🏉 Lions v Leinster wrap
🏉 Around the provinces
🏉 Wonder Wallabies
🏉 Pollock. Discuss.
🏉 #StopTheGame
Our guests :
542 : Lions, Wallabies, Corn rows
Category: Australia
534 : Australia v Ireland preview
IRELAND : 15 Hugo Keenan 14 Robert Baloucoune 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 Jamie Osborne 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Jamison Gibson‑Park
1 Tom O’Toole 2 Dan Sheehan (c) 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Joe McCarthy 5 James Ryan 6 Cian Prendergast 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Jack Conan
16 Rónan Kelleher 17 Jeremy Loughman 18 Thomas Clarkson 19 Tadhg Beirne 20 Nick Timoney 21 Craig Casey 22 Ciarán Frawley 23 Bundee Aki
AUSTRALIA : 15 Jock Campbell 14 Max Jorgensen 13 Joseph Suaalii 12 Len Ikitau 11 Dylan Pietsch 10 Carter Gordon 9 Ryan Lonergan
1 Angus Bell 2 Josh Nasser 3 Allan Alaalatoa 4 Jeremy Williams 5 Miles Canham 6 Rob Valetini 7 Fraser McReight 8 Harry Wilson (c)
16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa 17 James Slipper 18 Taniela Tupou 19 Lachlan Shaw 20 Tom Hooper 21 Tate McDermott 22 Ben Donaldson 23 Tom Wright
Nations Championship
2026 Round 1
Saturday, July 4
Allianz Stadium, Sydney
KO 11:10am (Irish time)
Live on : Virgin Media One
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
AR1: Karl Dickson (RFU)
AR2: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)
FPRO: Glenn Newman (NZR)
472 : IRELAND V AUSTRALIA wrap
🏉 Full-Mack at 15
🏉 Options galore
🏉 Baird The Poacher
🏉 Smart decisions
🏉 Think inside the Boks
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
No guest this week, flying solo
FULL TIME TAKES
Kevin Kelehan
Questioned in recent weeks, accused of being a team in serious decline, players being told in the media they were past their sell by date, line out coach and best lock in Irish history told he was shyte at his job. Then we get the best Irish performance since RWC 2023 and one as unpredicted as smashing France in Marseilles in 2024. Australia absolutely failed to deal with the weather conditions and coughed up a lot of easy possession in the red zone but this was the Irish team giving Andy Farrell and Paul O’Connell a performance they’ve been owed for a while. Despite the absence of lions Joe McCarthy, Van Der Flier, Ringrose and Keenan the team was rejigged into a cohesive unit and its clear there is more depth in the squad than has been thought for a couple of years, players like Henshaw and Hansen look reinvented whilst McCloskey looks to be the most unlucky player in recent history in only getting short stints. Hopefully the team can match this performance again next week and hopefully the BOK evolution hasn’t moved on too much since last summer’s drawn series.
Adrian Hickey
Australia still in shock after the Lynagh/Ioane show last week I reckon. When our very sick, reintroduced fb Mack can help himself to a hattrick out of position says quite a bit. Ronan not cutting the mustard the last bit. Gus on bench at hooker next week to back up Dano or he has to do 80. Kudos to Sambo for the drop btw
Bert McLoughlin
A lot more cohesive this week and apart from poor discipline in the 1st half we should have kept their score lower
Kettlebell Padawen
Sam’s best game in green. Australia were shocking
David Ryle
Sam should have shut his detractors up but no they’re still nit picking his performance.
Rob Gardner (via BlueSky)
JPG could give anywhere between 1-15 a good go.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
NOVEMBER SERIES WRAP
ITALY 14-32 SOUTH AFRICA
PORTUGAL 58-12 HONG KONG
ENGLAND V NEW ZEALAND
GEORGIA 38-17 CANADA
ROMANIA 18-26 USA
WALES 24-23 JAPAN
IRELAND 46-19 AUSTRALIA
FRANCE 34-21 FIJI
SCOTLAND 24-33 ARGENTINA
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
GUEST POST : “Who could replace Leo?” (blog)
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN (Substack)
471 : Ireland v Australia preview
IRELAND : 15. Mack Hansen 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Paddy McCarthy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Caelan Doris (c) 8. Jack Conan
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Andrew Porter 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Nick Timoney 20. Cian Prendergast 21. Craig Casey 22. Jack Crowley 23. Bundee Aki
AUSTRALIA : 15. Max Jorgensen 14. Filipo Daugunu 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12. Len Ikitau 11. Harry Potter 10. James O’Connor 9. Jake Gordon
1. Angus Bell 2. Matt Faessler 3. Allan Alaalatoa 4. Jeremy Williams 5. Tom Hooper 6. Rob Valetini 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson (c)
16. Billy Pollard 17. Tom Robertson 18. Zane Nonggorr 19. Nick Frost 20. Carlo Tizzano 21. Ryan Lonergan 22. Tane Edmed
Quilter Nations Series – Round 3
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
KO 8:10pm
Live on : RTÉ2, TNT Sports 1
Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
AR1: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
AR2: Adam Leal (Eng)
TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)
FPRO: Dan Jones (Eng)
454 : Third Lions test & series wrap
Our guest : MARK JACKSON
I’d like to thank Mark and of course all the Harpin contributors over the course of the season as we wind down Season 6 of our humble pod.
