Big match today to end the season promises to be a classic.
Obvs the Stormers will be favourites on their home patch but anyone who thinks Munster can’t complete what would be an unprecedented 3 away playoff wins on the bounce hasn’t been paying attention.
FWIW I reckon Graham, Peter & co will get ‘er done.
For the past few weeks we’ve been putting the matchday squads from upcoming matches through ChatGPT to see what kind of match it generates so for the record, this is what the app came up with….
PROMPT
Imagine a game of 15-a-side rugby union between DHL Stormers and Munster Rugby over two halves of 40 minutes with the two lineups outlined below, taking into account the current reputation and form of all the players involved.
DHL Stormers: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Angelo Davids, 13 Ruhan Nel, 12 Dan du Plessis, 11 Leolin Zas, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Hacjivah Dayimani, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Steven Kitshoff (captain).
16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ali Vermaak, 18 Neethling Fouche, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Willie Engelbrecht, 21 Marcel Theunissen, 22 Paul de Wet, 23 Clayton Blommetjies.
Munster: 15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Malakai Fekitoa, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Conor Murray
1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 3 Stephen Archer; 4 Jean Kleyn, 5 Tadhg Beirne; 6 Peter O’Mahony (C), 7 John Hodnett, 8 Gavin Coombes.
16 Niall Scannell, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Alex Kendellen, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Keith Earls
Write 2000 words on the progress of the match in the form of a timeline (no conclusion, just the timeline only) reporting incidents like tries, conversions, penalties, injuries and yellow or red cards.
0’ – The match starts with DHL Stormers kicking off to Munster.
4’ – Evan Roos makes a powerful run but is tackled by Peter O’Mahony. Stormers get penalized for holding on.
5’ – Jack Crowley kicks the penalty over and Munster take an early 3-0 lead.
9’ – A great offload from Tadhg Beirne sends Gavin Coombes over the line for a try. Crowley converts and Munster lead 10-0.
14’ – Herschel Jantjies puts in a clever chip over the Munster defense and Leolin Zas collects it, dives over the line and scores a try for Stormers. Damian Willemse misses the conversion. Munster leads 10-5.
19’ – Munster put together a great attack, Jack Crowley releases Antoine Frisch who dives over in the corner to score a try. Jack Crowley converts, Munster 17-5 up.
25’ – Evan Roos makes a break through the Munster defence, but is tackled by Diarmuid Barron. The Stormers knock on and Munster wins the scrum.
31’ – A great box kick from Conor Murray is collected by Antoine Frisch who twists and turns his way through the Stormers defence to score his second try of the match. Crowley with a great conversion extends Munster’s lead to 24-5.
36’ – The Stormers put together a number of phases and eventually Ruben van Heerden burrows his way over the line for a try. Damian Willemse converts. Munster still leads 24-12.
40’ – Half time arrives with Munster in control of the game, leading 24-12. The Stormers will need to stage a comeback in the second half to win.
45’ – The Stormers start the second half dominating the early exchanges, but are unable to convert into points.
50’ – A great break from Herschel Jantjies sends Damian Willemse over the Munster try line to score. Willemse adds the conversion. Stormers start to pull their way back into the match, Munster 24-19.
55’ – A red card for Munster! Peter O’Mahony is shown the red card for a high tackle on Herschel Jantjies. Munster will play the rest of the match with 14 men.
59’ – The Stormers capitalize on the one-man advantage with Steven Kitshoff scoring a try to level the game at 24-24. Willemse makes the conversion, Stormers in the lead for the first time in the match, 26-24.
62’ – Munster hit back with a break from Shane Daly. Antoine Frisch scores his hat-trick, with Crowley converting to give Munster the lead once again, 31-26.
68’ – The Stormers make changes, bringing on Willie Engelbrecht, Neethling Fouche and Ben-Jason Dixon.
72’ – A yellow card for Stormers’ Hacjivah Dayimani after a high tackle on Jack Crowley.
74’ – Jack Crowley slots the penalty over, increasing Munster’s lead to 34-26.
79’ – Munster on the attack, but the ball is turned over by Stormers’ Deon Fourie who makes a break. Munster penalized for holding on.
80’ – Full time! Munster Rugby hold on to win the match 34-26 over DHL Stormers.
Normally we do an 80+ column on Tuesdays but we thought we’d take a few days off here at Harpin Manor so to keep the content train rolling for now we’ll share not only this week’s bonus clip from our weekly pod, but also some of the most popular ones from over the course of the season. Do enjoy and maybe even share if the mood takes you.
The column will be back next week where I’ll review the URC final, cover a few more topical Harpin points including all the online nonsense since the HCC final, as well as tying up a few other loose ends.
