Tom Coleman & Rich Mifsud were my contributors this week and they did their usual sterling work going back over Leinster’s win over the Lions last Saturday.
ICYMI click here to check it out on Spotify or you’ll also find it on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
Rowntree delivered Munster’s first trophy in 12 years when he concluded his first season in charge
“Remember, while it is part of a sporting spectacle, the haka is a cultural taonga, treasure, gifted to NZRU to perform respectfully, which they do now.”
With no injury report this week I thought I’d have a crack at selecting an ideal matchday 23 for Leinster if the Champions Cup were now, and all players were fit (bar the long term Dan Sheehan). Damn it ain’t easy!!! But I did want to make a point of leaving both Snyman and Barrett on the bench, not that I’ve anything against either, far from it, rather to highlight just how good the team can look without them. In the centre, our defensive standards have been so good this season I see no reason to throw Jordie Barrett in just yet, and as for RG I feel that when it came down to him or Ryan the South African would be better suited to an impact role. But the fact remains there are host of “toss up” calls all over the park, like Jimmy O’Brien for example although I like the idea of starting Ringer on the wing, but that’s just me.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
To be clear, not all of our Troll Patrol examples are necessarily bad or at least totally mean-spirited, it can often be both trolling and decent banter and this offering from Graham Love falls squarely into that category. I can totally see the benefit in a Scottish observer fanning the flames of the Leinster/Munster when they see the chance! Graham is definitely worth a follow if you’re not doing so already.
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THIS SEASON THE HPL IS ADDING A NEW KNOCKOUT COMPETITION
CALLED “THE HARPIN MUG”
(BECAUSE THE PRIZE IS AN ACTUAL MUG SO WE COULDN’T CALL IT A ‘CUP’)
THE SEEDINGS ARE DETERMINED BY THE STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 6
AND YOU CAN SEE THE FULL BRACKET BELOW
THE FIRST KNOCKOUT CONTEST WILL BE DAVID V KRISTIAN
PLAYED ACROSS THEIR PREDICTIONS MADE FOR URC ROUND 7
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Sunday – Pod recording, “All provincial panel” looking ahead to Autumn Nations Series
I was joined by David Cordial and Hugo Gordon to look back over the match at Croke Park, they did a bang up job so if you missed it by all means click here to check it out.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
Newly-crowned WXV 2 champions Australia head up band two as the fifth seeds, with Ireland, Scotland and Italy joining them.
“Although some believe that this rule will promote smoother play, statistics…show that a red card does not systematically mean defeat for the penalised team”
…a case this month…has raised questions over how Richard Boardman recruits players to join the lawsuit brought by his firm, Rylands Garth, against World Rugby
A Osborne, Turner, Henshaw, Tector, King, Prendergast, Gunne
Milne, G McCarthy, Clarkson, O’Tighearnaigh, Ryan (c), Deegan, Penny, Culhane
Smyth, Boyle, Slimani, Deeny, Soroka, McGrath, R Byrne, H Byrne
Caveat : I have no “ITK”
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Robbie Henshaw: returned to training last week after a minor injury and will be available for selection this weekend.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Lee Barron: went off at half-time at the weekend with an ankle injury and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made on his availability.
Ryan Baird: has entered the Graduated Return to Play Protocols and will be assessed as the week progresses.
Jordan Larmour: was not available for selection at the weekend as a precaution and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made.
INJURY UPDATE – NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Rónan Kelleher: had a procedure on an ankle injury last week and will be unavailable for between four to six weeks.
Jack Conan: will be unavailable for selection this week after being withdrawn in the first half against Munster with a hamstring injury.
Joe McCarthy: will not be available for selection this week after picking up a hamstring injury in the Benetton Rugby game.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Dan Sheehan, John McKee, Paddy McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien and Tommy O’Brien.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
Last week we actually featured one of our own contributors in this segment because, well, you know, we’re fair like that. It was a Leinster fan trolling ahead of a clash with Munster. Now on the other side of the Croke Park clash, we’re also going to point out someone who has appeared on the pod before, only this time it’s a Munster fan.
