Category: Wales

412 : Wales v Ireland wrap

2025 Guinness Six Nations Round 3, Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 22/2/2025Wales vs Ireland Ireland’s Jamie Osborne scores a try despite Tom Rogers of WalesMandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady

🏉 Solid start
🏉 Welsh purple patch
🏉 Ringer Red
🏉 Bundee Bloody Bundee
🏉 Crowning glory

THIS WEEK’S GUEST

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post blog

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

Wales were so much better today, played with width and offloaded really accurately. Doris certainly missed and Ringrose’s mistimed tackle didn’t help. Likely France only 3 points behind us after this weekend which makes a win essential in 2 weeks time.

Peggy Sibbald

Well done Ireland..but hats of to Wales they played a massive game of Rugby 👏👏👏

Craig Grehan

That was an epic battle. Sloppy but epic. I think it will stand to us better than if we’d gone out and hammered them. Not that it was gonna happen. Fair play Wales. But fair play Ireland for sticking it out and showing the grit between the teeth

Michelle Tobin

Scrum was an unmitigated disaster. We were lucky not to concede a yellow for the repeated penalties. So many players will watch that performance back and be embarrassed. Some dreadful stuff. A few bright sparks, Osborne, Lowe, Conan and Beirne but plenty of others sub-par.

Greg Kelly

Ireland were poor but did the job when needed. In fairness had we played well for 60 mins of that game we would have won comfortably and I think we allowed Wales to play well. Was surprised Ringrose was upgraded to red but there was some really bizzare interactions between referee and TMO in that game 🤷‍♂️

Jackie McEachern

Grateful for the win. We missed Doris, hoping he’s back for France and also hoping Conan’s injury isn’t serious. I thought it was a little strange that Crowley wasn’t brought on until so late in the game.

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

MEN’S 6N WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’ – LIGHTER BLUE

TUESDAY

BONUS POD – “WOMEN’S 6N PREVIEW”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

411 : Wales v Ireland preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

IRELAND : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

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

16. Gus McCarthy 17. Jack Boyle 18. Finlay Bealham 19. James Ryan 20. Cian Prendergast 21. Conor Murray 22. Jack Crowley 23. Bundee Aki

WALES : 15. Blair Murray 14. Tom Rogers 13. Max Llewellyn 12. Ben Thomas 11. Ellis Mee 10. Gareth Anscombe 9. Tomos Williams

1. Nicky Smith 2. Elliot Dee 3. WillGriff John 4. Will Rowlands 5. Dafydd Jenkins 6. Jac Morgan (c) 7. Tommy Reffell 8. Taulupe Faletau

16. Evan Lloyd 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Henry Thomas 19. Teddy Williams 20. Aaron Wainwright 21. Rhodri Williams 22. Jarrod Evans 23. Joe Roberts

Guinness Six Nations Championship 2025 Round 3

Saturday, February 22, 2025

KO 2:15pm  Principality Stadium

Live on : Virgin Media One, BBC1, S4C

Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)

Assistant Referee 1: Nika Amashukeli (GRU)

Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

FPRO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

ALSO THIS WEEKEND

IRELAND A V ENGLAND A

Sunday, February 23

Ashton Gate, Bristol

Kickoff 1pm

Live for free on Rugbypass TV

15. Shane Daly 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jude Postlethwaite 12. Hugh Gavin 11. Shayne Bolton 10. Ciaran Frawley 9. Nathan Doak

1. Tom O’Toole 2. Diarmuid Barron 3. Jack Aungier 4. Evan O’Connell 5. Darragh Murray 6. Max Deegan (c) 7. Alex Kendellen 8. Sean Jansen

16. Stephen Smyth 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Oli Jager 19. Conor O’Tighearnaigh 20. Alex Soroka 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Harry Byrne 23. Brian Gleeson

323 : Ireland v Wales wrap

2024 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 3, Aviva Stadium, Dublin 24/2/2024Ireland vs WalesIrelands Bundee Aki breaks away from Dafydd Jenkins of Wales Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady

🏉 Early Welsh D

🏉 Ace Aki Again

🏉 Who throws a shoe?

