80+ column : June 26

On this week’s column…

🏉 SLIMANI PICKIN’

🏉 SAM IN SA

🏉 THINKING INSIDE THE BOKS

🏉 GLASGOW HUMOUR

🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK

🏉 GUEST POD APPEARANCE

🏉 URC = BEST LEAGUE

🏉 TROLL PATROL

🏉 UPDATES [INCL 🔝🐱🐴 & SUPER RUGBY]

🏉HARPIN’ PREDICTION CHAMPION 2024

FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

Slimani joins RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett among the non-Irish qualified players in the Leinster squad for next season.

Rabah Slimani set to sign Leinster deal ahead of new season

RTÉ.ie

JLP : Not the first time news of a move involving Irish and French clubs gets leaked via the French press so the details have been sketchy.  While this article suggests Slimani is on a two year deal, Ruairidh O’Connor from the Indo tweeted that it might be just one, which would seem to make more sense given his age profile.  Straw poll among a few Leinster fans seems to have the reaction as “meh” to this news, possibly a step down in standards from Michael Ala’alatoa, but at least it means we’ll have some tight head cover for Furlong and Tom Clarkson, who I hope gets some starting game time at the start of the 24/25 campaign.

“He’s got a great torpedo as well, a spiral which is very old school, I love a spiral, that’s why he’s picked.”

Ireland coach praises ‘aura’ of exciting uncapped star set for South Africa tour

Mark Donlon – Extra.ie

JLP : I’ve said this before that Sam P probably won’t get much game time down in South Africa, yet still the experience of being on tour with the senior squad will stand to him as many are saying he has a high ceiling.  And by “many” I mean coaches who have actually seen him play and train on a regular basis, as opposed to those ABLs online who like to exaggerate the hype about him (“Way too soon to say he is the Messiah” etc etc when actually nobody has actually done that.)

The squad features 22 forwards and 17 backline players, with Erasmus set to name the captain for the competition closer to the Ireland Test.

Kolisi back for Ireland series

SARugbyMag

JLP :  The Springboks are very very VERY keen to win this series.  Back to back RWCs apparently aren’t enough to scratch the itch we’ve caused by winning our recent encounters.  Of course what with the URC and all it’s good for there to be a healthy rivalry between these two nations and I’m all for it, looking forward to some online exchanges on social media over the coming weeks.

“…the thing I’ve discovered in rugby celebrations is that you need goggles to protect yourself from all the champagne spray”

Inside the Glasgow Warriors celebrations

Graham Bean – The Scotsman

JLP : First up as ever it’s important to specify for those who may not know that “The Scotsman” is the name of a newspaper, in that line above I’m not trying to suggest that I believe Graham Bean to be THE Scotsman…

Seriously though, happy to share an article checking in on the Glasgow celebrations, obviously I’d prefer if it could be Leinster but like I have said several times the Warriors were indeed worthy champions.

My favourite bit of celebratory fun has to be this pic shared by Jamie Bhatti.  Bit disrespectful to their hosts?  Maybe.  But given the sign is there to intimidate, does that make it fair game when you win there?  Too fucking right.

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

Groundbreaking AI technology has unveiled its jaw-dropping forecasts for the next four decades of Six Nations glory, and the results are nothing short of mind-blowing.

Supercomputer predicts shock England finish for 2025 Six Nations

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Normally the point of my weekly “Clickbait of the Week” award is to show an article that is being misleading to get you to click so I don’t actually include the link itself.  Since this week’s offering involves what is clearly a typo, I will break this rule and just to be clear the screengrab I took was from Tuesday lunchtime so it’s very possible they may have fixed it.

To be fair, if the 2025 Six Nations did finish like that, it WOULD be a shock.

WRAP OF A WRAP

No wrap this week but I did do a spot of harpin’ on Caolán Scully’s pod, going back over Leinster’s season wasn’t exactly an easy task but I always enjoy an aul egg-chasing chat regardless and it is worth checking out.

QUICK TAP : URC = THE BEST LEAGUE

Super Rugby may be “super”

Premiership Rugby may be “premier”

and the 🔝🐱🐴 may be “top”

but given the on-field product amid

all it’s numerous off-field challenges,

The URC is still the best.

(and remember that’s coming from a fan of one of the 13 clubs yet to win it)

Below are the links used in screengrabs for the video.

URC original spin link here

URC 2024 TV figures here

@harpinonrugby

Super Rugby may be ‘super’, Premiership may be ‘premier’ and 🔝🐱🐴may be ‘top’, but once again URC is the best.

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

TROLL PATROL

Can’t believe I’ve had this Troll Patrol feature going for a few weeks and there is yet to be a Welsh contributor!  But if there was ever going to be a Welsh contributor it was always going to be Phil, he’s the best of the bunch.  Never misses an opportunity to have a pop at Leinster or Ireland, and the only positive from his latest series of posts is that they are not accompanied by a screengrab of the IRFU spending which he seems to collect religiously year on year.  

The post above I chose is a response to a tweet I sent just after full time in the URC final – I mean, having seen Phil’s work for several years I actually understand the point he is trying to make but still he is so obsessed with a desire to view Irish rugby negatively that he doesn’t see that the priority chart he outlines here actually makes sense for any organisation!!! I would have thought test rugby > Champions Cup > URC was the proper order of things but then again he’d probably rather see all the attention of the rugby world going to Llandovery v Carmarthen Quins… 

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

“SVNS” UPDATE

The draw was made for the Olympic pools…the press are saying it’s a tricky one for both Irish teams but I reckon we should fancy our chances of reaching the knockouts in each case, we’re certainly not underdogs anymore.

Hamburg is the destination this week for the second and final round of the Rugby 

HAMBURG 7s

FRI JUNE 28

10AM – WOMEN V CZECHIA

12:14PM – MEN V CROATIA

2:44PM – WOMEN V FRANCE

5:14PM – MEN V BELGIUM

SAT JUNE 29

9:36AM – WOMEN V PORTUGAL

9:44AM – MEN V PORTUGAL

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

All we have seen over the past few weeks is a media inquest over what’s wrong with Leinster…now to be fair, three successive seasons falling Champions Cup final and URC semifinals does merit that scrutiny by our standards, but how about the standards at La Rochelle, who also got to domestic SFs but only made it to last 8 in Europe?  And they lost a hell of a lot more times throughout the season than Leinster did.  Funny, that.

Anyway…under normal circumstances I would be shouting for Bordeaux in Friday’s final but apparently a Toulouse win will give Leinster a top seed in the Champions Cup draw so allez les noir et rouges!!!!!  Still would be too gutted if UBB took it, to be honest.

PLAYOFFS

TOULON 29-34 LA ROCHELLE 

BORDEAUX 31-17 RACING 92 

RELEGATION

GRENOBLE 18-20 MONTPELLIER 

SEMIFINALS

TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE

STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX

FINAL

FRI JUNE 28

TOULOUSE V BORDEAUX

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Not much to say here except congrats to the Blues, their first title in a long time and what better time to do it when the Crusaders have disappeared.  All a very ‘meh’ campaign however what with the NZ franchises dominating yet again and with the Rebels gone it will make the 11-team tournament (most likely still with 8 reaching the knockouts) start to look almost as bad as the Premiership.

QUARTERFINALS

CHIEFS 43-21 REDS

HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS

BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA

BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS

SEMIFINALS

BLUES 34-20 BRUMBIES

HURRICANES 19-30 CHIEFS

FINAL

BLUES 41-10 CHIEFS

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Finally got a chance to catch a full MLR game this season, I suppose Leinster’s lack of fixture last weekend gave me the free time…ANYWAY thanks to the free service by the Rugby Network I checked out my latest adopted team Chicago Hounds who have Dave Kearney, Nick McCarthy and Luke Carty in their ranks but in the end it was two later tries from Dylan Fawsitt, who was hooker for Blackrock College in their Jordi Murphy-led Leinster Schools Cup winning side in 2009 before going stateside a few years later, that won the day for Chicago.  

