Josephine Boyd Fantastic performance from our boys in green a great win ☘️💚🏈💪💪👍👏
Alastair McDermott You have to be a little bit worried playing New Zealand in the quarterfinals. But just think: they are shitting it facing Ireland.
Angela Cassin Jackson Simply brilliant ☘️☘️☘️
Christy O’Connor What a performance, every player played their part. Ringrose was motm for me but so many put their hands up. Scotland were giving too much respect before this game by so many pundits. Was never in doubt
Kevin Kelehan Dan Sheehan was superb
Antoinette Nevin Zombie 👏👏👏👏
Hubert Gallagher Scotland outclassed. Hopefully injuries not too serious to Hansen, Lowe, Furlong and Ryan. 1 week to prepare for ABs! Another huge step up!
Join in the conversation by leaving your thoughts
after the full time whistle of Leinster & Ireland matches
Obviously after such a big Irish win the wrap pod is that much more enjoyable, but even on top of that I had two excellent analysts in Mark Jackson and Tom Coleman helping me harp on the 80 minutes. There may not have been a lot of scores but there were definitely a lot of critical moments and as ever we worked our way through the exciting timeline from start to finish. Click here to catch it on Spotify but you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…FINAL THOUGHTS AFTER RSAvIRE
With matches kicking off at both 4:45 and 8pm on Sundays during the World Cup, that puts time restraints on our wrap pod recording and unfortunately we had to ditch plans for a bonus pod this week, instead I put a clip from the actual pod up on YouTube which you see below.
But with Ireland off next weekend, Mark Jackson has kindly agreed to come back and harp on the topic we had chosen, namely how coaches adapt during a match when one part of the game plan isn’t working, hopefully I’ll be able to post this by Saturday.
TENACIOUS IRISH D
It goes without saying but the RSAvIRE rewatch was beyond fascinating, and I for one was fixated on a pair of Springbok scrums in our 22 around the mid point of the first half. We hadn’t even troubled the scorers at this stage and we were in grave danger of going ten points down but with some determined defending, helped out a bit by poor opposition decision making, we kept them out and we put together the TikTok below, all while knowing full well of course that at some point it will be taken down. #LetTheClipsPlay
Here’s another TikTok video, this my weekly “rant” I suppose you could call it. I didn’t really want to have to weigh in on the whole Zombie nothing-burger but in the end it seemed to be the perfect topic for this segment. I’ve added the tweet that appears in the clip plus another one I thought of using.
I’m very much kicking myself that I missed the Women’s AIL kickoff last week in this column so I’ll try to make up for it here (still means I’m giving the league more coverage than most outlets unfortunately).
As you can see, with a 9-team league plus a postponement and a Round 2 fixture still to be played this Thursday, this year’s league is still getting off the ground but still there have been some predictable results for the big teams, although the big opening day Dublin derby between Rock and Belvo was close and got good coverage with a live screening on YouTube.
We’ll be following the competition here throughout as well as the men’s when that kicks off in October.
Round 1
BLACKROCK COLLEGE 22 – 17 OLD BELVEDERE
GALWEGIANS 12 – 25 BALLINCOLLIG
SUTTONIANS P-P RAILWAY UNION RFC
WICKLOW RFC 7 – 27 UL BOHEMIAN
Round 2
OLD BELVEDERE 32 – 0 WICKLOW RFC
RAILWAY UNION RFC 71 – 7 COOKE
UL BOHEMIAN 82 – 0 GALWEGIANS
Thu Sep 28
SUTTONIANS v RAILWAY UNION RFC
WXV SQUAD
While we’re on the subject of the Women’s game the squad for the WXV3 tournament was announced by new head coach Scott Bemand. Obviously I’m not crazy about the fact that we’re in the third tier of this new competition, nor am I crazy about the whole “being played in Dubai” aspect of it either, and finally there’s this “your chances of playing for Ireland are better if you live in or around Dublin” mantra which really does sound tone deaf considering not only all the women’s game on these shores has gone through in recent years, but also how much it has progressed elsewhere.
Still, we plan to give the girls our full support ounce the competition rolls around.
WXV3 Ireland Fixtures
• 13th October v Kazakhstan 16.30 Irish time
• 21st October v Colombia 14.00 Irish time
• 28th October v Spain 14.00 Irish time
All games will be streamed for free on World Rugby’s RugbyPass platform.
Very sad to hear of the retirement of Ian Madigan, although it does look like he has a promising future in the punditry game as he has been demonstrating throughout the World Cup so far.
ICYMI we dedicated a Throwback Thursday post to him last week, looking back to an article I wrote when he announced he would be leaving Leinster, to which he graciously replied.
POSSIBLE RWC FORMATS
This is an issue which comes up every World Cup going way, way back. What is the best way of actually staging a RWC? The four pools of five has been going quite a while now, yet with one team missing out each round and an insistence on midweek matches it has offered some serious challenges to organisers. For example, France play their four pool matches over 30 days while Namibia complete theirs in just 19.