PS – yes, we do note the irony of the “Stormers rivalry with Leinster” video, we would of course love to be having another crack at them this season but still wish Munster all the best in Cape Town this weekend!
The true impact of James Ryan on this team is now fully understood. Better team over 80 minutes won, without Ryan we had no answer to Skelton, ref had a good game. This was the 2011 final won for a second star by a team dead and buried after the first quarter. Jack Conan was again superb.
Hugely disappointing. 17 points up and we stoped playing. Signs of panic Kicked so much ball away. Hard to see how this team progresses .Winning by 40 points each week is no preparation
Sometimes teams need to win ugly and grind a result, Leinster need to learn how to do this. No point taking a big lead and not knowing how to defend it
Hard luck Leinster folks. That was some start but LaR ground their way back in and then strangled Leinster with their power. I think they were helped in that by James Ryan’s absence (physicality and leadership), kicks out on the full, a blocked attempted clearance, some needless penalties / cards, and some wayward long kicking back to them. The slowdown in tempo from Q2 onwards helped LaR but hindered Leinster. Can’t understand why there wasn’t a drop goal attempt at the end; a try wasn’t needed at that stage.
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Our preview show ahead of Saturday’s match at the Aviva was our 250th pod since we posted our first back on July 5, 2019. Obviously there have been a lot more this season since we switched from article- to pod-based format, and going right the way back to the preseason friendly against Harlequins in September 2022, our “wrap pod” recorded on Sunday night at 8pm at Harpin Manor has only once featured a defeat for either Leinster or Ireland, namely the tanking against the Bulls which as we all know had no real consequence when it came to our final position.
So this latest one, our 40th this season, was the very first one where we had to suck it up and literally admit defeat for up to an hour. And I have to say Tom and Rich did an excellent job stepping up to the plate, especially since I dare anyone, and I mean ANYONE to say they were in any way complaining about how the match wen
If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…THE FRANK MURPHY DEBATE
I decided to set a bit of a trap with the bonus clip this week. Like I said in the above segment, a lot of Munster and probably also ABL fans are likely to expect a lot of whinging by Leinster fans, so I thought maybe this headline would make them think that’s what we’re doing when it comes to the discussion over Frank Murphy’s performance. As you can see from the actual discussion, which includes a video insert from Keego, it was anything but.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
URC FINAL TIK TOK
The common theme from Leinster fans that I have seen around the ruggersphere since the final whistle has been “Fair play Munster, now go on and win it.” For the clip I use for TikTok to promote the wrap pod, I chose this snippet from Rich where he goes a bit further…
First of all, as we said on the pod, it should be ok to mention Ben Healy going 3 seconds over the kick clock without being accused of creating outrage as if it led directly to the Munster win. It should be easy enough for the TMO to police this and offer a ten second warning to the ref which he can pass on to the kicker.
Second of all, to the Munster fans claiming Leinster are grumbling over this, can I just ask how they’d react if it were Johnny Sexton going over the clock by a nano-second and nothing was done and the boys in blue won by a point? 😜
When there is no in stadium clock that the officials or players can refer to, the timing of the kick is solely at the discretion of the referee.
Of course, this was easily verifiable with the URC.
Might as well share this set of “fun facts” sent around by EPCR ahead of Saturday’s final….
• Holders, Stade Rochelais, have reached the Heineken Champions Cup final for the third season in a row, and having qualified for the 2019 Challenge Cup decider, the club’s appearance at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday will be their fourth EPCR final in five years.
• Stade Toulousain in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and RC Toulon (2013, 2014, 2015) are the only other clubs to have qualified for three consecutive Heineken Champions Cup finals.
• Leinster Rugby will be appearing in a seventh Heineken Champions Cup final and will be looking to equal Stade Toulousain’s record of five titles.
• If Cian Healy is selected in Leinster’s match day 23 for the final, and if the Irish province are victorious, he will become the first player in history to win the tournament five times.
• Healy could also set a new tournament record of seven final appearances surpassing his total of six which he shares with Leinster teammate, Johnny Sexton, and Cédric Heymans of CA Brive and Stade Toulousain.
• The Stade Rochelais captain, Greg Alldritt, has made the most carries this season with 112 from his seven matches to date.
• The final will be the sixth between Irish and French clubs with the Irish currently leading the way with four victories to one.
• Antoine Hastoy of Stade Rochelais is this season’s leading scorer with 85 points, four ahead of Leinster’s Ross Byrne on 81. Josh van der Flier is the top try scorer with six while Tawera Kerr-Barlow has crossed for five.
• If they are named in their respective match day 23s, both Tadgh Furlong and Brice Dulin will make their 50th Heineken Champions Cup appearances on Saturday.