Now to be clear, I wasn’t wild about the reports of Munster having difficulties bringing on a sub myself – I didn’t know about them until late Sunday evening, after our pod was recorded. A reaction like this, even if it is tongue in cheek (though that’s not obvious), might be a tad over the line. A real “John Delaney we should be the 33rd team” energy about it.
HOW TO BEAT LEINSTER
Here’s some more content from the URC site, I just thought the sub-editor’s choice of headline was a bit unfair to Pete Wilkins.
Connacht Reveal Formula For Beating Leinster
Connacht Rugby coach Pete Wilkins has been outlining what it will take to inflict the first defeat of the season on league leaders Leinster Rugby.
Wilkins says his team need to be brave, positive and fearless in Saturday night’s “massive” Irish interprovincial derby out in Galway.
Leinster have recorded bonus point victories in their first four BKT URC matches, so the big question is how can they be beaten?
“We have got to fire some shots,” replies Wilkins.
“It can’t be a game we are afraid to lose. It can’t be a mindset where we are trying to contain the opposition. “We have to be really positive and on the front foot in everything we do and that’s attack, defence and set-piece.
“The second part is recognising how important the first quarter of games are for Leinster. They are going after points early in terms of the intensity with which they start games.
“So that first quarter is going to be massive in terms of the foothold we can get in the game and how we can get the crowd engaged and the energy that comes from that.
“You’ve got to start well enough to ensure you are in the fight in the second half.”
Connacht have had mixed results so far, with two wins and two defeats, but they are certainly earning a reputation as an entertaining watch, having scored 17 tries in those opening four games.
“It’s a reputation I am happy for us to have and there are two reasons for that,” said Wilkins.
“One is we need to play a certain way to get enough wins to be competitive at the end of the season.
“With the type of players we have got, we need to be positive and brave in the way we play. I think it’s our best formula for success.
“The second part is it means we are staying true to the ethos of the club in terms of what this place is about. It’s about thriving sometimes in difficult conditions and it’s about firing shots and not daring to dream about what’s possible.
“That might sound a little bit twee, but we are making a conscious effort to try and embody that a little bit more strongly in the way we play.
“It’s making for a good watch at the moment. We are scoring tries and we are getting bonus points we wouldn’t have got last year.
“It’s certainly not dull, but the important thing is to keep striving towards winning.”
Maintaining their attacking strike-rate will be a tough ask against a Leinster side that has conceded just 54 points and eight tries in four league matches.
“It’s a brilliant challenge for us,” said Wilkins.
“There is such a clear identity to their defensive structure and intent, so it’s about being good enough to deal with it.
“It requires calm heads and a lot of accuracy to get either through it or around it.
“Any game against Leinster, you are going to have to score a good chunk of points to get a result.”
While Connacht have racked up 120 points so far – claiming victories over the Hollywoodbets Sharks and Scarlets along the way – they have conceded the same number and leaked 15 tries.
“We certainly need to be conceding less points,” said Wilkins.
“We conceded three maul tries against Ulster last week and I’ve no doubt that’s something Leinster will be looking to go after, which makes it an interesting challenge. We need to be good at both ends.”
In addition to losing 32-27 in Belfast last weekend, Connacht were also beaten 35-33 at Munster in the opening round.
So the question is whether they can make it third time lucky on the interprovincial front?
“We have played two really good Irish teams and the nature of our interpros is they tend to be the toughest going around compared to some of the other nations,” said Wilkins.
“To pick up four points from two interpros is four we wouldn’t have got last year.
“Would we have liked to have won one of them? Yes. Would we have liked to have won both? Absolutely.
“But we are getting better and we are not there yet.”
Connacht haven’t beaten Leinster in Galway since 2017, so a victory this weekend would be all the sweeter.
