Never thought something like Storm Debi could possibly affect our humble pod recording, though at least it wasn’t due to anyone coming to any harm. I had already pushed it to a Monday evening chat when Tom Coleman had to work late so thankfully Conor Cronin was able to step in and do his second wrap pod in as many weekends, with Jay Long also helping us look back over Leinster’s win over the Dragons.
But because everything has been pushed back a day, this week’s 80+ column will be a lot shorter than usual.
Selecting a matchday 23 is always a great discussion point so this chat was easy, although we came up with some calls we might not have considered not too long ago.
BUNKER MENTALITY
Although I’ve kept this 80+ column brief I enjoy doing those TikTok opinion vids so I found the time to do one on the TMO bunker system.
Here’s the transcript of my contribution to the “Front 5” feature on our wrap pod where we look at articles covering topics outside the latest Leinster/Ireland match…
Quote “…even though it was only for a couple of minutes, what a debut from young Rock boy Andrew Conway…with a try-producing offload at one end and a try-saving tackle at the other in his brief appearance, he is surely one to watch.” end quote
That was 2010. Now fast forward almost three years to January 25, 2013 when Conway was still considered to be one of Leinster’s top prospects so you’d have thought the announcement of his move to Munster of all places would send shockwaves throughout Irish rugby.
However the news came at exactly the same time as that of Johnny Sexton’s move to Racing, and with Isa Nacewa also leaving as the season came to a close and both stars featuring in Leinster’s win over Ulster in the Pro12 final, Conway’s exit went very much below the radar, even though he himself also started that same decider at the RDS.
Well the rest, as the saying goes, is history and Simon Lewis’ article does a great job of summarizing the facts of Conway’s spell at Munster, and I’d only add two points, the first being that before the horrible injury which ruled him out for 16 months, it was clear he was very much part of Andy Farrell’s plans for the 2023 World Cup, and indeed on outings like a preseason clash with Leinster down in Musgrave Park in September just gone, he showed he had lost none of his sharpness, particularly on the kick chase where he had become a master of the art.
But one other thing I’d like to add to all the much deserved plaudits he has received since his announcement is that if anyone’s career shows exactly how the reality of Irish rugby transcends all the Leinster/Munster bickering we see from fans of both provinces, myself included of course, then it’s Andrew Conway’s.
If you were to believe all the social media narrative and gaslighting, there’s absolutely no way a promising talent with a CV so Leinstery you’d swear it belonged to Ross O’Carroll Kelly himself would ever be allowed move down the N7, let alone be accepted and acclaimed as a hero by the Thomond Park faithful.
Yet despite the irony of the announcement of his retirement also coming around the same time as that of Sexton, there was no going under the radar this time, with tributes pouring in not just from Munster fans mostly sharing GIFs of THAT try against Toulon but also from throughout the other three provinces and beyond.
He could easily have earned more than 30 caps over his career but he rounds off his retirement statement with two words “forever grateful” and I’m pretty sure I speak for the vast majority of the rugby family when I say so are we, Andrew, and best of luck with your next adventure.
URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE
Ulster’s win on Friday puts them to the top of the Irish Shield for now, although Leinster have yet to get underway on this table, a situation to be resolved by none other than the visit of Munster to Aviva the weekend after next. URC website still not posting the latest tables.
Match 2
ULSTER 21-14 MUNSTER
ULSTER P 2 PTS 5
CONNACHT P 1 PTS 4
MUNSTER P 1 PTS 1
LEINSTER P 0 PTS 0
Match 3
NOV 25
LEINSTER V MUNSTER
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Both of Leinster’s Champions Cup pool opponents from the 🔝🐱🐴 had narrow victories in Round 6, with ROG’s lads needing a last gasp penalty to get them back to winning ways just as they’re feeding their internationals back into the squad before we play them. Meanwhile Stade remain top with a Parisien derby against Stu Lancaster’s Racing, possibly including Siya Kolisi, to come at the weekend.
