“Welcome to our latest bonus chat, if you missed our podcast looking back at Leinster v Harlequins be sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify and all the other usual places. I was joined on the pod by Tom Coleman who’s last appearance was way back on September 21st, right before Leinster’s season kicked off in Cape Town so I thought this was a perfect opportunity to give an overview of Leinster’s season so far – well Tom, after 6 rounds of the URC and 1 game into the latest quest for that 5th star, how have we been doing?”
Tag: rugby
477 : Leinster v Harlequins preview
Our guest : MARK JACKSON
LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Jordan Larmour 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Paddy McCarthy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. RG Snyman 5. Joe McCarthy 6. Jack Conan 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Jack Boyle 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. Max Deegan 21. Luke McGrath 22. Harry Byrne 23. Rieko Ioane
HARLEQUINS : 15. Cameron Anderson, 14. Cassius Cleaves, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Luke Northmore, 11. Cadan Murley (c), 10. Jarrod Evans, 9. Will Porter
1. Boris Wenger, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Harry Williams, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Stephan Lewies, 6. Zach Carr, 7. Will Evans, 8. Tom Lawday
16. George Turner, 17. Will Hobson, 18. Pedro Delgado, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Lucas Schmid, 21. Lucas Friday, 22. Jamie Benson, 23. Bryn Bradley
Investec Champions Cup 25/26 – Round 1
Saturday, December 6, 2025
Aviva Stadium
KO 5:30pm
Live on : Premier Sports 1
Referee : Craig Evans (WRU)
AR1 : Adam Jones (WRU)
AR2 : Ben Breakspear (WRU)
TMO : Keith David (WRU)
Harpin’ on…the Champions’ Cup contenders
Every Tuesday we post a “bonus chat” from our Sunday evening wrap pod recording, here’s the latest one.
This is the lead-in : “Next weekend sees the opening round of the Champions Cup, and rather than engage in the annual complaints about the format which doesn’t seem to be moving the needle with the organisers, we thought instead we’d start our coverage by looking at the various contenders for winning the 2026 final in Bilbao, which Leinster fans won’t need reminding is where we won our fourth, and crucially our most recent, star. I suppose David before you list your contenders from around the continent I should probably ask, are Leinster one of them?“
475 : Dragons v Leinster preview
LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Joshua Kenny 13. Hugh Cooney 12. Ciarán Frawley 11. Jordan Larmour 10. Harry Byrne 9. Fintan Gunne
1. Jack Boyle 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Brian Deeny 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Alex Soroka 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan (c)
16. John McKee 17. Jerry Cahir 18. Rabah Slimani 19. RG Snyman 20. Josh Ericson 21. Luke McGrath 22. Charlie Tector 23. Ruben Moloney
DRAGONS : 15 Angus O’Brien (c) 14 Cai Evans 13 David Richards 12 Aneurin Owen 11 Huw Anderson 10 Tinus de Beer 9 Rhodri Williams
1 Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths 2 Oli Burrows 3 Robert Hunt 4 Seb Davies 5 Matthew Screech 6 Ryan Woodman 7 Thomas Young 8 Mackenzie Martin
16 Will Austin 17 Wyn Jones 18 Owain James 19 Levi Douglas 20 Shane Lewis-Hughes 21 Niall Armstrong 22 Joe Westwood 23 Ewan Rosser
United Rugby Championship 25/26 – Round 6
Friday, November 28, 2025
Rodney Parade, Newport
KO 7:45pm
Live on : TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU)
AR 1: Craig Evans (WRU)
AR 2: Lucas Yendle (WRU)
TMO: Chris Allison (SARU)
473 : Ireland v South Africa preview
Our guest : HUGO GORDON
IRELAND :15. Mack Hansen 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Cian Prendergast 20. Jack Conan 21. Craig Casey 22. Jack Crowley 23. Tom Farrell
SOUTH AFRICA : 15 Damian Willemse 14 Canan Moodie 13 Jesse Kriel 12 Damian de Allende 11 Cheslin Kolbe 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu 9 Cobus Reinach
1 Boan Enter 2 Malcolm Marx 3 Thomas du Toit 4 Eben Etzebeth 5 Ruan Nortje 6 Siya Kolisi (c) 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit 8 Jasper Wiese
16 Johan Grobbelaar 17 Gerhard Steenekamp 18 Wilco Louw 19 RG Snyman 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Andre Esterhuizen 22 Grant Williams 23 Manie Libbok
Quilter Nations Series – Round 4
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
KO 5:40pm
Live on : RTÉ2, TNT Sports 1
Referee: Matthew Carley (Eng)
AR1: Karl Dickson (Eng)
AR2: Christophe Ridley (Eng)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (Eng)
FPRO: Dan Jones (Eng)
472 : IRELAND V AUSTRALIA wrap
🏉 Full-Mack at 15
🏉 Options galore
🏉 Baird The Poacher
🏉 Smart decisions
🏉 Think inside the Boks
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
No guest this week, flying solo
FULL TIME TAKES
Kevin Kelehan
Questioned in recent weeks, accused of being a team in serious decline, players being told in the media they were past their sell by date, line out coach and best lock in Irish history told he was shyte at his job. Then we get the best Irish performance since RWC 2023 and one as unpredicted as smashing France in Marseilles in 2024. Australia absolutely failed to deal with the weather conditions and coughed up a lot of easy possession in the red zone but this was the Irish team giving Andy Farrell and Paul O’Connell a performance they’ve been owed for a while. Despite the absence of lions Joe McCarthy, Van Der Flier, Ringrose and Keenan the team was rejigged into a cohesive unit and its clear there is more depth in the squad than has been thought for a couple of years, players like Henshaw and Hansen look reinvented whilst McCloskey looks to be the most unlucky player in recent history in only getting short stints. Hopefully the team can match this performance again next week and hopefully the BOK evolution hasn’t moved on too much since last summer’s drawn series.
