212 : Leinster v Racing 92 wrap

21 January 2023; Garry Ringrose of Leinster scores his side’s sixth try despite the attentions of Christian Wade and Kitione Kamikamica of Racing 92 during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 4 match between Leinster and Racing 92 at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile


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Conor Cronin The number of penalties is a concern. A strong win, and some great individual performances weren’t. We’d a strong first and last 20, needed to be more conscious of the ruck in the middle 40, that’s where we lost our most to Racing. I found a group of Racing fans after the game and brought them to the pub, great group, great fans who really love the game and are very passionate about good rugby, I’m really glad we could meet up expectation, particular the O’Brien try

Gavin Hegarty I actually enjoyed how they challenged us. They clearly did their homework. But still, the good will out. Yes we were not at the level we were last week, but class is permanent. Highlight was ringer flick, sublime.

Richard Collumb Racing slowing the game right down caused us problems. Scrum, some sloppy passing & silly penalties will be punished in later rounds, but last 20 minutes was great. Ringrose just gets better & better.

John Hyland (reply to Richard Collumb) don’t agree re scrum. Other teams are cheating and getting away with it. Our scrum is collapsing on the loosehead side because opposition tightheads are boring in, leaving Porter / Milne nothing to push against. Refs have been clueless.


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Richard Mifsud We weren’t at our best for long periods and credit R92 for parts of that but it’s an 80 minute game and when we clicked it was sublime. We need these tests to keep us honest and sharp it’s about finding a way and thus far this season we’ve been pretty good at that this season. Very satisfying BPW


Koochulainn The numbers do not lie LEINSTER 4 games 20 points (and did not concede a single losing BP) 28 tries +150 points difference #PerfectRecord


RugbyNerd Too good again! But good game for around 60 minutes and good refereeing. Very clear communication.


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Ireland squad for Six Nations announced with Joey Carbery the major omission – Pundit Arena [James Fenton]
  2. Munster retain Women’s Interprovincial Championship title after win over Connacht – The Irish Times 
  3. Bealham hat-trick not enough to stop Connacht losing away to Newcastle (the42.ie) [John Fallon]
  4. Ulster v Sale Sharks LIVE: Rob Lyttle try the difference at half-time as province edge towards European knockouts – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  5. Frustrated Munster face away day in Champions Cup Round of 16 (irishexaminer.com) [Simon Lewis]

HCC ROUND 4 WRAP

ROUND 4

LYN 31-7 BUL

LEIC 26-27 OSP

HAR 39-29 SHA

NOR 13-31 LAR

BOR 17-26 GLO

LEIN 36-10 R92

STO 30-16 CLE

EXE 40-3 CAS

ULS 22-11 SAL

MON 21-21 LIR

TLS 20-16 MUN

EDI 20-14 SAR



LAST 16 (weekend of Mar 31/Apr 1,2)

LEIN V ULS

LEIC V EDI

TLS V BUL

SHA V MUN

EXE V MON

STO V HAR

LAR V GLO

SAR V OSP


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211 : Harpin Preview Show #LEIvR92




Leinster: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose > CAPTAIN 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Caelan Doris 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan

16. Dan Sheehan 17. Michael Milne 18. Cian Healy 19. Ross Molony 20. Ryan Baird 21. Luke McGrath 22. Harry Byrne 23. Scott Penny


Racing 92: 15 W Gelant 14 C Wade 13 O Klemenczak 12 G Fickou (c) 11 L Dupichot 10 F Russell 9 N Le Garrec 1 E Ben Arous 2 J Tarrit 3.T Nyakane 4 B Chouzenoux 5 B Palu 6 W Lauret 7 M Coulibaly 8 K Kamikamica

16 P Narisia 17 G Gogichashvili 18 G Kharaishvili 19 A Hemery 20 M Baudonne 21 A Gibert 22 F Saili 23 M Spring


Heineken Champions Cup 22/23

Round 4

Sat Jan 21  KO 3:15pm

Aviva Stadium


Ref: Matthew Carley (ENG) 

AR1: Craig Maxwell-Keys (ENG) 

AR2: Gareth Holsgrove (ENG) 

TMO: Ian Tempest (ENG)


