United Rugby Championship – Page 4

423 : Sharks v Leinster wrap

29 March 2025; Max Deegan of Leinster makes a break during the United Rugby Championship match between Hollywoodbets Sharks and Leinster at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban, South Africa. Photo by Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

🏉 Low expectations

🏉 Toothless Sharks

🏉 Bridge pass

🏉 The Max Deegan All-Stars

🏉 Holding on

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

DAVID CORDIAL

FULL TIME TAKES

Bert McLoughlin

Not really a great game for a neutral but I’m not neutral, great win. Max was superb

Kevin Kelehan

Noon last week hoped for 2 points out of both games, last week ahead for 83 minutes and just caught in the end by a super dogged Bulls side and this week won a proper dogfight. The scores weren’t spectacular, but players like Deegan, Soroka and Penny never stopped working, the depth that Leinster have is embarrassing. To take 5 points from a trip they have struggled on in recent seasons is really encouraging

Cormac Mannion

Fantastic win. Frawley still doesn’t seem to have recovered his mojo after last autumn, albeit he was great for Penny’s try

Bernie Cunningham

Grt win, boys left it all on the pitch, delighted for the younger lads and to bring home 4pts from SA brill.👏👏

Eamon Saunders

Great performance from such a inexperienced bunch at this level given the opposition 💪👏👏

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URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “LEINSTER’S CHAMPIONS CUP 23”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

THURSDAY

THROWBACK THURSDAY

422 : Sharks v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Liam Turner 12. Charlie Tector 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Fintan Gunne

1. Cian Healy 2. John McKee 3. Thomas Clarkson 4. Diarmuid Mangan 5. Brian Deeny 6. Alex Soroka 7. Will Connors 8. Max Deegan (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Michael Milne 18. Rory McGuire 19. Alan Spicer 20. Scott Penny 21. Oliver Coffey 22. Ross Byrne 23. Henry McErlean

SHARKS : 15 Yaw Penxe 14 Ethan Hooker 13 Jurenzo Julius 12 Andre Esterhuizen

11 Makazole Mapimpi 10 Jordan Hendrikse 9 Jaden Hendrikse

1 Ox Nche 2 Bongi Mbonambi 3 Vincent Koch 4 Jason Jenkins

5 Emile van Heerden 6 James Venter 7 Vincent Tshituka 8 Siya Kolisi (c)

16 Fez Mbatha 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu 18 Ruan Dreyer 19 Corne’ Rahl

20 Manu Tshituka 21 Bradley Davids 22 Siya Masuku 23 Francois Venter

BKT United Rugby Championship Round 14

Saturday, March 29, 2025

KO 5:15pm Hollywoodbets Kings Park

Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 2 & URC.tv

Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

AR 1: Christopher Allison (SARU)

AR 2: Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)

TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

421 : Bulls v Leinster wrap

22 March 2025; Fintan Gunne of Leinster offloads to teammate Jordie Barrett during the United Rugby Championship match between Vodacom Bulls and Leinster at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo by Shaun Roy/Sportsfile

🏉 Preparedness

🏉 Pts left behind

🏉 Penalties galore

🏉 Separation anxiety

🏉 Scrum’s the word

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

RICHARD MIFSUD

URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY

BONUS CHAT : “THE RSA TOURS”

WEDNESDAY

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO

420 : Bulls v Leinster preview

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER

15. Jimmy O’Brien 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Hugh Cooney 12. Jordie Barrett 11. Andrew Osborne 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath (c)

1. Jack Boyle 2. John McKee 3. Rabah Slimani 4. RG Snyman 5. Diarmuid Mangan 6. Max Deegan 7. Will Connors 8. James Culhane

16. Stephen Smyth 17. Ivan Soroka 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. Alex Soroka 21. Scott Penny 22. Fintan Gunne 23. Ciarán Frawley

BULLS

15. Willie le Roux 14. Sebastian de Klerk 13. David Kriel 12. Harold Vorster 11. Stravino Jacobs 10. Keagan Johannes 9. Embrose Papier

1. Alulutho Tshakweni, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Wilco Louw, 4. Ruan Vermaak, 5. JF van Heerden, 6. Marcell Coetzee (c), 7. Jannes Kirsten, 8. Cameron Hanekom,