Round 6
SAT NOV 11
TOULOUSE 43-34 PERPIGNAN
CASTRES 39-11 OYONNAX
LYON 32-36 STADE FRANCAIS
MONTPELLIER 17-20 CLÉRMONT
PAU 20-11 BORDEAUX
LA ROCHELLE 18-15 BAYONNE
TOULON 32-26 RACING 92
Round 7
SAT NOV 18
STADE FRANCAIS V RACING 92
BAYONNE V PAU
PERPIGNAN V MONTPELLIER
OYONNAX V LYON
CLÉRMONT V TOULON
CASTRES V TOULOUSE
SUN NOV 19
LA ROCHELLE V BORDEAUX
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Mixed fortunes for Leinster’s Euro Prem opponents this week – Leicester fell at home which sent Quins to the top of the table while Sale Sharks move to second with a decent win away to Bristol. Finn Russell seemingly taunted the Gloucester crowd as Bath stayed in the playoff positions with a derby victory and Northampton round out the top 4 with a win over Exeter.
ROUND 5
GLOUCESTER 27-45 BATH
BRISTOL 13-27 SALE SHARKS
LEICESTER 25-29 HARLEQUINS
NEWCASTLE 12-50 SARACENS
NORTHAMPTON 34-19 EXETER
ROUND 6
FRI NOV 17
BATH V BRISTOL BEARS
SALE SHARKS V NEWCASTLE
SAT NOV 18
LEICESTER V NORTHAMPTON
HARLEQUINS V SARACENS
EXETER V GLOUCESTER
AIL UPDATE
Top match in the Women’s AIL was a low scoring thriller with Belvo holding out to win 6-3 at Railway Union, who’s schedule doesn’t get any easier as they now must travel to 100% league leaders UL Bohs in a match which will be livestreamed from Annacotty on the Irish Rugby YouTube channel, we’ll put a link in the Rugby on TV post on Thursday.
Meanwhile on the men’s side of things Clontarf stayed top after taking maximum points against City of Armagh but Cork Con stayed in touch with a comprehensive win at Shannon – next up they host Trinity who continue to struggle at the bottom with some daylight starting to appear between them and those above them.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 7
ROCK 48-0 BALLINCOLLIG
COOKE 14-17 WICKLOW
GALWEGIANS 5-12 SUTTONIANS
RAILWAY UNION 3-6 BELVO
Round 8
SAT NOV 18
BALLINCOLLIG V BELVO
COOKE V BLACKROCK
WICKLOW V GALWEGIANS
UL BOHS V RAILWAY UNION
MEN’S AIL
ROUND 5
CLONTARF 35-17 CITY OF ARMAGH
DUBLIN UNIV 15-21 BALLYNAHINCH
SHANNON 24-43 CORK CON
TERENURE 24-23 LANSDOWNE
UCD 26-24 YOUNG MUNSTER
ROUND 6
SAT NOV 18
BALLYNAHINCH V CLONTARF
CITY OF ARMAGH V UCD
CORK CON V DUBLIN UNIV
LANSDOWNE V SHANNON
YOUNG MUNSTER V TERENURE
RE SUPER CUP UPDATE
Whether intentional or not, this new Super Cup format has thrown up some fascinating clashes for the final round of the pool stage this weekend. Both the Castillas/Lusitanos Iberian derby and the Romanian Wolves/Brussels clash are virtually quarterfinals with Black Lion and the Heat already through to the final four.
ROUND 2
CASTILLA 20-38 TEL-AVIV HEAT
BOHEMIA WARRIORS 10-43 BRUSSELS DEVILS
LUSITANOS 0-22 BLACK LION
DELTA 5-31 ROMANIAN WOLVES
ROUND 3
THU NOV 16
BOHEMIA WARRIORS V DELTA
SAT NOV 18
TEL-AVIVA HEAT V BLACK LION
BRUSSELS DEVILS V ROMANIAN WOLVES
SUN NOV 19
CASTILLA V LUSITANOS
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
Although I’m still in third place I gained some ground by pinching the yellow cap this week for the highest score, mostly due to my somehow managing to predict Zebre’s historic win over the Sharks. I don’t know what came over me when I made the call, except for the fact that the Parma outfit had been doing well picking up bonus points so far this season while the Sharks were at the end of a long road trip so it was probably worth the punt.
Short but sweet column this time, hopefully next week will be more conventional. As ever we’ll be giving the visit of the Scarlets to the RDS the full Harpin treatment so stay tuned to all the usual social media channels and get involved in the discussion in any way you can.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
12 November 2023; Dan Sheehan of Leinster on his way to scoring his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Dragons and Leinster at Rodney Parade in Newport, Wales. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Overall a good result, but why can’t we take advantage when teams are down a man. They were down 2 players and we just made mistake after mistake.