I have to say it was a very entertaining match – Anthem RC, an expansion team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, had lost all their previous 14 matches but while the result was expected, it was by no means certain until Fawsitt’s second try in the 73rd minute.  The lead changed hands several times as Anthem tried to win for the home crowd but in the end Chicago’s superior territory game won out.   They are now guaranteed a playoff spot but can finish no higher than third and need to beat Miami in the final round next weekend to ensure that.

Elsewhere there were some interesting results at the top of both conferences.  NOLA defeated New England at home which meant if the seedings hold that would make for a fascinating Eastern final while in the west, San Diego bounced back from last week’s defeat in Chicago to topple runaway leaders Houston, and although it looks like they won’t be able to win by enough points against Seattle next weekend to overtake them in 2nd spot, they can still do enough damage to show they can beat them when they definitely meet in knockout rugby a week later.

ROUND 17

NOLA GOLD 27-17 NEW ENGLAND

ANTHEM RC 29-38 CHICAGO

MIAMI 17-12 OLD GLORY

UTAH 50-46 DALLAS

SEATTLE 29-12 LOS ANGELES

SAN DIEGO 37-24 HOUSTON

ROUND 18

UTAH V LOS ANGELES

NEW ENGLAND V ANTHEM

CHICAGO V MIAMI

OLD GLORY V NOLA GOLD

HOUSTON V DALLAS

SAN DIEGO V SEATTLE

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

I was considering gambling on Glasgow but with the risk of dropping to 7th I played it safe for the final, and as it turned out we all did so there was no change in the final standings.  Kristian as you can see has quite rightly shown pride in his prolific prediction prowess.

As for Keego, he must now not only retain the Jersey of Shame but also don it for another selfie which I will post all over the Harpin network as the League rules demand.  

Next season I hope to expand the league to at least 10, with the possibility of a cup competition thrown in for good measure, we shall see.

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Slowly getting back into the swing of things after a short break…as if there hasn’t been enough rugby in South Africa for us to harp on, there’s loads more to come what with the Irish tour and the World Under 20s – I have a preview pod for the Wolfpuppies to be posted on Friday and then on Monday evening I’m assembling another “all-provincial panel” to look ahead to Ireland’s chances against the Springboks.  Be sure to keep up with all our social media channels with the usual amount of commenting, sharing, liking & subscribing.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

80+ column : June 19

We’re taking a step back for a week or two here at Harpin Manor so just a “Lite” version of the column this week, or an “Eighty plus minus” if you will…no Front Five for example.

On this week’s column…

🏉 IRISH SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

🏉 CGB RIP 

🏉 24/25 CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 23/24 SEASON REVIEW

🏉 LEINSTER & IRELAND 1-SCORE LOSSES 

🏉 THE LEO CULLEN DEBATE

🏉 HOGG SAGA LATEST

🏉 TROLL PATROL

🏉 SEVENS SQUAD

🏉 UPDATES [INCL 🔝🐱🐴 & SUPER RUGBY]

IRELAND SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT

I dont know about you but I very much want Ireland to win both of these tests.  Development is important that is no doubt, but with an Emerging Ireland tour planned for later in the year I see no reason why we shouldn’t do what we can to make these matches the clash of titans the rest of the rugby world expects it to be -back to back RWC champs v back-to-back 6N champs, with the Boks VERY keen to put the most recent results between the two behind them.  Besides, it’s not like we won’t get some chance to see how we get on without regulars in the 23 with JGP and Conan missing out.  

Thanks to Murray Kinsella’s breakdown of the positions below, I have had a go at selecting my matchday 23 for the first test, I’ve even included a new cap that wouldn’t be Leinster fancy that!!  6/2 bench has to be right for Loftus I’d say.

O’Brien, Nash, Henshaw, Aki, Lowe, Crowley, Casey

Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Beirne, O’Mahony (c), van der Flier, Doris

Kelleher, Healy, Bealham, Ryan, Baird, Izuchukwu, Murray, Frawley.

CGP RIP

Awful, awful news.  Way, way too young.  His parents both played rugby in Ireland back in the 90s.

24/25 CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW

Competition draws aren’t exactly sexy topics and the one for next season’s Champions Cup isn’t until Tuesday July 2, and although the competition format hasn’t changed there was some news specific to Leinster in today’s press release from EPCR…

For the purposes of the draw, the clubs will be divided into two tiers, Tier 1 and Tier 2. The four clubs in Tier 1 will be: Stade Toulousain (2024 Investec Champions Cup winners), Northampton Saints (2024 Gallagher Premiership winners), as well as the 2024 URC and 🔝🐱🐴  winners. If Stade Toulousain win the 🔝🐱🐴  title, then the Investec Champions Cup final runners-up, Leinster Rugby, will be included in Tier 1.

WRAP OF A WRAP

Wrapping defeats are never fun on the one hand, but on the other there’s still the whole “show must go on” of it all so we did a full wrap pod where as well as a shortened “match timeline section” we also went back over Leinster’s season overall.  Tom Coleman & Mark Jackson seem to be getting more than their share of bad results when they appear on the pod but they still did a great job.

As you can see below we also found time to harp on a couple of extra relevant topics, all of them have been getting decent engagement over the past few days.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

LEINSTER’S & IRELAND’S 1-SCORE LOSSES

Lead-in question : OK now I’d like to chat for a bit about one-score matches.  Much has been said about the Springboks winning their second World Cup in a row on the back of three successive one-point victories, and then of course Jacques Nienaber switched to Leinster where as you can see by the screen there, we’ve had a string of defeats in recent seasons of 5 points or less, and I have also added results of the Irish team as well as, just for good measure, the Munster semifinal loss as they had both the Irish captain and starting outhalf playing for them.  You can say each and every one of these results played a part in an Irish team falling short of silverware so starting with yourself Tom, is there a pattern to be seen here?

THE RESULTS IN QUESTION :

FRA 30-24 IRE, LEI 21-24 LAR, LEI 26-27 BUL, LEI 15-16 MUN,  LEI 26-27 LAR, IRE 24-28 NZL

LEI 21-22 ULS, ENG 23-22 IRE, TLS 15-15* LEI, ULS 23-21 LEI, BUL 25-20 LEI, MUN 10-17 GLA  

* = after 80m

THE LEO CULLEN DEBATE

Lead-in question : This is a discussion I have tried to steer away from for quite a while now but it has been bubbling under the surface among Leinster fans on the social media platforms I’d say since our defeat in the Marseille final so obviously by now after two more campaigns gone without silverware, the calls are getting even louder so it’s probably about time we harped on it.  On the one hand you don’t want the very ‘footbally’ knee-jerk reactions to defeats calling for the coach to be fired, I mean most clubs in Europe wouldn’t come close to competing on two fronts every season the way we do, but on the other hand when you’ve won 4 Heineken Cups and 8 league titles over the years, the standards are always going to be high and for the past few seasons Leinster have fallen short.  So starting with yourself Mark, is it time for a change at the top?

HOGG SAGA LATEST

After deciding to leave out the Front Five this week, there ended up being four stories I felt I had to include in the column so I’m sure I could have found a fifth to keep the segment going, but then again with this Hogg story returning like an awful smell I figured it best to shift it further down the page. 

Not exactly wild about how RugbyPass framed Hogg’s situation – “blighted by personal problems” suggests there might be someone to blame other than the man himself.

Let’s just say I will absolutely not be supporting MHR next season and I’m delighted there is very little chance Leinster will be playing them.

TROLL PATROL

A couple of weeks ago, I challenged a trolling comment from ‘mahasamatman’ offering them to appear on the pod…the challenge was genuine and if I got a response I would take steps to make it happen.  As you can see by their latest offering, it looks like they are choosing to ignore my invitation.  🐔

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

“SVNS” UPDATE

No Irish teams in action until next weekend in Hamburg (see fixtures below) but there is still a lot of relevant stuff going on in the 7s world, not least of which was the announcement of the squads for the Olympics, with Lucy Rock & Harry McNulty named the respective captains.