16. Johan Grobbelaar, 17. Jan-hendrik Wessels, 18. Mornay Smith, 19. Reinhardt Ludwig, 20. Marco van Staden, 21. Nizaam Carr, 22. Zak Burger, 23. Devon Williams

BKT United Rugby Championship Round 13

Saturday, March 22, 2025

KO 3pm Loftus Versfeld

Live on : RTÉ2, Premier Sports 1 & URC.tv

Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

AR 1: Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)

AR 2: Sean Muller (SARU)

TMO: Ben Breakspear (WRU)

409 : Ospreys v Leinster preview

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Hugh Cooney 12. Charlie Tector 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Ciarán Frawley 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Gus McCarthy 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Diarmuid Mangan 5. Brian Deeny 6. Max Deegan 7. Scott Penny 8. James Culhane

16. John McKee 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Rory McGuire 19. RG Snyman 20. Alex Soroka 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Andrew Osborne

OSPREYS : 15. Jack Walsh 14. Daniel Kasende 13. Evardi Boshoff 12. Keiran Williams 11. Keelan Giles 10. Owen Williams 9. Reuben Morgan-Williams

1. Garyn Phillips 2. Sam Parry 3. Tom Botha 4. James Ratti 5. James Fender 6. Harri Deaves 7. Justin Tipuric (c) 8. Morgan Morris

16. Ethan Lewis 17. Cam Jones 18. Ben Warren 19. Will Spencer 20. Morgan Morse 21. Kieran Hardy 22.Tom Florence 23. Iestyn Hopkins

BKT United Rugby Championship Round 11

Friday February 14, 2025

KO 7:35pm Swansea.com stadium

Live on : TG4, BBC2 Wales, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv

Referee: Filipo Russo (FIR)

AR 1: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)

AR 2: Adam Jones (WRU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

404 : Leinster v Stormers wrap

25 January 2025; Jordie Barrett of Leinster scores his side’s third try during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and DHL Stormers at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

also available on Apple and most major platforms

🏉 The Ross Byrne All-Stars

🏉 Skipper Dan

🏉 Missing cards

🏉 Stormer tears

🏉 Monkey off back

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post Sport blog

JAY LONG

FULL TIME TAKES

Jackie McEachern

Great to get the 5 points and see Lowe and Sheehan looking strong on their returns from injury.

Eamon Saunders

Good win and great to see some young lads get their chance and as usual great to see a couple of Wexford lads on the field

Josephine Boyd

Great win for our boys in blue and and to see our young future players getting there chance.👏👍👕💪🏈💙

Bernie Cunningham

Grt win and grt to see our future looks good with young players 💙💙

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving

your own thoughts each week after the full time whistle

in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page

URC WRAP

NEXT HARPIN’

TUESDAY JAN 28

BONUS CLIP ON YOUTUBE CHANNEL : “IRISH 23 V ENGLAND”

WEDNESDAY JAN 29

80+ COLUMN INCLUDING FRONT 5 VIDEO (ALSO ON YOUTUBE)

403 : Leinster v Stormers preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS A PODCAST

Our guest : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

LEINSTER : 15. Henry McErlean 14. Andrew Osborne 13. Liam Turner 12. Jordie Barrett 11. James Lowe 10. Ross Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Dan Sheehan (c) 3. Rabah Slimani 4. RG Snyman 5. Brian Deeny 6. Alex Soroka 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan

16. John McKee 17. Paddy McCarthy 18. Rory McGuire 19. Diarmuid Mangan 20. James Culhane 21. Will Connors 22. Cormac Foley 23. Charlie Tector

STORMERS : 15 Warrick Gelant 14 Ben Loader 13 Ruhan Nel 12 Jonathan Roche 11 Leolin Zas 10 Manie Libbok 9 Paul de Wet

1 Ali Vermaak 2 Joseph Dweba 3 Neethling Fouché 4 JD Schickerling 5 Ruben van Heerden 6 Deon Fourie (c) 7 Ben-Jason Dixon 8 Evan Roos

16 André-Hugo Venter 17 Brok Harris 18 Frans Malherbe 19 Salmaan Moerat 20 Marcel Theunissen 21 Paul de Villiers 22 Herschel Jantjies 23 Wandisile Simelane