🏉 Turnover Tadhg

🏉 Bonus Point Beirne

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIARÁN DUFFY & KRISTIAN ROSS

Check out Ciarán’s pod Post To Post Sport here

FULL TIME TAKES

Kevin Kelehan

Wales definitely better than most expected, Ireland will need to be more disciplined in Twickers but can get a bonus point win if they iron out the errors. Was delighted to see Frawley score a super try

Colin McConaghie

We need pace in the backline to get to the really top level. Possibly a bit complacent today but Lowe was really poor with his kicking and will cost us against a better team

John Clavin

A couple of big referee decisions didn’t go Ireland’s way. But, a 24 point win in the 6N and we’re all a bit disappointed in the performance…. Heady days for Irish Rugby.

Christy O’Connor

Very sloppy 2nd half. Ref was inconsistent, but it was our own fault that we made such hard work of it.

Wales deserve some credit for not giving up.

Carmel Daly

Not perfect but technically they held Wales scoreless only for penalty try given. Job done 👍

Greg Kelly

If we’d done that any other year we’d be jumping for joy. I think it’s a sign of what we expect from this team that people are nit picking the performance.

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

SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 3

IRELAND 31-7 WALES

SCOTLAND 30-21 ENGLAND

FRANCE 13-13 ITALY

ROUND 4

SAT MAR 9

ITALY V SCOTLAND

ENGLAND V IRELAND

SUN MAR 10

WALES V FRANCE

UNDER 20s

ROUND 3

SCOTLAND 17-30 ENGLAND

IRELAND 43-8 WALES

FRANCE 20-23 ITALY

ROUND 3

THU MAR 7

WALES V FRANCE

FRI MAR 8

ITALY V SCOTLAND

ENGLAND V IRELAND

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP

AT ELVERYS

322 : Ireland v Wales preview

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

IRELAND : 15. Ciaran Frawley 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. Oli Jager 19. James Ryan 20. Ryan Baird 21. Jack Conan 22. Conor Murray 23. Stuart McCloskey

WALES : 15 Cameron Winnett 14 Rio Dyer 13 George North 12 Nick Tompkins 11 Josh Adams 10 Sam Costelow 9 Tomos Williams

1 Gareth Thomas 2 Elliot Dee 3 Keiron Assiratti 4 Dafydd Jenkins (c) 5 Adam Beard 6 Alex Mann 7 Tommy Reffell 8 Aaron Wainwright

16 Ryan Elias 17 Corey Domachowski 18 Dillon Lewis 19 Will Rowlands 20 Taine Basham 21 Kieran Hardy 22 Ioan Lloyd 23 Mason Grady

Guinness Six Nations 2024 Round 3

Saturday, February 24, 2024

KO 2:15pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)

AR1: Karl Dickson (England)

AR2: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)

TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)

321 : Welsh Rugby – What Went Wrong? by Seimon Williams

Version 1.0.0

Ahead of Ireland v Wales and in the latest from our Opposition View series, I spoke to Seimon Williams, author of “Welsh Rugby – What Went Wrong?” about the most frustrating issues from the past decades, the best way forward and of course how he feels Saturday’s match will go.

Our guest : SEIMON WILLIAMS

GwladRugby blog

Buy the book here

BLURB

The 2022-23 season may just be the bleakest in Welsh rugby history. Accusations of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia against the Welsh Rugby Union led to resignations, independent inquiries, Senedd intervention and rushed governance reform. Budget cuts, strike threats, uncertainty for players, embarrassing defeats and the dismissal of the national coach presaged another poor Six Nations campaign.

This book looks at the issues which have seen Welsh rugby stumble from crisis to crisis over the past 40 years. At how a nation which led the rugby world in the 1970s declined into the fractured, riven, divided rugby nation of today. At how occasional successes at club, regional and Test level were achieved despite the system, not because of it, and did little more than paper over the cracks. At, fundamentally, what went wrong.

