than where he saw him. That’s all very well in gridiron because those guys practise it every week (not to mention they’re allowed pass the ball forward!). What O’Driscoll did took three Welsh defenders out of the equation (most notably Cuthbert who I still think must be dizzy from his confused spinning) to put Zebo over.
If Halfpenny has the inside track for the Lions 15 jumper, I think we can be in no doubt who has dibs on 13 the way things stand. I mean – if you want to fault the man for his box-kick towards the end, go ahead. I’ll do the same the next time I see Lionel Messi as a goalkeeper letting in a penalty 😉 Oh, and Rory Best certainly has a good shout for the hooker spot; if he shores up the darts he could be home and hosed before this Championship is done.
So…when all is said and done, we cleared a massive hurdle on what is still a long road to Six Nations glory. I said in my preview…
“…what I feel we need more than anything else is something that you can’t draw on a blackboard or look for in a DVD session. We need the team to keep their head in the game for the full 80 minutes, forgetting the four other matches to come in the competition, and once we’re deep into the match, focus on dealing with what’s in front of them rather than trying to stick to complex sets of strategies”
…and we did just that, so bravo to everyone involved. And the fact that the result came against a nemesis we fell short against on the last three attempts makes the payback all the sweeter.
Between now and next Sunday, I will be doing everything I can to make sure the English don’t get away with claiming underdog status for our clash in Dublin. Having said that, we may be battered and bruised, but we certainly have every chance. Bring it on. JLP
I have put off writing this post for long enough…although nothing has been formally announced, there have certainly been enough rumblings around the media to suggest that Leo Cullen is to be the new head coach for Leinster, so I suppose it’s about time I gave some thoughts on it.
Of course to anyone who knows the game, the move would be considered a risk. Though I find some of the comparisons being made to appointments in the past to be very baffling. Steve Staunton? Eh, no. Chalk and cheese, mate.
Sure, Stan made a bucketload of appearances for and was a part of the successful times for the team he was taking over, but his involvement with the Republic of Ireland consisted of about a dozen or so appearances per season while the rest of the time he was with his club of the day.
In Leo’s case, we are not only talking about a club with which he has spent the bulk of his professional career, however unfortunate or indeed unfair his limited Ireland caps total may be, it means he has probably clocked more working hours around the provincial set-up since the start of our “glory days” than any other.
Or to put it another way…if we were to confer the title “Mr. Leinster Rugby” on any individual, I can think of no better man to receive it.
So when it comes to stepping into this role, one big advantage he has over Staunton is a near perfect knowledge of virtually every aspect of the organisation surrounding the head coach’s chair without ever actually having sat in it.
If we must compare this appointment to an iffy decision from history, I’d be more inclined to go for Martin Johnson’s for England (yes, that actually did happen, as much as the press across the water tries to airbrush it out of history). I mean the similarities are very easy to find…legendary lock/skipper who led the side to the highest honour his team could achieve.
But even that comparison has flaws – I mean, for one thing, I doubt we’ll be hearing stories of dwarves being tossed around Krystle night club any time soon!!! Joking aside…the assumption around the RFU’s decision with Johnson seemed to be that he’d be an instant success. That the spirit of 2003 was one that could be bottled and spread to future generations of players.
I think it’s pretty widely known that Leo was never the first choice for the job, and we have all heard the Who’s Who of Rugby Coaches that has been linked with the post. And given his personality I’m sure he will approach the position with an air of pragmatism as opposed to the air of arrogance that went with Johnson.
So that brings us to the next area we need to consider…how the decision of who gets the job is actually made.
With the success of Leinster and Munster in Europe since 2006, the two provinces are quite rightly considered up alongside the great outfits in European rugby like Toulouse, Leicester Tigers, Wasps and of course most recently Toulon. And it’s hard not to cross-over to the round ball game and draw comparisons to Champions League greats like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
There is absolutely no doubt that the head coach role at any of those institutions is one of an importance near to (if not more so in soccer’s case) international equivalents, and whenever those positions go on offer, the debate over who will fill them is extensive.
But here is where we must draw attention to one very important distinction. Toulouse, Wasps and Man Utd are CLUBS. The Irish provincial teams are not, at least not in the traditional sense. They are branches of the national rugby union. Many soccer clubs answer to shareholders alright but never to their football association.