Need to give Zebre a special mention, first win in 18 months
Dave Murray
Poor conditions but 5 points on the road is most welcome. Would’ve liked some more points to boost the points difference but beggers can’t be choosers I guess. Hopefully injuries aren’t too serious, especially for Tommy O’Brien, who can’t seem to catch a break at all.
Micheal Mac An TSagart
Pointless matches playing poor teams, which ultimately does Leinster no good in the long run when they play the top European teams.
Jamie Donohoe
Let’s hope that coward Basham receives a long ban for that disgraceful late elbow on Ross Byrne. Thuggish behaviour
Anne Byrne Spollen
A wins a win condition dreadful congratulations guy’s 🧢🏉
Alastair McDermott
Ugly conditions, job done.
Far from a classic but many great performances, Joe Mac worthy PotM , captains performance from Dan and pack altogether on top. Couldve won by more but with conditions and all, happy to take 5 pts and run. Up into 2nd place now.#DRAvLEI
Another Sunday, another enjoyable wrap pod recording, this time joined by Conor & Kino, this time for the Front 5 I asked them to choose an article/topic themselves, not sure why I never thought of that before, I’ll definitely look to do that more often as the season wears on.
For our bonus clip to follow on from last week’s chat on the candidates for the Leinster 10 jersey after Sexton’s retirement, this time we looked at Leinster’s “leadership group” and how it should look when the Champions Cup rolls around.
COPY-WRONGED
If content creators’ statuses were represented by rugby competitions, Squidge would be the World Cup while Harpin would be Junior 4ths….meh, maybe that’s doing myself down a bit too much, how about we go with Junior 2nds instead 😜.
All which means I feel bad that I have actually used clips from rugby matches in TikTok videos in recent times – to be clear I never try to even come close to Squidge’s analysis and I certainly don’t put anywhere near as much time into my stuff as he does.
One thing I can vouch for is that even for a 15 minute video there is a MOUNTAIN of work to be done even with help. For example the simple two minute clip below took the guts of two hours altogether but definitely in this case it was worth it when it came to speaking out against the copyright enforcement.
As you can see I have included a link below to show the source of the stats on the Gen Z participation.
Again, seriously, CLIMBING????????????
After just a few hours up, the video has been taken down manually by an employee of World Rugby, and copyright strike given to the channel.
Some 60+ hours of work went into that one video, so rest assured we shall try our upmost to get it restored, but this is not in our hands. https://t.co/BSt9dZGfc4
Hat-tip to Harpin contributor Kristian Ross for drawing my attention to this article from the Ulster University site which is all about the science behind the “smart mouthguards” which are being used to gauge head injury impact in rugby.
“Dr Gregory Tierney, Lecturer in Biomechanics, Ulster University worked in partnership with World Rugby, Rugby Football Union, Premiership Rugby and Premiership Women’s Rugby to complete several studies using the smart mouthguard technology to better understand the level of impact players experience on the head during matches and training situations using g-forces as a measurement technique.”
I am far from a statistician but one thing I do know is that when researching a topic you can never have too much data, once it’s relevant and it really does sound like this is a near perfect way to gather data on the impact of head collisions in rugby. And another thing we find is that proper research rarely backs up our prejudices 100%.
Usually those pushing back against attempts to make the game safer are mostly motivated by a fear that the game will be “ruined” by sending off and long TMO delays. Personally I’d rather let the boffins do their thing and be open minded to seeing the results in the hope that the right alterations can be made.
The article offers some results from a paper published in 2021 after two years of extensive research…
“The ORCHID paper shows that in the men’s community game:
86 percent of forces measured are the same as or less than those experienced in other forms of exercise such as running, jumping or skipping
94 percent of forces are lower than those previously measured on people riding a rollercoaster
The large majority of events resulting in the highest measured forces are as a result of poor technique in the tackle and at the breakdown
Most contact events in elite rugby do not result in any significant force to the head.”
The poor tackle technique is the most significant part for me, and that leads me to believe that using sanctions to help promote proper technique is at very least one of the measures that we should pursue, whether some fans are annoyed by waiting a bit longer for TMO replays or not.