Adrian Hickey
Australia still in shock after the Lynagh/Ioane show last week I reckon. When our very sick, reintroduced fb Mack can help himself to a hattrick out of position says quite a bit. Ronan not cutting the mustard the last bit. Gus on bench at hooker next week to back up Dano or he has to do 80. Kudos to Sambo for the drop btw
Bert McLoughlin
A lot more cohesive this week and apart from poor discipline in the 1st half we should have kept their score lower
Kettlebell Padawen
Sam’s best game in green. Australia were shocking
David Ryle
Sam should have shut his detractors up but no they’re still nit picking his performance.
Rob Gardner (via BlueSky)
JPG could give anywhere between 1-15 a good go.
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
NOVEMBER SERIES WRAP
ITALY 14-32 SOUTH AFRICA
PORTUGAL 58-12 HONG KONG
ENGLAND V NEW ZEALAND
GEORGIA 38-17 CANADA
ROMANIA 18-26 USA
WALES 24-23 JAPAN
IRELAND 46-19 AUSTRALIA
FRANCE 34-21 FIJI
SCOTLAND 24-33 ARGENTINA
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
GUEST POST : “Who could replace Leo?” (blog)
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN (Substack)
471 : Ireland v Australia preview
IRELAND : 15. Mack Hansen 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Paddy McCarthy 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Caelan Doris (c) 8. Jack Conan
16. Rónan Kelleher 17. Andrew Porter 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Nick Timoney 20. Cian Prendergast 21. Craig Casey 22. Jack Crowley 23. Bundee Aki
AUSTRALIA : 15. Max Jorgensen 14. Filipo Daugunu 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12. Len Ikitau 11. Harry Potter 10. James O’Connor 9. Jake Gordon
1. Angus Bell 2. Matt Faessler 3. Allan Alaalatoa 4. Jeremy Williams 5. Tom Hooper 6. Rob Valetini 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson (c)
16. Billy Pollard 17. Tom Robertson 18. Zane Nonggorr 19. Nick Frost 20. Carlo Tizzano 21. Ryan Lonergan 22. Tane Edmed
Quilter Nations Series – Round 3
Saturday, November 15, 2025
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
KO 8:10pm
Live on : RTÉ2, TNT Sports 1
Referee: Karl Dickson (Eng)
AR1: Pierre Brousset (Fra)
AR2: Adam Leal (Eng)
TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)
FPRO: Dan Jones (Eng)
IRELAND : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Tom Farrell 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jacob Stockdale 10. Jack Crowley 9. Craig Casey
1. Andrew Porter 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Nick Timoney 8. Caelan Doris (c)
16. Gus McCarthy 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Cian Prendergast 20. Jack Conan 21. Caolin Blade 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Jimmy O’Brien
JAPAN : 15. Yoshitaka Yazaki 14. Kippei Ishida 13. Dylan Riley 12. Charlie Lawrence 11. Tomoki Osada 10. Seungsin Lee 9. Naoto Saito
1. Kenta Kobayashi 2. Kenji Sato 3. Shuhei Takeuchi 4. Epineri Uluiviti 5. Warner Dearns 6. Ben Gunter 7. Kanji Shimokawa 8. Faulua Makisi
16. Shodai Hirao 17. Ryosuke Iwaihara 18. Keijiro Tamefusa 19. Jack Cornelsen 20. Michael Leitch 21. Shinobu Fujiwara 22. Shinya Komura 23. Yuya Hirose
Quilter Nations Series – Round 2
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
KO 12:40pm
Live on : RTÉ2, TNT Sports 3
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Ita)
AR1: Andrea Piardi (Ita)
AR2: Federico Vedovelli (Ita)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Ita)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (Fra)
IRELAND XV : 15. Michael Lowry 14. Robert Baloucoune 13. Jude Postlethwaite 12. Dan Kelly 11. Shayne Bolton 10.Harry Byrne 9. Ben Murphy
1. Michael Milne 2. Tom Stewart (c) 3. Tom O’Toole 4. Evan O’Connell 5. Darragh Murray 6. Alex Soroka 7. Ruadhan Quinn 8. Paul Boyle
16. Lee Barron 17. Alex Usanov 18. Scott Wilson 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. David McCann 21. Nathan Doak 22. Cathal Forde 23. Zac Ward
468 : IRELAND V NEW ZEALAND WRAP
🏉 Clinical finishing
🏉 Beirne-d by TMO
🏉 Lineout woes
🏉 Outhalves fail
🏉 Finding positives
THIS WEEK’S GUEST
FULL TIME TAKES
Gavin Hegarty
Sometimes we love rugby because it’s not simple, but sometimes this backfires.
