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.
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE
First things first…a reminder of the prestigious Harpin Guinness Pint Predictor League.
Our leader in the “Best Score In One Round” category is Andrew Byrne’s 67, including a spot on prediction of Ireland’s 14-point win over Italy. The prize will be a signed copy of Brian Moylett’s “The Book On How You Become A Pro Rugby Player”. Jack Fogarty still leads the overall table with seven points to spare.
REMEMBER YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE LEAGUE AND WIN PRIZES we’re accepting entrants right up to the final round so you can still beat Andrew’s Round 3 score, also every Six Nations match gives you the chance to win a free pint so by all means download the app and enter the league using the code HARPIN and see how you get on.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Mark & Ciarán did their usual excellent job helping me wrap our latest feature match, I on the other hand had issues with my audio – when I heard it back it sounded like I was talking while being locked in a box. Thankfully it didn’t take long to re-record my parts and the result turned out ok if I do say so myself.
If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…DAVE KEARNEY
We’ve been mostly using these YouTube bonus clips as an opportunity to turn the spotlight on certain players who don’t always get the recognition and if anyone in the current Leinster squad deserves this it has to be Dave Kearney. Thankfully his excellent finish in Edinburgh provided the platform for a decent bit of appreciation from our panel.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
LIAM TURNER TIK TOK
Unlike the YouTube clips, I never go into our pod recordings knowing what I’m going to you for the brief TikTok promos, it’s one of those things where I’ll know where I hear it and sure enough once Mark said this about Liam Turner definitely knew it.
It might sound like feint praise to say of a player “he’s a definite candidate for our 23 jersey in Europe” but when you’re talking about a squad with the depth of Leinster’s back three talent, that’s some statement yet one I’m more than happy to make about Turner he has had an outstanding season.
On a more personal note we’re proud here at Harpin Manor to have passed 400 followers on TikTok we’re not exactly pushing it as our top platform, simply posting regular clips so we’re happy that the numbers continue to rise and will no doubt do something special if and when we reach 500.
Ardie made a slit throat gesture to an opponent as he was leaving the field.
He publicly apologised at the earliest opportunity.
He has been cited.
That’s the above water part to this iceberg of a story. If you hold your nose and plunge into the depths though there was a whole lot more.
ARDIE AS NAILS – PART 2 (OVER-REACTION-FEST)
Yikes. Can't let this go. Straying towards criminal charges never mind a citing. https://t.co/eTlgL4XK9w
— @HarpinOnRugby@mastodon.ie (@HarpinOnRugby) March 3, 2023
My initial thoughts were that if you made it publicly known that you were going to kill/injure someone out in the “real world” you wouldn’t or at least shouldn’t get away with it. So once my mind went to a place where I wanted to suggest on twitter that I thought this wasn’t cool, you can see where I landed.
I guess I assumed that by using the words “straying towards” I would be making it obvious that no, I do not actually think that there should be criminal charges brought against the Hurricanes & All Black number 8.
Enter the “Game’s Gone Soft” crowd. Or the “Woke Hunters” or whatever you want to call them. You see, my “mistake” was that the words “criminal charges” became a beacon for those rage scrolling the second the incident appeared as a clip on social media because, of course, they were actively searching for a poster child. I provided it for them. Do I regret it?
You know what – ten, maybe even five years ago, I definitely would have. I may even have gone so far as to remove the tweet.
But now, fuck it. I know what I meant. And if I’m tailoring my opinions based on how I think a certain corner of the opinion spectrum (especially this one) is going to respond well then I may as not bother. And since I’m a firm believer in sharing opinions, that only leaves one conclusion – leave it there, maybe add a tweet or two to explain what I meant (I even acknowledged that I probably did a bad job wording it but I still couldn’t change my view), and then let the backlash wash over me.
To summarise, we had people over-reacting to my over-reaction to Ardie’s initial over-reaction. Or to put it another way, an average day in the bird house.
I know there are those who will take this as “proof” that “Twitter is a cess pit” but even after last Friday I still disagree. If we defined every pursuit by it’s bad actors then the world itself would be a cess pit.
TRAIL FOUND?
I always make it clear when I’m about to harp on Welsh rugby that I am very aware that I’m far outside the “bubble” and thus am unsure of the minute details and dramas going on between the regions, cities, clubs and personalities across the nation.
But being a URC/Six Nations fan I do claim to have a tangential interest and from where I’m sitting it looks as though they have reached a point where they are going to have to rely on outside investment to get out of this cavernous hole they find themselves in.