Live on: RTÉ 2, BT Sport 2

210 : Gloucester v Leinster wrap

14 January 2023; Michael Ala’alatoa of Leinster makes a break during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool A Round 3 match between Gloucester and Leinster at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester, England. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

210 : Gloucester v Leinster wrap Harpin' On Rugby

🏉 MUN, ULS & CON 🏉 Jamie Osborne 🏉 Clinical finishing 🏉 Cian Healy’s career 🏉 Leinster’s scrum Harpin’ On Rugby match wraps are brought to you by The Irish Rugby Store Our guests… MARK JACKSON https://twitter.com/hoomanbear CONOR CRONIN https://twitter.com/ccbooms FRONT FIVE ARTICLES RFU intervenes to let Borthwick pick Farrell in England Six Nations squad | Owen Farrell | The Guardian [Gerard Meagher] Women’s interprovincials: Munster claim bonus-point win over Leinster to move closer to title – The Irish Times Fourteen-man Munster hold off Northampton in Champions Cup thriller | Rugby365 ‘Heartbroken’ Dan McFarland bemoans decision not to award Ulster penalty try in late La Rochelle defeat – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley] Clinical Connacht put 61 points on Brive to progress to Challenge Cup knockouts (the42.ie) [Daragh Small] Where to find Harpin’ On Rugby Website > https://harpinonrugby.com/ Mastodon > @HarpinOnRugby@mastodon.ie Twitter > https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby Facebook > https://www.facebook.com/HarpinOnRugby Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/harpinonrugby/ TikTok > https://www.tiktok.com/@harpinonrugby YouTube > https://youtube.com/@HarpinPreviewShow

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MARK JACKSON & CONOR CRONIN


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Andrew Potts The scrum is a concern, probably just needs a little collective focus. Nice to see them using short penalty moves in the red zone, it’s a good variation then going to a line out, plus suits Leinster tempo.
Some of the Leinster play was excellent and Ross has developed into quite the facilitator

Richard Collumb Says it all about current European competition when URC is providing more challenges.
Great to see Osborne step up & some game time to replacements.

Chris McDonnell Too good just too good.

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Brian Nisbet @natural20 14-49 A match with a couple of lessons for Leinster (discipline, line-outs), but ultimately another emphatic victory in Europe and the match goes on.


Colin Mehigan @colinmehigan@mas.to @vnvobit @HarpinOnRugby @rugby Lots of impressive performances in Kingsholm today – Jamie Osborne really standing out

Adam Ashby (Gloucester fan) @adamashby@mas.to Well. That was worse than I expected.


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. RFU intervenes to let Borthwick pick Farrell in England Six Nations squad | Owen Farrell | The Guardian [Gerard Meagher]
  2. Women’s interprovincials: Munster claim bonus-point win over Leinster to move closer to title – The Irish Times 
  3. Fourteen-man Munster hold off Northampton in Champions Cup thriller | Rugby365
  4. ‘Heartbroken’ Dan McFarland bemoans decision not to award Ulster penalty try in late La Rochelle defeat – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  5. Clinical Connacht put 61 points on Brive to progress to Challenge Cup knockouts (the42.ie) [Daragh Small]

HCC ROUND 3 WRAP

ROUND 3

CLE 29-44 LEIC

SAL 5-27 TLS

GLO 14-49 LEIN

MUN 27-23 NOR

SHA 32-3 BOR

LAR 7-3 ULS

BUL 39-28 EXE

OSP 35-29 MON

SAR 48-28 LYN

CAS 21-34 EDI

LIR 14-28 STO

R92 30-29 HAR



ROUND 4

FRI JAN 20

LYN V BUL

LEI V OSP

SAT JAN 21

HAR V SHA

NOR V LAR

BOR V GLO

LEI V R92

STO V CLE

EXE V CAS

ULS V SAL

SUN JAN 22

MON V LIR

TLS V MUN

EDI V SAR


HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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209 : Harpin’ Preview Show #GLOvLEI


Leinster: 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose > CAPTAIN 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Michael Milne 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Jack Conan 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Harry Byrne 23. Liam Turner 

Gloucester: 15 G Barton 14 J May 13 C Harris 12 S Atkinson 11 O Thorley 10 S Carreras 9 B Meehan