• Players from eight different countries – Argentina, Australia, Fiji, France, Ireland, New Zealand, Samoa and South Africa – are likely to feature in Saturday’s showpiece match which will be watched by TV viewers in close to 200 countries worldwide.
• Leinster’s Jimmy O’Brien is the tournament’s top metre maker on 449 and he also has made the most line breaks with 13.
CENTRES OF ATTENTION
Charlie Ngatai has been really impressive for the most part over the past few weeks. I thought maybe he made a couple of wrong decisions in that final fifteen minute spell last Saturday when he kicked the ball away when he didn’t really have to, which for him is strange to say because he’s very much a “keep the ball in hand” kinda 12. But I chose not to say it on the pod because I didn’t want it to take from his overall performance.
The reason I bring it up here is because as vital a cog as he has been for us this season, it simply cannot be overstated how much better it is for Leinster to have Henshaw and Ringrose back together this weekend, which is what I’m assuming will happen. Ngatai’s crash carries may have generated a bunch of go-forward ball against Munster, but it also served to limit Robbie’s effectiveness over the 80 minutes, and with the Jenkins try we saw just how effective he can be, an exception that proved the rule if you will.
Now with him and Garry back together (I’m assuming, see predicted 23 below) not only do we have a solid defensive cornerstone partnership but it also adds a host of options to our attack, and anyone who saw last year’s final will know it’s our attack which we’re going to need the most.
All that said, Charlie could come in very handy off the bench for Leinster.
URC PLAYOFFS
There has been a few grumblings around the place about the URC playoff system over the past few weeks, long before the result on Saturday at the Aviva too. The suggestion seems to be that 8 might be too many qualifiers for the knockout stages.
I see where that idea is coming from, but I still disagree. It’s a 5-nations, 16-team competition that is surely going to look to expand so I reckon it’s important to keep the interest levels up as much as possible. I know Champions Cup qualification is also a reward for top 8 (especially now as they’ve finally removed the whole Shield nonsense) but I still think it’s ok to have playoffs as a reward for this season’s squad who actually achieved the position.
So what I would propose is a playoff system similar to that used in both Aussie Rugby League & Rules. Basically it gives the higher-finishing team a “double chance”. Instead of a straight knockout system like we have now where the QFs are 1v8 2v7 3v6 and 4v5, it could go like this…
FIRST ROUND
A : 1 V 4
B : 2 V 3
C : 5 V 8
D : 6 V 7
SECOND ROUND
E : Highest ranked loser A/B v lowest ranked winner C/D
F : Lowest ranked loser A/B v highest ranked winner C/D
SEMIFINALS
G : Highest ranked winner A/B v lowest ranked winner E/F
H : Lowest ranked winner A/B v highest ranked winner E/F
FINAL
I : Winner G v Winner H
It would need an extra weekend to be found on the calendar but I reckon it would be worth it as a bit more of a reward for the top 4 finishers than home advantage. I’m sure there are drawbacks to this system as well but I guess my overall point is that I’d be inclined to retain 8 qualifiers, especially if more teams are going to be joining the league down the line.
LONDON IRISH
Very, very concerning news surrounding London Irish’s financial viability on the back of Wasps and Worcester’s woes earlier in the season. Obviously the most important concern is over the future of all the jobs which appear to be at risk.
On the rugby fallout, they actually had a decent season on the pitch and their 5th place finish makes them candidates for Leinster to meet in the Champions Cup pool stage, as things stand it would be either them or Harlequins. Should Irish not be able to compete, I’m assuming that Bristol would make it to the HCC despite having finished 3rd from bottom of the Prem, and it would be Exeter that could be our HCC opponents.
It goes without saying that the entire rugby family is hoping that none of those contingencies are needed.
HCC AS GUINEA PIGS?
Speaking of the makeup of the HCC,its much-maligned format came back into the news yesterday as the European football governing body UEFA announced it’s plans to overhaul it’s Champions League from an 8-pools of 4 method to a clunky 1 league of THIRTY-SIX with 8 matches each and as many as 24 qualifying for the knockout rounds. It’s so similar to that used by the Heineken Cup I’m almost tin-foil hatted enough to wonder if we have been used as guinea pigs for the past few seasons?
Apparently the HCC format is to be reviewed after the 23/24 season so we’ll see what they come up with. Expect another year of complaining in the meantime though.
Almost like HCC has been a UEFA guinea pig these last few seasons.
With the obvious high-profile exceptions of Will Connors and Johnny Sexton, this was overall a really good injury report for Leinster in the week leading up to a Champions Cup final. It was a pleasure to type out that possible 23.
