Leinster – Page 4 – HARPIN' ON RUGBY

429 : Leinster v Ulster wrap

19 April 2025; Tommy O’Brien of Leinster evades the tackle of on his way to scoring his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Ulster at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

🏉 Late late change

🏉 Terrific TOB

🏉 Coach killers

🏉 Defensive stands

🏉 Triple Dan

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post to Post blog

DAVID CORDIAL

FULL TIME TAKES

Christy O’Connor

Tommy is flying, definitely in with a great shout to be playing in the cup games. Will definitely be on the irish summer tour

Greg Kelly

Tommy O’Brien looking like the real deal these days

Michael Branagan

Great result. Porter needs to be “seen to be in control”. He’s throwing penalties away, 50:50 calls, that are damaging us and his reputation. I do think it’s harsh on a number of fronts but he has to “ease back” as it were. For a little while.

William Andrew

Ulster had a lot go against them, but still hung in there.

Some unfortunate, some self inflected.

Leinster were good but you can see some players are not quite the standard of the 1st squad.

Others are pushing on. Highlights were the chip to Dan and Gunn delaying his pass to Dan.

Smart play

Warren Doyle

Right person won man of the match. Class act. Well done Tommy O’Brien.

John Peeters

Only one comment; is RG ok?

URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “LEINSTER PLAYER PROFILES PT 1”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

THURSDAY

THROWBACK THURSDAY

428 : Leinster v Ulster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Luke McGrath (c)

1. Jack Boyle 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Alex Soroka 7. Scott Penny 8. James Culhane

16. Dan Sheehan 17. Andrew Porter 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. RG Snyman 20. Max Deegan 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Liam Turner

ULSTER : 15. Michael Lowry 14. Zac Ward 13. Jude Postlethwaite 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. Jacob Stockdale 10. Jack Murphy 9. Nathan Doak

1. Andrew Warwick 2. Rob Herring 3. Tom O’Toole 4. Alan O’Connor (c) 5. Cormac Izuchukwu 6. James McNabney 7. Nick Timoney 8. David McCann

16. Tom Stewart 17. Callum Reid 18. Scott Wilson 19. Matthew Dalton 20. Kieran Treadwell 21. John Cooney 22. Stewart Moore 23. Matty Rea

BKT United Rugby Championship 24/25 Round 15

Saturday, April 20, 2025

KO 7:35pm Aviva Stadium

Live on : TG4, Premier Sports 1 & URC.tv

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

AR 1: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)

AR 2: Tómas O’Sullivan (IRFU)

TMO: Stefano Penne (FIR)

427 : Leinster v Glasgow wrap

11 April 2025; Dan Sheehan of Leinster scores his side’s seventh try during the Investec Champions Cup quarter-final match between Leinster and Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

🏉 Glasgow’s poor exits

🏉 Sam’s spirals

🏉 Leinster’s D (again)

🏉 Mangan’s Euro debut

🏉 Jordie’s everything

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

RICHARD MIFSUD

FULL TIME TAKES

Greg Kelly

We put on a show but we learned nothing and didn’t sharpen our edges. When Byrne replaced Sam there was a noticeable drop off in incision and tempo. All in all we played an hour of solid rugby and then pulled up in the last 20 to save legs.

Chris McDonnell

Just too good. Noticeable drop off when we changed our half backs.

David Ryle

Wasn’t a scoreline we were expecting. But Glasgow were missing half of their starters.

2 weeks on the bounce teams kept scoreless.