1 V Rapava-Ruskin 2 G McGuigan 3 K Gotovtsev 4 F Clark 5 M Alemanno 6 R Ackermann 7 L Ludlow (c) 8 B Morgan

16 S Blake 17 H Elrington 18 C Knight 19 C Jordan 20 J Clement 21 S Varney 22 B Twelvetrees 23 T Seabrook

Heineken Champions Cup 22/23

Round 3

Sat Jan 14  KO 1pm

Kingsholm Stadium

Ref: Pierre Brousset (France) 

AR1: Vincent Blasco Baqué (France) 

AR2: Flavien Hourquet (France) 

TMO: Denis Grenouillet (France)

Live on: ITV1, BT Sport 2


WOMEN’S RUGBY TWITTER ACCOUNTS MENTIONED

@IrishWomens @JC200022

208 : Ospreys v Leinster wrap

7 January 2023; Jimmy O’Brien of Leinster celebrates after scoring his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship between Ospreys and Leinster at the Swansea.com Stadium in Swansea, Wales. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

RICHARD MIFSUD

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Conor Cronin A few key things from this game that concern me.

The pack were bullied in the first half, and let themselves be.

Harry Byrne struggled behind the pack, but they’re not entirely to blame for his struggles. He needs a lot more time and needs to build confidence behind a dominant pack.

The scrum was awful. We have suffered as a province since Fogarty went to the Ireland set up, that needs to be dealt with.

Grinding out the win is great, and you learn much more from a game like that. But we need to learn fast, especially if the injury Ross Byrne picked up last night is bad.

Paul Smith Probably the poorest we’ve played in a good while, but the sign of a good team is to still manage to win while playing poorly so we’ll the gladly take the points and move on.

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WRRAP podcast @WRRAP@toot.wales It is not often you see a Leinster pack hit reverse but deserved the win

Brian Nisbet @natural20 19-24 in Swansea. Come back was quite late, but a win is a win and well done to the lads for doing what needed to be done.

Jay Long @Jay_Long_626 Seriously good win on the road and Ospreys were proper up for it. Turned it on when it counted, I think Nick McCarthy won us that game imo. Just slipped us into a flow. Never in doubt 


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Munster secure vital bonus point win against the Lions (irishexaminer.com) [Simon Lewis]
  2. Benetton 31-29 Ulster: Struggling Irish province suffer late URC defeat in Italy – BBC Sport
  3. Conor Cronin report on Leinster v Connacht in Women’s Interpro
  4. Connacht outclass second-string Sharks (sarugbymag.co.za)
  5. Does Irish rugby have enough space for the talent it’s producing? (the42.ie) [Murray Kinsella] > bonus clip from the chat on this article available on our YouTube channel

URC ROUND 12 WRAP

ROUND 12

DRA 14-29 BUL

MUN 33-3 LIO

BEN 31-29 ULS

EDI 24-17 ZEB

CAR 22-28 SCA

CON 24-12 SHA

OSP 19-24 LEI

GLA 24-17 STO

ROUND 13

JAN 27

SCA V BUL

ULS V STO

JAN 7

BEN V MUN

DRA V GLA

LEI V CAR

EDI V SHA

CON V LIO

JAN 8

ZEB V OSP


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207 : Harpin’ Preview Show #OSPvLEI

OUR GUEST : CIARÁN DUFFY [click here for his fundraising page]


Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley

1. Cian Healy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Brian Deeny 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Jack Conan

​16. John McKee 17. Michael Milne 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. James Ryan 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Ross Byrne 23. Rob Russell


Ospreys: 15. Cai Evans 14. Mat Protheroe 13. Michael Collins 12. Keiran Williams 11. Keelan Giles 10. Owen Williams 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams

1. Nicky Smith 2. Dewi Lake 3. Tomas Francis 4. Rhys Davies 5. Alun Wyn Jones 6. Ethan Roots 7. Justin Tipuric > capt 8. Morgan Morris

16. Scott Baldwin 17. Gareth Thomas 18. Tom Botha 19. Huw Sutton 20. Harri Deaves 21. Matthew Aubrey 22. Joe Hawkins 23. Jack Walsh


BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23

Round 12

Sat Jan 7  KO 7:35pm

Swansea.com Stadium


Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR) 

AR 1: Dewi Phillips (WRU) 

AR 2: Jason Bessant (WRU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)


Live on: TG4, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv

206 : Leinster v Connacht wrap

1 January 2023; Ryan Baird of Leinster on his way to scoring his side’s sixth try during the United Rugby Championship between Leinster and Connacht at RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile


THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

CONOR CRONIN


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Gavin Hegarty Boring. It’s tiresome how even after they get ahead we don’t fear the result. Yes I know it’s a good position to be in but we’ve suffered as a result before, Saracens, la Rochelle etc. We need to be challenged more.

Chris McDonnell Another shocking day at the lineout. Its been a while since we had one if them but that was not acceptable. Kelleher will not get his starting jersey back from sheahan until he learns how to throw the ball

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rhubarbsticks Ryan Baird in full flight is a sight to behold. A scrappy enough performance but plenty of positives to go forward with.

RugbyKino A tale of 3 parts to that match. A tight, well-matched fast-paced game gave way to more of a broken-up tussle in midfield in the second half. But come the final quarter Leinster flexed their handling muscle and put Connacht to the sword.

A shame Connacht don’t come away with something as the scoreline doesn’t do them justice.

However, Johnny coming off with a big dent in his face is a worry, possibly for the next 2-6 weeks.

RichardMifsud Really entertaining match at the RDS Connacht competitive deep into it but a couple of late tries put a gloss on the score line Good performance from the much changed side with a fair crop of youngsters Lineout issues need to be resolved but that apart a good enough performance Top of the pile in January 2023 let’s see how it pans out 🤷🏻‍♂️ Good performances from JL and Ryan B Deeny looked good and the Foley cameo was exciting 

james @gortoshay putting 40 pts on Connacht while still having plenty of work ons is a nice place to be. Leinster being made to work for their victories this season. I’m hoping it stands to them at the business end. Sexton definitely a worry.


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Andy Farrell dressing room phonecall captured after Ireland beat All Blacks | SportsJOE.ie [Pat McCarry]
  2. What did Joe Marler say to Jake Heenan? – Rugby World 
  3. No relegation will produce more shocks – Baxter – Huge Rugby News 
  4. Stephen Jones and Gethin Jenkins leave Wales coaching jobs with immediate effect as Gatland shakes up his backroom team – Wales Online [Ben James]
  5. Dan McFarland calls Ulster ‘terrible’ in late defeat to Munster | Belfast News Letter [Ciaran Donaghy]

URC ROUND X WRAP

ROUND 11

EDI 25-32 GLA

ZEB 17-40 BEN

SHA 47-20 BUL

STO 40-8 LIO

CAR 19-22 OSP

ULS 14-15 MUN

SCA 33-17 DRA

LEI 41-12 CON



ROUND 12

JAN 6

DRA V BUL

MUN V LIO

JAN 7

BEN V ULS

EDI V ZEB

CAR V SCA

CON V SHA

OSP V LEI

JAN 8

GLA V STO


HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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205 : Harpin’ Preview Show – #LEIvCON


Leinster : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Liam Turner 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Rob Russell 10. Johnny Sexton > CAPTAIN 9. Jamison Gibson-Park 

1. Michael Milne 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Brian Deeny 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. John McKee 17. Marcus Hanan 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. Alex Soroka 20. Scott Penny 21. Cormac Foley 22. Harry Byrne 23. Jamie Osborne


Connacht: 15 T O’Halloran 14 D Kilgallen 13 T Farrell 12 D Hawkshaw 11 J Porch 10 J Carty (C) 9 C Blade

1 P Dooley 2 D Heffernan 3 D Robertson-McCoy 4 D Murray 5 N Murray 6. C Prendergast 7 S Hurley-Langton 8 J Butler

16 S Delahunt 17 D Buckley 18 S Illo 19. O Dowling 20 C Oliver 21 K Marmion 22 T Daly 23 B Ralston


BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23

Round 11

Sun Jan 1  KO 7:35pm

RDS Arena


Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

AR 1: Chris Busby (IRFU) 

AR 2: Peter Martin (IRFU)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)


Live on: RTÉ, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv

204 : Munster v Leinster wrap

26 December 2022; Leinster players celebrate with teammate Dan Sheehan, hidden, after he scored their side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile


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Conor Cronin On the road, taking a win home with us without a lot of players who might have wanted the opportunity to play and might sometimes be considered higher up the pecking order, and having missed out on the chance to get a BP, there’s a lot to be positive about here.