FEELING THE HEAT
Negative comments obviously come with the territory when you’re producing regular content and normally I brush them off but I have to admit I was annoyed by one I got after last week’s bonus pod which featured an interview with Francisco Isaac.
The plan was to talk to him about Portugal’s success at RWC2023, the proposed World League and finally the Rugby Europe Super Cup which kicked off last weekend.
Unfortunately one follower was of the opinion that since the Super Cup involves a team from Israel, then that means we should have discussed the current horrible events in that part of the world, with the implication that if we didn’t then I obviously don’t care about it.
Just to be clear…I do have strong feelings about that situation but you can be 100% guaranteed that I will not share them here or anywhere else in the Harpin social media space. Meanwhile, it has been a policy here to follow the RE Super Cup as we believe it is an invaluable mechanism for at least starting to bring up Europe’s tier 2 nations (Francisco even says as much on the pod).
To that end we will continue to cover the tournament, including adding them to our “update” section below as it unfolds over the coming weeks.
Click here to listen to the pod in question ICYMI, plus there’s a YouTube video with an extended version of the World League discussion as well.
THROWING THE BOOK BY WAYNE BARNES
I’ve always had respect for Wayne Barnes – I know a lot of people had issues with his refereeing, and so did I, but IMO we have to know where to draw the line and whatever we might think about the actual decisions, that is not all that maketh the ref and his overall comportment throughout his career has been commendable for sure and he was a more than worthy appointee for the 2023 final.
Pretty sure I’m not the only one who wishes him all the best with his future endeavours, including his new book…
I never thought a working class lad from the Forest of Dean would end up writing an autobiography! But then again, I never thought I’d referee 111 international rugby matches either. I am delighted to present Throwing The Book. pic.twitter.com/DKnpE9gtdQ
A major rugby bugbear of mine is intellectual snobbery, as in when some look down on others who don’t understand the Laws as well as they do. The way I see it if someone is looking for info we should give it. It’s a goddam complex sport that needs all the clued-in fans it can get.
Unless of course when I’m having a few pints in a crowded pub watching a match and people cop on that I know what’s going on and thus bombard me with questions for the remainder, they of course can FRO….but it doesn’t always go exactly the way the Grand Slam match back in March did…😁
Seriously though, social media should be an ideal way to help those who might not know certain terms yet are afraid to ask, and it’s always good to have tweets like this one from Sam Lerner to see people right…
Thread: A Map of Rugby
There's a lot of terminology in rugby that is taken for granted and isn't always explained. I thought I would try and help.
Different teams/countries will use different language so this isn't a dictionary. But should help you find the way!
As one tournament, namely the WXV, drops out of our expanded Update Section, it gets replaced by two more, and first we are going to keep a close eye on the race for the Irish Shield. Some may joke about it but starting this season it is to be awarded to the winner of a points table featuring ONLY the matches between the Irish provinces throughout the season, a really good idea IMO which needs support by regular coverage. Obviously Connacht’s victory over Ulster in the season’s first interpro has them top of the shield standings as well as the entire URC, we’ll see how things look after Munster visit the Kingspan on Friday.
Match 1
CONNACHT 22-20 ULSTER
CONNACHT P 1 PTS 4
ULSTER P 1 PTS 1
LEINSTER P 0 PTS 0
MUNSTER P 0 PTS 0
Match 2
FRI NOV 10
ULSTER V MUNSTER
🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE
Leinster’s first Champions Cup opponents are exactly the same as our last ones, but things haven’t been going too well for La Rochelle since that day in the Aviva, or at least since Ntamack broke their hearts in their quest for a first Brennus in July. They have now lost 4 out of 5 this season and are now flirting with the relegation zone, but as Kino pointed out on our pod, they will be getting the bulk of their internationals back well in time for our visit in December so will likely be a much different prospect then.
In January we host Stade Francais and they continue to do well as their 39-16 win over Castres kept them in a three-way tie at the top with Pau and Stu Lancaster’s Racing.
Toulon v Racing on Sunday evening seems to be the pick of the Round 6 matches and hopefully Dan Biggar’s back spasm isn’t too serious, that really, really looked nasty.