We’re looking at one more recording next weekend looking ahead to the Women’s World Cup and otherwise our only content between now and our Season 7 premiere will be our weekly 80+ column which will continue posting on Wednesday.
453 : 3rd Lions test preview
Our guest : MARK JACKSON
LIONS : 15 Hugo Keenan 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Huw Jones 12 Bundee Aki 11 Blair Kinghorn 10 Finn Russell 9 Jamison Gibson-Park
1 Andrew Porter 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Maro Itoje 5 James Ryan 6 Tadhg Beirne 7 Tom Curry 8 Jack Conan
16 Rónan Kelleher 17 Ellis Genge 18 Will Stuart 19 Ollie Chessum 20 Jac Morgan 21 Ben Earl 22 Alex Mitchell 23 Owen Farrell
WALLABIES : 15 Tom Wright 14 Max Jorgensen 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12 Len Ikitau 11 Dylan Pietsch 10 Tom Lynagh 9 Nic White
1 James Slipper 2 David Porecki 3 Taniela Tupou 4 Nick Frost 5 Will Skelton 6 Tom Hooper 7 Fraser McReight 8 Harry Wilson (capt).
16 Billy Pollard 17 Angus Bell 18 Zane Nonggorr 19 Jeremy Williams 20 Langi Gleeson 21 Tate McDermott 22 Ben Donaldson 23 Andrew Kellaway
Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Test Series – 3rd test
Saturday, August 2, 2025
Accor Stadium, Sydney
KO 11am Irish time
Live on : Sky Sports
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
AR1 : Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)
AR2 : Andrea Piardi (Ita)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SA)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZ)
452 : Second Lions test wrap
🏉 A Half of Four Eighths?
🏉 Val & Skel
🏉 Better bench
🏉 Dramatic conclusion
🏉 What next for Aus?
451 : Second Lions test preview
Our guest : MARK JACKSON
LIONS : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy Freeman 13. Huw Jones 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Finn Russell 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Maro Itoje (c) 5. Ollie Chessum 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Tom Curry 8. Jack Conan
16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Ellis Genge 18. Will Stuart 19. James Ryan 20. Jac Morgan 21. Alex Mitchell 22. Owen Farrell 23. Blair Kinghorn
WALLABIES : 15 Tom Wright; 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Harry Potter; 10 Tom Lynagh, 9Jake Gordon
1 James Slipper, 2 David Porecki, 3 Allan Alaalatoa; 4 Nick Frost, 5 Will Skelton; 6 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Harry Wilson.
16 Billy Pollard, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Carlo Tizzano, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Ben Donaldson.
Qatar Airways Lions Men’s Test Series – 2nd test
Saturday, July 26, 2025
KO 11am Irish time Melbourne Cricket Ground
Live on : Sky Sports
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
AR1: Nika Amashukeli (Geo)
AR2: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
FPRO: Marius Jonker (SA)
390 : Ireland v Australia wrap
🏉 Just not clicking
🏉 Schmidt tactics
🏉 Ten point swing
🏉 Back to adversity
🏉 Saved by the bench
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Cormac Mannion
I’m not too worried about the attack just yet. It took Catt a bit of time to sort that out when he took up the role so let’s hope Goodman makes improvements by the 6N.
However, our lineout is appalling and this is nothing new. Serious questions to be asked of O’Connell and what he’s doing there.
Big step up for Prendergast today and he’ll learn from it. Suddenly we now have options at 10 post Johnny. Crowley was really up for it when he came on too.
Another issue though seems to be the back row. We seem to get isolated an awful lot at the breakdown and giving away a lot of turnovers. Ruck clearance has definitely gone downhill this year.
Ronan McManus
I’m not sure that Prendergast’s more languid passing style helped us against the Aussie rush defence. They were in among us by the time the ball came into the centre.
Some real flashes of quality from him though.
Sort.out.the.lineout.
Kevin Kelehan
Bench was the difference between the sides, Dan Sheehan will be back once fit and Gus McCarthy should be on the bench, you need to win your own line outs, something that only happened once McCarthy came on. Jack Crowley also showed so much more accuracy and energy in his time, Prendergast just not up to the pace aged 21. Craig Casey also full of energy when introduced. Josh VDF also superb and was Doris as was Big Joe and Porter.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Can’t sweep this under the rug and say a win is a win and move on. That lazy mentality has only ever gotten us to the same QF exit in world cups. Lineout and attack are serious issues and can no longer be ignored – changes needed.
Jackie McEachern
Lineout needs to be sorted. Bench made a big impact (esp Crowley, Casey and McCarthy). Glad we got the win but that could easily have gone the other way.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
388 : Ireland v Australia preview
IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Gus McCarthy 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Iain Henderson 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Craig Casey 22. Jack Crowley 23. Garry Ringrose
Wallabies : 15. Tom Wright 14. Andrew Kellaway 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12. Len Ikitau 11. Max Jorgensen 10. Noah Lolesio 9. Jake Gordon
1. James Slipper 2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa 3. Taniela Tupou 4. Nick Frost 5. Jeremy Williams 6. Rob Valetini 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson (c)
16. Billy Pollard 17. Angus Bell 18. Allan Alaalatoa 19. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 20. Langi Gleeson 21. Tate McDermott 22. Tane Edmed 23. Harry Potter
Autumn Nations Series 2024 Week 4
Saturday, November 30, 2024
KO 3:10pm Aviva Stadium
Live on: Virgin Media 1, TNT Sports 1
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
AR1: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
AR2: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
