396 : Leinster v Connacht wrap

21 December 2024; RG Snyman of Leinster makes a break past Josh Murphy of Connacht during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile


🏉 Makeshift?

🏉 Ref communication

🏉 Well taken tries

🏉 Holding on

🏉 Mackgate



FULL TIME TAKES

Lorcán Murphy

Changes and early injuries proved very disruptive. Came out the right side of a dogfight two weeks running. Better than cakewalks and nothing to show at the end of the season

Eamon Saunders

Not a great game but as I always say a win is a win. Great to see 2 Wexford men on the field Charlie Tector and Brian Deeny

Andrew Bailey

On paper a very strong Connacht team nullified. Just find a Lineout and we could be comfortable

David Ryle

Some dodgy decisions on both sides.


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URC WRAP


no 80+ column this week so we’ll include the latest comp updates here

Irish Shield


Celtic Challenge


All Ireland Leagues

WOMEN’S AIL

MEN’S AIL


SVNS

NEXT ROUND : PERTH  JAN 24-26, 202


Premiership


🔝🐱🐴


ProD2


Japan League One


Harpin Prediction League

THIS SEASON THE HPL IS ADDING A NEW KNOCKOUT COMPETITION

CALLED “THE HARPIN MUG” 

(BECAUSE THE PRIZE IS AN ACTUAL MUG SO WE COULDN’T CALL IT A ‘CUP’)

THE SEEDINGS ARE DETERMINED BY THE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6

AND YOU CAN SEE THE FULL BRACKET BELOW


395 : Leinster v Connacht preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST


LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Aitzol Arenzana-King 13. Charlie Tector 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Diarmuid Mangan 5. RG Snyman 6. Alex Soroka 7. Scott Penny 8. Jack Conan (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Michael Milne 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Ryan Baird 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Harry Byrne 23. Max Deegan


CONNACHT : 15. Piers O’Conor 14. Mack Hansen 13. Cathal Forde 12. Bundee Aki 11. Shane Jennings 10. Josh Ioane 9. Ben Murphy
1. Denis Buckley 2. Dave Heffernan 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Josh Murphy 5. Darragh Murray 6. Cian Prendergast (C) 7. Shamus Hurley-Langton 8. Paul Boyle

16. Dylan Tierney-Martin 17. Jordan Duggan 18. Jack Aungier 19. Oisín Dowling 20. Sean Jansen 21. Caolin Blade 22. Santiago Cordero 23. Conor Oliver


United Rugby Championship 24/25 Rd 8

Saturday, December 21, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Aviva Stadium

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


Referee: Chris Busby (IRFU)

AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)

AR 2: Stuart Gaffikin (IRFU)

TMO: Mark Patton (IRFU)

393 : Leinster v Clérmont preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS PODCAST

LEINSTER : 15. Jordie Barrett 14. Liam Turner 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Max Deegan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Gus McCarthy 17. Cian Healy 18. Rabah Slimani 19. RG Snyman 20. Jack Conan 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Andrew Osborne


CLÉRMONT : 15. Alex Newsome, 14. Lucas Tauzin, 13. Pierre Fouyssac, 12. George Moala, 11. Alivereti Raka, 10. Irae Simone, 9. Baptiste Jauneau

1. Etienne Falgoux, 2. Etienne Fourcade, 3. Michael Ala’alatoa, 4. Peceli Yato, 5. Rob Simmons, 6. Killian Tixeront, 7. Alexandre Fischer, 8. Fritz Lee (c)

16. Barnabe Massa, 17. Giorgi Akhaladze, 18. Cristian Ojovan, 19. Oskar Rixen, 20. Antoine Chalus-Cercy, 21. Sebastien Bezy, 22. Ben Urdapilleta, 23. Theo Giral


Investec Champions Cup 24/25 Rd 2

Saturday, December 14, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Aviva Stadium

Live on: RTÉ2, Premier Sports 1


Referee : Luke Pearce (Eng)

AR1 Jack Makepeace (Eng)

AR2 : Jamie Leahy (Eng)

TMO : Stuart Terheege (Eng)

392 : Bristol Bears v Leinster wrap

8 December 2024; Jordie Barrett of Leinster during the Champions Cup Round 1 match between Bristol Bears and Leinster at Ashton Gate in Bristol, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile


🏉 Defences up

🏉 Scrum lottery 

🏉 Yellow fever

🏉 Euro mode

🏉 Bench press


THIS WEEK’S GUESTS


FULL TIME TAKES

Aonghus O’Brien

First half was poor, but the second half was loads of fun and I especially enjoyed the two tries from Sam ‘Not A Running Threat’ Prendergast

Louis Hoffman

Could a scrum ‘expert’ explain to me, what all that nonsense was about? Was it the refs fault?

