🏉 Preparedness
🏉 Pts left behind
🏉 Penalties galore
🏉 Separation anxiety
🏉 Scrum’s the word
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “THE RSA TOURS”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
421 : Bulls v Leinster wrap
Category: Match wrapup
419 : Italy v Ireland wrap
🏉 Italian backs
🏉 Missed chances
🏉 Dan x 3
🏉 No try x 3
🏉 Polishing a 3rd
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Kevin Kelehan
Italy were solid and pumped, only for the cards they may well have won this game, Ireland were good in spells but a lot of unforced errors, something you did not see in the 2022/23 season
Eamon Saunders
Sorry to say but the second best team won today and sad to say the the ref and TMO were bad 5 mins looking at a knock on and 5 seconds looking a a perfect try
John Hyland
(reply to Eamon Saunders) I totally disagree. Ireland played poorly but they were not the second best team
Cormac Mannion
We looked badly coached today. Zero inventiveness and unsure in defence. Far too many unforced errors
Angela Cassin Jackson
Tough game but a win is a win. 4 out of 5 wins and a triple crown a lot to be proud of. Well done Ireland as usual they represented their country wonderfully 💚☘️💚☘️💚☘️💚
Gavin Hegarty
We were shit at the things you can’t coach. Bad knock ons and handling errors. Really not like us.
We looked unfit and unmotivated.
Crowley left too many points out there
,this is meant to be his strength. 2/5 just isn’t good enough.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Thank god this hobble towards the end of the tournament has come. Gameplan needs an overhaul, skill levels need to come up, fitness looks an issue, depth needs to be built, attack needs to be less reliant on just set piece plays and most importantly confidence needs to be rebuilt.
Monica Keeler
Lets just applaud the lads ..and our 3 Retirees Cian, Peter and Conor..we better regroup before next year…Dont see many Lions in our squad.. oh and no way Lowe was in touch 🤬
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SIX NATIONS WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “IRISH DEPTH CHART”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
THURSDAY
THROWBACK THURSDAY (on Substack)
FRIDAY
BULLS V LEINSTER PREVIEW FEATURING KEEGO
417 : Ireland v France wrap
🏉 70% possession
🏉 Ruckgate
🏉 Peter O’Matador
🏉 Billy Barry
🏉 2 little 2 late
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Warren Doyle
Game lost in first 20 minutes. We didn’t achieve the points to counter the French flair. What came after was very predictable.
Gavin Macarthur
France came to play rugby and they are a fantastic team. The Irish squad can learn a lot from this kind of defeat – at least the openings for the younger players are starting to appear. It is never good to see ‘supporters’ leaving the stadium early – poor form.
Cuan Mulligan
France deserved the win. However…. Odd decision about POM been taken out, French player then runs through that hole. Ref shouting at France to use the ball 3 or 4 times, well over 5 seconds and nothing. Conor Murray upright and we drive him over the line, utterly confusing strategy, should have got him to ground and gone again. Be interesting to get the stats of how many no tries Ireland have by been held up…
Ger Ecki
Another crunch match lost and lost comprehensively…..Another poor performance when challenged. Slams lost 2 years running by losing one crucial match. Got away with it last year by being over feted for winning the Championship…..not so lucky this time. Losing Lowe at the beginning meant we lost our only reliable backline try scorer but they lost DuPont so all bets were off. Ireland collapsed and didn’t fire a shot. Those last 2 trys were gifted by an exhausted French who knew they had the job done….
James Griffin
Outmuscled all day long. We didn’t have the power to break their defence or stop their offence.
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SIX NATIONS WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “TEST TICKET PRICING”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
415 : Leinster v Cardiff wrap
🏉 Tactical changes
🏉 Clinical Cardiff
🏉 Yellow turning point
🏉 Charlie Tekkers
🏉 Tommy The Trysaver
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Michael Branagan
Ultimately a great result. Bit sticky for a while there. Excellent 2nd half and score just before halftime critical. Scrum excellent. Cardiff a dynamic team not the taken lightly.
Kevin Kelehan
That Tommy O’Brien hit just before he was subbed was worth 7 points having saved a certain try with an easy run up to the posts, Cardiff were decent out wide and made a match of it. Great to see younger players like Jack Boyle and Charlie Tector growing into battle hardened options for tougher contests.
Martin Lynch
Was at the match. Sloppy 1st Half . Lots of possession poor execution. 2nd half was totally different. Sharper Faster Better . Well Done and lots of Debutants.
👍🏉💙
Chris McDonnell
Some really good stuff. Excellent to see so many of the young players do so well.
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URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT – “Harpin On…the Leinster Fan Experience” on YouTube
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
412 : Wales v Ireland wrap
🏉 Solid start
🏉 Welsh purple patch
🏉 Ringer Red
🏉 Bundee Bloody Bundee
🏉 Crowning glory
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
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.
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MEN’S 6N WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’ – LIGHTER BLUE
TUESDAY
BONUS POD – “WOMEN’S 6N PREVIEW”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
410 : Ospreys v Leinster wrap
🏉 You’ve been Slimani-ed
🏉 Cobbled cohesion
🏉 Ospreys weapons
🏉 Staying ahead
🏉 Late scare
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Brian Corr
Just shows what experience brings, Tipuric was a menace and a pain in the arse from the 1st minute, got right in the Leinster faces and bullied them and all behind the refs back(or the ref just didn’t care).
McGraths try was brilliant for once in the game passes stuck and defenders were beaten.
MOTM Harri Deaves was also a menace & seemed to get a semi when Snyman came on giving him lots of lip and trying to belittle him, Snyman for his part looked to love it and was all smiles, a real valentines vibe going on.
Great win for a real second team and good for Frawley, O’Brien, Osbourne and the Irish squad members to get a run to dust off some cobwebs, which there was a lot of, but if they get a run against Wales it will stand to them.
Some over the top comments on here about playing bad when the team was cobbled together and most haven’t played in 3 weeks but as the saying goes winning ugly is still winning.
Sandra Seery
Was really hoping for a bonus point but happy with the win.
Bert McLoughlin
Sloppy handling when in good positions cost us a few scores from good positions but just about got over the line. It’s not often an opposition backrow play better than the Leinster backrow, Tipuric still going strong as the elder statesman
Jackie McEachern
I think this is mostly one to forget but glad we got the win.
Warren Doyle
A win is a win but not a great performance. Second string players will not have learned anything from that. Too much up & under & very little continuity. Better to come, hopefully.
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URC WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
408 : Scotland v Ireland wrap
🏉 Super Sam
🏉 DVDM good & bad
🏉 HIAs
🏉 Mini comeback
🏉 Quaich retained
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Sarah Lennon
Decent performance but we need to get out of the habit of coughing up late scores, this could come down to points difference
Colin McConaghie
Thought JGP was outstanding again and Hugo looks back to his best. Worried about our centres who aren’t hitting the heights.
Not sure about persisting with POM with other longer term options available. Conan stepped it up when he came on.
Cormac Mannion
No head-slapping, whooping and screaming in the opposition’s faces from the Scotland players today. Good enough for them.
Overall, a solid performance. We were very sloppy at times though, particularly from 35mins to 50mins and then the last Scotland score.but we were well on top for most of it. Lineout wasn’t great but we tried a few new things and hopefully Furlong and McCarthy will be back for Wales.
David Ryle
I feel Sam has shut his detractors up but they won’t.
Kevin Kelehan
Scotland played very well for phases but the loss of Russell and Graham means we never saw the full test that was expected. Ireland were really professional in using their power and patience to get their scores. Conan is definitely back to his absolute best as Prendergast raises the bar at 10 higher game after game.
Jackie McEachern
Really happy overall with the performance and bonus point win. I thought Prendergast, Beirne, JGP and Keenan were all excellent. Always things to work on but two 5 point wins from the first two 6N matches is excellent.
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MEN’S 6N WRAP
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CLIP ON YOUTUBE CHANNEL :
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO
THURSDAY
OSPREYS V LEINSTER PREVIEW SHOW
406 : Ireland v England wrap
🏉 Early worries
🏉 23 lineouts
🏉 That JGP step
🏉 Weary defenders
🏉 Bench impress
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
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
404 : Leinster v Stormers wrap
🏉 The Ross Byrne All-Stars
🏉 Skipper Dan
🏉 Missing cards
🏉 Stormer tears
🏉 Monkey off back
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Jackie McEachern
Great to get the 5 points and see Lowe and Sheehan looking strong on their returns from injury.
Eamon Saunders
Good win and great to see some young lads get their chance and as usual great to see a couple of Wexford lads on the field
Josephine Boyd
Great win for our boys in blue and and to see our young future players getting there chance.👏👍👕💪🏈💙
Bernie Cunningham
Grt win and grt to see our future looks good with young players 💙💙
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NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY JAN 28
BONUS CLIP ON YOUTUBE CHANNEL : “IRISH 23 V ENGLAND”
WEDNESDAY JAN 29
80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO (ALSO ON YOUTUBE)
402 : Leinster v Bath wrap
🏉 Ringer the winger?
🏉 Bath early
🏉 Super Slimani
🏉 Early bath
🏉 Mission accomplished
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
Denise O’Brien
Only just getting my breath back 🤣 Osborne, Henshaw, Slimani outstanding. All subs made an impact – great to see the attack firing against a team who are scoring so many points in the Prem!
David Ryle
Starting to get the balance between attack and defense.
Kevin Kelehan
Superb atmosphere at the Aviva, even 0-14 the crowd weren’t phased. Leinster were superb in the set piece, line out looks fixed, they won 4 or 5 scrum penalties, the development of Jamie Osborne is a joy to watch as was seeing Jack Conan back close to his best, RG Snyman continues to astonish in his ability to recycle out of contact and Doris and Van Der Flier are certifiable nuisances. Get those tickets for Cardiff
John Jones
Happy with the win but I’m not getting as excited as some people on here re: the attack. It only really started to flow once Bath had the red card. That was at 60mins and it was only 26-21 at that point. I think we still need to improve loads and I’m not convinced yet about playing that many players out of position
Greg Kelly
Have to wonder where the hallowed Premiership is left now? Their high flyers hammered by a team that was playing at max 70% only 50% of the game. I think Bath knew Leinster were going to unload on them with nasty hooks and body shots in the last 15-20 mins. Evidenced by them time wasting on 44 mins.
Jackie McEachern
I was really nervous through the first half but bench had a great impact in the second half. It’s the best I’ve seen our attack look in a long time! Here’s hoping it’s all starting to come together.
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CHAMPIONS CUP WRAP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 