And once you have to put your eggs in that corporate basket, you have to accept that there are going to be some options available which will make “unthinkable” actions very thinkable. Like merging one of the regions with a club that keeps on doing well in the RFU’s second tier while being denied entry into its first.
Does that mean it will definitely happen? Of course not. But my point is that if it does become possible they should definitely consider it, while if it doesn’t they need to get ready for another offer which may sound equally ludicrous at first.
Once rugby union went pro, the sport was always going to have to think outside the box, and to be fair, while it’s still far from perfect it’s still a better box for the most part IMO.
INJURY REPORT
Leinster tend not to issue a full report until the Monday before their next match so that would be March 20th. But going from the Irish squad update it looks like Ciaran Frawley has been called up to camp while Scott Penny and Jamie Osborne have been held back for minor knocks so hopefully they are indeed minor. Meanwhile we’re wondering whether or not the likes of Furlong, Gibson-Park, Sexton and Henshaw will be involved at Murrayfield next weekend.
AIL UPDATE
It’s “as you were” at the top of Division 1A as both Tarf and Nure secured BP wins away to Shannon and UCD respectively. Familiar names to Leinster fans among the tries include Ben Murphy and Jordan Coghlan.
Meanwhile in the race for the top 4 it’s looking like we could have two Leinster v Munster semifinals as both Cork Con and Young Munster also won away from home although Ballynahinch’s win over freefalling Trinity (the only home win of the five) keeps them in contention.
Down at the bottom it’s looking like a three-way fight to void joining Garryowen with Lansdowne, UCD and Shannon all having tricky away assignments in round 16 on March 25.
Men’s AIL
ROUND 15
Ballynahinch 36-15 Dublin Univ
Garryowen 21-29 Cork Con
Lansdowne 10-15 Young Munster
Shannon 3-33 Clontarf
UCD 10-32 Terenure
ROUND 16
MAR 25 (all 2:30pm)
Clontarf v Ballynahinch
Cork Con v Shannon
Dublin Univ v Lansdowne
Terenure v Garryowen
Young Munster v UCD
SEVENS – VANCOUVER WRAP
Mixed fortune for the Irish squads in Canada – both started brightly with wins over the host nation and South American opposition but then they went their separate ways. The women went on to lost all their remaining matches and although they remain a respectable 5th in the standings, a gap has appeared above them and they will be anxiously looking over their shoulders for the remaining rounds.
Although the men couldn’t avenge the Aussies in their final pool match, they still made the quarterfinals where a Zac Ward try deep in extra time got them past the USA and into the final four where they may have fallen to Argentina and again Australia but still the points were valuable and put us back into the top 8.
The circuit now moves on to Hong Kong at the end of March.
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY
My goal is to watch at least one MLR fixture each week, starting with Houston v San Diego from round 3 they’re all available for free on TheRugbyNetwork.com.
To be clear I won’t be following this competition merely to comment on the rugby. My main interest is in watching how the sport is growing in the USA. I reckon they have a decent model in the MLR to bring it forward but the league hasn’t been without its challenges especially last season when they lost the two Adam Gilchrist-owned teams (though considering the dumb nicknames they had they probably won’t be missed too much in the long run).
So with this in mind I checked out the replay of the Houston Sabercats v San Diego Legion, probably the biggest clash of Round 3 as both are expected to make the playoffs. The familiar names were mostly on the San Diego side which features skipper Blair Cowen, Ma’a Nonu and Mikey Te’o.
The US presentation of the match was pretty much as expected, with a two-man team for commentary with the analyst seeing his role not only to provide “colour” but also to explain some of the more complicated rules, which is a good thing in my book.
One good feature of this match is that it was played on a pitch that wasn’t besmirched by lines from American football, something we do still see in quite a few MLR matches.
It seemed a decent crowd at Sabercats Stadium but it was the visitors who jumped out to an early 14-0 lead with Nonu heavily involved in both tries in the first 10 minutes. Needless to say the defences won’t be up to the standards we’re used to in European rugby but still the general attacking play is to be admired at times.
Houston did manage to claw them back including an intercept try from winger Labuschagne which nudged them in front but a quick pair of San Diego tries created 26-17 advantage going into the last ten minutes. This should have been enough to secure the win but a pair of yellow cards in succession to Sears-Juru & Poidevin gave the home side an opening and they sailed through it with two late converted tries including the winner from their big number 8 Gideon van Wyk to win the day.