At Leinster, Mick Dawson as CEO leads an extensive organization that has a mountain of work to get through from spreading the sport around the 12 counties to organizing match days to putting plans in place for improvements to the RDS Arena.
But when a big decision like a head coach appointment comes around, while I certainly wouldn’t say it’s “out of their hands”, it does need to be looked at through an IRFU-wide lens rather than simply a Leinster one.
The reason I was reluctant to do this post was that I had hoped that my last one on Matt O’Connor meant I could put the matter in a box and file it away in the HoR archives to gather dust but here is where I must drag it up again if only briefly. As far as its head coaching position is concerned, Leinster Rugby together with the Leinster Professional Games Board and the IRFU had a plan already in place for this coming season…namely the last year of O’Connor’s 3-year contract.
And putting the disgruntled Leinster supporters aside just for a moment, this arrangement seemed to be one that suited everyone, given that right now, in the summer of 2015, the Prime Directive of Irish Rugby has to be preparation for our assault on the Rugby World Cup – and I sincerely hope nobody has any argument with that!
Yet now we must bring the supporters back into the equation. We can look at them two ways…the reality is that over the past 12 months there have been extremely varying opinions on Matt O’Connor’s tenure at Leinster and these have all been expressed on this site by several different contributors. Then there’s the perception that the Leinster fan base is all of one mind and never wanted O’Connor in the first place.
That external perception would still seem to hold to this day, and to be fair, when Leinster had their worst dip in form of the season during the Six Nations, more and more fans were warming to the idea that change was needed and even coming within the width of a goalpost of defeating Toulon and reaching another European final wasn’t enough to claw it back.
Given that wave of what I called “Anti-Matter” opinion, the Leinster management could well be entitled to raise an eyebrow when those same fans have qualms about anyone who assumes the role. (“Leo Nay-Sayers”?)
Say you’ve been waiting for a table at a busy restaurant and they offer you one but you don’t want to sit there because it’s too near the kitchen, so the maître d goes out of his way to find you another one, only for you to complain about that for a different reason.
Given it’s a World Cup year, the coaches with CVs worthy of a 3-time European champion outfit are all either in contracts or at least are on career paths that revolve around the four-year World Cup cycle…meaning the summer just before one is a marketplace similar to the busy restaurant I mention above. And I suspect those involved in the Leinster decision were well aware of this when they installed the word “interim” in Leo’s title, just in case. It would appear the “in case” has happened.
If we like, we can convince ourselves that we have been “stuck” with Leo. We can doom his tenure to failure before it even begins.
Or…we could pay attention to someone like Bernard Jackman, himself a table in that restaurant that is already taken. I strongly recommend you listen to his contribution on Second Captains’ Monday edition but here are some of the things he had to say in Leo’s favour…
“Leo Cullen’s great strength is in powering others”
“Culture is what wins you championships and Leo Cullen is very clued into that”
“His skill set probably suits being a head coach more than being a unit coach”
I also suggest you read this post from Big Joe Shep here on this site looking at the new Leinster coaching ticket more as a “collective”. With hopefully a quality backs coach appointment on the horizon (preferably from the outside) to finish it off, it actually is quite a decent mix of talent and with someone who both “gets” the Leinster culture and has been heavily involved in making it work within the Irish framework at the helm, I definitely cannot classify the move as a “disaster” as some suggest.
On the point that he was part of the coaching staff responsible for the disappointing effort last season, it’s hard not to concede that as a negative but a bit like the point Berch makes, if we’re going to tag Leo with the ills of our pack last season then this new set-up has given responsibility to someone else so we’ve every reason to expect an improvement.
And talk of a 2- to 3- year deal also seems baffling when hearing it first, but once more we have to consider all the angles…Leinster will want the matter decided sooner rather than later, and no doubt Leo’s representatives in the negotiations will do what they can to get the most security out of the deal. It’s simply how the modern game works.
Finally as fans we have to look at our expectations for the future in general, and this coming season in particular. Are they the same as they have been in recent years? Is it really silverware or bust for us in the 2015/16 campaign? I’m not so sure.
And given all the variables surrounding the province this season…so much talent being away for the first couple of months, the possibility of some getting injured at the World Cup, the absolute stinker of a Rugby Champions Cup pool, the likelihood of limited integration time before it kicks off, the necessity of blooding a raft of promising youngsters into the senior squad…I’m not sure there’s a head coach out there who could walk fresh into the job and make it an instant success – and yes, I’m including Joe Schmidt in that list.
