Category: Contributors

235 : IRELAND V ENGLAND WRAP aka “Gran’s Lamb”

ⓒ INPHO/Billy Strickland

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & CIAN O’MUILLEOIR

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Mark Jackson

Ryan Baird immense ..kudos must go to all coaches n staff and squad

10 tries conceeded in 2 6 Nations campaigns combined telling stat..hats off to Simon Easterby for defensive work especially

James Griffin

England brought physicality but not a lot of game nous. Ireland, while not always as precise as in previous games, matched their physicality but in addition, had good game management and made good decisions at crucial times. Delighted for the entire squad; a fully deserved slam.

Gavin Hegarty

Not a good Irish performance but always great to get a slam.

Up for discussion is where rugby is going. A red card should be for a malicious act, not for what steward did. His offence was a yellow at most.

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Tim Stickland  Congratulations Ireland. Great shift from Johnny Sexton. RWC looks fantastic with the French in great form too.

RichardMifsud It seems I’m required to force myself to have a celebratory #whiskey

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Nine tries, 66 points and a frantic finish – Gonzaga claim first Senior Cup after famous win over Blackrock – Independent.ie [Des Berry]
  2. RTÉ and Virgin Media secure Rugby World Cup 2023 rights | World Rugby
  3. Six Nations: Scotland survive incredibly nervy finish as Blair Kinghorn scores hat-trick of tries against Italy | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]
  4. Wales end Six Nations campaign on losing note against France – The Irish Times 
  5. Six-try Ireland U20s make history with back-to-back Grand Slam titles (the42.ie) [Sinead Farrell]

SIX NATIONS WRAP

ROUND 5

SCO 26-14 ITA

FRA 41-28 WAL

IRE 29-16 ENG

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234 : Harpin’ Preview Show #IREvENG (aka “The Canned Ham Decider”)

OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Robbie Henshaw 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Johnny Sexton (c) 9. Jamison Gibson Park

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Ryan Baird 5. James Ryan 6. Peter O’Mahony 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Rob Herring 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Kieran Treadwell 20. Jack Conan 21. Conor Murray 22. Ross Byrne 23. Jimmy O’Brien

ENGLAND : 15. Freddie Steward 14. Anthony Watson 13. Henry Slade 12. Manu Tuilagi 11. Henry Arundell 10. Owen Farrell (C) 9.  Jack van Poortvliet 

1. Ellis Genge 2. Jamie George 3. Kyle Sinckler 4. Maro Itoje 5. David Ribbans 6. Lewis Ludlam  7. Jack Willis 8. Alex Dombrandt

16. Jack Walker 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Dan Cole 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. Ben Curry 21. Alex Mitchell 22. Marcus Smith 23. Joe Marchant 

Guinness Six Nations Championship 2023

Round 5

Sat Mar 18 KO 5pm

Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)

AR1: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)

AR2: Pierre Brousset (FFR) 

TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)

Live on: Virgin Media One, ITV1

233 : The Rugby Europe Championship finals

Our guest…FRANCISCO ISAAC

Also check out his own latest podcast for a more in-depth preview

Stars and Scrums – REC23 Final Preview (rugbyeurope.eu)

Click here for info on streaming the REC finals

A bonus pod looking ahead to the final round of the Rugby Europe Championship which has a new format this season.

🏉 The RE Championship new format

🏉 How the competition has gone so far

🏉 Preview of Sunday’s finals

232 : SCOTLAND v IRELAND WRAP

THIS WEEK’S GUEST

RICHARD MIFSUD

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Conor Cronin The wins in the previous 3 rounds with a big injury list, outdone by getting through that game in spite of the injuries.

We allowed the scots to dictate big parts of that game but once we took charge we’d 2 quick tries and that was it. raging for James Ryan not to get the score or the assist with that fine supporting run, and not to have got the BP.

Players really stood up and were counted, and while there were mistakes it’s the attitude of getting up and getting the next phase right that is the core of this team right now.

James Griffin What a very special group of men! To play through so much adversity and win is why they have the ranking they have. Speedy recovery to the injured.

