URC – Page 5 – HARPIN' ON RUGBY

397 : Munster v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS PODCAST

LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Andrew Porter 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Scott Penny 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jordan Larmour

MUNSTER : 15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan

1 Dian Bleuler, 2 Niall Scannell, 3 Oli Jager; 4 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Tadhg Beirne (C); 6 Tom Ahern, 7 Alex Kendellen, 8Gavin Coombes.

16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Ben O’Connor.

United Rugby Championship 24/25 Rd 9

Friday, December 27, 2024

KO 7:35pm Thomond Park

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 2, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)

AR 2: Chris Lough (IRFU)

TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

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

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

HUGO GORDON

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

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

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)

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

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

DAVID CORDIAL

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

@harpinonrugby
The first of our two wrap pods from the weekend is now up on Apple, Spotify, etc #rugbytiktok #urc #irishrugby #leinsterrugby
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

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

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

RICHARD MIFSUD

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

https://twitter.com/KarlBrophy/status/1850236067011801358

https://twitter.com/gortoshay1/status/1850235867522085150

https://twitter.com/CaptSpringbok/status/1850235765508190377

https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby/status/1850235380941095191

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving

your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle

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URC WRAP

378 : Leinster v Lions preview

also available as a podcast

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

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.

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

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

https://twitter.com/LeinsterRoyalty/status/1847735920386040209

https://twitter.com/sami_sp/status/1847746982787633384

https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby/status/1847735808901730633

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving

your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle

in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page

URC WRAP

@harpinonrugby
Our Connacht v Leinster wrap pod is now available on Apple, Spotify, etc. #rugbytiktok #irishtiktok #urc
♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

376 : Connacht v Leinster preview

also available as a podcast

LEINSTER : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Liam Turner 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Jack Boyle 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Rabah Slimani 4. RG Snyman 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane

16. Stephen Smyth 17. Andrew Porter 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. Scott Penny 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Hugh Cooney

Connacht : 15. Piers O’Conor 14. Shayne Bolton 13. David Hawkshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. Santiago Cordero 10. Josh Ioane 9. Ben Murphy

1. Denis Buckley 2. Dave Heffernan 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe Joyce 5. Darragh Murray 6. Cian Prendergast (c) 7. Sean O’Brien 8. Paul Boyle

16. Dylan Tierney-Martin 17. Peter Dooley 18. Jack Aungier 19. Niall Murray 20. Sean Jansen 21. Caolin Blade 22. Cathal Forde 23. Hugh Gavin

United Rugby Championship 24/25 Round 5

Saturday, October 19, 2024

KO 7:35pm Dexcom Stadium

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 1, & URC.tv

Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)

AR 2: Jonny Erskine (IRFU)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)

375 : Leinster v Munster wrap

12 October 2024; RG Snyman of Leinster celebrates with team-mates after scoring their side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Munster at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

🏉 Brisk assessment

🏉 RG impact

🏉 In our defence…

🏉 Makeshift units

🏉 Doris’ day

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

DAVID CORDIAL

HUGO GORDON

FULL TIME TAKES

Cormac Mannion

Bar 2mins just before half time, we looked really disjointed and out of ideas after we scored the third try. It really was quite bizarre because we looked incredibly sharp in the first 15mins.

Also, setting up caterpillar rucks in the opposition half and launching up and unders? Seriously?

Micheal M Priest

Leinster, true to form, fall out of the game in the second half after creating a big lead. Just like previous European Cup finals.

Alright in this league against the likes of Munster, but get punished by the likes of La Rochelle and Toulouse. With such a large talented squad, when will serious questions be asked?

Aonghus O’Brien

Leinster defence looking good. Seemed to run out of ideas in attack in the second half but hopefully they are holding a bit back for the bigger European cup games etc

John Hyland

Leinster are turning into a 40 minute team. If they want silverware, they’ll need to get a lot more ruthless

Craig Grehan

Leinster were very much a first half team in the match.

The ref killed munster at times, but then again so did munster ball handling. A win is a win though.

Kevin Kelehan

Munster kept their shape despite the score, round 3 done. Who were the 1,800 eijits who paid good money for tickets and failed to turn up?

https://twitter.com/ek_rugby/status/1845170846442172547

https://twitter.com/bernardjackman/status/1845221047009747115

https://twitter.com/LeinsterRoyalty/status/1845531898505793674

https://twitter.com/threeredkings/status/1845185777694630003

https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby/status/1845156963837214953