We will know our opponents in Paris by this Sunday evening when the draw is made following the Monaco 7s which will decide the last 4 qualifiers in each gender.  Those tournaments will be streamed live on RugbyPassTV over the weekend with the like of GB and RSA involved on the men’s side and Argentina on the women’s.

OLYMPIC SQUADS

Ireland Women’s Sevens Squad – Paris 2024: 

Kathy Baker (Blackrock College RFC)

Megan Burns (Blackrock College RFC)

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (Railway Union RFC)

Alanna Fitzpatrick (Portarlington RFC/Blackrock College RFC)

Stacey Flood (Railway Union RFC)

Eve Higgins (Railway Union RFC)

Erin King (Old Belvedere RFC)

Vicky Elmes Kinlan (Wicklow RFC)

Emily Lane (Blackrock College RFC)

Ashleigh Orchard (Cooke RFC)

Béibhinn Parsons (Blackrock College RFC)

Lucy Rock (Wicklow RFC)(captain)

Travelling Reserves:

Claire Boles (Railway Union RFC)

Amy Larn (Athy RFC).

Ireland Men’s Sevens Squad – Paris 2024:

Niall Comerford (UCD RFC)

Jordan Conroy (Buccaneers RFC)

Hugo Keenan (UCD RFC/Leinster)

Jack Kelly (Dublin University FC)

Terry Kennedy (St Mary’s College RFC)

Hugo Lennox (Skerries RFC)

Harry McNulty (UCD RFC)(captain)

Gavin Mullin (UCD RFC)

Chay Mullins (Galway Corinthians RFC/Connacht/IQ Rugby)

Mark Roche (Lansdowne FC)

Andrew Smith (Clontarf FC/Connacht)

Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC)

Travelling Reserves:

Sean Cribbin (Suttonians RFC)

Bryan Mollen (UCD RFC)

HAMBURG 7s

FRI JUNE 28

10AM – WOMEN V CZECHIA

12:14PM – MEN V CROATIA

2:44PM – WOMEN V FRANCE

5:14PM – MEN V BELGIUM

SAT JUNE 29

9:36AM – WOMEN V PORTUGAL

9:44AM – MEN V PORTUGAL

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

All season we have been highlighting on these pages what a bad season La Rochelle are having yet they go and make the final four to face their nemesis Toulouse, who may be polishing their 6th star but with this seeming to be the Year of The Nemesis Reversal (Leinster beating LAR twice, Toulouse beating Leinster) plus the fact that the French play their semifinals on “neutral” grounds (not so much in Bordeaux’s case) you wouldn’t bet against them having another crack at a first Brennus.

That said, as you see in the segment on the Champion Cup draw earlier in the column, a Toulouse win would help Leinster out, so there’s that.

Meanwhile the other semifinal appears to be a tossup between Stade would would be favourites on form if it were held in any other city but UBB will be keen to use every advantage possible to reverse their Champions Cup quarterfinal disappointment.

Then there’s Montpellier who stayed in the top flight by the skin of their teeth with a two point win over Grenoble.  We’ll still be covering both sides on these pages next season as I plan to include the ProD2 in our update section.

PLAYOFFS

TOULON 29-34 LA ROCHELLE 

BORDEAUX 31-17 RACING 92 

RELEGATION

GRENOBLE 18-20 MONTPELLIER 

SEMIFINALS (BOTH IN BORDEAUX)

FRI JUNE 21

TOULOUSE V LA ROCHELLE

SAT JUNE 22

STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Not a good day for future Leinster employees Jordie Barrett and Tyler Bleyendaal…hopefully the Hurricane’s exit in the semifinals won’t have a bearing on how they get on when they travel north!  Still promises to be a fascinating Auckland v Waikato final, I’ve always had a soft spot for the Blues and I’m not sure they’ll get a better chance than this to lift their first SR title since 2003.

QUARTERFINALS

CHIEFS 43-21 REDS

HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS

BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA

BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS

SEMIFINALS

BLUES 34-20 BRUMBIES

HURRICANES 19-30 CHIEFS

FINAL

SAT JUNE 22

BLUES V CHIEFS

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Really big win for my adopted team the Chicago Hounds, with Dave Kearney, Nick McCarthy, Jack Carty and Paddy Ryan all starting as they defeated San Diego (complete with Matt Giteau and the still-scoring-tries-at-42 Ma’a Nonu) to put them all but in the playoffs, with chances in the final two rounds to move up even higher.

Elsewhere Houston edged Seattle to stay top in the west while New England need just one more win to lock down home advantage in the east.

ROUND 16

DALLAS 34-36 OLD GLORY

HOUSTON 28-25 SEATTLE

NEW ENGLAND 36-27 UTAH

ANTHEM RC 14-30 MIAMI

LOS ANGELES 21-38 NOLA GOLD

CHICAGO 22-16 SAN DIEGO

ROUND 17

SAT JUNE 22

NOLA GOLD V NEW ENGLAND

SUN JUNE 23

ANTHEM RC V CHICAGO

MIAMI V OLD GLORY

UTAH V DALLAS

SEATTLE V LOS ANGELES

SAN DIEGO V HOUSTON

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

Glasgow’s win at Thomond Park not only ended the provinces’ URC hopes, but with Kristian gambling for the upset it has also looked like handing him the HPL title.  With the multiplier in force for the playoffs, Kino CAN catch him, but only if they make different picks for the final and his is the right one.  The Superbru app only tells you who others have chosen when the matches kick off, and if it turns out that they made the same selection then the title belongs to Kristian.

Jay is guaranteed 3rd place but as for me in 4th, I’m anything but – in fact, with Conor, Mark & Tom all breathing down my neck I could finish as low as 7th so I’ll have to make my final decision very carefully.

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

The plan is to take a break for at least a week with the next planned content on these pages being another 80+ column next Wednesday.  But I’m sure in the meantime I’ll be tempted to drop the odd x or TikTok along the way so do keep an eye out.

Plus I’ll be appearing on Caolán Scully’s pod from Thursday evening as well as our regular Dublin South FM slot so there’s always harpin’ going on somewhere!

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

356 : Bulls v Leinster & 23/24 season wrap

15 June 2024; Joe McCarthy of Leinster, left, after his side’s defeat in the United Rugby Championship semi-final match between Vodacom Bulls and Leinster at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

🏉 Kicking game

🏉 Early conservation?

🏉 Predictability

🏉 Petersen chasing

🏉 Season review

@harpinonrugby

Pod now available on Apple, Spotify etc with bonus material on our YouTube channel throughout the week #LeinsterRugby #rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

MARK JACKSON

FULL TIME TAKES

Brian Corr

Heartbreaking really, you could see players struggling in the conditions but Bulls were really up for it.

Some simple things going wrong don’t want to point out individuals but snappy passing failing us too many passes dropped taking away the momentum, a couple of kicks went awry as well, the Bulls kicking was exceptional for finding distance giving them a great home advantage.

I thought Joe Mc legally turned over the ball in the middle of the field but ref giving them a penalty seemed harsh, can someone explain why Donal on commentary was giving out about him, I’m perplexed.

Scrum a massive issue, now I’m really hoping Ireland go down and win both tests, anything else and we’re in for a torrid slagging 😂

Can someone explain why when Leinster score 87 tries second only to the Bulls on 88 everyone is saying Leinsters attack is terrible?

Lastly it’s not Bernard Jackman’s fault, based on the evidence Bulls weren’t all that, they just became all that today and fair play to them.

William Andrew

Leinster looked stale. They were moved around the park by a very clever Bulls side. It was obvious at half time Leinsters game was in trouble, its change it or lose it at that point.

Has Leinster improved this season? The answer is a resounding no.

Greg Kelly

Goodman took the best attack in world rugby and turned it into a toothless mess. Neinaber took the toothless mess and turned it into a leaky, depressing to watch toothless mess. The whole setup needs a shot of something heavy next season. Put Prendergast in at 10. Use Frawley as utility cover and Ross as the backup 10. Stop shitting on the shirt by offering the youngsters up as meat on a plate to SA teams away. Use the Academy players at home against the Dragons and Zebre and other weaker teams to build their confidence…not shatter it under a 50 point tonking.

