406 : Ireland v England wrap

2025 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 1, Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland 1/2/2025Ireland vs EnglandIrelands Jamison Gibson-Park scores their first tryMandatory Credit ©INPHO/Billy Stickland


🏉  Early worries

🏉  23 lineouts

🏉  That JGP step

🏉  Weary defenders

🏉  Bench impress



FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

Bench was the difference, Conan was clinical, Dan was Dan as only Dan can be Dan, Tom Clarkson stood up to Ellis Genge who is technically intimidating and Jack Crowley kept it simple and flowing. England were value for their lead on 10 mins but their persistent cynical fouling caught up with them. Ireland got out with 5 points, England very lucky to get 1

Hubert Gallagher

Really really good second half except for allowing the last 2 tries. Huge impact from bench. Conan made an immediate impact. Crowley was excellent as well. And Sheehan….was he ever away?

James Lowe has a knack of making something out of nothing so often. Recognise JGPs performance but Lowe must have been very close to MOTM!!

Discipline excellent and mental toughness to the fore.

Onwards to Scotland – they’ll fancy turning us over and it’s never a gimme in Murrayfield. We need to be even tougher there. Will be a very different game – they’re unlike to kick as much ball away and will challenge our defence our wide.

Jackie McEachern

Lineout and discipline much improved from Autumn Internationals. England getting the LBP is disappointing but getting 5 points from an England match is always a great feeling.

Gavin Macarthur

This kind of championship game should be a platform for developing new players, instead of allowing some of the older players to continue their international careers as ‘game-closers’. There are a few players in that category and they need to be cut loose. Anyone who is over the age of 35 is not really going to figure in the next world cup, so why continue to play them?

That said, it was a good test match, giving the squad an opportunity to put their systems and leadership under pressure.

David Ryle

Turning point was their winger not allowing the ball go dead resulting in an Ireland 5m scrum at 44 mins.

Dave Murray

Great second half (except letting England back in for the bonus point) and Dan Sheehan what an impact again along with Lowe back from their injuries.


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MEN’S SIX NATIONS WRAP


NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CLIP ON YOUTUBE CHANNEL : “JACK OR SAM (OR TRUST?)”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO


405 : Ireland v England preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN


IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Finlay Bealham 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Dan Sheehan 17. Cian Healy 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Iain Henderson 20. Jack Conan 21. Conor Murray 22. Jack Crowley 23. Robbie Henshaw


ENGLAND : 15. Freddie Steward 14. Tommy Freeman 13. Ollie Lawrence 12. Henry Slade 11. Cadan Murley 10. Marcus Smith 9. Alex Mitchell 

1. Ellis Genge 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje (c) 5. George Martin 6. Tom Curry 7. Ben Curry 8. Ben Earl

16. Theo Dan 17. Fin Baxter 18. Joe Heyes 19. Ollie Chessum 20. Chandler Cunningham-South 21. Tom Willis 22. Harry Randall 23. Fin Smith


Guinness Six Nations 2025 Rd 1

Saturday February 1, 2025

KO 4:45pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on : Virgin Media One


Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)

AR1: James Doleman (NZ)

AR2: Hollie Davidson (Sco)

TMO: Glenn Newman (NZ)

FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZ)

327 : England v Ireland wrap

2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 4, Twickenham, London, England 9/3/2024England vs Ireland Irelands James Lowe scores a try Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Andrew Fosker

🏉 Straight on back foot

🏉 Somehow ahead

🏉 The Earl Of Twickenham

🏉 Last gasp

🏉 Title still on


PÁDRAIG KELLY

FULL TIME TAKES

David Monahan

England had their best game in about 3 years and only beat us by a point. Lads gave everything and just a bit off and that’s what happens. Suppose there is a reason we’ve not seen back to back grand slams in 30 years

Ciara Lennon

Big wake up call for Ireland. England came to play and played the better rugby on the day. They never let Ireland settle. Too many handling errors from Ireland. Too many penalties conceded. I love Peter O Mahony but 2nd yellow card for a captain in one tournament is just not good enough. He needs to get a better example. Should Murray have kicked it away with 90seconds on the clock? Probably not but at thr end of the day, Ireland were just out played

Craig Boyd

In simple terms England should have been out of sight, Ireland in no way deserved the win. That being said they got themselves in a position were they should have won but can’t help but thinking when Murray kicked the ball away with 90 seconds to go that he offered England the perfect opportunity for them to win the game. Did he not trust his forwards to see out 90 seconds?

Jamie Bermingham

So much arrogance from the media in the build up and then after both tries we didn’t put any pressure on them. England came to play rugby and got the win simple as

Big Joe Shep

• England were exceptional today and outplayed us in everything.

• It was a poor day at the office and it happens but as a collective, we didn’t turn up I’m afraid

• An aging Murray with a wasted box-kick in the last embers of the game was woeful buddy!!! Give the ball to your opponents who have dominated the entire game, require only a Pen is NOT what this Ireland team does. I’m afraid he’s way way out of kilter with THIS Ireland team and it ultimately cost us!! 🤷‍♂️😥🏉

• All that said, we lost by 1 Pt and that shows how good we are….. We go again next week and put Scotland to the sword!!!

James Griffin

Far too much talk about how much Ireland would win by during the lead up. And blaming Murray is just provincial shite. He didn’t give away penalties, drop passes, or miss tackles. A little bit of honesty wouldn’t go astray. Wake up call, big time!

Gavin Hegarty

So disappointing. Mainly because it wasn’t how we should play. First four minutes were great but then we dropped off and honestly if England were better they would have put us away. You’d think Murray with his ‘experience’ would know how to close out a game. His box kicking is infuriating yet he still does it to no benefit.

Better team won, we just didn’t show.

Kevin Kelehan

England could have been out of sight after 20 mins, Ireland had the game won around 78 minute but lost it, se la vie. Arsen Wenger spoke of great teams playing badly but winning, thats where Ireland need to get

Colin McConaghie

If people properly analysed the Welsh game this performance was coming. We created very little against a very limited Welsh team and our back line looked one paced and lacking creativity. The Bundee bash it up played straight into Englands hands. It showed on the two occasions we actually passed wide we scored.

Penalty count far too high and poor kicking from Lowe and then Murray gifted easy possession to run back at us and score.

We are still a very good team and will likely win the Championship but the over hype has been embarrassing and we are still far too over reliant on our “first choice” players.


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SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 4

ITALY 31-29 SCOTLAND

ENGLAND 23-22 IRELAND

WALES 24-45 FRANCE



ROUND 5

SAT MAR 16

WALES V ITALY

IRELAND V SCOTLAND

FRANCE V ENGLAND


UNDER 20s

ROUND 4

ITALY 47-14 SCOTLAND

ENGLAND 32-32 IRELAND

WALES 12-45 FRANCE



ROUND 5

FRI MAR 15

IRELAND V SCOTLAND

WALES V ITALY

FRANCE V ENGLAND



326 : England v Ireland preview


Our guest : CIAN O’MUILLEOIR


IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Calvin Nash 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Peter O’Mahony (c) 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Iain Henderson 20. Ryan Baird 21. Jack Conan 22. Conor Murray 23. Ciaran Frawley


ENGLAND : 15. George Furbank 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 13. Henry Slade 12. Ollie Lawrence 11. Tommy Freeman 10. George Ford 9. Alex Mitchell

1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George (c) 3. Dan Cole 4. Maro Itoje 5. George Martin 6. Ollie Chessum 7. Sam Underhill 8. Ben Earl

16. Theo Dan 17. Joe Marler 18. Will Stuart 19. Chandler Cunningham-South 20. Alex Dombrandt 21. Danny Care  22. Marcus Smith 23. Elliot Daly


Guinness Six Nations 2024 Round 4

Saturday, March 9, 2024

KO 4:45pm  Twickenham

Live on: RTÉ2, ITV1


Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)

AR1: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

AR2: Craig Evans (Wales)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

269 : Ireland v England wrap

2023 Bank of Ireland Nations Series, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 19/8/2023 Ireland vs England Ireland’s Keith Earls celebrates scoring a try Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Evan Treacy

🏉 Women’s Interpros

🏉 Slow start at the Aviva

🏉 IRE>ENG in attack & confidence 

🏉 Im-Mack-ulate display

🏉 Fairytale for The Man


OUR GUESTS : TOM COLEMAN & JAY LONG


268 : Harpin’ Preview Show – Ireland v England

also available as podcast


IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Tadhg Beirne 5. James Ryan 6. Peter O’Mahony 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Cian Prendergast

16. Rob Herring 17. Jeremy Loughman 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Joe McCarthy 20. Caelan Doris 21. Conor Murray 22. Jack Crowley 23. Keith Earls.