Again, if you’re a rugby purist, don’t bother watching these matches. But if you appreciate how the sport can benefit from the game growing, plus that it will take time for a league to establish rivalries and traditions of its own, then you can certainly enjoy keeping an eye on how things are going.
ROUND 3
DAL 10-35 SEA
ATL 29-16 NOLA
CHI 10-14 UTAH
RNYI 34-8 OGDC
HOU 31-26 SD
ROUND 4
NEFJ V OGDC
CHI V TOR
SD V DAL
SEA V HOU
NOLA V RNYI
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
I checked back in the records and after being in 1st place after the first couple of URC rounds I had dropped to 3rd by round 7, a whopping 9.5 points behind our resident stats expert RugbyKino, but as you can see I have clawed eight of those points back so I’ll be gunning to retrieve that top spot by the end.
This league is meant to be a race to avoid the bottom spot which rewards you by having to wear The Jersey Of Shame in a social media phot but it would appear Neil “No Picks Keego” Keegan wants that honour for himself so he’s welcome to it!!!
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
The Six Nations is back on the menu and for a bonus pod during the week I will be the Leinster representative on an all-provincial panel giving an overview of the 2023 Six Nations as it stands. Then we turn to our focus to Sunday’s “Triple Crown decider” in Murrayfield with a preview show before, a wrap pod after and also all the other usual features in between so be sure to follow us on any or all of our social media platforms to keep up with it all. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
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
Frawley excellent on his return and Deegan and Penny were mighty as always but with his two tries and all his other play in the loose I have to go for Mikey Milne
— @HarpinOnRugby@mastodon.ie (@HarpinOnRugby) March 4, 2023
MASTODON
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
BrianClontarfBest performance by Harry Byrne for some time. He’s growing into it.
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.
Welcome to my 80+ column, a weekly post featuring final thoughts from the week of rugby just gone.
FANZO GUINNESS PINT PREDICTOR LEAGUE
First things first…the all important update in the prestigious Guinness Pint Predictor League.
We have a new leader in the “Best Score In One Round” category as Andrew Byrne’s 67, including a spot on prediction of Ireland’s 14-point win over Italy, put him in pole position. The prize will be a signed copy of Brian Moylett’s “The Book On How You Become A Pro Rugby Player”.
As you can see despite being knocked off his perch Jack Fogarty still leads the overall table with seven points to spare.
REMEMBER YOU CAN STILL JOIN THE LEAGUE AND WIN PRIZES we’re accepting entrants right up to the final round so you can still beat Andrew’s Round 3 score, also every Six Nations match gives you the chance to win a free pint so by all means download the app and enter the league using the code HARPIN and see how you get on.
WRAP OF A WRAP
Apart from a big mishap on my part where I got the seniors and U20s mixed up in my selection of Front Five articles, Sunday night’s recordings went well and Tom and Conor did their usual sterling work in describing the action.
If you missed it, check it out here or on most major platforms.
HARPIN ON…12 & 13 OPTIONS
For the bonus chat this week we looked at Ireland’s options as centre and looking back at it now we even missed some names like James Hume and Luke Marshall who have both of course done well when called upon. Still I think it’s important to acknowledge that when everyone is fit there is only one pairing for Ireland that ticks all boxes both with and without the ball and while we try to repress the bias when talking about Ireland, I wonder in this case if it’s actually better for Leinster fans to make that point.
If you’re playing the clip above maybe pop over and subscribe to the channel too? That’s where we post our Preview Show as well as other content throughout the week.
HARPIN’ ON…CLOCK GONE RED
Here’s a bonus bonus clip if you will. After Tom described Italy’s interception try at the end of the first half I asked him about Ireland’s mindset in not killing the half after winning the lineout after the clock went red given the BP was in the bag.
TOM O’TOOLE TIK TOK
Halfway through this you’ll see me writing something down, for the record it’s a note to myself reminding me to use Tom’s mention of O’Toole’s display for this week’s TikTok clip. As you can see I remembered!
There has been a lot of light hearted indignation on social media about the Italian rendition of Ireland’s Call before the match, and to be honest while I wanted to join in, the fact that the issue was easily sidetracked into that annoying “debate” over whether or not that should be played at all for Irish rugby made me pause. But this column is a much safer space for me to express my thoughts without all that nonsense.