The attitudes on the training ground build a season and clearly they are off

James Murphy

Some poor decisions from management during season

Definitely need a 10 for this level, and a second 9, McGrath was overwhelmed, also Larmar too small for this level.

Pack were bunched

Colin Mehigan

Not good enough…Tyler Bleyendaal can’t start soon enough…Nienaber’s lack of success at Munster is continuing at Leinster….does he have one year left on his contract? Sam P needs to be the starting 10 from the start of next season. Ridiculously long season. Players have been flogged into the ground. A season which will live short in the memory….yet again.

Sean MacDonnchadha

The organisation now has to be put under deserved pressure. A club side with the resources and depth of a world leading international side must expect more than consistent knockout performances becoming the new norm.Players trying their heart out and you can’t fault effort, but there is something technically wrong with their coaching and setup. If this were SA, England, France or NZ they would review with a cold mentality and introduce fresh changes. If we are serious about matching those nations then we need to do the same. Our RWC history is a clear and undeniable proof of this.

Cuan Mulligan

We were devoid of ideas in attack..Ross taking the ball with both feet planted 90% of the time.. one of the last plays and we’re looking at each other with not a clue what do to… huge fall from grace given the attacking threat we used to have. Take it on the chin; better team won… come on Munster… Ross to France please

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

QUARTERFINALS

MUNSTER 23-7 OSPREYS

BULLS 30-23 BENETTON

LEINSTER 43-20 ULSTER

GLASGOW WARRIORS 27-10 STORMERS

SEMIFINALS

BULLS 25-20 LEINSTER

MUNSTER 10-17 GLASGOW

GRAND FINAL

SAT JUNE 22

BULLS V GLASGOW

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP

AT ELVERYS

355 : Bulls v Leinster preview

also available as podcast

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

CONTRIBUTE TO KEEGO’S CHARITY WAXING HERE

LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Jack Conan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Jamie Osborne 

BULLS : 15 W le Roux 14 S Petersen 13 D Kriel 12 H Vorster 11 D Williams 10 J Goosen 9 E Papier

1 G Steenkamp 2 J Grobelaar 3 W Louw 4 R Vermaak 5 R Nortje (c) 6 M van Staden 7 E Louw 8 C Hankenom

16 A van der Merwe 17 S Matanzima 18 F Klopper 19 R Ludwig 20 N Carr 21 K Johannes 22 C Smith 23 C Smit

BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Semifinal

Saturday, June 15, 2024

KO 3pm (Irish time) Loftus Versfeld

Live on: RTÉ1, Premier Sports, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Mike Adamson (SRU)

AR 2: Adam Jones (WRU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

Rugby on TV : June 13-17

FULL LIST

(all times Irish)

NOTE : Our apologies, we originally had Bulls v Leinster on RTÉ2 but it is instead on RTÉ1. Blame the Euros…

THURSDAY, JUNE 13

12PM – LEINSTER V ULSTER – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1 

11:30PM – 🔝🐱🐴 HIGHLIGHTS – PREMIER SPORTS 2 

FRIDAY, JUNE 14

8:05AM – BLUES V BRUMBIES – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

10PM – NORTHAMPTON V BATH (REPEAT) – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 3

SATURDAY, JUNE 15

1:30AM – DALLAS V OLD GLORY – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

5:35AM – HURRICANES V CHIEFS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

3PM – BULLS V LEINSTER – URC – RTÉ1, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

6PM – MUNSTER V GLASGOW WARRIORS – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

8PM – TOULON V LA ROCHELLE – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 2, TV5MONDE

SUNDAY, JUNE 16

12AM – HOUSTON V SEATTLE – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

8PM – NEW ENGLAND V UTAH – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

8PM – ANTHEM RC V MIAMI – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

8PM – BORDEAUX V RACING 92 – 🔝🐱🐴 – PREMIER SPORTS 1, TV5MONDE

11PM – LOS ANGELES V NOLA GOLD – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

MONDAY, JUNE 17

1AM – CHICAGO V SAN DIEGO – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

10:50PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ TWO

* paid streaming service

RUGBY ON TV 

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY 

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

80+ column : June 12

NB : Info in this post is as of Tuesday evening

On this week’s column…

🏉 EMERGING NEGATIVITY

🏉 BERCH ON THE BULLS

🏉 QATAR QASH QOW

🏉 THE HOGG SAGA CONTINUES

🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 HARPIN ON…WHISKEY & JLOWE

🏉 QUICK TAP

🏉 LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE

🏉 TROLL PATROL

🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl SVNS & 🔝🐱🐴] 

FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

The tour is designed to give players on the fringes of the Ireland senior squad the opportunity to sample the national team environment

IRFU confirm Emerging Ireland trip to South Africa

Neil Treacy – RTE.ie

JLP : Had to switch off twitter with all the negative reaction to this news.  Apparently taking a young Irish team on a tour is a bad thing now?  Sure it will hurt the provinces for a few weeks but all the URC clubs get impacted by things like this at different stages of the season.  It’s the nature of the sport.  I harp on the need for a more sensible calendar with tournaments in blocks each and every year but even I have made peace with the fact that it is unlikely to ever happen for European rugby.  And once you accept that, then it should be easy to grasp that if you are to do a tour like this which clearly has at least as many benefits as drawbacks if not much more, then no one union is going to be able to pick and choose a time of year that suits them perfectly.

Benetton made them look very average, there’s too many flaws in their performance. I haven’t been overly impressed by them.

Jackman: Bulls aren’t all that

SA Rugby Mag

JLP : This could’ve been Clickbait of the Week as it looks like they went trawling for an article that Jake White could pin on the dressing room wall at Loftus on Saturday.  I didn’t listen to the full interview but I’d be pretty confident that Berch also qualified those statements with some positives in the Bulls set up.

According to the Telegraph, the Gulf state is ‘closing in’ on a £800 million (€940m) deal to host the finals of the tournament for the next eight years.

Qatar closing in on mega-money deal to host ‘Super Bowl of rugby’

Martin Healy – Extra.ie

JLP : Pretty much said all I need to say in the tweet, but I will add that I wanted to highlight this story using an article from the Sydney Morning Herald which had the headline : “Rugby’s Qatar option would be a cynical, soulless money grab” – I chose not to as it is behind a paywall but although it is an op-ed I reckon it also serves as a realistic piece of analytical journalism on this story.

Hogg…has changed his Instagram profile picture from a candid off-field shot to one of him playing for Scotland

Stuart Hogg hints at Scotland retirement U-turn as he returns to rugby

John Jones – WalesOnline

JLP : I know I run the risk of seeming obsessed with Hogg when I feature him so often in the Front Five section (baby reindeer hog?) but it’s a risk worth taking because the progression of this story has been fascinating.  Off the top of my head the headlines have been : he retires pre-RWC > he’s having an affair with a jockey > he has a restraining order from his wife > he’s now a pundit > he’s in talks for returning to play with Newcastle > he’s in talks for returning to play with Montpellier > now he’s thinking of returning to test rugby.  And I’m pretty sure there’s more twists and turns to come, so watch this space…

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

I’d have him in the squad and I would even consider him as captain because that’s going to be a big one.

Sir Ian McGeechan Makes a Bold Choice for 2025 British & Irish Lions Captain

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Easy choice of clickbait this week. And the answer is Courtney Lawes.  See, they could have said that in the headline which would then persuade you to click to find out why, but no, gotta tease that little bit extra.  Now on the subject matter itself, I wouldn’t have a problem with it at all – no doubting he can do it, he’s certainly in form to make the Lions squad and also he’s unencumbered with Test captaincy.  But we can discuss all of that without clicking the link.

WRAP OF A WRAP

Conor & Ciarán were on hand to help me go back over the Ulster match and it was an enjoyable chat as ever.  We harped a bit more on the importance of Jamison Gibson-Park and James Lowe which didn’t make the pod but can be found in the YouTube clip you see below.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

QUICK TAP : THIS GETS MY GOAT

When we say a particular player is doing good things are we also dissing every other player?  

@harpinonrugby

‘This Gets My Goat’ is part of our 80+ column which will post on Wednesday morning at http://www.harpinonrugby.com

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Once bitten twice shy when it comes to Garry Ringrose.  I don’t think we’ll see him again this season and this is one of those times when I’ll be over the moon to be wrong.  I do believe Jack Conan will play a role in Pretoria and also that we could go 6/2 on the bench.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Bulls : J O’Brien, Larmour, Henshaw, Osbourne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park

Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan (c), Baird, van der Flier, Doris

Kelleher, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan, Connors, McGrath, Frawley

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Garry Ringrose: returned to full training last week after his return from a shoulder injury

Jack Conan: is expected to return to full training this week after missing the Ulster game as a precaution

NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:

Charlie Ngatai (shoulder), Jason Jenkins (knee), Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).

URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

Thought I’d update this section one last time, yes, partly because Leinster finished in 1st place but also to add the interpro fixtures for next season, and it was only while doing this that I noticed that not all the matches have actual dates just yet, although it still has to be said the early release was a great idea and long may it continue.

NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER

NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER

NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER

DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER

DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT

DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER

JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER

JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER

MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT

MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21  LEINSTER

MAY 31 LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT

JUNE 1 MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER

2024/25 IRISH SHIELD

SAT SEP 21 – MUNSTER V CONNACHT

SAT OCT 12 – LEINSTER V MUNSTER

SAT OCT 12 – ULSTER V CONNACHT

SAT OCT 19 – CONNACHT V LEINSTER

FRI NOV 29 – ULSTER V LEINSTER

DECEMBER TBC – ULSTER V MUNSTER

DECEMBER TBC – LEINSTER V CONNACHT

XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – MUNSTER V LEINSTER

XMAS/NEW YEAR TBC – CONNACHT V ULSTER

MAR 28/29- CONNACHT V MUNSTER

SAT APR 19 – LEINSTER V ULSTER

FRI MAY 9 – MUNSTER V ULSTER

TROLL PATROL

I suppose if I am to have a proper weekly segment on the subject of trolling, once in a while I’ll have to include it when it clearly comes from a Leinster fan, although I’m not 100% sure if Bryan’s is a serious question or not…either way, it gets the troll label and he managed to reel in a couple of replies.

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

“SVNS” UPDATE

The World Series may be over but the Irish squads are getting some more preparation for the Olympics with the Rugby Europe Championship which consists of two tournaments the first of which was held in Makarska in Croatia over the weekend.  The women got off to a strong start in their pool before going on to lose four in a row which saw them finish in 8th position.  The men on the other hand have continued their good form and 5 wins in a row saw them through to the final against France…but it wasnt to be, we were in it right up to the final whistle and just couldn’t get past the French defence in the second half, losing two lineouts in the process which is criminal in this code, to finish on the losing side by 12 points to 7.  Still it was a good outing for Hugo Keenan to get integrated into the squad and the second and final round of this championship takes place in Hamburg at the end of the month.

CROATIA 7s

#IREW7s

POOL PHASE

V CZE 24-22

V TUR 31-12

V FRA 5-33

QUARTERFINAL

V SPA 17-33

5TH-8TH PLAYOFF

V CZE 5-10

V GBR 0-19

#IREM7s

POOL PHASE

V CRO 42-0

V GER 12-12

V GEO 17-10

QUARTERFINAL

V GBR 24-7

SEMIFINAL

V GER 31-7

FINAL

V FRA 7-12

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

There were some tight finishes in the final round and probably the most significant was at La Rochelle where the home side won to make the barrages but Racing nicked a losing bonus point with a Baudonne try right at the end (actually it was the conversion from Tedder that earned it because you have to be within 5 in the 🔝🐱🐴 ) and this put both through to the knockouts.

So as you can see below both sides must travel in the first round and it’s interesting that although Toulouse and Stade got straight into the semifinals, if Bordeaux make it past Racing it will effectively be a home match for them as both games are in the Matmut Atlantique.

Meanwhile on the European qualification front Clérmont had quite the late season surge in form to nick the 8th and final slot, which means if Leinster reach the URC final we could well renew our rivalry with them in the Champions Cup pool stage.

Also I’ve decided that from next season all going well I will also feature the ProD2 in these updates as it is essentially one of the top European leagues in its own right…I could probably name at least half a dozen clubs in URC & Premiership that would struggle to finish in the top half.  Vannes earned the direct promotion spot this season and now Grenoble and Montpellier will slug it out for that 14th spot.

Round 26

BAYONNE 17-28 CASTRES

BORDEAUX 40-7 OYONNAX

CLÉRMONT 52-15 MONTPELLIER

LA ROCHELLE 24-19 RACING 92

LYON 40-28 TOULOUSE

STADE FRANÇAIS 23-20 TOULON

PAU 36-24 PERPIGNAN

PLAYOFFS

SAT JUNE 15

TOULON V LA ROCHELLE (BARRAGES)

SUN JUN 16

GRENOBLE V MONTPELLIER (RELEGATION)

BORDEAUX V RACING 92 (BARRAGES)

SEMIFINALS (BOTH IN BORDEAUX)

FRI JUNE 21

TOULOUSE V TOULON/LA ROCHELLE

SAT JUNE 22

STADE FRANÇAIS V BORDEAUX/RACING 92

PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Congrats to Northampton Saints, of course we saw them as Leinster fans and they impressed (although they impressed more against Munster, twice 😜) so as a result in and of itself there was no surprise that they got the better of Bath on the day, but of course many are saying the match was defined by the red card for Beno Obano.  I guess I can only say what I always do in these scenarios…keep the tackles low and you’ll never put yourself on this kind of radar.  I understand the frustration for fans especially the Bath ones in this case obvs but those laws are there for a reason.  And speaking of Lawes, I know I mentioned him already in this column, but what a way to finish at a club, eh. 

PLAYOFFS

NORTHAMPTON 22-20 SARACENS

BATH 31-23 SALE SHARKS

FINAL

SAT JUNE 8

NORTHAMPTON 25-21 BATH

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Not much in the way of contests in the quarterfinals by the look of it, in fact arguably the most noticeable thing about the four matches is that the Crusaders were not involved in any of them.  One team that won’t be involved at all in the future is the Melbourne Rebels, I can remember their formation with Stirling Morlock (who’s name I can’t even type without saying out loud in a draw out Aussie accent) one of the first to wear the jersey.  It will be interesting to see how their playing staff gets distributed among the other franchises and no doubt it can only make them stronger.

That leaves three NZ and 1 Oz in the semifinals and I really can’t see anything other than a Blues v Hurricanes final.

QUARTERFINALS

CHIEFS 43-21 REDS

HURRICANES 47-20 REBELS

BLUES 36-5 FIJIAN DRUA

BRUMBIES 32-16 HIGHLANDERS

SEMIFINALS

FRI JUNE 14

BLUES V BRUMBIES

SAT JUNE 15

HURRICANES V CHIEFS

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Chicaco Hounds may have had a lot of narrow defeats in recent weeks but they are still defeats and they have now slipped to 4th in the East – I can’t see them dropping any further but they would want to get back to winning ways soon otherwise they’ll have to play New England, who themselves are finding ways to win the tight matches.  Over in the west it’s still Houston and Seattle leading the way and guess what – they play each other next.