Pass to Barrett is forward, so he’s offside and not in play, therefore technically he’s obstructing beirne. How this was deemed a yellow baffles me, a red makes me lose faith.
Ireland simply weren’t good enough but my god the quality of officiating was dire.
Tommy O’Brien held back and then deemed to have knocked on, madness.
We can’t be this bad again but world rugby need to do something to get better refs
Cormac Mannion
What exactly do Goodman and O’Connell offer as coaches? Zero line breaks and multiple lineout turnovers tonight. Not the first time either. Our lineout has been muck for several years
Yvonne Dowd
Shit!! Red card?? ‘Dangerous tackle’??
Christy O’Connor
Some serious questions to be asked. Lineout has been poor since the last world cup and NZ were missing 2 of their locks.
Crowley made some poor decisions in the 2nd half but I’d still have him ahead of Sam for the moment. Red card was ridiculous, Beirne was standing still, so how can they say a high degree of danger
Lorcán Murphy
Do we need a change of lineout coach? And does Andy have the balls to ditch POC? It hasn’t functioned the past 2 years and is a key component of our attack. No lineout, no attack
Brian Connell
Ireland … dare I say it … undercooked??
Pearse O Donnell
Ireland were dazzled by the All Black’s footwork.
Those fluorescent boots would frighten the living shīte out of any opponent.
A masterstroke from Razor.🤣🤣
Get in the conversation yourself by leaving
your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle
in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page
NOVEMBER SERIES WRAP
BARBARIANS 19-33 NEW ZEALAND A
ENGLAND 25-7 AUSTRALIA
SOUTH AFRICA 61-7 JAPAN
SCOTLAND 85-0 USA
MUNSTER 31-28 ARGENTINA XV
IRELAND 13-26 NEW ZEALAND
NEXT HARPIN’
TUESDAY
BONUS CHAT : “IRISH SQUAD AGE PROFILE”
WEDNESDAY
80+ COLUMN
467 : Ireland v New Zealand preview
Our guest : JAY LONG
IRELAND : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Stuart McCloskey 11. James Lowe 10. Jack Crowley 9. Jamison Gibson-Park
1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan (c) 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. James Ryan 5. Tadhg Beirne 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Jack Conan
16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Finlay Bealham 19. Iain Henderson
20. Caelan Doris 21. Craig Casey 22. Sam Prendergast 23. Bundee Aki
NEW ZEALAND : 15. Will Jordan 14. Leroy Carter 13. Quinn Tupaea 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Caleb Clarke 10. Beauden Barrett 9. Cam Roigard
1. Ethan de Groot 2. Codie Taylor 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Scott Barrett (c) 5. Fabian Holland 6. Simon Parker 7. Ardie Savea 8. Peter Lakai
16. Samisoni Taukei’aho 17. Tamaiti Williams 18. Pasilio Tosi 19. Josh Lord 20. Wallace Sititi 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Leicester Fainga’anuku 23. Damian McKenzie
Gallagher Cup Test Match
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Soldier Field
KO 8:10pm Irish time
Live on : Virgin Media One, TNT Sports 2
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
Assistant Referee 1: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referee 2: Luc Ramos (FFR)
TMO: Ian Tempest (RFU)
FRPO: Dan Jones (RFU)
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 