Some might argue that Doris can play 6 with Conan at 8 and Baird at 20, but I think this formation is better for Leinster which would make Conan the unlucky one yet still ready to make a massive impact from the bench.
For me the real debate is over 22 & 23. First, do we go for a 6/2 split to give us extra beef against the La Rochelle pack? It certainly didn’t hurt Munster last Saturday. If so I’d probably go for Deegan as the extra man with Frawley’s versatility getting the nod over Harry.
I still think it’s more likely we go for a 5/3. Personally I’d stick with Frawley as 22 with the hope that Ross can play a full 80, and that would leave us with a question of Ngatai or Larmour as the 23. Either would be great, but FWIW I’m thinking we need an out and out winger in reserve so I’d probably go for Larmour.
On the subject of squad selection, should we have picked a full team for last Saturday? It’s easy to say yes now, but remember we WERE NOT HAMMERED by Munster as many seem to suggest. There was just the one point in it and it could easily have gone the other way.
That said, you can definitely make an argument for having a policy that our strongest team gets picked for any and every semifinal. To play your best side in the showpiece is of course the ideal, but first you must make it there and when you’re as close as the final four better to give yourself the best chance and let the injury chips fall where they may.
POSSIBLE 23 V LA ROCHELLE
Keenan, J O’Brien, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe, R Byrne, Gibson-Park
Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, Molony, Ryan (c), Baird, JVDF, Doris
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT
Cian Healy came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from an ankle injury.
Rónan Kelleher came through the game at the weekend with no issues after his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Robbie Henshaw came through the game at the weekend with no issues after recovering from a quad issue.
James Lowe was part of the extended match day squad at the weekend and will train as normal this week.
Scott Penny has come through the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be available for selection this week.
Will Connors has entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be unavailable for selection this week.
There are no further updates on:
Vakhtang Abdaladze (neck), Ed Byrne (tricep), Rhys Ruddock (hamstring), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Martin Moloney (knee)
SEVENS UPDATE
Both Irish teams were involved in Toulouse at the weekend, and both made the quarterfinals on the way to a 6th place finish, but the headlines was always going to be for Lucy Mullhall’s women’s squad who earned enough points to qualify directly for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Obviously it’s a wonderful achievement and just what the women’s game here needed what with all the recent doom and gloom.
And it’s not like they didn’t earn it – I watched most of their games over the weekend (hat-tip to Google Calendar reminders) and from the very first match against the hosts France they were magnificent, especially on defence. A lot of star names in that squad like Mulhall, Higgins, Flood, Parsons, Aimee Lee Murphy Crowe ( or “Lawfirm” as our contributor Mark Jackson calls her)…the whole team played well throughout and as it turned out were unlucky to meet Australia twice otherwise they may have finished higher.
Still when it came to Olympic qualification it ended up as a straight shootout between ourselves and Fiji – the winner qualifies for Paris, the loser has to wait and try again another day. And our defence was tip top for this one as two Lawfirm tries were enough to win 10-5 which mean the celebrations could begin and that was awesome to see. Certainly lifted my spirits on Sunday morning after all that had gone on the evening before!!!!!
As for the men well like I say they also finished 6th in Toulouse but it wasn’t enough to prevent them from having to go through further Olympic qualifiers but still there have been many highlights for them this season particularly the silver medal in Dubai.
Still one round to go for them in London this weekend hopefully they can finish in style.
SATURDAY MAY 23
10:23AM – IRELAND MEN V FIJI
1:31PM – IRELAND MEN V JAPAN
5:35PM – IRELAND MEN V ARGENTINA
MLR UPDATE
I’ve been keeping tabs on the MLR this season, adopting the New England Free Jacks as “my team” and in the latest round they travelled to Loudon, Virginia to face Old Glory DC. It was billed as a battle of 1st vs 2nd in the Eastern Conference but in the first half it was more a case of men v boys as the Free Jacks halfback pairing of Poland and Portroz led the side to a 28-7 lead at the break with the try bonus point in the bag.
DC fought back a bit to get a BP of their own but the visitors were pretty much coasting throughout and in the end it was a 42-24 victory which extends their lead in the East. Referee for the day was Argentinian Federico Anselmi, who has officiated at test level and wasn’t taking any back chat from the players on the day, that’s for sure.
There’s highlights in the tweet below and the build up to my favourite Free Jacks try comes 17s into the clip.
Meanwhile out in the west, San Diego’s win over New Orleans was their 11th out of 12 and they remain 9 pts clear of Seattle with Houston and Utah seeming to be in a two horse race for the third playoff spot.
