508: Glasgow v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

LEINSTER : 15 Hugo Keenan 14 Joshua Kenny 13 Rieko Ioane 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Jimmy O’Brien 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Luke McGrath (c)

1 Alex Usanov 2 Rónan Kelleher 3 Thomas Clarkson 4 RG Snyman 5 Brian Deeny 6 Jack Conan 7 Will Connors 8 James Culhane

16 John McKee 17 Jerry Cahir 18 Rabah Slimani 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh 20 Max Deegan 21 Scott Penny 22 Fintan Gunne 23 Ciarán Frawley


GLASGOW : 15 Josh McKay 14 Kyle Rowe 13 Johnny Ventisei 12 Stafford McDowall (c) 11 Ollie Smith 10 Dan Lancaster 9 George Horne

1 Patrick Schickerling 2 Gregor Hiddleston 3 Fin Richardson 4 Alex Craig 5 Alex Samuel 6 Euan Ferrie 7 Sione Vailanu 8 Macenzzie Duncan

16 Seb Stephen 17 Rory Sutherland 18 Sam Talakai 19 Jare Oguntibeju 20 Ally Miller 21 Angus Fraser 22 Jack Oliver 23 Adam Hastings


BKT United Rugby Championship

2025/26  Round 13

Saturday, March 21, 2026

Scotstoun Stadium

KO 5:30pm

Live on : Premier Sports 1, URC.tv


Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)

AR 1: David Sutherland (SRU)

AR 2: Ciaran Stark (SRU)

TMO: Aled Griffiths (WRU)

506: Ireland v Scotland preview


IRELAND : 15 Jamie Osborne 14 Rob Baloucoune 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 Tommy O’Brien 10 Jack Crowley 9 Jamison Gibson‑Park

1 Tom O’Toole 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Joe McCarthy 5 Tadhg Beirne 6 Jack Conan 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Caelan Doris (c)

16 Rónan Kelleher 17 Michael Milne 18 Finlay Bealham 19 Darragh Murray 20 Nick Timoney 21 Craig Casey 22 Ciaran Frawley 23 Bundee Aki


SCOTLAND : 15 Blair Kinghorn 14 Darcy Graham 13 Huw Jones 12 Sione Tuipulotu (c) 11 Kyle Steyn 10 Finn Russell 9 Ben White

1 Pierre Schoeman 2 George Turner 3 Zander Fagerson 4 Max Williamson 5 Grant Gilchrist 6 Matt Fagerson 7 Rory Darge 8 Jack Dempsey

16 Ewan Ashman 17 Rory Sutherland 18 Murphy Rae 19 Alex Craig 20 Magnus Bradbury 21 George Horne 22 Kyle Rowe 23 Harry Jordan


Guinness Six Nations 2026

Round 5

Saturday, March 14, 2026

Aviva Stadium

KO 2:10pm

Live on : Virgin Media One


Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)

AR1: Angus Gardner (RA)

AR2: Damian Schneider (UAR)

TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)

FPRO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

502 : Cardiff v Leinster preview


LEINSTER : 15 Jimmy O’Brien 14 Joshua Kenny 13 Rieko Ioane 12 Robbie Henshaw 11 Ruben Moloney 10 Harry Byrne 9 Fintan Gunne

1 Jerry Cahir 2 John McKee 3 Andrew Sparrow 4 Alan Spicer 5 Brian Deeny 6 Max Deegan (c) 7 Scott Penny 8 James Culhane

16 Gus McCarthy 17 Alex Usanov 18 Rabah Slimani 19 RG Snyman 20 Josh Ericson 21 Luke McGrath 22 Charlie Tector 23 Andrew Osborne


CARDIFF : 15 Cam Winnett 14 Jacob Beetham 13 Harri Millard 12 Ben Thomas 11 Mason Grady 10 Callum Sheedy 9 Aled Davies