Mark Jackson Think that covers most contingencies ..struggling to come up w new ones ..maybe Hugo Keenan as a LO jumper…Jukebox finally kicking for goal.

Kevin Kelehan Dogged in the extreme, not much more could have gone against them, the disallowed first try, the smashing of Doris in the air in the line out and no sanction, then Sheehan and then Henderson so early in the game. Today was proof that even a much improved Scotland with tails up in front of a noisy crowd could not derail Ireland seriously discommoded by injuries. Time to nail Farrell and Catt down for a contract extension before the World Cup!

Lee O Farrell They always talk about the rub of the green but the lads today made their own luck.

An incredible performance. One of the things that sets this group apart from previous Irish teams is the headspace. And these lads have it in spades!

Andrew Potts Every benefit of the doubt was given to Scotland by the Ref.

Even the fact he was joking around when Ringrose was being attended to for a serious injury was completely tone deaf.

TWITTER

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Brian Nisbet Grand Slam still very much on. 7-22 in Edinburgh. Very scrappy match and concerning injuries, but still, it’s a win and any issues will be forgotten after the fifth win next weekend.

Marc Fritsche The players will be in nothing but ice baths for the week, that was extremely physical

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Portugal and Georgia to contest REC 23 Grand Final (rugbyeurope.eu) 
  2. Blackrock set up schools cup final rematch with Gonzaga after edging St Michael’s in thrilling finale – Independent.ie [Des Berry]
  3. Ireland close in on U20 Grand Slam defence after 75-point demolition of Scotland (the42.ie) [Lewis Stuart]
  4. Wales finally win a Six Nations match as old face returns to make difference – Wales Online [Steffan Thomas]
  5. Shambolic England given a France masterclass (lastwordonsports.com) [Charlie Inglefield]

SIX NATIONS ROUND 4 WRAP

ROUND 4

ITA 17-29 WAL

ENG 10-53 FRA

SCO 7-22 IRE

ROUND 5

SAT MAR 18

SCO V ITA

FRA V WAL

IRE V ENG

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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231 : Harpin Preview Show – #SCOvIRE

OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

IRELAND : 15. Hugo Keenan 14. Mack Hansen 13. Garry Ringrose 12. Bundee Aki 11. James Lowe 10. Johnny Sexton > (c) 9. Conor Murray

1. Andrew Porter 2. Dan Sheehan 3. Tadhg Furlong 4. Iain Henderson 5. James Ryan 6. Peter O’Mahony 7. Josh van der Flier 8. Caelan Doris

16. Ronan Kelleher 17. Cian Healy 18. Tom O’Toole 19. Ryan Baird 20. Jack Conan 21. Jamison Gibson Park 22. Ross Byrne 23. Robbie Henshaw

SCOTLAND : 15. Stuart Hogg 14. Kyle Steyn 13. Huw Jones 12. Sione Tuipulotu 11. Duhan van der Merwe 10. Finn Russell 9. Ben White

1. Pierre Schoeman 2. George Turner 3. Zander Fagerson 4. Richie Gray 5. Jonny Gray 6. Matt Fagerson 7. Jamie Ritchie (c) 8. Jack Dempsey

16. Fraser Brown 17. Jamie Bhatti 18. Simon Berghan 19. Scott Cummings 20. Hamish Watson 21. Ali Price 22. Blair Kinghorn 23. Chris Harris

Guinness Six Nations Championship 2023

Round 4

Sun Mar 12 KO 3pm

Murrayfield

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)

AR1: Wayne Barnes (England)

AR2: Christophe Ridley (England)

TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Live on: RTÉ2, ITV1

230 : “The 6N 2-rounds left panel”

A bonus pod to set us up nicely for the remaining two rounds of the Six Nations featuring an all-provincial panel.