Cuan Mulligan

Loved the term.. Leinster Double Bagel

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

CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “LEINSTER’S BEST IMPORTS”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

THURSDAY

THROWBACK THURSDAY

426 : Leinster v Glasgow preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

LEINSTER : 15 Hugo Keenan 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Jordie Barrett

11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Cian Healy 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. RG Snyman

6. Max Deegan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan (c)

16. Dan Sheehan 17. Andrew Porter 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Diarmuid Mangan

20. Caelan Doris 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ross Byrne 23. Robbie Henshaw

GLASGOW : 15 Kyle Rowe 14 Jamie Dobie 13 Stafford McDowall 12 Tom Jordan

11 Kyle Steyn (c) 10 Adam Hastings 9 George Horne

1 Nathan McBeth 2 Johnny Matthews 3 Sam Talakai 4 Gregor Brown 5 Alex Samuel

6 Matt Fagerson 7 Rory Darge 8 Sione Vailanu

16 Grant Stewart 17 Jamie Bhatti 18 Patrick Schickerling 19 JP du Preez

20 Max Williamson 21 Euan Ferrie 22 Ben Afshar 23 Sebastian Cancelliere

Referee : Luke Pearce (Eng)

AR1 : Anthony Woodthorpe (Eng)

AR2 : Adam Leal (Eng)

TMO : Andrew Jackson (Eng)

Weather for Dublin 4 (Fri eve)

9° “Partly cloudy”

Wind SSE 9-13 kmh Rain 0%

(from accuweather.com)

425 : Leinster v Harlequins wrap

Josh van der Flier of Leinster scores his side’s fourth try during the Investec Champions Cup Round of 16 match between Leinster and Harlequins at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

🏉 Quins purple patch

🏉 Some Leinster tries

🏉 More tries

🏉 Even more tries

🏉 Shutout

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIARÁN DUFFY [Post to Post Sport blog]

HUGO GORDON

FULL TIME TAKES

David Ryle

I thought it was going to be a hard day at the office on the first 10 mins. I think the held up ball knocked the wind out of them.

Kevin Kelehan

Quins turned up, sadly only for 10 minutes, great to see JVdF back to his rampaging best, Ringrose lethal in defense and incisive in attack and Jordie Barrett’s team first and self second distribution showing why he was signed.

Chris McDonnell

As complete a performance as I have seen in ages.

Alan Murphy

Quins over 80 mins were never going to win that. Not taking the 6 points on offer for two kickable penalties in the first 10 mins was really naive. Aimless kicking to a Leinster back 3 was naive. Kicking all their restarts to the same space in the first half was naive. Very poor from a last 16 team. I hope they get rid of this round in future as very average teams are winning one game (Ulster) in 4 in the ‘group’ stages and making the knockouts. Others staggering in with 2 wins from 4. Go straight to the quarter finals in future.

Christy O’Connor

Dragons would’ve caused us more problems. I expect a much tougher game next week. I reckon Glasgow will beat Leicester and Glasgow will definitely give is a tough game

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving

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in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page

CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “EPCR QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

THURSDAY

THROWBACK THURSDAY

424 : Leinster v Harlequins preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Preview also available on our YouTube channel

Our guest : MARK JACKSON

LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jamie Osborne 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Joe McCarthy 5. RG Snyman 6. Jack Conan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (C)

16. Gus McCarthy 17. Jack Boyle 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Ryan Baird 20. Max Deegan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jordie Barrett

HARLEQUINS : 15. Leigh Halfpenny 14. Tyrone Green 13. Oscar Beard 12. Ben Waghorn 11. Nick David 10. Marcus Smith 9. Will Porter

1. Fin Baxter 2. Jack Walker 3. Titi Lamositele 4. Joe Launchbury 5. Chandler Cunningham-South 6. Jack Kenningham 7. Will Evans 8. Alex Dombrandt (C)

16. Sam Riley 17. Wyn Jones 18. Simon Kerrod 19. Irne Herbst 20. George Hammond 21. Danny Care 22. Jamie Benson 23. Luke Northmore

Investec Champions Cup 24/25 Rd of 16

Saturday, April 5, 2025

KO 3pm Croke Park

Live on : RTÉ2 & Premier Sports 2

Referee : Pierre Brousset (Fra)

AR1 : Kevin Bralley (Fra)

AR2 : Thomas Charabas (Fra)

TMO : Tual Trainini (Fra)