Round 5
OYONNAX 19-17 LA ROCHELLE
PERPIGNAN 26-22 TOULON
BORDEAUX 26-13 MONTPELLIER
CLÉRMONT 46-14 BAYONNE
STADE FRANCAIS 39-16 CASTRES
RACING 92 22-20 LYON
PAU 13-9 TOULOUSE
Round 6
SAT NOV 11
TOULOUSE V PERPIGNAN
CASTRES V OYONNAX
LYON V STADE FRANCAIS
MONTPELLIER V CLÉRMONT
PAU V BORDEAUX
LA ROCHELLE V BAYONNE
TOULON V RACING 92
PREMIERSHIP UPDATE
Sale Sharks come to the RDS in December and their decent start to their Premiership campaign continued with a handy win over Glaws leaving them in 3rd place behind Exeter and Quins. Meanwhile Leicester Tigers, our fourth opponents, continue to struggle as they could not overcome Sarries. They could get things back on track in round 5 with a win over Quins but the standout tie of the round has to be the West Country derby at Kingsholm.
ROUND 4
SALE SHARKS 24-10 GLOUCESTER
HARLEQUINS 40-12 NEWCASTLE
NORTHAMPTON 24-18 BATH
SARACENS 32-17 LEICESTER TIGERS
EXETER CHIEFS 29-20 BRISTOL
ROUND 5
FRI NOV 10
GLOUCESTER V BATH
SAT NOV 11
BRISTOL V SALE SHARKS
LEICESTER V HARLEQUINS
SUN NOV 12
NEWCASTLE V SARACENS
NORTHAMPTON V EXETER
AIL UPDATE
Here’s a transcript of my piece for Front 5 on last Sunday’s wrap pod…
Every week on our 80+ column at harpinonrugby.com we round up the state of play in the Energia AIL but for once I thought I’d do it here on the main pod because, well, I keep harpin on how poor the overall coverage is of the next level down from provincial rugby so I should really practise what I preach.
I’ll start with the Women’s AIL which this season may not have added to its 9 clubs but at least it HAS gone to a full home and away calendar with Round 6 taking place at the weekend. And even though we’re only a third of the way through the schedule it’s pretty clear which teams are favoured to make the top 4 and with Rock, Belvo, Railway Union and leaders UL Bohs all avoiding each other in this round, meaning there wasn’t much change at the top with the only unpredicted outcome being Wicklow’s waterlogged pitch preventing them from hosting Railway, who themselves play Belvo next weekend in what is easily the match of Round 7.
Meanwhile on the men’s side of things, league leaders Lansdowne saw their perfect start to the season come to an end when they fell to Cork Con although the away losing bonus point wasn’t the worst result. This left Clontarf as the only unbeaten side in the top division after they overcame their own tough southern assignment and held off a strong fightback by Young Munster to win 44-39.
Back to the subject of media coverage, it’s still poor overall outside the individual club social media accounts, in fact some weeks it’s been difficult to find decent reporting on even the top AIL divisions as late as Tuesday morning, but there are definite exceptions to this rule, starting of course with the weekly Club Scene Podcast and also there is live streaming from the likes of the BF Sports Analysis YouTube channel where I watched reigning champions Terenure overcome UCD on Saturday afternoon – I’ll put a link in the programme notes. Unfortunately I couldn’t watch it live as it clashed with Leinster’s match at the RDS but it’s always available to replay and as ever is a great way of keeping tabs on those on the fringes of the Leinster squad like Chris Cosgrave and Conor O’Tighearnaigh.
So we’ll continue to keep tabs on the AIL throughout the season and for your own part please do what you can to get out and support your local club in any way you can.
#SupportYourLocalClub
WOMEN’S AIL
Round 6
SAT NOV 4
BALLINCOLLIG 5-69 UL BOHS
BELVO 48-7 COOKE
SUTTONIANS 12-33 ROCK
WICKLOW [UNPLAYABLE PITCH] RAILWAY UNION
Round 7
SAT NOV 11
ROCK V BALLINCOLLIG
COOKE V WICKLOW
GALWEGIANS V SUTTONIANS
RAILWAY UNION V BELVO
MEN’S AIL
SAT NOV 4
BALLYNAHINCH 31-5 SHANNON
CITY OF ARMAGH 25-23 DUBLIN UNIV
CORK CON 23-17 LANSDOWNE
UCD 28-45 TERENURE
YOUNG MUNSTER 39-44 CLONTARF
ROUND 5
SAT NOV 11
CLONTARF V CITY OF ARMAGH
DUBLIN UNIV V BALLYNAHINCH
SHANNON V CORK CON
TERENURE V LANSDOWNE
UCD V YOUNG MUNSTER
RE SUPER CUP UPDATE
As discussed on the bonus pod linked earlier, the RE Super Cup has a slightly different format this season. The World Cup has shrunk it to a three-match pool phase and what’s more, the two pools are weighted with the four best in A with the next 4 in Pool B – the top three from A and the winner of B make the semifinals.
There is also a new nation joining the competition, with Bohemia Warriors from Czechia getting a baptism of fire courtesy of the Romanian Wolves in Round 1, while reigning champions Black Lion, who also take part in this seasons Challenge Cup don’t forget, started off with a comfortable enough win over Castilla. Pick of Round 2 has to be their trip to Portugal to face Lusitanos in a repeat of last year’s final.
ROUND 1
ROMANIAN WOLVES 76-7 BOHEMIA WARRIORS
BRUSSELS DEVILS 41-12 DELTA
LUSITANOS 23-31 TEL-AVIV HEAT
BLACK LION 39-19 CASTILLA
ROUND 2
FRI NOV 12
DELTA V ROMANIAN WOLVES
SAT NOV 11
BOHEMIA WARRIORS V BRUSSELS DEVILS
LUSITANOS V BLACK LION
SUN NOV 12
CASTILLA V TEL-AVIV HEAT
HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE
I’m still happy enough to be lurking in the bronze medal position after 3 rounds but Kristian and Conor are starting to open up a gap at the top. Meanwhile Keego, who to be fair was in New York last week so possibly wasn’t thinking too much about the URC, has dropped back down to the dreaded Jersey of Shame position.
AFTER RD 3
PTS
1
KRISTIAN
33.50
2
CONOR
33.00
3
JEFF
28.50
4
KINO
26.00
5
JAY
24.00
6
TOM
22.50
7
MARK
19.50
8
KEEGO
17.00
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Right, that’s it for another week’s 80+ column thanks for checking in. Next up there’s the Dragons, we’ll have the preview on Friday and even though we don’t play until Sunday afternoon, we’re still planning to record the wrap pod that evening at 8 o’clock, with all the other usual features all over our various social media channels as well.
As ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
4 November 2023; Charlie Shiel of Edinburgh kicks clear during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Edinburgh at the RDS Arena in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Tommy O’Brien is a class act! Always hungry. Culhane great also.
Harry Byrne is again failing to live up to the hype unfortunately and will most likely be overtaken by prendergast soon enough.
Where has Tector gone?
(reply to Gavin) Peter Tracey
he’s still training away Gav. Just Prendergast has moved ahead of him. Deegan doing a Ruddock and all the dirty work that’s not seen.
Need to develop a 9 for me with McGrath injured and only JGP for big games. Foley did well last season but trying too hard this season so far with his kicking game. Just do the basics. Murphy had a good passing game when he came on. Best to do it now in these games and at least they’re getting experience. Boyle did well. Another area we need to develop.
Odran John O’Brien
Great outing again for Jack Boyle he’s getting better every game
Christy O’Connor
The game was riddled with mistakes from both sides. Very sloppy passing at times, we gave away some very cheap tries. In the end it was a good win. Barron was motm for me.
Richard Kennedy
Very happy with that. Bonus secured by 51 mins against a team stacked full of Scottish internationals. A young team getting quality game time.
Alan Murphy
I seemed to have watched a different game to most posts – we sit on the 22. Our line-out was a shambles, we gave away 3 scrum penalties and handling was really poor. Lots of weak shoulders for Edinburgh’s tries. Great win but really poor game.
Closer than it needed to be, Edinburgh will be disappointed to come away with nothing given starting lineups, took their attack too long to get going.
Good day for TOB yet again, also Harry, Jamie, overall D & great to see Culhane on scoresheet.
this is the full version of our Nations Cup discussion
Our bonus midweek pods are back and here we welcome friend of the pod Francisco Isaac and myself & regular Harpin contributor Rich Mifsud talk to him about Portugal’s success at RWC2023, the Nations Cup as proposed by World Rugby, and the 2023 RE Super Cup which kicks off this weekend.
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 