Yes there were some things that we’ll use the video for to tidy up, and yes the referee was not at the top of his game, but you play the ref, you play what’s in front of you, and you take your chances.

I’m happy with that, munster threw their best available team at us, it wasn’t enough tonight

Andrew Potts A collection of random penalties until 50, then a game broke out

Martin Loughrey Scrappy to say the least. Great to get the win and our response to Deegan’s yellow was incredible, but the game didn’t really kick into gear until the 2nd half. I felt Munster had a slight edge on us for long periods but couldn’t capitalise. And of course Busby was poor. It seemed like he heeded the crowd’s reaction after Deegan flipped POM over, and made some strange calls after that. Very quick to ping Leinster after that, and of course there was his own obstruction of Leinster at the ruck that lead to a penalty for Munster. Still though, a win in Thomond is always great to get, so happy to take it!

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rhubarbsticks @rhubarbsticks@sself.co

Although that was a tough, valuable and well earned victory it didn’t alter any pecking orders in Leinster.

RichardMifsud @RichardMifsud 

A win away at Thomond with a rotated side and not playing particularly well is not to be sniffed at. Great runouts from Dan (again) and Big Joe Mac. Luke McG and Ross M made a big impact from the bench. Happy with that and isn’t it brilliant to see a return of the St Stephen’s Day fixture? #MUNvLEI

Bernard McKeever @dregin

#MUNvLEI Would not want to be on the receiving end of Graham Rowntree’s anger after conceding those tries with us a man down.


FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Leinster Rugby | James Tracy to Retire With Immediate Effect [Marcus Ó Buachalla]
  2. World Rugby announce new guidelines to speed up game (talkingrugbyunion.co.uk) [Frank Nickson]
  3. Steve Borthwick: England appoint Leicester coach to replace Eddie Jones – BBC Sport [Becky Gray]
  4. Benetton suspend member of staff and issue condemnation as Cherif Traore racial abuse investigation continues – Independent.ie [Duncan Bech]
  5. Ulster survive remarkable Connacht comeback to end disastrous December (the42.ie) [John Fallon]

URC ROUND X WRAP

ROUND 10

SHA 37-10 LIO

STO 37-27 BUL

CON 20-22 ULS

GLA 16-10 EDI

BEN 38-5 ZEB

DRA 24-29 CAR

OSP 34-14 SCA

MUN 19-20 LEI



ROUND 11

DEC 30

EDIVGLA

DEC 31

ZEB V BEN

SHA V BUL

STO V LIO

JAN 1

CAR V OSP

ULS V MUN

SCA V DRA

LEI V CON


HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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203 : Harpin’ Preview Show #MUNvLEI

also available as podcast use player below

Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose > CAPTAIN 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Nick McCarthy

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Cian Healy 4. Ryan Baird 5. Joe McCarthy 6. Rhys Ruddock 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan

16. John McKee 17. Michael Milne 18. Vakhtang Abdaladze 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Harry Byrne 23. Liam Turner.


Munster: 15 S Daly 14 C Nash 13 A Frisch 12 J Crowley 11 K Earls 10 J Carbery 9 C Murray
1 D Kilcoyne 2 N Scannell 3 J Ryan 4 J Kleyn 5 T Beirne 6 J O’Donoghue 7 P O’Mahony (C) 8 G Coombes
16 D Barron 17 J Wycherley 18 R Salanoa 19 K McDonald 20 A Kendellen 21 C Casey 22 R Scannell 23 P Campbell.

BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23
Round 10
Mon Dec 26 KO 7:35pm
Thomond Park

Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)
AR 1: Joy Neville (IRFU)
AR 2: Peter Martin (IRFU)
TMO: Brian MacNeice (IRFU)

Live on: TG4, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv