80+ column : July 1
Our weekly newsletter looking at the wider rugby world
ON THIS WEEK’S COLUMN…
WRAPPING UP THE WRAPS
FINALLY GETTING THE POINT
NATIONS NEW NORMAL
WALLABIES POV
LOSING START
PHILIP ‘GOOSE’ DOYLE RIP
CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW
IRELAND SQUAD UPDATE
TROLL PATROL
COMPETITION UPDATES (incl 🔝🐱🐴)
NEXT HARPIN’
WRAPPING UP THE WRAPS
Hi there welcome to the latest 80+ column. No Leinster/Ireland men’s game last weekend so there’s no wrap to wrap but I do have something of an announcement FWIW.
You can probably tell I love doing this rugby content-producing lark, especially because I get to do it at my own pace instead of falling over myself to satisfy algorithms and what-not. So while I will continue to do things that way going forward, my “real-life” circumstances have changed to an extent where I’ll have to cut down my output considerably.
Over the pas year or so it has become increasingly more difficult to stick to the schedule I am used to, so from next season our regular content is likely to be limited to this 80+ column, which will probably now go out on Thursdays, and one podcast, which instead of focusing on just the one match from the weekend, will likely post on Tuesday morning taking a more general look at what went on. The Preview Show as we know it will probably have to go unfortunately.
Obviously with social media and stuff I will continue to get my thoughts out there regularly, but I think this level output will suit me better for next season. I’ll keep things the way they are for the next few weeks and fine tune the new way of doing things during the off season.
Anyway, on with this week’s column, starting with of course the Front Five…
FINALLY GETTING THE POINT
The purpose of this change is to reward teams who continue to play attacking rugby AND who remain resolute in defence once victory appears certain
EPCR confirms Investec Champions Cup Tier 1 clubs, EPCR Challenge Cup invitees and competition rule changes
EPCRugby.com
Anyone who has regularly read these pages will know I’m delighted with this news from the EPCR. I have been harping for years on the need to revert from what I call a “quantitative” try bonus point (awarded simply for scoring 4 tries) to a “differential” one (awarded for scoring 3 more tries than your opposition) and now we’re going to see it in the Champions & Challenge Cups.
Basically what it means is that you can’t wrap up the bonus point before half time and take your foot off the pedal. That way even if your opposition mounts a comeback in the second half and you still win, you are guaranteed the full five points. Now in that scenario there is jeopardy in that the BP can actually be taken off you so you’ll have to play the full 80 minutes.
It also mostly eliminates what I always considered to be the nonsense of a losing team coming away with two bonus points. One is enough for a defeat, thank you very much.
Sure, there are quirky exceptions which is why I used the word “mostly” above. Say a team wins 18-17 thanks to 6 penalties against 3 tries, 1 converted. Yes, that gets a bit clunky, but it is very much an exception, and the system has worked well in the 🔝🐱🐴 for years now and they have also been using it in Super Rugby. I would have it employed throughout the game and I hope the URC and World Cups join the cause sooner rather than later, but this is definitely a good start.
And that’s not the only change. They have also tweaked the way in which the 16 clubs qualify for the knockout rounds. Now instead of the top 4 in each pool making it, we have 3, with the remaining 12 clubs ranked against each other and the four best records making it.
Personally I like the thinking behind this, but maybe they have fallen between two stools with this? I know I usually say rugby doesn’t always need to do what soccer does, but in this case I’d say just go whole hog and adopt the “Swiss model” that has been used in the Champions League in recent seasons? If everyone must have just the four matches, then have one big table and let the 16 best records into the knockouts. This would reduce the possibility that still exists hereby a team wins all four of their matches yet still falls outside the top 4 seeds behind teams which didn’t.
I also like wins as the first tie-breaker and I also think this should be adopted everywhere, however especially for domestic competitions with a large amount of matches I believe it’s important to add a stipulation that draws be the second tie-breaker, otherwise a team which has lost more matches can get a higher ranking which seems to go against what the change is trying to do. Shouldn’t be an issue in the four-match EPCR schedule, though.
Still, I do like the direction in which the changes are going and we’ll see how they play out. For now I just like being reminded in articles like this that Leinster are still the reigning URC Champions….
NATIONS NEW NORMAL
This change has attracted its fair share of critics, but it remains to be seen how successful it really is.
The new Nations Championship: Everything you need to know
Talking Rugby Union
Decent primer on the new comp, with the quote I have chosen pretty much laying out where I stand on it. Yeah, I get the general sense of apathy, but it’s happening regardless, so let’s see how it looks in daylight first.
WALLABIES POV
“The Irish are well known for their scrummaging. Obviously there’s a lot of combinations there in their front row, the bulk of them being at Leinster.”
Wallabies out to unleash Euro-hardened Tupou, Bell for Irish challenge
Nathan Williamson - Rugby.com.au
First up for Ireland in the new comp is the Wallabies so here is an article from their side of the fence. As if Andy Farrell hasn’t seen enough of them what with the Lions and last November, of course they come up first for us. I see the bookies are leaning towards a home win by the narrowest of margins at the time being, we’ll see how that looks after the teams are named.
LOSING START
England were much more efficient and made it count in the end, even if they were on the back foot for most of the second half.