NGL I really, really did consider predicting a Munster win to try and make up some ground. And I know many will think of that as “arrogance” but the fact remains Leinster were 10 point favourites with the bookies so the prediction really would have been a gamble. Instead I went for both semifinals as 7-point home wins and, well, that didn’t happen!!! So it looks like I’m going to finish 3rd, which is a hell of a lot better than the wooden spoon last season I suppose.
As for this year’s title it’s now between Mark Jackson & RugbyKino with MJ in pole position. I’d expect him to play it safe with the final and go for the Stormers and if I were Kino I’d go for Munster but we’ll see what they go for on the day.
Meanwhile I will have the “Jersey Of Shame” packed and ready to post to Keego when the final whistle blows in the final as I can’t really see him clawing back that deficit somehow…
AI RUGBY : LEINSTER V MUNSTER ‘DRY RUN’
What did AI know???? Maybe the match finished a lot closer in reality, but when I fed the two teams into the ChatGPT app it did come up with a win for our Southern cousins. We’ll see what it says about LEIvLAR this Friday…
PROMPT
Imagine a game of 15-a-side rugby union between Leinster Rugby and Munster Rugby over two halves of 40 minutes with the two lineups outlined below, taking into account the current reputation and form of all the players involved.
Leinster : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath CAPTAIN
1. Michael Milne 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ryan Baird 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. Jack Conan
16. John McKee 17. Cian Healy 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Joe McCarthy 20. Josh van der Flier 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Ciarán Frawley 23. Liam Turner
Munster: 15 Mike Haley; 14 Keith Earls, 13 Antoine Frisch, 12 Jack Crowley, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Ben Healy, 9 Craig Casey
1 Jeremy Loughman, 2 Diarmuid Barron, 3 Stephen Archer; 4 Jean Kleyn, 5 Tadhg Beirne; 6 Peter O’Mahony (C), 7 John Hodnett, 8 Gavin Coombes.
16 Niall Scannell, 17 Josh Wycherley, 18 Roman Salanoa, 19 Fineen Wycherley, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 Rory Scannell, 23 Alex Kendellen
Write 2000 words on the progress of the match in the form of a timeline (no conclusion, just the timeline only) reporting incidents like tries, conversions, penalties, injuries and yellow or red cards.
AI RESPONSE
0-10 minutes: The game starts with a lot of intensity from both teams as they try to stamp their authority. There are some physical exchanges in the early minutes with both teams making their tackles count.
10-20 minutes: Leinster draws first blood with a try from winger Tommy O’Brien following some slick handling in the backline. Harry Byrne makes no mistake with the conversion.
20-30 minutes: Munster responds with a try from winger Keith Earls, who ghosts past a couple of defenders to cross over the try line. Ben Healy adds the extras to level the scores.
30-40 minutes: Leinster applies some sustained pressure to Munster’s defense, but they struggle to break through. Harry Byrne kicks a penalty towards the end of the half to give Leinster a slender 10-7 lead.
Half-time: Leinster 10-7 Munster
45-55 minutes: Munster comes out firing in the second half and takes the lead with two tries in quick succession – one from Peter O’Mahony and the other from Craig Casey. Healy adds the extras from both tries to give Munster a 21-10 lead.
55-60 minutes: Leinster hits back with a try from prop Michael Ala’alatoa following a series of pick-and-gos close to the Munster try line. Byrne’s conversion leaves the score at 21-17 in Munster’s favor.
60-70 minutes: Munster extends its lead with tries from center Jack Crowley and replacement hooker Niall Scannell. Healy successfully converts both tries to put Munster in the driving seat with a 35-17 lead.Yellow card: 66th minute – Munster’s Tadhg Beirne for a high tackle.
70-75 minutes: Leinster scores a quick try from flanker Will Connors to keep the game alive, but they are still trailing by 35-24 with less than 10 minutes to go.
75-80 minutes: Leinster pushes hard for another score, but Munster defends resolutely, thwarting any attacking opportunities. The game ends with Munster coming out on top, 35-24.
Full-time: Leinster 24-35 Munster
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
One teeny tiny advantage from Saturday’s result has been that it allows me to give myself the week off following the Champions Cup final. So during the week we will of course be giving the showpiece the full Harpin treatment with a preview on Friday, the last wrap pod of the season on Sunday, and a whole lot in between. The gloom is slowly but surely turning into nervous but still excited anticipation so I hope you’ll join me along the way by any or all of our social media platforms.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
In the stand, if you believe the boos, comments here, comments all over the Internet etc we can only blame one person but I blame the urc. How did they put that referee in the position that he can be blamed? It’s outrageous that he be put in that position. Any other ref could be chosen so that the “he played” nonsense wouldn’t be am issue.
Regardless, you play the decisions, and adapt.
Well done munster, good luck on the 27th.