“The nature of our performance is incredibly important based on the previous Leinster visits, the progress we want to make and the quality of the opposition,” said Wilkins.
“If we can get that performance right, there’s competition points and a result there that’s entirely possible for us.
“Look, there’s a lot to play for. Our performances here at home are a source of incredible importance for this group. So it’s a massive game for lots of reasons.”
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WRAP OF A WRAP
Tom “@LeinsterRoyalty” Coleman & Ciarán “PostToPost Sport” Duffy joined me for the Benetton v Leinster wrap pod and did their usual bang up job. If you missed it, here’s a link for Spotify or it’s also on Apple and most major platforms.
FRONT FIVE
A selection of eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the rugby media landscape
THANK YOU DAVE
“Thanks to everyone for their support over the last 15 years…it’s been an incredible journey”
Our latest bonus chat from our wrap pod recording looks at the other three provinces as Leinster “begin their defence of” the Irish Shield…
JOSH INTERVIEW
Some free content from the URC is always appreciated – I won’t pass everything on that I get but when it’s Leinster I’ll share when I can…
Ireland star Van der Flier doing it by the book
If you want an illustration of the dedication which has made Josh van der Flier a World Rugby Player of the Year, you only have to listen to him talking about his notebooks.
It reveals the kind of meticulous preparation which – along with abundant natural talent – has seen the Leinster Rugby and Ireland flanker become such a star performer.
“It’s something I have started doing in the last few years,” he reveals.
“I have one notebook for when I’m in Irish camp and one for Leinster.
“At the start of the book, that would be my goals for the season, my main work-ons.
“I will have an attack section, a defence section, a fitness section, all different things that I want to improve on. It’s every area of the game, whether it’s breakdown, carrying, passing or tackling.
“Then, if a coach or a player says something I definitely want to make note of, I write that at the back of the book.
“There will be all little bits of pieces I have gathered, feedback you will get from a coach or another player.
“Then, in the middle, I go week to week with a double page for each game and kind of structure it out that way.
“I have everything in that notebook then and, if I run out of space, I take pictures of the important stuff.
“The main stuff at the front and back is kind of important to keep. That’s how I do it anyway.”
Then there’s the mental preparation for the physical battle out on the pitch.
“That’s one thing that is hard about rugby,” said the 31-year-old openside.
“At times, I do get jealous of footballers or golfers or people in other sports.
“If you are going to play a sport like that, you are obviously pumped up and you are ready, but you are not going in having to be fairly violent and physical with people.
“You have to get yourself to a certain mental state for a rugby game. Certainly I do anyway, which takes a lot out of you.
“You have to get to a stage where you are happy to get stuck in and hit people hard and be real physical and also be kind of calm as well.
“That’s one thing that becomes mentally difficult, certainly the longer a season goes on because of how much it takes to get revved up for a game.
“It was 13 months in the end last year from starting pre-season to finishing.
“Physically, I felt great all year. At the end of the season, my body still felt really good. But mentally it’s difficult in a long season.”
With rugby being so demanding and such an all-consuming passion, Van der Flier acknowledges it is important to switch off on occasions.
“I have got a lot better at it since I met my now wife who is good at doing activities or different things,” he said.
“She’s been great for that. Before I met her, there were six of us living in a house together and we were all obsessed with rugby. All we talked about was rugby.
“If it was a day off, we would be outside throwing a rugby ball around, which is great and we absolutely loved it, but I have got a lot better at switching off away from rugby now.
“After we went out of the World Cup last year, it was very difficult because it was still going on. So, rather than doing something relaxing, we went and did as many tourist things as we could every day to be as busy as possible because I felt if I stood still I would just be playing all the games back through in my head, which is the nature any time you lose in a big tournament.
“That was a hard one to switch off from. But then, once the final was over, I was able to switch off a lot better because the World Cup was over for everyone.”
Having had a break following Ireland’s titanic tour of South Africa, the 2022 World Player of the Year is now up and running on another season and ready for next Saturday’s huge BKT URC derby against Munster Rugby at Croke Park.