BKT United Rugby Championship 24/25 Rd 10

Saturday January 25, 2025

KO 5pm Aviva Stadium

Live on : TG4, Premier Sports 1, URC.tv

Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)

AR 1: Chris Busby (IRFU)

AR 2: Jonathan Erskine (IRFU)

TMO: Matteo Liperini (FIR)

398 : Munster v Leinster wrap

27 December 2024; Luke McGrath of Leinster scores his side’s first try during the United Rugby Championship match between Munster and Leinster at Thomond Park in Limerick. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile

NOTE : this week we posted the ‘Final Thoughts’ portion separately on our YouTube channel

🏉 Vanishing pillar

🏉 Set piece revival

🏉 Steady Sam

🏉 Ahern SUAF

🏉 Through the Ringer

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN

CIARÁN DUFFY

Post To Post Sport – blog

FULL TIME TAKES

Chris McDonnell

I am not a McGrath fan but he was good tonight. Credit where its due. Munster’s refusal to take points when they are on offer is just daft against a defence as good as Leinster’s. Lineout was better and the scrum was good mostly.

Gavin Hegarty

Let’s not get carried away here, that was a terrible Munster team. They need to rebuild from the ground up.

Adrian Hickey

Being cautious with Super Sam is key. No Jordie or RG was a killer blow to a real soft Munster outfit imo. No real reason to egg them on

Jackie McEachern

Happy to see the lineout functioning better. Thought VdF was excellent again. Really happy to get the BP win. Still lots to work on but lots of positives too.

Kevin Kelehan

11 points clear of the pack, selecting a stronger squad to tour South Africa in March is vital, now the meat of the season kicks off, La Rochelle away, Bath home and the Six Nations title defence

Get in the conversation yourself by leaving

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in Leinster & Ireland matches on our Facebook page

URC WRAP

397 : Munster v Leinster preview

ALSO AVAILABLE AS PODCAST

Our guest : CIARÁN DUFFY

POST TO POST SPORT

LEINSTER : 15. Jamie Osborne 14. Tommy O’Brien 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Robbie Henshaw 11. Jimmy O’Brien 10. Sam Prendergast 9. Luke McGrath

1. Jack Boyle 2. Rónan Kelleher 3. Rabah Slimani 4. Joe McCarthy 5. James Ryan 6. Ryan Baird 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris (c)

16. Lee Barron 17. Andrew Porter 18. Cian Healy 19. Brian Deeny 20. Scott Penny 21. Fintan Gunne 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jordan Larmour

MUNSTER : 15 Mike Haley; 14 Calvin Nash, 13 Tom Farrell, 12 Rory Scannell, 11 Shane Daly; 10 Billy Burns, 9 Ethan Coughlan

1 Dian Bleuler, 2 Niall Scannell, 3 Oli Jager; 4 Fineen Wycherley, 5 Tadhg Beirne (C); 6 Tom Ahern, 7 Alex Kendellen, 8Gavin Coombes.

16 Diarmuid Barron, 17 Kieran Ryan, 18 John Ryan, 19 Brian Gleeson, 20 John Hodnett, 21 Paddy Patterson, 22 Tony Butler, 23 Ben O’Connor.

United Rugby Championship 24/25 Rd 9

Friday, December 27, 2024

KO 7:35pm Thomond Park

Live on: TG4, Premier Sports 2, URC.tv

Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)

AR 1: Keane Davison (IRFU)

AR 2: Chris Lough (IRFU)

TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)

396 : Leinster v Connacht wrap

21 December 2024; RG Snyman of Leinster makes a break past Josh Murphy of Connacht during the United Rugby Championship match between Leinster and Connacht at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

🏉 Makeshift?

🏉 Ref communication

🏉 Well taken tries

🏉 Holding on

🏉 Mackgate

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

TOM COLEMAN

HUGO GORDON

FULL TIME TAKES

Lorcán Murphy

Changes and early injuries proved very disruptive. Came out the right side of a dogfight two weeks running. Better than cakewalks and nothing to show at the end of the season

Eamon Saunders

Not a great game but as I always say a win is a win. Great to see 2 Wexford men on the field Charlie Tector and Brian Deeny

Andrew Bailey

On paper a very strong Connacht team nullified. Just find a Lineout and we could be comfortable

David Ryle

Some dodgy decisions on both sides.