ROUND 15

OLD GLORY DC 30-31 NEW ENGLAND

HOUSTON 29-12 LOS ANGELES

SAN DIEGO 34-24 ANTHEM RC

MIAMI 13-20 NOLA GOLD

DALLAS 22-20 CHICAGO

SEATTLE 68-29 UTAH

ROUND 16

SAT JUNE 15

DALLAS V OLD GLORY

SUN JUNE 16

HOUSTON V SEATTLE

NEW ENGLAND V UTAH

ANTHEM RC V MIAMI

LOS ANGELES V NOLA GOLD

TUE JUNE 18

CHICAGO V SAN DIEGO

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

There are fewer matches to predict at this stage of the season but more points at stake…the QFs are x 1.5, the SFs are x 2 and the final is x 3.  Still tho the last weekend couldn’t separate Kino and Kristian for the title, although Kino has the edge in the first tie-breaker.  Could all boil down to the last minute of the final.  As for myself, I’ll do well to stay in the top 4 at this rate…

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

It’s all about the Bulls from here on in this week….Keego will join us for the preview show then it’s the Meath/Westmeath combo of Tom Coleman and Mark Jackson helping me wrap the 80 minutes in our Sunday evening recording.  Do follow us on all our social media platforms and join the discussion when you can.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

354 : Leinster v Ulster wrap

8 June 2024; Jordan Larmour of Leinster evades the tackle of Ethan McIlroy of Ulster on his way to scoring his side’s fourth try during the United Rugby Championship quarter-final match between Leinster and Ulster at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

🏉 Slow start

🏉 Misleading margins

🏉 Soccer skills

🏉 Marvellous McCarthy

🏉 Southern soujourn

@harpinonrugby

Our Leinster v Ulster wrap pod is now available on Apple, Spotify, etc, with a bonus clip on our YouTube channel

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

FULL TIME TAKES

Cuan Mulligan

Ross while having some good moments, is too predictable, and offers little variety in attack…. Sam tried some outrageous moves , came off, granted they won’t always but means teams are unsure what to expect…

Greg Kelly

Watched the game on SuperSport and I get the impression the Saffas don’t watch Leinster in detail because they’re a bit worried 😂

It’s nice to see Leinster going full guns in the league for the first time in a while. It was a high quality game that Leinster managed well.

Strangely enough I wonder if Prendergast being in the squad and then coming in and showing some good touches means he’s not going anywhere next season. Personally I think they have to look to make him the solid number 2 next year with an eye to him getting the starting shirt if performances warrant it.

Brian Corr

I’m almost afraid to say anything because of the backlash of you’re arrogant and typical Leinster, but with almost the full squad available it’s hard to see how Ulster would have really threatened Leinster, particularly without their captain and next best second row out.

Ulster came out flying but could not get over the line, a couple of tries some would call lucky and they were buried by 1/2 time. Lucky translates into the harder I work the more luck I get.

While Ulster never went away, they conceded within minutes of scoring their first tries.

For Leinster it was great to get a comprehensive win and a fairly hard fought one which will stand to them next week.

Osbourne and Henshaw were everywhere, though it was a full team performance, I don’t know if anyone had a bad game.

Robert Webster

Good win by Leinster but thought score flattered them a little. Next week should be a good game but would expect Leinster to have too much for the Bulls, who will need to up their performance from today to have any chance. Would add that I thought it was a pretty disappointing crowd for a knock out derby.

Gordy Graham

Ultimately I’m a disappointed Ulster fan again but the boys gave it everything today and it was always going to be a big ask after losing four second rows. Murphy has had a big impact at Ulster and there’s a bit of positivity about the place now which is nice!

From an impartial view point I can’t understand Leinster’s continued obsession with Byrne, he seems to have lost his confidence and offers very little in the way of attacking threat. I think that’s why Leinster’s attack as a whole has slowed down.

Colin Mcconaghie

Massively depleted Ulster team gave their all. Not to be against a very strong Leinster.

Proud of our young lads after being written off all season.

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

QUARTERFINALS

MUNSTER V OSPREYS8

BULLS V BENETTON

LEINSTER 43-20 ULSTER

GLASGOW WARRIOR V STORMERS

SEMIFINALS

SAT JUNE 15

BULLS V LEINSTER

MUNSTER V GLASGOW

HARPIN MATCH WRAPS

ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY SHOP

AT ELVERYS

353 : Leinster v Ulster Preview

also available as a podcast
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2WEqDhf2aNRnCxLo12RvO0?si=a999fea9e9ef4e63

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Jamie Osborne 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Jamison Gibson-Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan (c) 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Michael Ala’alatoa 19. Ross Molony 20. Max Deegan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Ciarán Frawley 

ULSTER : 15 Stewart Moore, 14 Mike Lowry, 13 Will Addison, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Billy Burns, 9 John Cooney;

1 Eric O’Sullivan, 2 Rob Herring (C), 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Harry Sheridan, 5 Cormac Izuchukwu, 6 Matty Rea, 7 David McCann, 8 Nick Timoney.

16 Tom Stewart, 17 Andy Warwick, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Greg Jones, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Nathan Doak, 22 Ethan McIlroy, 23 Jude Postlethwaite.

BKT United Rugby Championship 2023/24 Quarterfinal

Saturday, June 8, 2024

KO 5pm Aviva Stadium

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports, URC.tv

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU)

AR1: Craig Evans (WRU)

AR2: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)

TMO: Brain MacNeice (IRFU)

Rugby on TV : June 7-10

FULL LIST

(all times Irish)

FRIDAY, JUNE 7

8:05AM – CHIEFS V REDS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS ACTION

7:35PM – MUNSTER V OSPREYS – URC – RTÉ2, S4C, PREMIER SPORTS 2, URC.TV*

SATURDAY, JUNE 8

5:35AM – HURRICANES V REBELS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS MIX

7AM – MALAYSIA V HONG KONG – ASIA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – YOUTUBE

8:05AM – BLUES V FIJIAN DRUA – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS MAIN EVENT/ACTION

10:35AM – BRUMBIES V HIGHLANDERS – SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC – SKY SPORTS MAIN EVENT/ACTION

2:30PM – BULLS V BENETTON – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

3PM – NORTHAMPTON V BATH – PREMIERSHIP – ITV1, TNT SPORTS 1

5PM – LEINSTER V ULSTER – URC – TG4, PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV*

7:35PM – GLASGOW WARRIORS V STORMERS – URC – PREMIER SPORTS 1, URC.TV* 

8PM – LA ROCHELLE V RACING 92 – 🔝🐱🐴 – TV5MONDE

10:30PM – NORTHAMPTON V BATH (REPLAY) – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 4

SUNDAY, JUNE 9

12AM – OLD GLORY DC V NEW ENGLAND – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

1AM – HOUSTON V LOS ANGELES – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

2PM – SARACENS V BRISTOL BEARS – WOMEN’S PREM – TNT SPORTS 1

4:30PM – UAE V SOUTH KOREA – ASIAN MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP – YOUTUBE

4:30PM – GLOUCESTER V EXETER – WOMEN’S PREM – TNT SPORTS 1

8:30PM – NORTHAMPTON V BATH (REPLAY) – PREMIERSHIP – TNT SPORTS 2

9PM – SAN DIEGO V ANTHEM RC – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

10PM – WOMEN’S PREM HIGHLIGHTS – TNT SPORTS 2

11PM – MIAMI V NOLA GOLD – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

MONDAY, JUNE 10

1AM – DALLAS V CHICAGO – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

3AM – SEATTLE V UTAH – MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY – THERUGBYNETWORK.COM

7PM – AGAINST THE HEAD – RTÉ2

* paid streaming service

RUGBY ON TV 

IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

THE IRISH RUGBY 

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

205F27

80+ column : June 5

On this week’s column…

🏉 SLIMANI REPORTS

🏉 ROB BURROW RIP

🏉 GALWAY FOR SAM?

🏉 LIFETIME BAN

🏉 CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK

🏉 WRAP OF A WRAP

🏉 HARPIN ON…RDS MEMORIES

🏉 QUALIFIED SUCCESS?

🏉 LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE

🏉 TROLL PATROL

🏉 LEINSTER PLAYERS’ GAZA STATEMENT

🏉 LEINSTER AWARDS

🏉 PERFECT RDS VID

🏉 EARLY FIXTURES

🏉 COMP UPDATES [Incl IRISH SHIELD & SVNS] 

FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

“A surprising but rather logical destination given the Irish squad next season.”

Leinster leading the race for Clermont’s Rabah Slimani – reports

Cian Locke – Irish Examiner

JLP : Obviously the word ‘reports’ does a lot of heavy lifting in the title although just because a province and/or the Irish media hasn’t reported something yet doesn’t mean it’s not happening and there have been question marks over Leinster’s TH stocks after Ala’alatoa leaves.  More on the general topic of NIQ signings further down the column.