Craig Grehan
As an out & out leinster fan. We disrespected munster in cup rugby by not selecting our best team.
A team that does that, does it at their peril. We took the gamble and lost to the MUCH better team on the day.
Andrew Potts
A disappointing day for Leinster fond the demands of a month of weekly knock out rugby a step to far today.
Could have won it but Munster could had a few tries.
Frank Murphy did nothing today but enhance his reputation as a very flawed Ref and biased against Leinster.
In the first minute a player leaves the field unconscious. The result of a high tackle.
I thought three questions had to be answered by the Ref
Was there contact with the head?
Was force applied?
Any mitigation ?
It’s a card but only what colour.
The sanctions must have changed.
The length of time Leinster were defending under advantage was ridiculous, certainly he was a factor.
John Hyland
Munster were the better side today. For right or for wrong, Leo has prioritised the fifth star. This was always going to be a tight game. Let’s hope Munster can do the biz in SA.
TWITTER
Munster deserve it. Leinster played badly. Frank Murphy should not ref these games. All of this is true, go on and win now Munster. #leivmun
Seeing a lot of this. Unsure it's anything like a big loss. I get that teams who haven't touched a trophy in seasons don't like other teams with more W, but every dog has its day. A gambled kick through on 72 mins turned out to be a pivotal error, a missed conversion likewise. 👍 https://t.co/e95VfHl4O1
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Friday, June 12, 2012 is when Keego posted his first article on the old HarpinOnRugby.net website, titled “Keego on…Kidney & Kryptonite”. Then on Friday, March 1, 2013 we got the first offering from Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir, titled “Stat of the Nation Address”. For over 10 years they have both added their own brand of awesome content and it was great to have two “old school” contributors help me wrap the win over the Sharks for our latest pod.
If you missed it, check it out on Spotify here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…LEINSTER’S SQUAD MANAGEMENT
For our bonus clip we harped on Leinster’s enviable headache of keeping a 60-strong squad of players happy, over the season as a whole and particularly over this period of weekly knockout fixtures.
One point I forgot to mention was the critical cultivation of what I call “switch hitting props”, a kind of crude adaptation of baseball terminology but I still like to use it. Allowing the likes of Andrew Porter and Cian Healy to be match ready on both sides of the front row has played a major role in Leinster’s ability to react to injuries over the course of a match AND a season over the past couple of years.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
JORDAN LARMOUR TRY TIK TOK
Might have been against 14 (or as Kino pointed out just before this TikTok clip, essentially 13 due to an injury to du Toit) but Harry Byrne’s crossfield kick to Larmour for our third try was still a joy to watch.
I’m sorry but this really, really, REALLY bugs me. Just to be clear, I don’t mean the sporting act itself, rather the fact that people try to make out that you only see things like this in rugby. NOT. THE. CASE. It really is very simple – first, there are examples of good sportsmanship in all sports but also, it’s not like rugby is perfectly clean all the time either. The whole concept of “rugby values” never really sat well with me, partly because it’s not sport-specific but also there’s a tinge of elitism to it as well.
Can we not just say this was a nice thing to do and move on?
I’m calling it “Avivapalooza”, namely the festival of rugby at Irish HQ that goes way back to Ireland’s Grand Slam victory. From March 18 until now there have been 8 weekends, with 5 of them having Leinster/Ireland at the Aviva, 1 at the RDS and the other two literally in the other half of the world. All this with two and possibly three more to come over the next few weeks. Is this me complaining? Absolutely not. Am I agreeing with those ABL factions on social media who claim the sport is rigged? Also absolutely not – with the exception of the HCC final for which Ireland was due, home advantage is earned and Leinster have definitely done that on the pitch. Still worth noting how often we’re going to the venue these days, though. Reminds me of the 2012/13 season when a similar series of quirky happenings saw the RDS host 5 weeks of matches in a row. Not the easiest to sell when you live in a house where you’re the only egg-chasing nut!!!!
DOING THE DOUBLE
While I’m on the subject of Leinster’s knockout rugby fetish, I might as well take the excuse to bring up my constant bugbear over the structure of the European rugby season. I have said for a long, long time that it needs an overhaul to an extent where the two major competitions that every club can win each season are played in separate blocks over the season.
That way not only can a club be rewarded for being on form in the earlier half of the season, but also it would remove what I think is a ridiculous requirement for coaches to pick and choose which matches they want to prioritize over the course of a season. The ideal should be for coaches to select their best available squad for every weekend and while I know this can’t ALWAYS be done, the status quo rules it out altogether and just because it has been normalised over decades doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be changed as far as I’m concerned.
I know Leicester, Wasps, Toulouse, Exeter and Sarries have all managed to “do the double” over the years (although one or two of the more recent ones do come with COVID/salary cap asterisks) but as things stand right now I have to wonder if Leinster are the only team that could possibly have the resources to come close to winning both if something doesn’t change. I mean as much as that fact pleases me as a fan of the province, it certainly doesn’t when I look at it as a fan of the sport.
HCC FORMAT
There’s a lot in this Indo interview with the IRFU CEO but one sentence caught my eye on first read…I’ve mentioned the HCC format quite a bit on this column throughout the season, how it doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother a lot of fans, but it looks like we’re going to have it for the next campaign too which of course would mean more complaints.
“EPCR is so important to Irish Rugby and the provinces. Getting its structure right is critical,” he adds, stating that he is involved in a consultation process with EPCR to update the structures from 2024/’25.”
AI RUGBY : LEINSTER V SHARKS DRY RUN
My inner nerd loves doing it so whether you like it or not, this will become a regular Harpin’ feature. On Friday once the team is announced I’ll be feeding the two matchday squads into ChatGPT using the prompt below to see what it comes up with.
On our Preview Show the score will update throughout the pod and I’ll provide the actual receipts here in the 80+. As you can see below, the AI felt Leinster would also win well, albeit with a few more tries from our guests.
PROMPT
Imagine a game of 15-a-side rugby union between Leinster Rugby and Cell C Sharks over two halves of 40 minutes with the two lineups outlined below, taking into account the current reputation and form of all the players involved.
Leinster : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Ciarán Frawley 12. Charlie Ngatai 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath > CAPTAIN
1. Michael Milne 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ryan Baird 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Max Deegan 7. Scott Penny 8. Caelan Doris
16. John McKee 17. Andrew Porter 18. Cian Healy 19. Joe McCarthy 20. Jack Conan 21. Jamison Gibson-Park 22. Ross Byrne 23. Liam Turner
Cell C Sharks : 15 Aphelele Fassi 14 Marnus Potgieter 13 Lukhanyo Am (c) 12 Ben Tapuai 11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Boeta Chamberlain 9 Grant Williams
1 Ox Nche 2 Bongi Mbonambi 3 Thomas du Toit 4 Corne Rahl 5 Gerbrandt Grobler 6 James Venter 7 Vincent Tshituka 8 Sikhumbuzo Notshe
16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Carlu Sadie 19 Jeandre Labuschagne 20 Phepsi Buthelezi 21 Cameron Wright 22 Nevaldo Fleurs 23 Rohan Janse van Rensburg
Write 2000 words on the progress of the match in the form of a timeline (no conclusion, just the timeline only) reporting incidents like tries, conversions, penalties, injuries and yellow or red cards.
PRINTOUT
0-10 minutes: The game starts with a lot of back-and-forth action as both teams try to find their footing. However, it is Leinster who strikes first as winger Jordan Larmour breaks through the Sharks’ defense to score a try. Harry Byrne converts the try to give Leinster an early 7-0 lead.
10-20 minutes: The Sharks respond with a try of their own as winger Makazole Mapimpi finishes off a counter-attack. Boeta Chamberlain’s conversion levels the scores at 7-7.
20-30 minutes: Leinster regains their lead as Charlie Ngatai scores a clever try following a quick tap penalty. Byrne once again adds the extras to make it 14-7 in favor of the home team.
30-40 minutes: The Sharks turn up the pressure and win a penalty that Chamberlain successfully kicks to reduce Leinster’s lead to 14-10.
40-45 minutes: Just before half-time, Leinster scores a third try as lock Ryan Baird crashes over the try line. Byrne’s conversion gives the home team a 21-10 lead at the break.
Half-time: Leinster 21-10 Sharks
45-55 minutes: The Sharks start the second half strongly and score two tries in quick succession through Aphelele Fassi and captain Lukhanyo Am. However, Chamberlain misses both conversion attempts, leaving the score at 21-20 in favor of Leinster.
55-62 minutes: Leinster fights back and scores their fourth try of the match through prop Tadhg Furlong. Byrne’s successful conversion increases Leinster’s lead to 28-20.
62-67 minutes: Sharks’ winger Marnus Potgieter is shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Larmour.
67-75 minutes: Leinster capitalizes on their numerical advantage and scores two more tries through replacement scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and flanker Caelan Doris. Byrne converts both tries to extend Leinster’s lead to 42-20.
75-80 minutes: The Sharks score a consolation try through reserve center Rohan Janse van Rensburg, but it is too little too late as Leinster runs out comfortable 42-27 winners.
Full-time: Leinster 42-27 Sharks
INJURY REPORT
Some decent news this week, still makes for an interesting selection at the weekend though….