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

218 : WALES v IRELAND wrap

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICH MIFSUD

CIAN “RUGBY KINO” O’MUILLEOIR

FULL TIME TAKES

FACEBOOK

Conor Cronin

Some great individual performances, a few players who might feel they can improve on individual aspects, particularly Porter for me, who was responsible for almost half our penalties, can’t be that sloppy against the French. (though I’m discounting the one conceded as they scored a try)

Expectation will be high going onto next week, and rightly so, I want to see the same high intensity against France

Ian Frizzell

Out of the traps so quickly. We were so powerful in the first 30 minutes they didn’t have any answers.

Thought we coped pretty well in the third quarter when they threw everything they had at us and then a few fresh legs gave us the momentum to finish pretty strongly.

Gavin  Hegarty

Job done. Rough second half but we shouldered it well.

Can’t help but think the ref played a part in their comeback but cest la vie.

I still can’t see the logic in bringing gatland back.

TWITTER

MASTODON

Andrew Byrne That first half was ruthless, we were too comfortable in the 2nd half. That won’t be good enough next week, but you can only play one match at a time.For Wales they can fix a lot very quickly and will take scalps later in the tournament.

Brian Nisbet 10-34, with the Welsh playing much better in the second half. But that’s a clear statement of intent from Ireland with a BP win in the first match. Good stuff! 

Rob Atkinson A much better performance from Wales, but need to be a lot better in the opposition 22, they need to be better. I’m sure it will come together later in the tournament

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. 4 Ireland U20s Players Who Impressed In Their Six Nations Win In Wales | Balls.ie [Colman Shanley]
  2. Stormers hand Sharks a rugby lesson in Durban | Rugby365
  3. Irish Rugby | Combined Provinces Win With Seven Tries At Kingspan Stadium
  4. Scotland record stunning win over England at Twickenham as 2023 Six Nations campaign gets perfect start | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]
  5. Six Nations Rugby | France hang on after thriller in Rome [Paul Eddison]

6N & URC WRAP

6N ROUND 1

WAL 10-34 IRE

ENG 23-29 SCO

ITA 24-29 FRA

ROUND 2

Sat Feb 11

IRE v FRA

SCO v WAL

Sun Feb 12

ENG v ITA

URC ROUND 1

SHA 19-46 STO

Round 14

Feb 17

MUN V OSP

GLA V ULS

Feb 18

LIO V SHA

BUL V STO

ZEB V CON

SCA V EDI

CAR V BEN

LEI V DRA

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS 

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY 

THE IRISH RUGBY STORE 

217 : Harpin Preview Show #WALvIRE

OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

Ireland: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Johnny Sexton (c) 9. Jamison Gibson Park Conor Murray

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

16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy Dave Kilcoyne 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Iain Henderson 20. Jack Conan 21. Conor Murray Craig Casey 22. Ross Byrne 23. Bundee Aki

Wales: 15. Liam Williams 14. Josh Adams 13. George North 12. Joe Hawkins 11. Rio Dyer 10. Dan Biggar 9. Tomos Williams

1. Gareth Thomas 2. Ken Owens > captain 3. Tomas Francis 4. Adam Beard 5. Alun Wyn Jones 6. Jac Morgan 7. Justin Tipuric 8. Taulupe Faletau

16. Scott Baldwin 17. Rhys Carre 18. Dillon Lewis 19. Dafydd Jenkins 20. Tommy Reffell 21. Rhys Webb 22. Owen Williams 23. Alex Cuthbert

Guinness Six Nations 2023

Round 1

Sat Feb 4  KO 2:15pm

Principality Stadium

Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)

AR1 : Angus Gardner (RA)

AR2 : Luke Pearce (RFU)

TMO: Tom Foley (RFU)

Live on: Virgin Media One

216 : Pre-6N Panel

A bonus pod to set us up nicely for the Six Nations – our panel gives an overview of the Irish squad as well as the other five nations plus the Irish Under20s ahead of 6Mas Day.

Our guests…

MARK JACKSON & CONOR CRONIN

Think you can out-predict our Harpin panel?

Prove it by joining our Guinness Pint Predictor League just follow the instructions below

👇👇👇👇

213 : Opposition view – Cardiff & Wales

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