80+ column : Apr 24

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On this week’s column…

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FRONT FIVE

A selection of five eye-catching egg-chasing quotes & links from around the ruggersphere, now including a few thoughts added by myself (JLP).

It’s believed that Munster and Ulster are showing interest but Leinster are keen to retain Boyle, who they regard as a big prospect

Milne and Boyle set to stay but several Leinster men joining other provinces

Murray Kinsella – The42.ie

JLP : Finally we see some flesh put on the bones of all the rumours that have been rattling around the ruggersphere for the past while – even the most dyed in the wool Leinster fan would have to admit we can’t hold on to all of our talent indefinitely so there are bound to be players moving on.  That said, we should be able to keep the top players we produce ourselves (within reason) and if Milne and Boyle do stay that would be a decent outcome for sure.  

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“I’m not French, I’m trying to prove myself and put my name into the debate.”

Ireland legend Ronan O’Gara could be the next France boss

Ruck.co.uk

JLP : Is the headline being sensationalist?  Of course it is.  I mean, I ‘could’ also be the next French boss, so could Donald Trump.  But still even with Fabien Galthie seeming to have used up all his 2022 Grand Slam goodwill, I have to admit I never thought too much about ROG getting the job and the more I think of it the more it makes sense, although that may put a certain faction of Munster supporters into something of a quandary when they play Ireland…

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Saracens are one of several sides keen to know exactly how many of their squad will be offered deals and precisely how the new system will operate.

English clubs urge RFU to speed up enhanced hybrid contract plans

Robert Kitson – The Guardian

JLP : “Hybrid contracts” you say?  What an interesting concept.  Maybe we could try something like that here in Ireland, though we’d have to change the name otherwise it might look like we were copying the RFU…maybe we could say, “Central” instead?  Funny how they’re looking to introduce just as we’re debating the notion of giving them an overhaul.

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Kitshoff only arrived at Ulster in November on what was meant to be a three-year deal

Steven Kitshoff’s season over while James Hume facing long layoff for Ulster

RTÉ.ie

JLP : On the latest wrap pod we mentioned how sometimes these NIQ signings don’t work out, with possible Steven Sykes’ 4-cap stint being among the most memorable for being the least memorable at Leinster.   It’s probably better off for all involved he goes home early but it does leave Ulster with something of a dilemma in his position – and with him now unavailable for the rest of the season, plus James Hume also on the sidelines for now anyway, they just don’t seem to have any luck whatsoever on the personnel front.

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The final is scheduled to take place at 2.45pm at the North London venue, and with the FA Cup final set for a 3pm kick-off just 12 miles away at Wembley,

Champions Cup And FA Cup Final Clash Could Spell Chaos For Leinster Fans

James Fenton – Balls.ie

JLP : Another case of the word “could” doing a lot of heavy lifting in a headline, although in this case it’s a good thing because at least it allows for the small matter of a semifinal to take place before it affects Leinster fans.  On the broader subject of the clash, I mean, who could have possibly foreseen that having the two matches in the same city on the same day at practically the same time could cause an issue?  Besides pretty much everybody, of course…

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WRAP OF A WRAP

Many thanks as ever to Conor & Rich for helping me with the latest pod, obviously this wasn’t exactly a match we looked forward to wrapping and I assumed not many regular listeners would be took keen to hear us harp on it so we cut back the actual wrap time and looked forward to the URC’s remaining rounds as well.

I put that run-in segment on the YouTube channel, which has been doing pretty well  on the numbers front I have to say – we recently passed 300 subscribers and the vids are starting to regularly hit 1000 views which may not be much for the more seasoned channels but considering it’s not our primary platform, isn’t too bad and here at Harpin Towers we’re happy enough (for now – don’t let that stop you subscribing and viewing yourself if you haven’t already!!!)

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.

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QUICK TAP : NEXT-LEVEL REF-SHAMING

At the end of my latest Quick Tap vid I promise to explain in more detail my reasons for my personal decisions on those tries so here goes…

I’m actually going to do the second one first because it’s a lot easier…I see it as a knock on, simple as.  Just because we see it go the other direction in the video doesn’t mean Carré didn’t knock it on first, and I reckon he did.  Call me biased because it favours the Irish team all you want, this is how I saw it.

As for the Izuchukwu tackle it’s way tricker.  Amazing try saving tackle?  Definitely.  Does he mean to kick it?  For me, no, and here is where most of the disagreement seems to be, but I see it as a natural motion that resulted from his trying to pull the Cardiff player back.  HOWEVER because that area of intent is so subjective I reckon it brings our decision to an almost perfect 50/50 call.  That my seem like a cop out but I actually believe that in all sports whenever you’re not sure which way to lean it should always be in the direction that awards the score, like in baseball where they have the phrase “tie goes to the runner” – that’s not an official rule, but IMO it’s a good overall principle for officials.

Told you it was complicated!!!  Any many of these rulings are, which is exactly why we should debate them without making it personal about the officials.

@harpinonrugby

Our 80+ column posts every Wednesday at harpinonrugby.com #rugbytiktok

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LEINSTER INJURY UPDATE

Fingers, toes and eyes crossed that Messrs Ringrose, Keenan & J O’Brien get back in contention for May but when it comes to Cape Town I reckon we’ll be looking at something close to what we saw in Jo’burg with maybe a few starters and subs swapping roles.

NB : the above matchday 23s are completely from my own mind, I’m certainly not suggesting I have any ITK a la Thornley

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RUCKTHIS.IE

Shout out to Peter Burke & co for their relatively new venture RuckThis.ie do check it out and also their live show every Wednesday evening, I plan to be a guest on it next week and he has agreed to appear on one of our wrap pods soon too.