What is the answer? Honestly none will be perfect. Some say they are planning to move to 24 nations, which would be good in one aspect as it would include more lower tier nations, yet while four pools of six might solve the uneven fixture problem, it also adds one extra match which would put extra pressure on squads meaning they would probably have to be increased, thus putting financial pressure on those same smaller nations.
I’ve wondered if some kind of “cross pool” method might work with a draw instead creating six pools of four. With the pools paired off AB, CD and EF, everyone in one pool could get four matches against teams from the other one. Then the top eight (pool winners + 2, old school HCup style) could advance to the quarterfinals, with possibly a plate competition for the next eight with next RWC qualification on the line. That way no team plays more than 7 matches, plus with 3 set groups of teams playing each other, they could be held exclusively Friday, Saturday and Sunday thus ensuring 7-day turnarounds for all squads.
Everyone seems to be offering suggestions so that’s mine!
MORE PERMUTATIONS
When he’s not going back and forth to Paris offering excellent reports from Ireland’s RWC matches, Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir has also been known to produce excellent spreadsheets allowing us number crunching fans to look at all the possibilities with bonus points and what-not, and here he has done one for the four World Cup pools, simply plug in the results you think might happen and find out who makes the last 8 and who plays who. Simples!
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
By rights I should be taking things easy this week what with Ireland off next weekend, but I guess the World Cup bug has got hold of me so I have a few little things planned for the coming days. Biggest one is on Sunday and instead of a wrap pod I’m assembling another “all-provincial panel” to look at not only the tournament so far, but also the prospects for the 4 provinces with the URC kickoff coming think and fast.
Please comment, like, share & subscribe to our feeds & channels whenever the mood takes you.
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
after Leinster & Ireland matches to leave your thoughts….
Neil Keegan
Thanks be to jaysus we have 2 weeks off Let’s get everyone together for all the games going forward. That was magic. Our parents / grandparents never had that moment.
Andrew Potts
It was some match, take a few days to process that one.
Amazing SA power and physical
ity and amazing resilience by Ireland. Cough up 6 lineouts and not looked phased by big South African forwards.
Kevin Kelehan
Ireland made so many mistakes, but they have a clear winning mentality, between O’Connell and Farrell you have the two parts of winning, coolness and passion.
Pieter Smit (SA fan)
Well played Ireland. Deserved winners
I can't speak.
One of the most tense games against two totally equal sides.
To my SA friends, the rounds on me when we cross paths. You're an incredible team and a set of fans to match
In a way I wish I wasn't so invested in that game so I could enjoy it for the incredible test match it was between two of the best teams in the world #IREvRSA
IRELAND : 15 H Keenan 14 M Hansen 13 G Ringrose 12 B Aki 11 James Lowe 10 J Sexton (c) 9 J Gibson-Park
1 A Porter 2 R Kelleher 3 T Furlong 4 T Beirne 5 J Ryan 6 P O’Mahony 7 J van der Flier 8 C Doris
16 D Sheehan 17 D Kilcoyne 18 F Bealham 19 I Henderson 20 R Baird 21 C Murray 22 J Crowley 23 R Henshaw
SOUTH AFRICA : 15 Damian Willemse 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Cheslin Kolbe 10 Manie Libbok 9 Faf de Klerk
1 Steven Kitshoff 2 Mbongeni Mbonambi 3 Frans Malherbe 4 Eben Etzebeth 5 Franco Mostert 6 Siya Kolisi (c) 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 8 Jasper Wiese
16 Deon Fourie 17 Ox Nche 18 Trevor Nyakane 19 Jean Kleyn 20 RG Snyman 21 Marco van Staden 22 Kwagga Smith 23 Cobus Reinach
Rugby World Cup 2023 Pool B
Saturday September 23 KO 8pm (Irish time)
Stade de France
TV : RTÉ2
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
AR1: Mathieu Raynal (FFR)
AR2: James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZR)
Also Leinster v Ulster, Fri Sep 22 6:30pm, Navan RFC
LEINSTER : 15. Chris Cosgrave 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Jamie Osborne 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Rob Russell 10. Harry Byrne 9. Cormac Foley
1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rory McGuire 4. Brian Deeny 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane (C)
Replacements : Lee Barron, Paddy McCarthy, Thomas Connolly, Ross Molony, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, Ben Murphy, Sam Prendergast, Andrew Osborne, Ben Brownlee, Liam Turner, Aitzol King, Jordan Larmour
A WEEKLY COLUMN LOOKING AT TOPICS BEYOND THE SCOPE
OF OUR FEATURE MATCH OF THE WEEK
WRAP OF A WRAP
With World Cup matches coming thick and fast over the next couple of months, our pod recording schedule has to be modified. We normally kickoff the wrap pod at 8pm on a Sunday but due to Wales v Fiji we moved it up an hour. Plus, since that match was something we wanted to harp on, I had to use a time machine of sorts to get my report in! As ever both Cian O’Muilleoir and Ciarán Duffy did a bang up job going over the match be sure to check it our at this Spotify link or on whatever platform you use.
