Hey there thanks for tuning in, especially to the handful of subscribers who have been brave enough to sign on for free to read my scribblings.

And thanks also to Rugby Broadcast for pointing out that there seems to be an issue with Substack emails being sent out, I’m still having my people work on it, my people being me of course. And since I mention RB, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that his account is the best for setting up your rugby TV viewing every weekend, so after you hit the subscribe button here, be sure and do likewise over at his place.

It was a busy week here at Harpin Manor, one that didn’t leave me a whole lot of time to keep to my regular posting schedule but I reckon I just about managed it. Many thanks to Keego for recording his own thoughts ahead of the big match at Croker today since we couldn’t have our regular Friday lunchtime chat. This meant that I could still produce a preview with the two of us in it that pretty much follows the usual format, if you missed it check it out here.

Speaking of the Preview Show, this week’s episode included a mention for a rugby-themed play that’s coming to Dundrum so here’s what I had to say about it…

…I’d like to tell you about a theatre production that’s coming up in the Mill Theatre in Dundrum…if you’ve followed Irish rugby online over the past decade or so you’ll know the name Pat McCarry who wrote for SportsJoe.ie but these days he’s writing plays, and as a tribute to the late great Anthony Axel Foley, who’s anniversary was just on Thursday by the way can’t believe it has been so long…anyway Pat wrote “Soldier Field” which is based on Ireland’s last tangle with the All Blacks in Chicago but also features Axel and the tribute the team paid to him before kickoff. Definitely looks worth checking out, here’s a link to find out more.

Now back to that match at Croker…obviously for my thoughts on the actual rugby you can watch the video, but for here I’d like to harp for a bit on the whole concept of playing matches at the iconic venue. And the simple question is….can rugby fans call it iconic anymore?

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On Saturday mornings I write an article for Substack I call “Broken Play” and here is a sample of the latest one…for the full thing click here, and while you’re there, why not subscribe for free.

Hey there, it’s Saturday morning here at Harpin Manor and as usual I’m up and about before everyone else so it’s time to get scribbling about my thoughts on the latest events in egg-chasing, a topic that does an excellent job of distracting me from all else that’s going on in the world.

Sadly though, the news headlines often bleed into the rugby ones and while the weather is rarely far from our conversation here in Ireland anyway, a certain Storm Amy is currently front and center and has already taken her toll on half the provinces and a quarter of Round 2 of the URC with Edinburgh v Ulster & Connacht v Scarlets already gone by wayside.

At least Leinster are safely ensconced the other side of the world, although one could say they got hit by a Storm(ers) of their own last weekend. Things certainly don’t get any easier for them later this evening as they face a Bulls team in Pretoria who are more than keen to do similar to us after the 2025 Grand Final just a few months ago.

Myself and Keego did our preview show and there was also my weekly Harpin’ slot on Dublin South FM. That airs on Fridays after the 5 o’clock news if you’d ever like to tune in, but I can also include it here for my Substack readers.

So my plan on Friday evening was to settle down with a beer or two to watch Ulster try to keep me top of the Harpin Superbru League (although they’d have had to lose by 5 in the Scottish capital for me to do so; sorry if you’re a fan, I just wasn’t feeling it) but like I said Storm Amy took care of that so instead I watched, or I should probably say half-watched, Dragons v Sharks, mostly to see what the South Africans were like on tour ahead of their trip to the Aviva next weekend.

For about 75 minutes it wasn’t exactly a thriller, but with the scores locked at 17-17, the ending was always going to be interesting. I had the Sharks to win by three so obviously when a series of penalties marched them down the field towards the Dragons’ try line, I was keen for them to slot one over but with one of the Welsh props on the naughty step I suppose I couldn’t fault them for kicking for the corner instead.

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