If I had to set a minimum target on the results front, I would go with a return to the final four of the Pro12 and at very least a decent effort to get out of that Euro pool. Does this mean Leo should lose his job if we don’t make that goal? Absolutely not. There are several other factors like the style of rugby we play and the type of team selection decisions we make to consider, but it would certainly be nice to have more than one match in May again.
So before we look away from these Leinster headlines and back towards the World Cup ones (which is absolutely what I will be doing after this post!), my advice to fellow fans would be to consider the big picture for Irish rugby at this particular time and get behind our teams both blue and green in every way we can.
Not so much a “wait and see” approach, rather a much more interactive and constructive “Come On You Boys In Blue” one. JLP
3 December 2022; Garry Ringrose of Leinster dives over to score his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Chris McDonnell Its days like this that make being a leinster supporter worthwhile. Magnificent 1 to 23
Liz Power A warning to all teams. Do not lead Leinster by 22-3 in the first half. It’s a dangerous score as the 2011 finalists Northampton will attest!!
Bert McLoughlin Just home after the game, hoarse and sore hands from 👏. What a comeback
Sean Michaels Still trying to get my breath back after that. Literally a game of two halves. Substitutions made a great difference. Porter, Ringrose, Baird were immense. Whatever was said at half time obviously did the trick. Thought Lowe had a good game after such a long spell injured, has obviously taken the time to work on the areas of his game that were seen as a weakness, he looked hungry and aggressive and deserved his try
Gavin Hegarty And that, dear Ulster, is rugby.
I know Healy’s red is a red by law but to me a red is for malice or two yellows. Ref actually adjudicated the mitigating bits for their yellow very well.
I would have given motm to jgp, speed!!!!
Paul Smith Wow, just wow. That’s all I can say right now
TWITTER
A total tale of 2 halves here. Some of the worst I've seen us play, then to show that level of grit. Incredible.
After that start it’s a very satisfying result, lads showed great character second half. Have to be happy BP win with 14 men for most of the game 💪🏼 #LEIvULS
RichardMifsud If that isn’t a game for the ages I don’t know what is. What a second half from #leinster absolutely blew Ulster away after a dismal first half performance (credit Ulster). Most pleasing was the relentless pursuit of the win. Ringer is some player isn’t he. Ports worthy POTM but Ryan Baird was veeery close Anyway what a game #LEIvULS Great prep for the Heino
Orange Juice brilliant game by Leinster and Gary Ringrose was on fire today and fair play to Ulster for not making it easy for us
Koochulainn Leinster are so innovative they have reinvented the game of two halves
rosscarrick Unreal game from Leinster. Two scores down and only 14 for most the game! Phenomenal comeback win
@KJoanne My beloved Leinster. What a game! Delighted with that win after that first half. Commiserations to Ulster, thanks for a great contest.
Similarly to the Ireland A game a few guys did themselves no real favours in the long run. You have to worry for Carbury as he now probably has played enough to show hes not the guy to back up Sexton.
Ted Maher
If you haven’t watched it live, well then don’t 😂😂
A 35-17 win what was pretty uninspiring for long periods.
Job done, don't get me wrong.
But I expected more of a clinical performance today from what is usually a very clinical team.
A brilliant win well done you our boys in green.Roll on next week NZ❤️☘️💚👍👏💪🇮🇪
Dave Murray
Emmmmm…..roll on next week.
Odd game. Dynamic forwards but wasteful backs for Ireland, especially in the Fijian 22, yet won it at a canter after a kick up the arse at the start of the game. A win is a win is a win but the only memorable thing from this one will be the video session on Monday 😬 #IREvFIJI
Conor Cronin Lots of talking points on that game, unfortunate for refereeing to be one.
Leinster inaccuracy was difficult to watch, good to see munster putting it up to us, though of course they “had nothing to lose” 🙄 It shows that with the right team selection they could really pose us a problem. Fingers crossed they continue to not select the right team.
Leinster allowed munster to set a tempo, to dictate the pace of play. I want to see much more accuracy from leinster, and for them to punish teams in the 22.
Andrew Bailey Why not neutral refs. Ireland is too small a country – no matter how hard a ref tries he has affiliation somewhere. And it works both ways – can sway in favour of one team in an effort to stay neutral. Not fair on ref or teams. Wales Scotland Italy and SA – but the big Irish games get Irish ref
Andrew Potts Leinster huffed and puffed but did not blow the house down.