“I had five weeks off after the summer tour and I think having that break definitely allowed me to freshen up,” he said.
“The body is feeling good, the mind is feeling good, I am feeling really fresh and I am excited to crack into another season.”
That campaign has begun really well for Leinster who have kicked off with three successive bonus point victories in the league as they look to secure their first piece of silverware since 2021.
“It was obviously tough not to pick up any trophies last year because everyone wants to win. It means everything to everyone here,” said Van der Flier.
“But there is definitely a huge amount of excitement for the year ahead.
“We have a great coaching staff, a lot of great players and a lot of depth in our squad, so there’s no reason why we can’t give it another big shot this year. We are in a great position. We are very hungry and excited for the year ahead.”
The man from Wicklow added: “One thing we have certainly learned is how close it is and the narrow margins you can look back on at the end of a campaign.
“If you win, you don’t tend to notice them so much, but you certainly do when you lose. One thing that sticks out for me is we probably played better in the European final against Toulouse than Ireland did in the last Test against South Africa. But a bit of magic from (Ciaran) Frawley and we managed to get the win in that Springboks game while we didn’t win the other and that’s just the nature of rugby, I suppose. It does come down to fine margins.”
So, despite all the ups and downs and the physical and mental toll it takes, does rugby still remain the job he would rather do than any other?
Porter, Barron, Furlong, McCarthy, Ryan, Baird, van der Flier, Doris (c)
McKee, Healy, Slimani, Snyman, Conan, McGrath, R Byrne, Ringrose
Caveat : I have no “ITK”
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
RG Snyman: came through the game on Saturday with no issues after his recovery from a foot injury.
Jack Boyle: due to return to training this week after his recovery from a foot injury.
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Jordan Larmour: was not available for selection at the weekend as a precaution and will be further assessed this week before a final decision is made.
Rónan Kelleher: will have assessment this week on an ankle injury after being withdrawn in the first half on Saturday.
Jimmy O’Brien: will have assessment this week on a hamstring injury after being withdrawn in the first half on Saturday.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Dan Sheehan, John McKee, Paddy McCarthy, Tommy O’Brien and Rob Russell.
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
This week’s detainee comes directly from our own Harpin’ pod recording, a light hearted choice from our regular contributor Tom Coleman who not only knew his Zoom background would be seen in the week building up to the Croke Park rematch, but also that he was to be harpin’ on Munster for the bonus chat!!! Hey, we’re nothing if not fair with our Troll Patrol, nobody is safe not even our own…
One of the worst performances I’ve seen from South Africa in the first half and one of the worst performances I’ve seen from Ireland in the second. officials tried to screw us again but incredible finish
Dickson made quite a few 50-50 calls that always seemed to go in favour of the home team. From an Irish point of view, it felt almost endless.
But this happens in every game to every away team, so I don’t think it’s any particular conspiracy, it’s just the nature of sport!
Kevin Kelehan
Delighted Frawley got the chance to exorcise the ghost of Tottenham, ugly game but Farrell has built some team, 6 first choice players missing today, 5 of them in the back line and still got it done. Farrell is 80:20 win rate, Boks are 20:80 against the green machine in recent years!!
Sean MacDonnchadha
Very lucky I feel. Springboks only able to force penalties. We should’ve buried them in the first half with the energy, territory and possession we had. All the same, some balls from frawley
Paul Smith
Despite SA cheating and a horrendous performance by Dickinson, Ireland fully deserved the win and I’m absolutely delighted for Frawley who buried the memories of the Champions Cup last minute not once but twice with 2 superb drop goals.
John Willie Conroy
Osborne was unbelievable fair play to Andy Farrell for blooding. Questions need to be asked regarding Frawly not being picked at 10 at Leinster he’s a quality ball player and is head and shoulders above the Byrne brothers.