1 Rhys Barratt 2 Liam Belcher 3 Javan Sebastian 4 Josh McNally 5 George Nott 6 Alun Lawrence 7 Dan Thomas 8 Taine Basham

16 Daf Hughes 17 Danny Southworth 18 Keiron Assiratti 19 Rory Thornton 20 Evan Rees 21 Johan Mulder 22 Ioan Lloyd 23 Tom Bowen


BKT United Rugby Championship 25/26

Round 12

Friday, February 27, 2026

Cardiff Arms Park

KO 7pm

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


Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

AR 2: Carwyn Sion (WRU)

TMO: David Sutherland (SRU)

501 : England v Ireland wrap

21 February 2026; Jamison Gibson-Park of Ireland scores his side’s first try, despite a tackle of England’s Joe Heyes, during the Guinness 6 Nations Rugby Championship match between England and Ireland at the Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, England. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile


🏉 Whiskey, neat

🏉 Leaders in the pack

🏉 Brick wall D

🏉 Super Ulstermen

🏉 Chariots low


HUGO GORDON


FULL TIME TAKES

Wayne O’Brien

The type of performance that will put a lot of confidence gas back in the tank

Tom Clarke

Much better performance. Some of the bigger players really stepped up. Have to give Farrell credit. Thought McCloskey was incredible. Jaimo, Joe and Dorris were brilliant too. Don’t think there was a bad performance in fairness.

Greg Kelly

Irelands performance was beautifully summed up by McCloskey running Marcus Smith down like the terminator

Gerald Williamson

Well deserved win by a country mile. The hunger is back in the team and Andy Farrell has shut those “doubting Thomas “.

Richard Collumb

Would never have thought they could do that. Brilliant all round performance (scrum still needs work), but tactically got it spot on vs England and great execution

Christy O’Connor

That performance was long overdue, we can’t pretend there’s still a lot to work on but that’s a huge step in the right direction, hopefully we can build on this now

Gavin Hegarty

Were we that good or were England just that bad? I think we just dominated them into their mistakes. They were rattled from minute one and couldn’t react.

Pollock was nonexistent for them, perhaps he should check his pulse now?

It’d be typical of England now to fire borthwick if they finish fourth. It’d cost them a lot to get rid of him and get someone else in but who would be the contenders?

Chris McDonnell

The difference passing the ball makes.

That’s 2 years in a row we have battered England

Craig Grehan

In farrell we trust.

The things we’ve been working on clicked and went our way.

Oh, and McCloskey is an animal.

Craig Boyd

Great to prove the doubters wrong (including myself). Particularly delighted as an Ulsterman that the Ulster boys have backed up their recent performances #mccloskeyrollingbacktheyears

Bert McLoughlin

The lads were hungry for the win and England didn’t have any answers for it

Eamon Saunders

That complete performance that we have been looking for and what a place to deliver 🇮🇪🇮🇪

John O Halloran

Handy run out for the lads. 😉.

Jokes aside, I had Ireland by 3 to 7 max and I was being very optimistic.

I didn’t see that level of performance coming. A superb response and result.

Barbara Gaffey

Always that extra niggle versus England and proving the naysayers wrong! The pressure worked to our advantage this time and it all finally clicked. Absolute class! 🙌🔥💪

Hywel Davies

Not looking forward to the next match

Tony Doyle

Chariot on fire for the second week in a row

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SIX NATIONS WRAP

Italy 18-15 Scotland  

England 48-7 Wales  

France 36-14 Ireland

Scotland 31–20 England  

Italy 13–20 Ireland  

Wales 12–54 France

England 21-42 Ireland

Wales 23-26 Scotland  

France 33-8 Italy  

Round 4 Fixtures

Fri 6 March

Ireland v Wales 

Sat 7 March

Scotland v France

Italy v England


NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “IRELAND’S NEXT OPPONENTS”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN 


499 : England v Ireland preview



IRELAND : 15 Jamie Osborne 14 Robert Baloucoune 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 James Lowe 10 Jack Crowley 9 Jamison Gibson‑Park  

1 Jeremy Loughman 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tadhg Furlong 4 Joe McCarthy 5 James Ryan 6 Tadhg Beirne 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Caelan Doris (c)  

16 Ronan Kelleher 17 Tom O’Toole 18 Finlay Bealham 19 Nick Timoney 20 Jack Conan 21 Craig Casey 22 Ciarán Frawley 23 Tommy O’Brien


ENGLAND : 15 Freddie Steward 14 Tommy Freeman 13 Ollie Lawrence 12 Fraser Dingwall 11 Henry Arundell 10 George Ford 9 Alex Mitchell

1 Ellis Genge 2 Luke Cowan‑Dickie 3 Joe Heyes 4 Maro Itoje (c) 5 Ollie Chessum 6 Tom Curry 7 Ben Earl 8 Henry Pollock

16 Jamie George 17 Bevan Rodd 18 Trevor Davison 19 Alex Coles 20 Guy Pepper 21 Sam Underhill 22 Jack van Poortvliet 23 Marcus Smith


Guinness Six Nations 2026 – Round 3

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Twickenham Stadium 

KO 2:15pm

Live on : RTÉ2


Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

AR1: Pierre Brousset (FFR)

AR2: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

FPRO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

497 : Ireland v Italy preview



IRELAND : 15 Jimmy O’Brien 14 Robert Baloucoune 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 James Lowe 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Craig Casey

1 Jeremy Loughman 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tom Clarkson 4 Joe McCarthy 5 James Ryan 6 Cian Prendergast 7 Caelan Doris (c) 8 Jack Conan

16 Ronan Kelleher 17 Tom O’Toole 18 Tadhg Furlong 19 Edwin Edogbo 20 Tadhg Beirne 21 Nick Timoney 22 Jamison Gibson‑Park 23 Jack Crowley


ITALY : 15 Lorenzo Pani 14 Louis Lynagh 13 Tommaso Menoncello 12 Leonardo Marin 11 Monty Ioane 10 Paolo Garbisi 9 Alessandro Fusco

1 Danilo Fischetti 2 Giacomo Nicotera 3 Simone Ferrari 4 Niccolò Cannone 5 Andrea Zambonin 6 Michele Lamaro (c) 7 Manuel Zuliani 8 Lorenzo Cannone

16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo 17 Mirco Spagnolo 18 Muhamed Hasa 19 Federico Ruzza 20 Riccardo Favretto 21 David Odiase 22 Alessandro Garbisi 23 Paolo Odogwu


Guinness Six Nations 2026 – Round 2

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Aviva Stadium 

KO 2:15pm

Live on : Virgin Media 1


Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)   

AR1: Matthew Carley (RFU)   

AR2: Luc Ramos (FFR)   

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)   

FPRO: Tual Trainini (FFR)

495 : France v Ireland preview

Our guest : HUGO GORDON


IRELAND : 15 Jamie Osborne 14 Tommy O’Brien 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Stuart McCloskey 11 Jacob Stockdale 10 Sam Prendergast 9 Jamison Gibson‑Park  

1 Jeremy Loughman 2 Dan Sheehan 3 Tom Clarkson 4 Joe McCarthy 5 Tadhg Beirne 6 Cian Prendergast 7 Josh van der Flier 8 Caelan Doris (c)  

16 Ronan Kelleher 17 Michael Milne 18 Finlay Bealham 19 James Ryan 20 Jack Conan 21 Nick Timoney 22 Craig Casey 23 Jack Crowley


FRANCE : 15 Thomas Ramos 14 Théo Attissogbe 13 Nicolas Depoortere 12 Yoram Moefana 11 Louis Bielle‑Biarrey 10 Matthieu Jalibert 9 Antoine Dupont  