🏉 The 2023 6N so far

🏉 Ireland’s “work-ons”

🏉 Expectations for Rds 4&5

OUR SIX NATIONS PODCASTS ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY FANZO, DOWNLOAD THE FREE FANZO APP AND JOIN OUR PREDICTION LEAGUE, CODE = HARPIN TO BE IN WITH A CHANCE OF WINNING A SIGNED COPY OF BRIAN’S BOOK.

OUR GUESTS

PÁDRAIG KELLY  :  https://the2ndrow.com/

CAOLÁN SCULLY : https://caolansrugby.wordpress.com/blog/

PETER LOCKHART :  https://www.theredhand.co/

@harpinonrugby

Assembled an all-provincial panel for a bonus pod looking at the #GuinnessSixNations so far & more

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

229 : Edinburgh v Leinster wrap

4 March 2023; Michael Ala’alatoa of Leinster scores his side’s sixth try as teammates including Michael Milne celebrate during the United Rugby Championship match between Edinburgh and Leinster at The Dam Health Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

MARK JACKSON & CIARÁN DUFFY

Click here for info on Ciarán’s fundraiser

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Peter Murphy Sad to see so many doubters before the game

Kevin Kelehan The machine keeps delivering

Chris McDonnell Seriously good

TWITTER

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RichardMifsud Poor start but credit Edinburgh for that. Good response from the boys very clinical in their 22. Absorbed the lessons and adapted. Once we did they were found out because our D was on point and allowed us to kick on. Great 9/10/12/13 interplay and Ciarán F added quality as required. Surprised by Edinburgh’s capitulation after 50” or so. Scott P worthy POTM but Harry B was thereabouts

BrianClontarf Best performance by Harry Byrne for some time. He’s growing into it.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Leo Cullen Signs New Contract To Stay At Leinster Rugby (sportsnewsireland.com) [Jonah McBride]
  2. Irish Rugby | Energia All-Ireland League Men’s Division 1A: Round 15 Review
  3. Rowntree relieved to leave with bonus after challenging week (irishexaminer.com) [Simon Lewis]
  4. Dragons 20-22 Connacht: 14-men Dragons fail to sign off at home for season with win after late missed drop-goals – Wales Online [Ben James]
  5. Ulster hit Cardiff for six as they continue top-two bid with bonus-point win in Wales | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]

URC ROUND 15 WRAP

ROUND 15

GLA 50-8 ZEB

MUN 49-42 SCA

STO 29-23 SHA

BUL 25-29 LIO

EDI 27-47 LEI

OSP 20-21 BEN

DRA 20-22 CON

CAR 20-42 ULS

ROUND 16

MAR 24

ZEB V CAR

LEI V STO

MAR 25

BEN V LIO

OSP V DRA

CON V EDI

SCA V SHA

MUN V GLA

ULS V BUL

HARPIN’ MATCH WRAPS

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228 : Harpin Preview Show – #EDIvLEI

OUR GUEST : NEIL “KEEGO” KEEGAN

www.keegolaughs.com

Apologies Up Front on Apple Podcasts

Leinster : 15. Ciarán Frawley 14. Jordan Larmour 13. Liam Turner 12. Jamie Osborne 11. Dave Kearney 10. Harry Byrne 9. Luke McGrath

1. Michael Milne 2. John McKee 3. Michael Ala’alatoa 4. Ross Molony 5. Jason Jenkins 6. Rhys Ruddock > CAPTAIN 7. Scott Penny 8. Max Deegan

16. Lee Barron 17. Jack Boyle 18. Thomas Clarkson 19. Brian Deeny 20. Will Connors 21. Nick McCarthy 22. Charlie Tector 23. Rob Russell.

Edinburgh : 15. Emiliano Boffelli 14. Damien Hoyland 13. Mark Bennett 12. James Lang 11. Wes Goosen 10. Charlie Savala 9. Ben Vellacott

1. Boan Venter 2. Stuart McInally 3. Lee-Roy Atalifo 4. Marshall Sykes 5. Sam Skinner 6. Luke Crosbie > CAPTAIN 7. Hamish Watson 8. Viliame Mata

16. Dave Cherry 17. Jamie Jack 18. Elliot Millar-Mills 19. Jamie Hodgson 20. Nick Haining 21. Charlie Shiel 22. Jaco van der Walt 23. Chris Dean.