POSSIBLE 23 V MUNSTER
Frawley, Kearney, Ngatai, Ringrose, T O’Brien, McGrath, H Byrne
McKee, Porter, Clarkson, McCarthy, Conan, JGP, R Byrne, Larmour
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
official report
Joe McCarthy came through the game at the weekend against Cell C Sharks with no issues after his recovery from an ankle injury.
Rónan Kelleher was involved in the wider match day squad at the weekend and will be available to train fully this week after his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Scott Penny has entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be further assessed as the week progresses.
Robbie Henshaw is expected to step up his rehabilitation from a minor quad issue this week and will be further assessed as the week progresses.
James Lowe is expected to step up his rehabilitation from a calf injury and will be further assessed as the week progresses.
Cian Healy picked up an ankle injury against Cell C Sharks and will be further assessed as the week progresses.
There are no further updates on: Vakhtang Abdaladze (neck), Ed Byrne (tricep), Rhys Ruddock (hamstring), Johnny Sexton (groin), Jamie Osborne (knee), Martin Moloney (knee)
AIL UPDATE
We’ve been updating this segment all season so even though we covered the AIL final on the pod, I’d still like to offer congrats to all involved at Terenure College RFC for capping off a fine campaign with the championship. It was a comprehensive win on the day for sure but overall after starting the league with a long unbeaten run it was no more than they deserve.
There were of course a host of other matches over the weekend as the promotion and relegation issues across the five AIL divisions were sorted out. Shannon’s win over Highfield means they remain in the top flight with City of Armagh being the only newcomers next season. Also congrats to my “alma mater” Blackrock College who beat MU Barnhall at Stradbrook to more them up to the second tier.
AIL FINAL
Clontarf 24 Terenure 50
DIVISION 1A PROMOTION/RELEGATION PLAY-OFF FINAL:
Shannon 32 Highfield 12
DIVISION 1B PROMOTION PLAY-OFF FINAL:
Blackrock College 29 MU Barnhall 21
DIVISION 2A PROMOTION/RELEGATION PLAY-OFF FINAL:
UL Bohemians 20 Dungannon 16
DIVISION 2B PROMOTION PLAY-OFF FINAL:
Skerries 30 Bruff 15
SEVENS UPDATE
The Sevens circuit kicks back into gear this weekend and for the women Toulouse is actually the final tournament of the series. The way the standings look I very much doubt we can crack the top four but we should be anxiously looking over our shoulders at both Fiji and GB behind us so we’ll need a strong showing with Brazil, Australia and hosts France in our pool.
Meanwhile for the men it is the penultimate leg of the series with Twickers still to come the following weekend. A shocker of a Singapore leg has us down in 9th on the ladder, a big drop since our excellent silver in Dubai at the start of the season. If we can click over the next two weeks however we can more up a place or two and we’re up against Samoa, Oz & Japan this weekend.
TOULOUSE SEVENS
FRIDAY MAY 12
10:28AM IRELAND WOMEN V FRANCE
11:45AM IRELAND MEN V SAMOA
4:04PM IRELAND MEN V AUSTRALIA
7:05PM IRELAND WOMEN V AUSTRALIA
SATURDAY MAY 13
9:43AM IRELAND WOMEN V BRAZIL
10:37AM IRELAND MEN V JAPAN
1:42PM WOMEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN
3:10PM MEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN
MLR UPDATE
Not going to be able to watch a game back this week, although that’s ok because as I said before I have adopted the New England Free Jacks as my team for this season and they were off for this round.
But even with the bye week they remain a healthy 9pts clear in the East, and they can extend that lead even further if they win next weekend against Old Glory. Meanwhile out West the San Diego’s win in Utak means they also have a cushion with Seattle and Houston, who meet next weekend, also in the playoff positions for now.
ROUND 12
ATL 27-12 CHI
DAL 3-7 OGDC
UTAH 16-26 SD
NYI 54-19 NOLA
ROUND 13
TOR V ATL
NOLA V SD
HOU V SEA
DAL V UTAH
OGDC V NE
CHI V NYI
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
Well. All season 1st place in the HPL has switched back and forth between myself and RugbyKino, only for Mark Jackson to leap over both of us into top spot with just three matches left to predict!!! Like I have always said I’m mostly happy not to be the cellar dweller this season (that honour was clinched by Keego literally months ago) but still to have come so close it’s a bit of a pain to drop to 3rd towards the end. My biggest errors recently were forgetting one match altogether in the last round, and not believing in Munster wanting victory more than Glasgow in this one.
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
It’s all about Munster now. Things should be relatively normal for the coming week so be sure to stay tuned to all our usual corners of social media to keep up with our latest content.
In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 