It should be a simple matter – each union should be able to decide on how their anthem is played. Full stop. I’m not even sure why it’s up for debate. Even giving the Italian organisers the benefit of the doubt in that this wasn’t a case of intentional head-wrecking, they still shouldn’t be put in a position where an error can be made.
The anthem playing is a “formality” in every sense of the word. First, it’s a reminder to the player of the extra prestige of playing test level rugby for their native or adopted country (another rabbit hole I’d want to avoid in this discussion) but more relevant is the way we’re not supposed to have the rendition of the anthem as a major talking point especially in something like the Six Nations!!!
You’d hope that regulations wouldn’t be needed for this, but that fiasco would seem to warrant them.
LEO SIGNS
A friend texted me on Monday “Just drove past the Leinster HQ in UCD.. lots of press outside” and within an hour I had learned exactly why. This had been rumoured for a while but the confirmation was obviously very welcome news. With Stu leaving for Racing at the end of the campaign, this provides much needed continuity and I very much doubt there’s a single Leinster fan unhappy about it.
On Stu’s replacement, we’re hearing talk about Leon MacDonald, currently in charge of the Blues in Super Rugby and formally involved with Tasman, the Crusaders and the All Blacks so not a bad resumé at all, plus he has worked with Andrew Goodman. But before I get deep into details like how he takes his coffee, I should point out that nothing is confirmed as yet although apparently this will be sorted over the coming weeks.
Last thing I’d say on it is that a senior coaching position at Leinster Rugby isn’t exactly a tough one to sell to the best coaches.
RDS REDEVELOPMENT
“The funds are there. It’s just a case of going through the boring bit around plans and tenders, dates and project plans. All that boring stuff. That’s all happening now. It’s all systems go. I think we should have something really exciting in the next couple of months to show.”
Obviously COVID knocked back the planned redevelopment of the RDS a good bit so it’s good to see it’s still on track and every update on its progress is welcome. I love going there but still this work is very badly needed.
SCHOOLS FINAL FOUR
After a replayed first round tie set things back a bit, we now finally know the semifinalists in this season’s Leinster Schools Senior Cup : St Michael’s College v Blackrock College, Newbridge College v Gonzaga College.
Both should be quality matches but the first one puts me in mind of the final from ten years ago which featured players like Garry Ringrose, Jeremy Loughman, Oliver Jager, Nick Timoney, Cian Kelleher, Ross Byrne, Nick McCarthy, Ross Molony, James Ryan, Josh Murphy & Max Deegan. It was also the day I took this photo which got some decent reception about t’internet and (eventually!) inspired me to start the Harpin Instagram account.
Very much looking forward to both semifinals next Monday & Tuesday.
Biggest news is unfortunately Finlay Bealham’s injury and although his Championship is over his contribution to this campaign cannot be overstated.
Even without the Leinster goggles it has to be good news that Messrs Sexton, Henshaw, Furlong, Gibson Park & Ringrose are all included in the “mini-camp” in the hope that all will be available to face Scotland and England.
On the players sent back to their provinces, well I don’t want to repeat myself from last week on the consternation from certain fans over supposed bias in these decisions, I’ll just say that with a full round of URC matches at a crucial portion of the campaign, I’d say the provinces will take all the personnel they can get.
LEINSTER
The news on Joe McCarthy was unfortunate but not surprising, hopefully he’ll be able to play some part at the business end of the season.
Speaking of which, nine points from Leinster’s final four matches will mathematically clinch 1st place, though with standards at the province as they are I doubt that’s a factor in team selection this coming weekend. Word is they were considering our matches against Cardiff, Dragons, Edinburgh & Stormers as a block which would mostly see the same combinations so we can expect a similar lineup this coming weekend.
16 MCELROY 17 BOYLE 18 CLARKSON 19 CONNORS 20 DEENY 21 N MCCARTHY 22 TECTOR 23 RUSSELL
(note – the above team is purely from my imagination, it’s certainly not one of those quasi-leaked Thornley teams which are always 22 out of 23 correct)
INJURY UPDATE – AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Jason Jenkins: came through the game against Dragons Rugby with no issues following his return from injury
INJURY UPDATE – FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Ciarán Frawley: will look to increase his training load this week as he continues his recovery from a knee injury
INJURY UPDATE – UNAVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Joe McCarthy: has had a procedure on an ankle injury and will be out of action for two months
There are no further updates on:
Charlie Ngatai (hamstring), Cormac Foley (hamstring), Ed Byrne (knee), Martin Moloney (knee) and Tommy O’Brien (knee)
AIL UPDATE
First of all congrats to the Combined Provinces XV for their clean sweep of wins in the inaugural Celtic Challenge, no doubt they gave the test coaching set up plenty to think about over the four matches, and the squad for the upcoming Six Nations was announced on Tuesday, albeit over the backdrop of the tragic news of the passing of Tom Tierney.
Back to the Men’s AIL, Jack Boyle, Alex Soroka & Ben Murphy were among the Leinster players bagging tries in another important round of 1A matches. Tarf stayed on top with a good win at Trinity while Terenure stayed close to them by overcoming Lansdowne.
Meanwhile down at the bottom Garryowen finally slipped through the trap door although the race to avoid joining them is really hotting up and for the remainder of the campaign I can’t see there being too many dead rubbers.
Men’s AIL
ROUND 14
Cork Con 29-34 UCD
Dublin Univ 21-38 Clontarf
Garryowen 16-26 Shannon
Terenure 43-24 Lansdowne
Young Munster 21-0 Ballynahinch
ROUND 15
MAR 4 (all 2:30pm)
Ballynahinch v Dublin Univ
Garryowen v Cork Con
Lansdowne v Young Munster
Shannon v Clontarf
UCD v Terenure
SEVENS – FROM LA TO VANCOUVER
Just the men’s World Series resumed last weekend and to say Ireland’s fortunes varied over the two days would be an understatement. On Day One which was marred by torrential rain and several delays we won all our pool matches, including a win over the Blitzboks, to set up a quarterfinal against Australia, yet on the Sunday we just couldn’t stop shipping penalties and slipped to two defeats which meant we also slipped further down the series table to 9th after 6 of 11 rounds.
The circuit now moves to Vancouver, Canada where we get a chance for revenge over the Aussies in our pool and we also face Chile and our hosts.
Meanwhile the women return to action as well and with just three rounds to go we’ll be looking for another final four appearance to get us higher than our current fifth position.
VANCOUVER 7S
IRELAND’S FIXTURES
FRI MAR 3
6:43PM WOMEN V CANADA
9:45PM MEN V CANADA
SAT MAR 4
12:58AM WOMEN V BRAZIL
4:35AM MEN V CHILE
7:50PM WOMEN V USA
10:57PM MEN V AUSTRALIA
11:28PM WOMEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN
MON MAR 5
1:54AM MEN’S PLAYOFFS BEGIN
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY
Getting pressed for time as I type so I’ll just leave the results, table & fixtures in this section. Hopefully I’ll have time to catch a game or two soon, they’re all available for free on TheRugbyNetwork.com.
ROUND 2
SEA 28-22 ATL
UTAH 33-25 DAL
HOU 35-14 NOLA
RNYI 39-3 TOR
SD 29-12 NEFJ
ROUND 3
DAL V SEA
ATL V NOLA
CHI V UTAH
RNYI V OGDC
HOU V SD
HARPIN’ PREDICTION LEAGUE
Kudos to Cian “RugbyKino” O’Muilleoir for reminding us all of the extra URC matches last weekend, I chose to reward him by being the only one to take a punt on Ulster winning in Durban, thus allowing me to narrow his lead down to just two and a half points!!! We both got the Lions/Glasgow game wrong though, which has us both anxiously looking over our shoulders at Mark Jackson in 3rd so there are a few interesting weeks of Superbruing ahead for us. Oh, and we’d also like to announce Keego’s new full official nickname of Neil “No Picks Keego” Keegan…
THE NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Obviously we’ll be turning our attention to Leinster’s trip to Edinburgh next weekend and we’ll have an Opposition View pod during the week talking to Sandy Smith although it would be rude not to also ask him about the Scots whom Ireland play in the same city a week later.
Then we return to our URC focus with a preview show before, a wrap pod after and also all the other usual features in between so be sure to follow us on any or all of our social media platforms to keep up with it all. In the meantime, be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP
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.
TWITTER
Ireland struggled against a good Italian team Farrell must be loving the chaos, but won't be happy with the amount of overplaying at times and how disconnected we were in defence
Winning with workons it's a lovely feeling#ITAvIRE
That is an utter disgrace, there are kids watching this game, these players have to be role models, there is simply no place in rugby for that sort of moustache #ITAvIREhttps://t.co/1VAMWvpli3
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.