“For those who knew Rob throughout his life, his determination and spirit in the face of MND over the last four and a half years came as no surprise.”

Rugby league star Rob Burrow dies aged 41 after motor neurone disease battle

RTE.ie

JLP : Needless to say it doesn’t matter what code is involved this was sad news across all of sport.  Former players like Rob who have contracted MND have done outstanding work to raise awareness.

“I think at this pivotal moment in time…I wouldn’t be keen for him to move if I was involved with Leinster.”

Debate rages around Irish Rugby’s biggest prospect’s future

Philip Bendon – RugbyDump

JLP : We have of course been harpin’ on Leinster’s 10 dilemma for ages but it’s interesting to see it popping up in articles outside the four provinces.  The Sam to Connacht thing was big news last week and looked like happening (even if the timing did seem strange right before he was getting ready to PLAY Connacht) but the tweet below from Joe Naughton would appear to have chucked some cold water on the spreading rumours…

As well as a lifetime playing ban, the player also received a 156-week ban – the equivalent of three years – from all forms of rugby, including coaching, refereeing and administration

Namibian rugby player handed life ban after attacking referee

Charles Richardson – NZ Herald (via Daily Telegraph UK)

JLP : Only two words of comment required here : “Proper” and “order”.

***CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK AWARD***

Heaslip disagreed with Murphy’s summation of the danger of the incident, and argued it had “quite a high level of danger”.

Jamie Heaslip Has Theory On How RG Snyman Escaped Card Vs Ulster

Oisin Gaffey – Balls.ie

JLP : This wins COTWA for having all the basic elements of perfect clickbait for Irish rugby fans, following the simple “Leinster player disputes something good tht happened to Munster or vice versa” formula, with the name Ulster thrown in for good measure.  Heaslip’s opinion does feature in the article, but so does Donal Lenihan’s, who also thought it could have been red.  His name in the heading might not have stirred things up quite so much though…

WRAP OF A WRAP

I was on Caolán Scully’s pod the day after the Champions Cup final and the other guest was a fellow Leinster fan David Cordial so I asked him to come on our wrap pod and he took to it like a fish to water.  Along with seasoned Harpin veteran Rich Mifsud we went back over the win over Connacht and for the final thoughts video we also looked at our favourite RDS memories as well as the upcoming URC quarterfinals.

If you missed the wrap pod, here’s a link for Spotify but it’s also available on Apple and other platforms, please subscribe there too and/or leave a review if you can.

QUICK TAP : QUALIFIED SUCCESS?

With all the talk stemming from the Jordie Barrett news I wanted to do a Quick Tap on the whole subject of NIQs and how we should handle them.

@harpinonrugby

From our 80+ column which posts every Wednesday afternoon at http://www.harpinonrugby.com rugbytiktok

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

The actual update has been suggesting for weeks now that Garry Ringrose was available for selection but this week it was actually brought up in the text that they release with the update so it looks like it could happen this weekend, and not before time!  

Hopefully we are able to go “full bore” for the rest of the season with the exception of Hugo Keenan who is committing to 7s.  I know the South Africa series is big but it would be really unfair on Leinster fans to have our players denied knockout game time because of it.

Harpin’ matchday 23 v Ulster : J O’Brien, Larmour, Henshaw, J Osborne, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park. 

Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan (c), Baird, van der Flier, Doris. 

Kelleher, Healy, Ala’alatoa, Molony, Conan/Connors, McGrath, Frawley, Ringrose.

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

OFFICIAL LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Charlie Ngatai: came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his return from a shoulder injury.

Garry Ringrose: is expected to return to full training this week after his return from a shoulder injury.

INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:

Jack Conan: was withdrawn as a precaution at the weekend and will be further assessed this week ahead of selection this weekend.

INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:

Tommy O’Brien: picked up a hamstring injury at the weekend and will enter a period of rehabilitation.

NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:

Jason Jenkins (knee), Liam Turner (arm), Lee Barron (shoulder), Alex Soroka (foot).

URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

I very much doubt there will be an open top bus inching through thousands of fans in Ballsbridge to celebrate Leinster’s retention of the Irish Shield any time soon, I’m pretty sure we’d have been happy with Munster winning it if we could swap for first place on the URC log.  The most positive angle from this “sub-competition” for me was the fact that of the 12 matches this season, 9 were decided by 7 points or less.

NOV 4 CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER

NOV 10 ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER

NOV 25 LEINSTER 21-16 MUNSTER

DEC 2 CONNACHT 22-24 LEINSTER

DEC 22 ULSTER 20-19 CONNACHT

DEC 26 MUNSTER 3-9 LEINSTER

JAN 1 CONNACHT 22-9 MUNSTER

JAN 1 LEINSTER 21-22 ULSTER

MAY 11 MUNSTER 47-12 CONNACHT

MAY 18 ULSTER 23-21  LEINSTER

MAY 31 LEINSTER 33-7 CONNACHT

JUNE 1 MUNSTER 29-24 ULSTER

TROLL PATROL

@mahasamatman12

“A zero point loss”  You harpin’ clowns never cease to amaze!

Straightforward trolling here.  For context, in our Connacht preview show I asked Keego what he made of the Champions Cup final and after he responded I pointed out that in recent finals we had lost by 1 or 2 points so with this one having been level after 80 minutes you could say it was a zero point loss.  My overall point was that all the finals were close, not that we didn’t deserve to lose them, we have harped on that ad nauseum at other times.  Anyway, this guy jumped on it so I wish to repeat my invitation for him to appear on our show anytime to “show us how it’s done”.  You may be shocked to learn that he is yet to respond.  I’m starting to think he may not want to.

If you ever see an online contribution that seems worthy of inclusion here, by all means do share.

LEINSTER PLAYERS’ GAZA STATEMENT

They say sports and politics shouldn’t mix.  I say bollocks to that. 

I mean, that’s not to say that if we have chosen sports as our principle topic for content, we should be using that platform to also share political views – that would be disrespectful.  HOWEVER some subjects might be called ‘political’ when they actually transcend that, sport, and all other current affairs and IMO Gaza is one of them and I was extremely proud to see the Leinster players releasing this statement.

Also on the Quick Tap video above I chose to use my “final comment” to persuade people to vote in the upcoming local & European elections.  To be clear, I would never say WHO anyone should vote for, just that they exercise their right to vote.

LEINSTER AWARDS

Congrats to all, here’s the official Leinster copy…

Aoife Dalton and Jamison Gibson-Park were the big winners as they took home the Bank of Ireland Men’s and Women’s Player of the Year awards at the Leinster Rugby Awards Ball on Saturday evening.

It’s been an incredible 12 months for Dalton who picked up the Young Player Award at the 2023 event and has now backed it up a year later with the Senior Award after brilliant performances in blue as Leinster regained the Interpro title from Munster.

For Gibson-Park it caps a remarkable few years for the scrumhalf who has made the Leinster and the Ireland number nine jersey his own with a string of stunning performances for club and country.

Other players celebrating included Joe McCarthy and Aoife Wafer who were presented with the Laya Healthcare Men’s Young Player of the Year and BearingPoint Women’s Young Player of the Year Awards.

It it capped a brilliant few weeks for McCarthy and Wafer who were also recognised at the Rugby Players Ireland Awards, while McCarthy was also named the Just Eat Supporters Player of the Season at Friday’s game against Connacht Rugby at the RDS Arena.

Hosted by Joe Molloy, with musical entertainment provided by Manila Strings, the evening brought the curtain down on the 2023/24 domestic season across the 12 counties of Leinster, while also recognising the efforts of the senior men and women sides.

It also marked the final formal engagement for the province’s outgoing President Billy Murphy. The proud UCD club man opened proceedings with a fitting tribute to all those that contributed on and off the pitch and in particular that had helped him across his 12 months as Branch President.

After that it was over to Molloy to get the evening underway and over the course of the next few hours, the best of the game at all levels in Leinster was celebrated.