423 : Sharks v Leinster wrap

29 March 2025; Max Deegan of Leinster makes a break during the United Rugby Championship match between Hollywoodbets Sharks and Leinster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban, South Africa. Photo by Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

🏉 Low expectations

🏉 Toothless Sharks

🏉 Bridge pass

🏉 The Max Deegan All-Stars

🏉 Holding on

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

DAVID CORDIAL

FULL TIME TAKES

Bert McLoughlin

Not really a great game for a neutral but I’m not neutral, great win. Max was superb

Kevin Kelehan

Noon last week hoped for 2 points out of both games, last week ahead for 83 minutes and just caught in the end by a super dogged Bulls side and this week won a proper dogfight. The scores weren’t spectacular, but players like Deegan, Soroka and Penny never stopped working, the depth that Leinster have is embarrassing. To take 5 points from a trip they have struggled on in recent seasons is really encouraging

Cormac Mannion

Fantastic win. Frawley still doesn’t seem to have recovered his mojo after last autumn, albeit he was great for Penny’s try

Bernie Cunningham

Grt win, boys left it all on the pitch, delighted for the younger lads and to bring home 4pts from SA brill.👏👏

Eamon Saunders

Great performance from such a inexperienced bunch at this level given the opposition 💪👏👏

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

URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “LEINSTER’S CHAMPIONS CUP 23”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

THURSDAY

THROWBACK THURSDAY

422 : Sharks v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Liam Turner 12. Charlie Tector 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Fintan Gunne

1. Cian Healy 2. John McKee 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Diarmuid Mangan 5. Brian Deeny 6. Alex Soroka 7. Will Connors 8. Max Deegan (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Michael Milne 18. Rory McGuire 19. Alan Spicer 20. Scott Penny 21. Oliver Coffey 22. Ross Byrne 23. Henry McErlean

SHARKS : 15 Yaw Penxe 14 Ethan Hooker 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Andre Esterhuizen

11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jordan Hendrikse 9 Jaden Hendrikse

1 Ox Nche 2 Bongi Mbonambi 3 Vincent Koch 4 Jason Jenkins

5 Emile van Heerden 6 James Venter 7 Vincent Tshituka 8 Siya Kolisi (c)

16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Ruan Dreyer 19 Corne’ Rahl

20 Manu Tshituka 21 Bradley Davids 22 Siya Masuku 23 Francois Venter

BKT United Rugby Championship Round 14

Saturday, March 29, 2025

KO 5:15pm Hollywoodbets Kings Park

Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 2 & URC.tv

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

AR 1: Christopher Allison (SARU)

AR 2: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

421 : Bulls v Leinster wrap

22 March 2025; Fintan Gunne of Leinster offloads to teammate Jordie Barrett during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Leinster at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

🏉 Preparedness

🏉 Pts left behind

🏉 Penalties galore

🏉 Separation anxiety

🏉 Scrum’s the word

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

RICHARD MIFSUD

URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “THE RSA TOURS”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

420 : Bulls v Leinster preview

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER

15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Hugh Cooney 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath (c)

1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rabah Slimani 4. RG Snyman 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane

16. Stephen Smyth 17. Ivan Soroka 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. Alex Soroka 21. Scott Penny 22. Fintan Gunne 23. Ciarán Frawley

BULLS

15. Willie le Roux 14. Sebastian de Klerk 13. David Kriel 12. Harold Vorster 11. Stravino Jacobs 10. Keagan Johannes 9. Embrose Papier

1. Alulutho Tshakweni, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. JF van Heerden, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Jannes Kirsten, 8. Cameron Hanekom,

16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Jan-hendrik Wessels, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Nizaam Carr, 22. Zak Burger, 23. Devon Williams

BKT United Rugby Championship Round 13

Saturday, March 22, 2025

KO 3pm Loftus Versfeld

Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 1 & URC.tv

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

AR 1: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)

AR 2: Sean Muller (SARU)

TMO: Ben Breakspear (WRU)