Home

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WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS 

Hard scoreline to take at Twickers but two very very very VERY different women's programs. They are where we would hope to be one day, but a long long way to go and we need to bring that display v Wales forward. #GuinnessW6N #ENGvIRE

— Harpin' On Rugby (@HarpinOnRugby) April 20, 2024

Not much I can add to my tweet after the full time whistle blew at Twickers although apart from the online morons who probably have never seen a game of women’s rugby yet still see fit to chime in with things like “they just have to play better”, the consensus opinion seems to be that the other unions need to find a way to bring their standards much closer to those of England and France otherwise these scorelines will continue.  Brian Moore had a good article (behind paywall) about this as did Sarah Rendell in Rugby World. Here’s hoping Ireland can get a result this Saturday.

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AUTUMN NATIONS SERIES

Two Friday night fixtures less than ideal but overall the prospect of us playing all four Rugby Championship nations before the year is out has to be good for our post-RWC2023 group.  It’s also good to see Georgia and Portugal involved although it could be more.  It ALWAYS could be more.

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URC IRISH SHIELD UPDATE

It took the URC a while to feature the latest Shield tables on their website but better late than never.  That one-point win for Ulster at the RDS has left the race wide open with it very possible that it could boil down to their trip to Thomond Park on the final day of the regular season.

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“SVNS” UPDATE

The Singapore 7s, which will decide the final placings before the grand finale in Madrid (although Ireland seem good in both genders), don’t take place until next weekend but the draw for the pools has been made and you can see the fixtures below.  Funny how the men play one minute later on Saturday than they do Friday….

NO MATCHES LAST WEEKEND

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Under the new model, HSBC SVNS 2024 features seven regular season events plus a Grand Final. The top eight placed teams based on cumulative series points at the conclusion of the seventh round in Singapore will secure their opportunity to compete in the new ‘winner takes all’ Grand Final in Madrid, where the women’s and men’s HSBC SVNS 2024 champions will be crowned.

Madrid will also play host to the high stakes relegation play-off competition where teams ranked ninth to 12th will join the top four teams from the World Rugby Sevens Challenger, with the top four placed teams securing their place on HSBC SVNS 2025.

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NEXT IN THE SERIES…

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🔝🐱🐴 UPDATE

Toulon pipping Toulouse by a point has put some daylight between Stade Français and the rest of the 🔝🐱🐴 while ROG also fell short but a point leaving La Rochelle teetering on the edge of the playoff places.  Down at the bottom Montpellier fell again leaving them as favourites to have to playoff for their survival.  Toulouse v Racing seems to be the pick of round 22.

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PREMIERSHIP UPDATE

Let’s be honest – all Leinster eyes are on Northampton now, and although they rested a few regulars they still put their auld enemy Leicester away pretty handily.  Interesting how they face their fellow Prem CC-semifinalist Quins in the next round, although the home side need the points a lot more so I wouldn’t read too much into a lopsided score there.

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AIL UPDATE 

Up until today Wednesday I found it extremely difficult to get any information on the time and date of the Women’s AIL final.  In fact, I have been following the league all season and it wasn’t until the round robin was over that I even knew there wasn’t a top four playoff!  Just the top 2 straight into the final it seems, with UL Bohs facing off against Railway Union in the decider this Sunday, a unique double- header with Terenure and Cork Con squaring off for the men’s crown.  And if that’s not enough consequential Leinster v Munster battles for you, then how about Garryowen v Old Belvedere for the right to join St Mary’s in Division 1A next season?  Lot’s of good club rugby this weekend.

#SupportYourLocalClub

WOMEN’S AIL

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MEN’S AIL 1A

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SUPER RUGBY PACIFIC UPDATE

The Crusaders fell yet again so we’re way past calling this a blip as they sit rock bottom of the standings.  So I guess from here until the end of the season it makes more sense for this Leinster fan to be focusing more on the Hurricanes at the top of the table!  Especially with Jordie Barrett in top form chipping in with a try and a conversion in their latest win.  Tricky visit to Canberra for them next, might be worth a watch.

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JAPAN LEAGUE ONE UPDATE

About time I featured League One in this column – obviously with the “Leinster-centric-ness” of my general harpin’ I don’t have a lot of time to follow this league although I am fascinated by it in many ways.  A lot of money has gone it to attract some really big names and it seems in some places it really, really works while in others, well, it really really doesn’t.  

Take the match in Round 14 between Toyota Verblits, who had a 7-8-9-10 combo of Himeno, PSDT, A Smith & B Barrett, and Saitama Wild Knights, who have Lood de Jager and Damien de Allende among the recognisable names.  Without looking at the league table you certainly wouldn’t imagine a 40-7 scoreline in favour of the visitors would you?  The top 4 seems pretty much set with two rounds to go although there is an interesting 2nd v 3rd battle this weekend.

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MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY UPDATE

Chicago’s winning run continued as they put away Los Angeles in Round 8, with Luke Carty having replaced Dave Kearney at fullback, Conall Boomer starting at 8 and Nick McCarthy coming off the bench.  They get a break in the next round as New England and Seattle are the conference leaders.

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HARPIN PREDICTION LEAGUE

As usual I got a bit cocky as I regained top spot in the HPL after Friday’s results and bragged about it in the WhatsApp group only to see Kino come storming back on the Saturday to actually increase his overall lead at the top from the previous round.  I certainly can’t afford to let him get too far ahead.

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NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’

Stormers up next for Leinster, usual preview on Friday, plus don’t forget our rugby slot on Dubin South 93.9FM after the 5 o’clock news then we’ll have our wrap pod on Sunday evening.  Please be sure to follow, comments, like, share and subscribe as much as you can across our social media platforms.

And as ever, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are.  JLP

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