Kevin Kelehan

Dreadful ref, his scrum time nearly wrecked the game completely. The bench was ridiculously over strength but thankfully it worked a charm when introduced, a BP on the road is all that history will record in a game of two halves.

Jackie McEachern

Definitely a “game of two halves”. As others have said, our bench obviously made a huge difference. While the reffing was horrible, we showed good composure in the first half when we had two yellow cards to attack and score a try.

Brian Patrick Donnelly

match ruined by inept, pedantic, awful refereeing. We were good for 20 minutes and that was that.

Shane Mcdonald

Just watching it it now at half time but how on gods green earth did the ref linesman tmo miss the very very very obvious hands in the ruck when jvdf nearly got over in the corner

Stevie wonder could have seen that and tv kept showing it over over over 🤦

Greg Kelly

BP away to the 2nd placed team in England is not to be sniffed at. The officiating was poor. We got little change from the officials in the first half but credit to the lads they worked around it well. Not sure how the TMO doesn’t intervene to card Thacker for pulling the ball out of Joshs hands on the goal line in the first half but comes in to reverse a lineout🤷‍♂️


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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP

391 : Bristol Bears v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST


LEINSTER :15 Ciaran Frawley 14 Jordan Larmour 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Jimmy O’Brien 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Jamison Gibson-Park 

1 Jack Boyle 2 Ronan Kelleher 3 Rabah Slimani 4 Joe McCarthy 5 James Ryan 6 Max Deegan 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Jack Conan (c) 

16 Gus McCarthy 17 Andrew Porter 18 Tom Clarkson 19 RG Snyman 20 Caelan Doris 21 Luke McGrath 22 Ross Byrne 23 Jordie Barrett


BRISTOL BEARS: 15. Rich Lane 14. Jack Bates 13. Kalaveti Ravouvou 12. Benhard Janse van Rensburg 11. Gabriel Ibitoye 10. AJ MacGinty 9. Harry Randall 

1. Ellis Genge 2. Harry Thacker 3. Max Lahiff 4. James Dun 5. Joe Owen 6. Santiago Grondona  7. Fitz Harding (c)8. Viliame Mata

16. Gabriel Oghre 17. Jake Woolmore 18. Lovejoy Chawatama 19. Steven Luatua 20. Benjamin Grondona 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Joe Jenkins 23. Benjamin Elizalde


Investec Champions Cup 24/25 Rd 1

Sunday, December 8, 2024

KO 5:30pm  Ashton Gate

Live on: Premier Sports 1


Referee Pierre Brousset (Fra)

AR 1 Vincent Blasco Baque (Fra)

AR 2 Julian Caulier (Fra)

TMO Tual Trainini (Fra)

389 : Ulster v Leinster wrap

29 November 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster scores his side’s second try during the United Rugby Championship match between Ulster and Leinster at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile


🏉 Scrum’s the word

🏉 HIAs & injuries

🏉 Tactical changes

🏉 Jimmy & Jordan

🏉 Unexpected bonus



FULL TIME TAKES

Jackie McEachern

After last year, I’m so happy to get 5 points in Belfast. But it’s frustrating that Byrne’s conversion misses wind up meaning Ulster get the LBP. JOB was great.

Gordy Graham (Ulster fan)

Amazing that Ulster got anything from that game considering the state of our scrum. Both sides had an error strewn first half, both a bit better the second but Leinster, as they often are, were clinical enough to get the win.

Sean MacDonnchadha

Slimani brought in for nights like these. A rock of solidity with the first line front rowers away. Built our win around scrum power 💪🏼 Also great to see Larmour perform so well. A leaders performance by Jack with a great steal at the end to seal the win.

Kevin Kelehan

5 points for Leinster, decent progress report for Ulster who could have been a lot further in front at half time if they converted better

Colin Mcconaghie (Ulster fan)

Hate to criticise officials but that was so poor. Reffed both teams differently


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URC WRAP


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The first of our two wrap pods from the weekend is now up on Apple, Spotify, etc #rugbytiktok #urc #irishrugby #leinsterrugby

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387 : Ulster v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : MARK JACKSON


LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Liam Turner 12. Charlie Tector 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Diarmuid Mangan 5. Brian Deeny 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. Jack Conan (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Michael Milne 18. Rory McGuire 19. RG Snyman 20. James Culhane 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Harry Byrne 23. Scott Penny


Ulster : 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Werner Kok, 13 Ben Carson, 12 Jude Postlethwaite, 11 Michael Lowry, 10 Aidan Morgan, 9 Nathan Doak

1 Eric O’Sullivan, 2 James McCormick, 3 Scott Wilson, 4 Alan O’Connor (C), 5 Kieran Treadwell, 6 James McNabney, 7 Nick Timoney, 8 David McCann;

16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Corrie Barrett, 19 Harry Sheridan, 20 Marcus Rea, 21 John Cooney, 22 James Humphreys, 23 Ben Moxham


United Rugby Championship 24/25 Round 7

Friday, November 29, 2024

KO 7:35pm  Kingspan Stadium

Live on: BBC 2 NI, RTÉ Player, Premier Sports 1 & URC.tv


Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

AR 1: Andrew Cole (IRFU)

AR 2: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

379 : Leinster v Lions wrap

26 October 2024; Josh van der Flier of Leinster is tackled by Edwill van der Merwe and Erich Cronje of Emirates Lions during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Emirates Lions at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

🏉 9/10 combinations

🏉 Proud Lions

🏉 Forcing knockons

🏉 Caelan & Josh

🏉 Late gloss


FULL TIME TAKES

Cormac Mannion

Sad to see McGrath’s decline. He seemed quite hesitant last night and the time when the ball popped out of the ruck and went between his legs was a prime try scoring opportunity.

Our scrum is now a serious area for concern. “If in doubt, ping Porter”

Jackie McEachern

Tough match although I think we likely would have scored more/gone a bit easier if JGP had been playing. I thought Sam did well and Doris and JVF were excellent! Glad to see Robbie back.

Jamie Bermingham

A tough game and exactly what we needed, the young lads impressed and Doris was an absolute wrecking ball. Lions definitely came for a battle and the scoreboard does not reflect how well they played

Chris McDonnell

Jvdf is just a magnificent 7. I can’t understand why mcgrath was kept and 3 better 9s are playing for other clubs

Tom Clarke

Breakdown needs some attention. Robbie looked sharp and Cooney looks a good prospect. Dorris is a top top player, but we know that!!

Alan Jacob

#1Vs #2 ….. good outing for the boys…. Dori’s ridiculous as always!! Prendergast had a solid game especially considering Lions had the ruck under serious pressure…. Needed a proper pressure game & an 80 min performance which were both delivered in spades.

Kevin Kelehan

Way too much aimless kicking in the first half which gave the Lions great opportunities to run at a Leinster in the 13-14 channel, once that was tightened up Leinster improved. Crowd got going at times but needed to give better support


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URC WRAP

378 : Leinster v Lions preview

also available as a podcast


LEINSTER :  15. Hugo Keenan 14. Andrew Osborne 13. Hugh Cooney 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath

1. Michael Milne 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Rabah Slimani 4. RG Snyman 5. Ryan Baird 6. Max Deegan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c) 

16. Stephen Smyth 17. Andrew Porter 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. James Culhane 21. Cormac Foley 22. Ross Byrne 23. Charlie Tector


Emirates Lions : 15 Quan Horn 14 Richard Kriel 13 Henco van Wyk 12 Rhynhardt Jonker 11 Edwill van der Merwe  10 Kade Wolhuter 9 Morne van den Berg

 1 Juan Schoeman 2 Jaco Visagie 3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye 4 Reinhard Nothnagel 5  Ruben Schoeman 6  JC Pretorius 7  Jarod Cairns 8  Francke Horn (c)

16 Franco Marais 17  Heiko Pohlmann 18  RF Schoeman 19 Ruan Delport 20 Renzo du Plessis 21  Sanele Nohamba 22  Marius Louw 23  Erich Cronje


United Rugby Championship 24/25 Round 6

Saturday, October 26, 2024

KO 5:15pm Dexcom Stadium

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


Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)

AR 1: Peter Martin (IRFU)

AR 2: Stuart Gaffikin (IRFU)

TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)

377 : Connacht v Leinster wrap

19 October 2024; Max Deegan of Leinster scores his side’s fourth try, despite the tackle of Connacht’s Shayne Bolton, during the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and Leinster at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

🏉 Galway gusts

🏉 Fast start. Again.

🏉 Frawley

🏉 LaRGer than life

🏉 Defence. Again.


CONOR CRONIN

CIAN O’MUILLEOIR


FULL TIME TAKES

Jackie McEachern

Happy enough with the Leinster performance. I was nervous when Frawley went off so early but thought Ross did a good job, especially in the conditions. Hope Frawley’s injury isn’t too bad.

Gavin Hegarty

Not much more else you can ask for. Top points from each outing. Yes we kinda let them back in it but we were never not dominant.

Clarkson for me had been coming into his own this season, he’ll be capped soon enough.

So utterly unlucky for frawley, this was his chance for the autumn series.

Craig Grehan

I think the match although winning shows some poorer choices of play by jpg at times.

Shows frawley is like the munster era snyman …and snyman is becoming a fan favourite.

Connacht as always put up a good fight and on another day would get more bang for their buck.

Cormac Mannion

I think we were switched on for a lot longer than last week. Hopefully Frawley’s injury isn’t too bad. Rotten luck for him


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