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…
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THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
CONOR CRONIN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR
FULL TIME TAKES
Gavin Hegarty
We beat a Cardiff team with our thirds. We had the bp quick enough and took the foot off the gas in the second half to allow them two tries back.
Delight to have chopper Connors back and to see him doing what he does best.
Great to see the debutants, Leinster are going to be a force for years to come.
Brian Corr
Feel Cardiff came thinking they were going to have an easy game with so many Leinster players on Ireland duty, they realised their mistake too late.
It’s great to see Deegan playing so well and even better to see Connors back.
It’s a great testament to Cullen and his coaches that they have the back up squad so tuned in and able to step up when needed, even if Cardiff were not really at the races.
Tector getting his first points, Turner with another great try.
Great outcome for Leinster, especially racking up the points for home games in the knockouts.
Karen Brennan
Well done to new young players getting their first cap,a great occasion for them,especially Balbriggan rugby clubs Aitzol King👍🏻
MASTODON
RichardMifsud I always love watching @leinsterrugby play but I particularly love it when the young guns get a run out. TBH I was expecting a tougher game but Cardiff disappointed Deegs very worthy POTM Good outings from Milne Brownlee Turner as well as our starting back row and halfbacks Disappointing 10 minutes in the final quarter but that’s great learning for the kids
Andrew Byrne Harry Byrne’s kicking out of hand was very good, amazing the difference a bit of game time makes. We got a bit sloppy in the final quarter but to be expected with so many changes. Cardiff’s coaches must be pulling their hair out, their team was outclassed by an inexperienced Leinster team.
FRONT FIVE ARTICLES
URC ROUND 13 WRAP
ROUND 13
ULS 35-5 STO
SCA 37-28 BUL
BEN 30-40 MUN
DRA 28-42 GLA
LEI 38-14 CAR
EDI 19-22 SHA
CON 43-24 LIO
ZEB 24-28 OSP
Feb 4 (Round 1)
SHA v 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
OUR GUEST : MARK JACKSON
Leinster: 15. Chris Cosgrave 14. Max O’Reilly 13. Liam Turner 12. Ben Brownlee 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath
1. Michael Milne 2. John McKee 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Brian Deeny 6. Rhys Ruddock CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan
16. Tadgh McElroy 17. Marcus Hanan 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. James Culhane 20. Will Connors 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Aitzol King
Cardiff: 15 R Priestland 14 O Lane 13 R Lee-Lo 12 B Thomas 11 J Harries 10 J Evans 9 L Williams
1 B Thyer 2 K Myhill 3 Keiron Assiratti 4 L Timani 5 S Davies 6 J Turnbull (capt.) 7 J Botham 8 J Ratti
16 K Dacey 17 C Domachowski 18 W Davies-King 19 R Thornton 20 S Lewis-Hughes 21 E Bevan 22 A Summerhill 23 M Morgan
BKT United Rugby Championship 22/23
Round 13
Sat Jan 28 KO 5pm
RDS Arena
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
AR 1: Joy Neville (IRFU)
AR 2: Andrew Fogarty (IRFU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Live on: RTÉ, S4C, Viaplay, Premier Sports, SuperSport, Discovery + & URC.tv
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
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
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.
MASTODON
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
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
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
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
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
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.
MASTODON
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
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
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
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
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
[plus a special report from CONOR CRONIN]
FULL TIME TAKES
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.
MASTODON
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
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
HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
THIS WEEK’S GUESTS
FULL TIME TAKES
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
MASTODON
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
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
ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY
THE IRISH RUGBY STORE
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 