Departing players and staff were also acknowledged, with a brilliant ovation in particular for the departing trio of Ed Byrne, Ross Molony and Rhys Ruddock.

Mick Dawson was the latest inductee into the Guinness Hall of Fame. The former Leinster Rugby CEO was warmly received by the audience, in recognition of a stellar 21-plus years at the helm.

Another person to be acknowledged for a stellar contribution to the game of rugby in Leinster was the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee, James McCourt, who received the Energia Contribution to Leinster Rugby award for his tireless efforts.

He was presented with his award on behalf of Energia by the Leinster Rugby Culture Captain, Andrew McCarthy, who was also recognised for his efforts over the season by Leinster co-captains, James Ryan and Garry Ringrose.

Clontarf FC, Seapoint Rugby Club, St Mary’s College, Rathmines and Coláiste Mhuire CBS, Mullingar were other big winners on the night.

Jordan Larmour accepted the award for the Bank of Ireland ‘Never Stop Competing’ Tackle of the Year for his try-saving effort in the Champions Cup Final against Toulouse, while Ciarán Frawley’s effort against Connacht Rugby was the winner of the Irish Times Try of the Year.

2023/24 LEINSTER RUGBY AWARDS – LIST OF WINNERS:

Nissan Ireland Development School of the Year: Coláiste Mhuire CBS, Mullingar

Bank of Ireland ‘Never Stop Competing’ Tackle of the Year: Jordan Larmour

Beauchamps School of the Year: St Mary’s College, Rathmines

Energia Contribution to Leinster Rugby: James McCourt

Irish Times Try of the Year: Ciarán Frawley (v Connacht Rugby)

DigitalWell Junior Club of the Year: Seapoint Rugby Club

BDO Senior Club of the Year: Clontarf FC

Just Eat Supporters Player of the Year: Joe McCarthy

Guinness Hall of Fame: Mick Dawson

BearingPoint Women’s Young Player of the Year: Aoife Wafer

Laya Healthcare Men’s Young Player of the Year: Joe McCarthy

Band of Ireland Women’s Player of the Year: Aoife Dalton

Bank of Ireland Men’s Player of the Year: Jamison Gibson-Park

PERFECT RDS VID

Not much more comment required here, this video was brilliant.

EARLY FIXTURES

According to my Google Calendar, these 24/25 URC fixtures were actually due even earlier, the 22nd of May to be precise.  But still, for them to come out a week later was still an excellent idea to help people plan ahead for trips and whatnot, although I do know many who are keen to wait for the Champions Cup draw before they go clicking for hotels and flights.

“SVNS” UPDATE

Overall you have to say 5th and 6th placed finishes are disappointing when you consider both our teams are capable of winning medals in Paris.  But it certainly wasn’t all bad, in fact technically the men’s team went the entire weekend unbeaten.  We had to push for last gasp tries in all three of our pool matches but only one of those produced a win and with the “golden point” system in place, we fell short against both Fiji and New Zealand which meant we had to make do with the playoffs for 5th place where we dispatched both GB and RSA.  And going back to those extra time matches, we had more “poor luck” in both of them, with the Fijians lucky not to see red for that challenge and NZ shipping a penalty on our breakaway towards the end which really should have seen yellow.  On the negative side I wondered if both of New Zealand’s opening tries against us were a result of Hugo Keenan being a bit match rusty in this code – I thought he tried to take a bit too much out of his carries allowing the opposition to pounce.  He does have buckets of 7s experience of course he just needs a bit more game time.

Anyway on the women’s side, well nobody would get off to a good start to a comp when facing the Aussies, we couldn’t get past Fiji nor the USA either although wins over France and GB helped us stay away from the bottom two places.

MADRID (FINALS)

#IREW7s

13-44 AUSTRALIA

5-31 FIJI

26-19 FRANCE

5TH PLACE PLAYOFFS

20-0 GREAT BRITAIN

14-27 USA

#IREM7s

26-21 SOUTH AFRICA

21-26* FIJI

17-22* NEW ZEALAND

5TH PLACE PLAYOFFS

19-14 GREAT BRITAIN

12-7 SOUTH AFRICA

🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Europe’s love triangle of close finishes involving Leinster, Toulouse and La Rochelle continues with the French sides also finishing the 80 minutes level on Sunday night.  There are several fascinating battles in the simultaneous final round, best of which has to be the straight shoot out for an automatic semifinal spot between Stade and Toulon.  But another shootout of note is ROG v Stu as the loser of La Rochelle v Racing could miss out on the barrages altogether.

Round 25

PERPIGNAN 37-30 BORDEAUX

OYONNAX 27-20 BAYONNE

CASTRES 27-18 STADE FRANÇAIS 

MONTPELLIER 41-26 LYON

RACING 92 24-15 PAU

TOULON 52-10 CLÉRMONT

TOULOUSE 31-31 LA ROCHELLE

Round 26

SUN JUNE 8

BAYONNE V CASTRES

BORDEAUX V OYONNAX

CLÉRMONT V MONTPELLIER

LA ROCHELLE V RACING 92

LYON V TOULOUSE

STADE FRANÇAIS V TOULON

PAU V PERPIGNAN

PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Have to admit I never got to see either of these matches although both had their moments by all accounts, not least of which was one after the final whistle at the Rec!  Everything stayed with the seedings anyway and it should be an interesting “Battle of the Fin/ns” this weekend.

PLAYOFFS

NORTHAMPTON 22-20 SARACENS

BATH 31-23 SALE SHARKS

FINAL

SAT JUNE 8

NORTHAMPTON V BATH

SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

Sad, but not surprising, to learn of the imminent demise of the Melbourne Rebels, and had they managed to overcome Fijian Drua in their final regular season match they actually could have sneaked the Crusaders into the final eight.  But despite the defeat the Rebels still must take to the field at least one more time as they DID reach the knockouts where I doubt they’ll have enough to win in Wellington.  In fact all the quarterfinals look like home bankers although the Reds could cause an upset at the Chiefs.

ROUND 15

CRUSADERS 43-10 MOANA PASIFIKA

WARATAHS 26-27 REDS

FIJIAN DRUA 40-19 REBELS

HURRICANES 41-14 HIGHLANDERS

BLUES 31-17 CHIEFS

WESTERN FORCE 19-24 BRUMBIES

QUARTERFINALS

FRI JUNE 7

CHIEFS V REDS

SAT JUNE 8

HURRICANES V REBELS

BLUES V FIJIAN DRUA

BRUMBIES V HIGHLANDERS

MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Like I said on last week’s column, my adopted team for this season the Chicago Hounds probably needed the week off to prepare for the final push and from here on in there are no off weeks, just four weeks of rugby as the 12 clubs look to whittle themselves down to 8.  In the east Chicago must look to keep up with NOLA and Old Glory ahead of them while New England look on track to finish first while in the west, Houston are still the team to beat although Seattle are likely to push them close over the coming month.

ROUND 14

OLD GLORY 47-29 ANTHEM RC

NOLA GOLD 7-21 HOUSTON

UTAH 20-27 SAN DIEGO

NEW ENGLAND 26-24 DALLAS

LOS ANGELES 45-15 MIAMI

SUN JUNE 9

OLD GLORY DC V NEW ENGLAND

HOUSTON V LOS ANGELES

SAN DIEGO V ANTHEM RC

MIAMI V NOLA GOLD

MON JUNE 10

DALLAS V CHICAGO

SEATTLE V UTAH

HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

The regular season went right down to the wire with only the 1st tie-breaker of “winning predictions” separating Kino and Kristian.  We now move into the URC playoffs where the usual points will be multiplied by factors of 1.5, 2 and 3 across the three rounds until we have a winner, so technically I still have a chance although I have to correctly predict multiple major upsets to do so.  It’s not like I’m without form on this though…last season I was in 3rd place on the day of the URC final but being the only one to predict a Munster win I leapfrogged to the title, so you never know…

NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Ulster up next – preview recording Friday, wrap pod on Sunday, and as ever there will be tweets and TikToks and Threads and all sorts in our other usual haunts in the ruggersphere – do keep in touch!

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP