our weekly newsletter keeping tabs on the wider rugby world
WRAP OF A WRAP
With such a large pool of quality contributors for me to choose from it’s not often I get the same pairing within a few weeks but after harpin’ on the Leinster v Lions match recently I was able to reunite Tom & Rich once more. Obviously the subject matter wasn’t quite as pleasant, and apologies to Rich for once again assigning him what turned out to be “the shittier half” but they still did sterling work analyzing the timeline from the previous Friday.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
SUCCEEDING BILL
The winner of Thursday’s vote will inherit a bulging in-tray.
…former internationals Larissa Muldoon, Leah Lyons and Maz Reilly will be part of the Clovers and Wolfhounds coaching tickets for the upcoming Celtic Challenge
For our bonus chat this week the panel looked over the different law variations to see if they help or hinder.
BLUE SKY’S AHEAD
Like many many others, ever since Elon Musk took over the birdhouse I have been more than open to finding an alternative, after been bitten once by poor engagement on Mastodon I then cautiously dipped my toe in the BlueSky pool, and that too seemed less than promising, that is until last week when the Mango Mussolini’s re-election clearly (also ironically) forced a mass migration and my follower numbers have been increasing steadily for the past few days.
It is becoming increasingly clear (again ironically given the blue sky motif) that having up to 1000 highly engaged followers on this platform should be more beneficial than 10k over in Muskville where most them are probably bots. So I’m seriously considering making BlueSky my social media centre of choice for the next while, why don’t you join the conversation over there and see for yourself how it’s going.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
This week’s detainee is from our YouTube channel. Despite the obvious disappointment from defeat on Friday night, I for one found comfort in the reactions from fans outside Ireland, hitting us with all the same kind of schadenfreude vibes we used to do when it was the All Blacks falling from grace in days gone by. I didn’t appreciate the levels of “living rent free” Andy Farrell’s side had earned themselves in the past few years.
Here is just one example, there were many more and a lot of it more ridiculous but I chose this because I really, really wanted to reply with a joke attacking the misspelling (fowl play? Did an Irishman run on the pitch with a chicken?) but thankfully I was saved by TaTa who simply pointed out the overall silliness.
COMPETITION UPDATES
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
SVNS
Not long before the circuit goes back into full swing so here’s the schedule, after us harpin’ for years about the possibility of Ireland getting a leg at some stage, this time there isn’t even one in Europe!!! We’ll still be keeping tabs of things regardless, always look forward to it.
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
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
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
Undercooked. A few performances to forget but they have credit in the bank. A lot of fair weather fans throwing out demands and ultimatums. This was our first loss in 19 games at the Aviva, and it was to an All Blacks team with a lot more recent game time than us.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Worrying lack of aggression first and then lack of leadership. They’ve gone on and on about unfinished business from the World Cup and getting revenge. Didn’t see that tonight.
Kevin Kelehan
The best team Ireland has ever produced were more error prone than I’ve seen them in many years. 3 more games to keep the direction of travel in the right direction
James Murphy
Our front men standing back??
Letting them bully use in lineouts and scrums,
Crowley very poor, frawley not much better
But frawley deserves start next week
Poorest Irish performance in a long time
Brian Corr
Too many errors and then too many players losing it or dropping the heads.
Decision making was terrible and lineout was very poor.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Finlay Bealham 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Tadhg Beirne 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Iain Henderson 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Conor Murray 22. Ciaran Frawley 23. Jamie Osborne
New Zealand : 15. Will Jordan 14. Mark Tele’a 13. Rieko Ioane 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke (vc) 10. Damian McKenzie 9. Cortez Ratima
1. Tamaiti Williams 2. Asafo Aumua 3. Tyrel Lomax 4. Scott Barrett (c) 5. Tupou Vaa’i 6. Wallace Sititi 7. Sam Cane 8. Ardie Savea (vc)
16. George Bell 17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi 18. Pasilio Tosi 19. Patrick Tuipulotu 20. Samipeni Finau 21. Cam Roigard 22. Anton Lienert-Brown 23. Stephen Perofeta
No actual wrap last weekend so instead I assembled an all-provincial panel featuring Pádraig Kelly (Connacht), Caolán Scully (Munster) & Jack Fogarty (Ulster) to look ahead to Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series schedule and of course the lads were top notch.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
TADHG OUT
The next man up for the number 3 jersey is Connacht tighthead Finlay Bealham, as he is the most likely replacement.
I reckoned it would be rude to have guests on from the provinces whithout asking about the season so far for their respective teams…
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
Jim Demps has been our Troll Patrol detainee more than once in the past but this time he’s the victim. Harsh? On Gavin C, perhaps. On Jim? Nah, he can certainly give it so I’m sure he can take it.
COMPETITION UPDATES
Irish A Interpro Championship
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
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
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
Tom Coleman & Rich Mifsud were my contributors this week and they did their usual sterling work going back over Leinster’s win over the Lions last Saturday.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
Rowntree delivered Munster’s first trophy in 12 years when he concluded his first season in charge
“Remember, while it is part of a sporting spectacle, the haka is a cultural taonga, treasure, gifted to NZRU to perform respectfully, which they do now.”
With no injury report this week I thought I’d have a crack at selecting an ideal matchday 23 for Leinster if the Champions Cup were now, and all players were fit (bar the long term Dan Sheehan). Damn it ain’t easy!!! But I did want to make a point of leaving both Snyman and Barrett on the bench, not that I’ve anything against either, far from it, rather to highlight just how good the team can look without them. In the centre, our defensive standards have been so good this season I see no reason to throw Jordie Barrett in just yet, and as for RG I feel that when it came down to him or Ryan the South African would be better suited to an impact role. But the fact remains there are host of “toss up” calls all over the park, like Jimmy O’Brien for example although I like the idea of starting Ringer on the wing, but that’s just me.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
To be clear, not all of our Troll Patrol examples are necessarily bad or at least totally mean-spirited, it can often be both trolling and decent banter and this offering from Graham Love falls squarely into that category. I can totally see the benefit in a Scottish observer fanning the flames of the Leinster/Munster when they see the chance! Graham is definitely worth a follow if you’re not doing so already.
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
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
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Sunday – Pod recording, “All provincial panel” looking ahead to Autumn Nations Series
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
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
Just for this week we’re going to return to our “old school” style of 80+ columns without the Front Five video. Real life got in the way of regular content production last weekend when a family emergency caused the postponement of our Sunday evening wrap pod recording. Thankfully everything turned out ok at home and I am also grateful to both my scheduled contributors Conor Cronin and Cian O’Muilleoir for making themselves available at lunchtime on Monday to help produce an abridged-yet-still-excellent account of Leinster’s bonus point win in Galway.
ICYMI the pod click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from the rugby media landscape
Like I say above, I don’t have time to do a video to share my thoughts on this week’s Front 5, but I can briefly share them here.
On the Sexton thing of course, we’d be mad not to avail of his expertise in any way we can – though of course there are plenty of Irish ABL fans out there who will voice some sort of disapproval, especially with Ronan O’Gara doing so well as a coach. Personally I’d say why not try to get BOTH involved but you know, gaslighters gotta gaslight etc etc. On the two stories concerning actual coaches, both involve speculation but neither are surprising, Leinster have gotten off to a fast start to the season so why not inject suggestions of some behind the scenes uncertainty amirite? Then there’s the IRFU joining France in objecting to the 20m red being introduced to all top level tests, I really hope they can get more support in this effort to go against NZ & Aus and their absolutely absurd “ruining the game” narrative. Finally, our Clickbait of the Week feature returns with the old reliable Ruck.co.uk posing a question in the headline which I take great delight in answering with my choice of quote, thus saving you the click.
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
JOHNNY MENTOR BE?
He would not be with the squad on a full-time basis but would spend a few hours a week passing on some of his knowledge gained during his glittering career
Despite all the success, Wilkinson is adamant that he doesn’t want his son to experience the pressures he faced during his rugby career.
Jonny Wilkinson Reveals if His Son Will Chase Rugby Glory Like Dad
Ruck.co.uk
HARPIN ON…THE LIONS Part II “The Bolters”
The second of our Harpin series looks at possible bolters for Andy Farrell’s squad. We concentrate on Irish players for now, I hope to have guests on from the other nations at some point to go over their candidates before anyone thinks we believe the team has to be mostly Irish!!!! That said…..nah, I best remain diplomatic for now.
IRISH SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
Just announced as we’re publishing, will comment on our Preview Show this Friday
LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE
HARPIN’ MATCHDAY 23 V LIONS
A Osborne, Turner, Henshaw, Tector, Lowe, Prendergast, McGrath
Smyth, Milne, Slimani, Deeny, Connors, Gunne, R Byrne, Cooney
Caveat : I have no “ITK”
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Robbie Henshaw: has resumed full training and will be available for selection this weekend.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Ryan Baird: is in the final stages of the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and subject to coming through them, will be available for selection at the weekend.
Ciarán Frawley: rolled his ankle in the first half in Galway and while not serious, will be further assessed as the week progresses before a final decision is made on his availability.
Joe McCarthy: will step up his training programme this week from a hamstring injury and will be further assessed before a final decision is made on his availability.
Jordan Larmour: will step up his training programme this week and will be further assessed towards the end of the week before a final decision is made on his availability.
John McKee: will step up his rehabilitation programme this week and will be further assessed towards the end of the week before a final decision is made on his availability.
INJURY UPDATE – NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Lee Barron: won’t be available for selection this week as he manages a minor ankle injury sustained in the game against Munster.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Dan Sheehan, Paddy McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien, Rob Russell, Jack Conan, Rónan Kelleher and Tommy O’Brien.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
This week’s detainee is an x account that is apparently meant to defend the ‘Tier 2’ nations yet seems to spend a lot of time having a go at Irish rugby in general, Ronan O’Gara in particular. This time they trot out the tired old ‘private schools’ line, as ever forgetting that no matter where the funding comes from, the sport has to be organised from a tiny player pool compared to other nations.
Irish Women’s team
Rugby World Cup draw…
Irish Shield
All Ireland Leagues
WOMEN’S AIL
MEN’S AIL
Premiership
🔝🐱🐴
ProD2
RE Super Cup
Harpin Prediction League
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Friday – Harpin Preview Show featuring Keego
Saturday – Comment thread open after Leinster v Lions on our Facebook page