For the latest dip into the Harpin archives we go back to when we played Italy in 2018, maybe not the perfect choice ahead of Saturday’s clash in Rome since 1) we were at home then and 2) we’re ‘outlawing’ the full use of the GS phrase on the Harpin platform for the forseeable future, but I thought it was interesting in that there are kind of parallels with Robbie H & Tadhg F picking up injury concerns. Plus it’s an opportunity to compare the Farrell and Schmidt eras, not necessarily to see which one was better, rather to notice the differences.
O what we wouldn’t give to see Robbie still able to do that with a rugby ball right now! And to have Tadhg Furlong fit and ready to face Wales. AND to have prevented the Italians posting their highest ever points total at the Aviva Stadium.
[Update – just getting word from the Irish camp before posting, not good news for Robbie but it looks like Tadhg will be ok so that’s another plus]
Yet here at Harpin Manor we seem to have something of a reputation for accentuating the positive, so I don’t see any reason for changing when it comes to this match. Much better to focus on the 56 points more than the 19, the eight tries for more than the three against and the quality of our performances more than the quantity of our injuries.
I mean, when all is said and done, this result is overall a good thing for Ireland? Right? Time to scatter a few headings down the page and tack on a few paragraphs to each…
SCHMIDTBALL CLINIC
Loads of Irish online comments were negative at full time, but I’m wondering how much of that was down to the fact that our second half, and thus the most recent in the memory, was far inferior to the first. Yet even that forty minutes was won 28-19 with a bonus point won even not counting any scores from the first half.
But when taken in isolation, I’m not sure we could possibly hope for a better demonstration of the way Joe Schmidt wants test rugby played than minutes one through forty. Fine, maybe the opposition wasn’t exactly world beating, but do I really have to dig up the phrase ‘you can only play what’s in front of you’? I guess I do.
The Italians took the opening kickoff and right off the bat we were able to settle into our familiar pattern, getting front foot ball here, creating space for the backline there, before we get all the way to the visitor’s 22. Yes, they were soon able to clear, but the resulting lineout being still in their half was very much a contingency of our initial exit strategy.
Over the next couple of minutes, some things didn’t go to plan – a knockon from Aki running a hard line for example – but when that happened and Italy tried to get going, we were able to seamlessly revert to defensive mode and it wouldn’t be long before we were on the attack again.
Before long we’re winning a penalty, getting back into their 22 and then we’re hammering away at their line…Conor Murray gets over and is held up but not to worry, after the following scrum Robbie Henshaw is running a line with more than enough momentum to get him over.
Just 11 minutes gone, it’s already 7-0 and just four minutes later Sexton is already lining up another conversion after some great link play between Stockdale and Conan puts Murray over in the corner…and not surprisingly our star outhalf made light work of the touchline extras.
By the end of the first quarter, we’ve a third try in the bag after maul gets to the line and Bundee Aki gets his first for Ireland with a similar line to that of Robbie earlier, now it’s 21-0 and time for the game’s longest spell without a score – eleven whole minutes!!!
During that time Conor O’Shea’s men tried to make some headway yet found yards after the tackle extremely hard to come by until eventually Dan Leavy burrows the ball out of a ruck before putting Aki through and with Earls in support it becomes an easy finish. It hardly feels like we’ve broken sweat and we’ve the try bonus wrapped up already.
Whatever the opposition, that was a dream first half. They won’t come oftenat test level but when they do it should be applauded. The only drawback in that time of course was the early removal of Furlong but it came as no surprise to Leinster fans in particular that Andrew Porter was ready to step in and put in a decent shift in his place.
ROBBIE
Is there any chance I can suggest Robbie Henshaw deserved man of the match without anyone thinking I’m only saying that because he’s Leinster and the actual winner Conor Murray is Munster? Well I guess I’ll just have to take that risk but in my defence I was tweeting the opinion as he was being stretchered off before the award was given.
The guy has world-class ability, world-class work rate, world-class knowledge of the game, and he is clearly getting world-class coaching. I sincerely hope nobody has him in their ideal XVs at full-back anymore…he belongs in the centre and is first choice there when fit.
However – since he’s now unavailable for a while, we need to crack on. If we really think we can reach the final four of a World Cup, we have to be able to handle absences like this. So who do we go for?
KEITH
Here’s another Irish starter at the peak of his powers. It would have been more surprising if Earls WASN’T among the tries when we got as many as eight, but his contribution will be most remembered for ‘that tackle’ at the very end.