BKT United Rugby Championship 2022/23

Round 15

Sat Mar 4 KO 5:05pm

DAM Health Stadium

Live on: TG4, Viaplay/Premier Sports, URC.tv

Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)

AR1: Sam Grove-White

AR2: Ian Kenny 

TMO: Jon Mason

227 : Opposition view – Edinburgh & Scotland

DAM Health Stadium, Edinburgh

With both Leinster & Ireland playing in the Scottish capital the next two weekends, our perfect guest to offer an opposition view was Sandy “@theburghwatch” Smith.

OUR GUEST : SANDY SMITH

More links : SUBSTACK BLOG

@harpinonrugby

With both Leinster & Ireland playing in the Scottish capital the next two weekends, our perfect guest to offer an opp view was @theburghwatch

♬ original sound – Harpinonrugby.com – Harpinonrugby.com

226 : ITALY v IRELAND WRAP

2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship Round 3, Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy 25/2/2023 Italy vs Ireland Ireland’s Mack Hansen Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

🏉 IRELAND’S CAAAA…..

🏉 Centre, Backrow & Halfback options

🏉 ……..AAAAAAAA………

🏉 Italy’s improvement

🏉 …AAAAAAAAAAAAALL.

THIS WEEK’S GUESTS

CONOR CRONIN & TOM COLEMAN

PLUS A SPECIAL REPORT FROM RICH MIFSUD

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Imelda Reidy Great Italian performance. Job done. 5 points. On we roll.

Andrew Byrne Today showed one thing in particular, that Gary Ringrose is a world class operator and is streets ahead of the rest of them at playing outside centre. 12 and 13 are two very different positions, as shown by our defensive lapses today.

Alan Murphy Brilliant. Two teams playing the game in a positive way. Italy have really improved. Let’s be honest, some of our team today were 2-3rd choice and a few played out of position. We scored a bonus point, left some tries out there and also managed to think our way out of danger today. Previously we would have lost this game. Building strength in depth. So positive from me.

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Joanne  In fairness to Kieran Crowley, not only has he got Italy playing brilliantly, he’s got them believing too. So good to see and long may it continue.

Koochulainn Another win with a bonus point without conceding a losing bonus.

The performance wasn’t perfect, and Italy found some flaws in the defensive system, but you can’t get any more than five points.

Italy were great value for money too. After today and the 20s last night Italian rugby is heading in a good direction.

POTM Mack Hansen dropping an F bomb in the post match interview was a lovely coda

Colm Splendid match. Continued resurgence and improvement from Italy, and as usual this year, Ireland responded magnificently to pressure. Really looking forward to Murrayfield next month.

FRONT FIVE ARTICLES

  1. Former Ireland international Tom Tierney, who coached Irish women’s team, dies aged 46 – Independent.ie [Ruairidh O’Connor]
  2. Ireland U20s withstand second-half surge to keep back-to-back Grand Slam ambitions alive (the42.ie) [Daire Walsh]
  3. Ulster stun Sharks with sensational victory in Durban | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [Jonathan Bradley]
  4. Borthwick praises England’s tactical nous in ‘incredible Test match’ – england | Rugby365 [via AFP]
  5. Scotland suffer first Six Nations defeat in France despite valiant effort after early red cards | The Scotsman [Graham Bean]

6N RD 3 & URC ROUND 6 WRAP

6N WRAP

ROUND 3

ITA 20-34 IRE

WAL 10-20 ENG

FRA 32-21 SCO

ROUND 4

MAR 11

ITA V WAL

ENG V FRA

MAR 12

SCO V IRE

URC WRAP

ROUND 6

SHA 24-31 ULS

LIO 35-24 GLA

ROUND 15

MAR 3

GLA V ZEB

MUN V SCA

MAR 4

STO V SHA

BUL V LIO

EDI V LEI

OSP V BEN

DRA V CON

CAR V ULS

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