Brian Corr
So happy, what Irish team in the past could lose their starting scrum half, starting fullback, starting hooker and go to the world champions and get a result. 8 years since they’ve lost in Durban.
Delighted for Frawley to get the chance to make such a huge impact with two fantastic drop goals.
It’s said that tries win matches and that was the difference today
Take a bow Ciaran Frawley. Two outstanding kicks in the clutch. And we deserved it too. Again we were making mistakes, again SA were getting points but we stayed with them AND kept them tryless. What a way to end the season. Very happy out. #RSAvIRE
They got the rub of the green, big time, but we probably didn’t do enough.
Reasonably confident we can win 2nd if “end of season-itis” doesn’t kick in.
Gav Heg
If it was reversed, we won and the ref treated SA like he did us, rassie would release a two hour analysis slating him. The officiating simply wasn’t good enough at this level. like how can they review and disallow Lowes try but not notice the neck roll on Kelleher? Penalties were given for far less in NZ v Eng. And how was Casey stretchered off without any review from Pearse? Nonsensical and inconsistent
Greg Kelly
Is the call by the TMO to disallow Lowes try wrong in law? No…
Is the game in an absolute state if this is where it is going? Absolutely!
You can be guaranteed that in the lead up to all the tries today there were infringements but the TMO didn’t come back to those?
Even after the turnover Lowe beats 3 defenders to score so the manner of the turnover is not the material issue. It’s a great individual try called back for a debatable TMO intervention. Furthermore once the TMO comes in to disallow the try he must commit 100% to catching EVERY breakdown infringement from there. What if he let’s one go and 3 phases later there’s a kickable penalty awarded to the offending team? Does he call the referee back?
PSDT is off his feet in the field of play when he holds up Doris’ grounding attempt. By the letter of the law it’s an illegal intervention. It happens in all games and is never penalised but if we are going into the detail we did for the Lowe try then it’s another incidence of a player off feet affecting the play and consistency demands it’s flagged by the TMO.
If this is where we’re going it’s going to be a sh1t show.
Kevin Kelehan
Half back pairing was not disrupted, got reasonable parity at the breakdown. Unlucky with a few ref decisions that were 50:50 calls, particular Kelliher being driven back. Lots of industry and effort but also lots of shooting themselves in the foot. The series remains alive at only 7 points down, that is very encouraging, dust themselves down and be more clinical next week.
Sean MacDonnchadha
Have to look inward and be honest. Otherwise we’re only fooling ourselves again. Lineout and scrum came back to bite us after being highlighted as potential weaknesses. Backline stuttering for most of the game and no real director at 9/10. Felt like we were having to react to everything instead of dictating play. Dorris and Bundee tireless efforts. Ryan and Baird impacted well off the bench – only ones who did really. Needing Porter and Furlong to do a full 80 if possible is a massive system failure. Boks can’t wait to unleash their bench, if we’re honest we fear what will happen when we do.
Cuan Mulligan
In the first half, Kolisi was tackled, in the breakdown the ball is coming back to us and he sweeps the ball back with his hand.. not hard to see yet no tmo call. It felt like they were going out of their way to not give us a call
James Lowe had a very good game overall.
Did plenty right.
Had every right to try and keep the touch kick alive.
Also would have been risky to let that restart bounce.
This is hardly some new insight but a key issue with some of Ireland (and Leinster's) performances recently: everyone just looks exhausted. Some of these guys have been playing rugby without more than a few weeks off now for two years, and it just shows.
Hell of a test match. The fact these 46 players give a spectacle like that after 12 months of rugby is outstanding. Fine margins but congrats to the Springboks. Deserved winners in the end . Ireland went down swinging. Super match 👏 #RSAvIRE
So so good at times, but also so so poor at other, crucial times. Silly mistakes, silly penalties. Boks made errors too and we def didnt have rub of the green with TMO but the 7 pts we fell short by were on us. Be tough to pick it up for next week but try we must. #RSAvIRE
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
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.
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
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 