1 Jean‑Baptiste Gros 2 Julien Marchand 3 Dorian Aldegheri 4 Charles Ollivon 5 Mickaël Guillard 6 François Cros 7 Oscar Jegou 8 Anthony Jelonch  

16 Peato Mauvaka 17 Rodrigue Neti 18 Régis Montagne 19 Hugo Auradou 20 Emmanuel Meafu 21 Leni Nouchi 22 Baptiste Serin 23 Kalvin Gourgues


Guinness Six Nations 2026 – Round 1

Thursday, February 5, 2026

Stade de France

KO 8:10pm

Live on : Virgin Media 1


Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)

AR1: Angus Gardner (RA)

AR2: Jordan Way (RA)

TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)

FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZR)

493 : Leinster v Edinburgh preview


Leinster : 15 Andrew Osborne 14 Joshua Kenny 13 Rieko Ioane 12 Ciarán Mangan 11 Ruben Moloney 10 Charlie Tector 9 Luke McGrath (c)

1 Jerry Cahir 2 John McKee 3 Andrew Sparrow 4 RG Snyman 5 Brian Deeny 6 Max Deegan 7 Scott Penny 8 Diarmuid Mangan

16 Gus McCarthy 17 Alex Usanov 18 Niall Smyth 19 Conor O’Tighearnaigh 20 Josh Ericson 21 Will Connors 22 Fintan Gunne 23 Hugo McLaughlin


Edinburgh : 15 Harry Paterson 14 Malelili Satala 13 Wes Goosen 12 James Lang 11 Duhan van der Merwe 10 Ross Thompson 9 Ben Vellacott

1 Boan Venter 2 Jerry Blyth‑Lafferty 3 Paul Hill 4 Callum Hunter‑Hill 5 Glen Young 6 Ben Muncaster 7 Freddy Douglas 8 Magnus Bradbury (c)

16 Harri Morris 17 Mikey Jones 18 Ollie Blyth‑Lafferty 19 Tom Dodd 20 Connor Boyle 21 Charlie Shiel 22 Cammy Scott 23 Piers O’Conor


BKT United Rugby Championship 25/26 – Round 11

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Aviva Stadium

KO 5:30pm

Live on : Premier Sports 1, URC.tv


Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

AR 1: Eoghan Cross (IRFU) 

AR 2: Shane Gaughan (IRFU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

491 : Connacht v Leinster preview

also available as a podcast


Leinster: 15 Ciarán Frawley 14 Joshua Kenny 13 Garry Ringrose 12 Charlie Tector 11 James Lowe 10 Harry Byrne 9 Fintan Gunne

1 Jack Boyle 2 Gus McCarthy 3 Niall Smyth 4 RG Snyman 5 James Ryan 6 Alex Soroka 7 Will Connors 8 Caelan Doris (c)

16 Rónan Kelleher 17 Jerry Cahir 18 Andrew Sparrow 19 Brian Deeny 20 Diarmuid Mangan 21 Scott Penny 22 Luke McGrath 23 Ruben Moloney


Connacht : 15 Sam Gilbert 14 Shane Jennings 13 Harry West 12 Cathal Forde 11 Finn Treacy 10 Josh Ioane 9 Caolin Blade

1 Billy Bohan 2 Dylan Tierney‑Martin 3 Sam Illo 4 Josh Murphy 5 Darragh Murray 6 Cian Prendergast (c) 7 Paul Boyle 8 Sean Jansen

16 Eoin de Buitléar 17 Denis Buckley 18 Jack Aungier 19 Joe Joyce 20 Sean O’Brien 21 Ben Murphy 22 Jack Carty 23 Bundee Aki


BKT United Rugby Championship 25/26 – Round 10

Saturday, January 24, 2026

Dexcom Stadium

KO 5:30pm

Live on : Premier Sports 1


Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

AR 1: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

AR 2: Tomás O’Sullivan (IRFU)

TMO: Leo Colgan (IRFU)