Is there any chance I can suggest that Mattia Bellini missed a trick in his run that could have resulted in a try without anyone thinking I’m trying to take the shine off of yet another Munster player’s achievement? Well I guess I’ll just have to take that risk.
Actually I think Earls did everything he could do to catch the Italian, picking where he thought his prey would be caught in a straight line, and setting off at full pace hoping the sight of him in the rear view would cause Bellini to panic. For me, that’s exactly what happened – a quick step at the 22 could well have gotten around Keith but the overall intimidation factor plus the actual tackle which still had to be made were a delight to watch.
Perhaps Chris Farrell is a more ‘like for like’ replacement for Robbie in the 13 jumper against Wales but my instincts tell me Earls is the way to go, assuming Ringrose won’t be ready of course. He has played there before for Ireland, he has already spent about half an hour there with Aki, he has two whole weeks to prepare, and he’s in the form of his life right now. Plus, we have plenty of wingers to take his place.
BEST OF THE REST
Bundee Aki looked like he belongs in Joe Schmidt centre pairing from the opening minutes against the Springboks, and he seems even more settled as he goes along. I still think ‘Henrose’ is our ideal pairing but like I say it’s all about having alternatives and Aki is a huge part of our plans for the rest of this championship.
Jacob Stockdale played like someone who was keen to put Paris behind him, especially the way he took his second try. I was delighted he got another chance to start and now I see no reason why he should relinquish his starting jersey just yet. And towards the end we got a little taste of what Jordan Larmour can bring though I really do believe he needs to playing in a more central position to fully display his talents.
And I have one more of these…is there any chance I can suggest that Luke McGrath is a better option to play with Joey Carbery off the bench without making it look like I can’t let go of my Leinster bias? I guess I’ll have to take that risk. The pair of replacement halfbacks started well when they came on but I just feel Luke has done better with his test chances than Marmion.
Meanwhile our pack was relatively quiet by their standards, with only captain Rory Best getting his name on the scoresheet among them, though as I suggested earlier it was the prolonged cameo from young Andrew Porter which was the highlight. The decision to swap him to tight head might go down as one of the more important ones in recent Irish rugby history if he keeps going the way he has been.
Also once the numbers were crunched we were 8/8 in scrums, 15/15 in lineouts, a mere six tackles missed in total and just three penalties conceded so if that’s not a good day at the office for the forwards I don’t know what is.
OKAY NOW FOR THE NEGATIVES
Of course we can’t ignore the mini Italian fightback, one which very nearly earned them an unlikely try bonus point. The likes of Leavy, Larmour and Stockdale will all have defensive questions to answer at the DVD session on Monday, but I’d much rather let Joe handle those technicalities, especially when we had as many as six converted tries on the board before our guests had as much as one.
But can I make one point about those three Italian tries…I really do think they should have seen yellow at some point and I very much doubt their score gets near 19 if that happens. It’s like we had a homer ref in Paris and one sympathetic to an inferior away side in Dublin.
Devin Toner had two knock ons in the space of a few minutes at the start of the second half…I point that out not because I wish to have a pop at him, rather than because overall errors were so few and far between that his were head and shoulders above most of the others [pun intended] although neither really cost us.
After the injuries, the only other negative I can think of from this match is that the poor quality of opposition made it difficult to prepare for the Triple Crown contests that lie ahead for us, but that’s hardly our fault.
THREE TO GO
Now it’s time to evaluate where this leaves us in the Championship. Two wins out of two and nine match points out of ten is exactly where we want to be. And I really don’t know what to say to those who look at our displays against France and Italy and say ‘Well you wouldn’t want to do that against Wales or England’ because the simple fact of the matter is that we’ll be set up differently on those days.
Elsewhere on the second weekend, England had some great individual performances yet overall were as vulnerable at Twickenham as I have seen them in a long while, Wales should be forgetting that ‘try that should have been’ and instead ask themselves why the couldn’t get over the line with their other chances, while Scotland will be on a high after a slew of second half penalties seem to have eliminated the French.
All of the above tells me the road ahead for Ireland is only going to get tougher as we travel along, as if we didn’t know that going into this Six Nations. We will need to make the most of the two-week break but on the evidence of these opening matches, I have seen plenty to make me believe that we have a squad of players that are up to the task, with the right coaching staff at the helm. Bring on those Welsh. JLP
HARPIN' ON RUGBY 