ENGLAND : 15. Freddie Steward 14. Anthony Watson 13. Joe Marchant 12. Manu Tuilagi 11. Elliot Daly 10. George Ford 9. Ben Youngs

1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Will Stuart 4. Maro Itoje 5. David Ribbans 6. Courtney Lawes (C) 7. Ben Earl 8. Billy Vunipola

16. Theo Dan 17. Joe Marler 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Ollie Chessum 20. Jack Willis 21. Danny Care 22. Marcus Smith 23. Ollie Lawrence


Summer Nations Series

Sat August 19 KO 5:30pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Ref: Paul Williams (NZL)

AR1: Craig Evans (WRU)

AR2: Adam Jones (WRU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Live on: RTÉ2

267 : RWC2023 all-provincial panel

bonus clip available on our YouTube channel


OUR GUESTS : IAN FRIZZELL, STEPHEN MURPHY & CAOLÁN SCULLY


🏉 Thoughts on Ireland v Italy

🏉 Expectations for remaining warmups

🏉 Quick look at other RWC2023 nations


@harpinonrugby

Catch the full pod on Spotify & most major platforms, with a bonus clip also on our YouTube channel RWC2023

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

235 : IRELAND V ENGLAND WRAP aka “Gran’s Lamb”

ⓒ INPHO/Billy Strickland

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

FULL TIME TAKES

FACEBOOK

Mark Jackson

Ryan Baird immense ..kudos must go to all coaches n staff and squad

10 tries conceeded in 2 6 Nations campaigns combined telling stat..hats off to Simon Easterby for defensive work especially

James Griffin

England brought physicality but not a lot of game nous. Ireland, while not always as precise as in previous games, matched their physicality but in addition, had good game management and made good decisions at crucial times. Delighted for the entire squad; a fully deserved slam.

Gavin Hegarty

Not a good Irish performance but always great to get a slam.

Up for discussion is where rugby is going. A red card should be for a malicious act, not for what steward did. His offence was a yellow at most.

TWITTER

MASTODON

Tim Stickland  Congratulations Ireland. Great shift from Johnny Sexton. RWC looks fantastic with the French in great form too.

RichardMifsud It seems I’m required to force myself to have a celebratory #whiskey


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Nine tries, 66 points and a frantic finish – Gonzaga claim first Senior Cup after famous win over Blackrock – Independent.ie [Des Berry]
  2. RTÉ and Virgin Media secure Rugby World Cup 2023 rights | World Rugby
  3. Six Nations: Scotland survive incredibly nervy finish as Blair Kinghorn scores hat-trick of tries against Italy | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]
  4. Wales end Six Nations campaign on losing note against France – The Irish Times 
  5. Six-try Ireland U20s make history with back-to-back Grand Slam titles (the42.ie) [Sinead Farrell]

SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 5

SCO 26-14 ITA

FRA 41-28 WAL

IRE 29-16 ENG


HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP

234 : Harpin’ Preview Show #IREvENG (aka “The Canned Ham Decider”)



IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Johnny Sexton (c) 9. Jamison Gibson Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ryan Baird 5. James Ryan 6. Peter O’Mahony 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Kieran Treadwell 20. Jack Conan 21. Conor Murray 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jimmy O’Brien


ENGLAND : 15. Freddie Steward 14. Anthony Watson 13. Henry Slade 12. Manu Tuilagi 11. Henry Arundell 10. Owen Farrell (C) 9.  Jack van Poortvliet 

1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Kyle Sinckler 4. Maro Itoje 5. David Ribbans 6. Lewis Ludlam  7. Jack Willis 8. Alex Dombrandt

16. Jack Walker 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Dan Cole 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Ben Curry 21. Alex Mitchell 22. Marcus Smith 23. Joe Marchant 


Guinness Six Nations Championship 2023

Round 5

Sat Mar 18 KO 5pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin


Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)

AR1: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)

AR2: Pierre Brousset (FFR) 

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Live on: Virgin Media One, ITV1