Munster showed a bit of Leicester DNA pragmatism, always sort of falling on the wrong side, always sort of slowing things down.
Leinster were good except for scoring.
So many little things just upsetting a happy try. Poor return for Leinster, two fortunate yellows for Munster that could have been red. Seen both of those red recently. That question? Was force applied, was it high, any mitigation? Plus Stander was red carded against SA for the second type of offence.
Frawley is a unique player, appearing to play a number of positions very well.
He looks like an exception that proves the rule.
Luke good for MOM.
Finally, Joey in Munster is the waste of a perfectly good 10.
Chris McDonnell Andrew Potts stander ended a players career with that challenge. I thought penny was excellent. Held up over the line twice in the first half and we butchered a few line breaks, lowe, dave K or lowe would have had a try or two.
Gavin Hegarty I need to rewatch it as from the south lower it looked like brace was terrible. His advantages were only for Munster and never for Leinster.
Kleyns yellow was a red all day, jumped after the kick was made and angled his body to hit side on with an elbow to Osbourne’s head. Citing has to come.
Odd to say but we’re now 6/6 but still have been disappointing.
We dominated the first 30 but still couldn’t put the points on the board, some very unleinsterlike play and decision making. Our lineout needs huge work.
Henshaw and ringrose were outstanding throughout, Porter was great when he came on. Frawley looked comfortable @15.
We’ll need to be better soon.
I think we let a bad Munster team play, their backline had no purpose and just shipped the ball on, no lines or moves. We (and brace) made them look good.
Enjoyable match. Great result and good response to going down in the second half. Both teams already have huge injury lists and that game definitely didn't help. Frawley to 2nd choice for Ireland. Crowley should start for Munster and is very much in play to be capped soon.
Good win for Leinster but it's covering issues underneath. Scrum is very poor. Lineout is iffy. Munster were depleted before and during the game, two yellow cards and two looseheads scrumming for long periods and Leinster struggled to go through or round Munster.
Didn't take the easy route to the BP but we def deserved it IMO. Solid defending and absolute dominance in maul both with and without ball were key. Always had an extra gear, might have gone to it sooner but happy out all the same.#LEIvMUN#URC
[Note – Sharks v Ulster postponement was being announced as we were recording]
LEINSTER : 15 Ciarán Frawley 14 Jimmy O’Brien 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Jamie Osborne 10 Johnny Sexton > C 9 Luke McGrath
1 Cian Healy 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Jason Jenkins 5 James Ryan 6 Max Deegan 7 Scott Penny 8 Caelan Doris
16 J McKee 17 A Porter 18 M Ala’alatoa 19 R Molony 20 J Conan 21 N McCarthy 22 R Byrne 23 R Russell.
Munster : 15 Jack Crowley; 14 Shane Daly, 13 Dan Goggin, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Liam Coombes; 10 Joey Carbery, 9 Conor Murray
1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 3 Keynan Knox; 4 Jean Kleyn, 5 Tom Ahern; 6 Jack O’Donoghue (C), 7 John Hodnett, 8 Gavin Coombes.
16 Scott Buckley, 17 Dave Kilcoyne, 18 James French, 19 Jack O’Sullivan, 20 Ruadhan Quinn, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Patrick Campbell.
United Rugby Championship 22/23 Round 6
Saturday, October 22, 2022
Aviva Stadium
Kickoff 7:35pm
Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)
AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)
AR 2: Oisin Quinn (IRFU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Live on: RTÉ2, Premier Sports1, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv
Our guest
NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN
https://twitter.com/keegolaughs_irlhttp://www.keegolaughs.com
Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts
Where to find Harpin’ On Rugby
Website > https://harpinonrugby.com/
Twitter > https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby
Facebook > https://www.facebook.com/HarpinOnRugby
Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/harpinonrugby/
TikTok > https://www.tiktok.com/@harpinonrugby
LEINSTER v Munster : 15 Ciarán Frawley 14 Jimmy O’Brien 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Jamie Osborne 10 Johnny Sexton > C 9 Luke McGrath
1 Cian Healy 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Jason Jenkins 5 James Ryan 6 Max Deegan 7 Scott Penny 8 Caelan Doris
16 J McKee 17 A Porter 18 M Ala’alatoa 19 R Molony 20 J Conan 21 N McCarthy 22 R Byrne 23 R Russell.