HARPIN ON…IRELAND WITH/WITHOUT SEXTON
With Sexton back on the pitch for the first time since the Grand Slam was in the bag, we had a chat for our bonus clip
DISAGREEMENT?👍DISRESPECT?👎
This week’s TikTok harpin point looks at whether or not it’s ok to analyse a referee’s performance. Since the Wales v Fiji match I’ve been hearing the “we must never criticise the ref” mantra from some surprising sources, I have to say.
In the video I mentioned one of the tweets I posted while the match was still on, for full disclosure I’m adding the other ones. Maybe, just maybe, the Oprah one is straying towards disrespectful? I don’t think so but others might.
The point is that while I know social media isn’t the be all and end all of anything, it can be a decent gauge of opinion from hard core fans and in all my years following rugby on Twitter/x I have never seen this much agreement across the board on a referee’s performance, including some Welsh fans.
Does it mean the ref in question should never hold a whistle again? I really don’t think so, and if there are to be “repercussions” I really don’t want to know. In fact he’s actually AR1 for Ireland’s next match against Tonga and I for one have no problem with that FWIW.
One last point on the video…you have no idea how close I came to taking out all the recording equipment and doing it over when I saw that curled up collar!!!! And if you haven’t noticed it yet it’s probably all you can see now!!!! Ah well….
Loads to say about that match but Radradra should not feel bad about that knockon. They did amazing to create that chance and let's face it they should have been attacking at MOST 14 red jerseys. Match Of The Round by far. #WALvFIJ
"Never question the ref" is as ridiculous as "It's always the ref". But when you do question it's about how you do it. Clear evidence of disparity in this one match, with majority twitter agreement including 🏴 fans. Legitimate talking point once kept respectful IMO.
Loads of TikToks in this week’s column, I pledged to get in front of the camera more this season, so here’s one I did Sunday morning on Leinster’s comprehensive preseason win down in Musgrave Park on Friday evening.
And as you can see I really pushed the boat out with the special effects – I tell ya, between time travel and magic jersey changes, we spare no expense here at Harpin Manor!!!!
Unfortunately there have many reports of fans having difficulties getting to matches on time, like Ireland’s opener against Romania. Obviously it’s very easy to go on social media and call the organisation (or lack of it) a “shambles” but Irish fan Aisling O’Connor has found a much more practical way forward.
I very much doubt they’ll be able to improve their transport infrastructure much in time for fan heading to matches over the coming weeks so Aisling, a former president of the Official Leinster Supporters Club and a well seasoned rugby traveller all over the world at this stage, has been posting logistical information as well as directing people how to get more. If you’re over in France or planning to travel I strongly recommend you follow her.
The #RWC2023 information for @irishrugby#Ire v Tonga at #StadedelaBeaujoire in #Nantes on Saturday, 16 September (KO 9pm) has just been sent to anyone who bought tickets directly from the RWC ticketing site.
All information received is below for anyone who needs it ⬇️
After my agreeing with most of social media over the Wales v Fiji officiating, I think I’m actually swimming against the tide when it comes to my thoughts on Dan Biggar giving his team mates a rollicking at the end of the first in the very same match.
He wanted the ball put dead but the others played on and while I do get the importance of showing a united front out on the pitch, I can also appreciate the frustration from the leadership because, let’s face it, it was absolutely right and proper that the ball needed to be put dead. I saw loads of comments directed at Dan but I think I’d be inclined to back him here. It’s a World Cup, emotions are high, you’ve just played 40m of test rugby, no matter how much experience you have it’s not always easy to switch on the filter.
SCREECHING TO THE CHOIR
I have four kids, and possibly more to the point I was one myself back in the day, so I can totally imagine how exciting a prospect it would be to be allowed to sing at a massive global event like the Rugby World Cup.
But let’s face it…while the choir might work for some national anthems like The Flower Of Scotland (remember at Murrayfield they actually stop playing instruments at one point and let everyone sing like they’re a choir anyway) the more military style ones like for Argentina and, yes, especially France, have had the life sucked out of them by the format.
Personally I’m not always the biggest fan of going too strongly into symbols of nationalism, however I don’t reckon singing anthems before international matches is too strong to begin with, and I have always been of the opinion that each nation should be able to have theirs performed in a manner of their choosing.
But anyway for this World Cup, I understand they are considering a change, and though that would be tough on those who have been looking forward to their moment in the spotlight, I think it would be the right call.
EITHER/OR FOR THE ALL BLACKS PLEASE
Speaking of performances before kickoffs, I was never a fan of the All Blacks and others getting to do extra ones when others can’t, although with the Haka, Cibi and such practically being part of the sport’s DNA at this stage it would probably be harsh to ban it altogether.
But I reckon for the All Blacks to take even more extra time to have a huddle before they did their haka ahead of the opener against France was very much taking the piss.
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Next up here at Harpin Manor we’re looking ahead to our next Pool B assignment with Tonga. There will be a preview at the end of the week, social media coverage throughout, a wrap pod on Sunday evening and all the usual extra bits in between. As well as the podcast feed we’re on X, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok and Mastodon so please follow us wherever you can
And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 