Frustration for Ireland with opening game defeat to England
John Fallon - The42.ie
The Wolfpuppies came out of the traps quickly with two tries in their opener, but a combination of discipline issues plus the English underage sides tending to be monsters sent things in the other direction and the game looked all but over at halftime. I never thought we were out of it mind you, because another thing about the English underage sides is that they often suffer from hubris, and we did reasonably well to come back and earn the 2 bonus points, even if I have already said in this column I’d like the ability to do that abolished. I guess it’s ok once the Irish do it 🤪. Argentina up next for Ireland, at lunchtime on Thursday our time. I can’t see us making it to the semifinals from here, given the expanded format means you now have to win your pool to do so, but it’s still invaluable experience for the lads as ever.
PHILIP ‘GOOSE’ DOYLE RIP
Goose was a passionate and powerful voice for Women’s rugby throughout his career and his commitment to his teams was unsurpassed.
Philip ‘Goose’ Doyle - RIP
IrishRugby.ie
Absolutely tragic news and circumstances. Everything positive in Irish women’s rugby today can be traced back to his involvement. An outstanding legacy that will never be forgotten.
CHAMPIONS CUP DRAW
More than decent draw for Leinster all things considered. Obviously no opposition is “easy” but if we're to seriously consider another shot at a 5th star we should be doing well in this pool, especially given the toughest opponent on paper seems to be Glasgow and wenwon’t play the. Meanwhile Munster got Bordeaux while Connacht got a pool packed with previous champions. Over in the Challenge Cup Ulster should also fancy their chances of doing well in their pool. Next step is seeing who everyone plays at home.
IRELAND SQUAD UPDATE
Losing Caelan & Tommy on top of Crowley, Ports & JLowe are of course huge for this squad, but then again for all of us who are saying this competition doesn’t really matter in rugby’s Grand Scheme of Things it affords the opportunity to look at others so I have had a go at naming a 23 from the available squad. I’m sure some will raise an eyebrow at my putting Sam in there at 10 but if being Player of the Match in the recent URC final doesn’t bump you up a pecking order I’m not sure what does.
HARPIN’ POSSIBLE MATCHDAY 23 V AUSTRALIA
Keenan, Balacoune, Ringrose, McCloskey, Stockdale, S Prendergast, Gibson-Park
Loughman, Sheehan (c), Clarkson, McCarthy, Beirne, C Prendergast, van der Flier, Conan
Kelleher, O’Toole, Furlong, Ryan, Timoney, Casey, Frawley, Osbourne
caveat : I have no “ITK” a la Thornley
TROLL PATROL
Now it’s time for Troll Patrol where we ‘detain’ a social media commentator and charge them with gaslightery and general online mayhem.
Last weekend’s 🔝🐱🐴 final was shown on Premier Sports and I was very happy about it, but one critique was that the commentary of Tim Cocker and Joe Worsley had a vibe less like a professional broadcast and more like a watchalong YouTube video you’d hear from, well, I suppose, me. Yes, THAT bad. And fair play to Jay for calling it out, he does get detained by the patrol but gets let off with nary a warning.
Quiet time of year for this section but I’ll keep it going for the coming weeks nonetheless. With the Rugby Championship on sabbatical or whatever, Currie Cup and NPC the only things to keep us occupied once the tests and Junior RWC are done.
Can only be Toulouse 28-20 Montpellier which saw Dupont & co winning their 50 millionth Bouclier de Brennus. Strange they dominated the 🔝🐱🐴 while faltering in the Champions Cup, as Bordeaux did the opposite. Worth noting that for all the justifiable criticism aimed at Leinster for losing Euro finals, at least we do reach them while also competing domestically.
BTW, in case you’re new to these pages and wondering what “🔝🐱🐴” is all about, it has been my way of depicting the top quatorze for a number of years now, just trying to do something different to everyone else I guess.
WOMEN’S INTERPROVINCIALS
Round 1
Saturday, 8 August
Munster v Leinster
Ulster v Connacht
Round 2
Saturday, 15 August
Leinster v Connacht
Munster v Ulster
Round 3
Saturday, 22 August
Connacht v Munster
Ulster v Leinster
Finals Day
Saturday, 29 August
Dexcom Stadium
URC IRISH SHIELD
2026/27 fixtures
10 October
Ulster v Munster
24 October
Leinster v Munster
30 October
Connacht v Leinster
27 December
Ulster v Connacht
Munster v Leinster
2 January
Connacht v Munster
Leinster v Ulster
23 January
Munster v Connacht
30 January
Connacht v Ulster
17 April
Leinster v Connacht
23 April
Ulster v Leinster
8 May
Munster v Ulster
JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 1
Pool A
Wales 25–24 Georgia
South Africa 104–7 Uruguay
Pool B
Italy 32–38 Scotland
New Zealand 38–21 Japan
Pool C
Argentina 78–14 USA
England 34–27 Ireland
Pool D
Australia 90–22 Spain
France 45–15 Fiji
Round 2
Thursday, July 2
France v Spain
Wales v Uruguay
Argentina v Ireland — 12:30
Australia v Fiji
England v USA
New Zealand v Scotland
Italy v Japan
South Africa v Georgia
🔝🐱🐴
CURRIE CUP
Round 1
Fri 17 Jul
Airlink Pumas v Hollywoodbets Sharks
DHL Stormers XXIII v Suzuki Griquas
Sun 19 Jul
Toyota Cheetahs v Fidelity ADT Lions
Sanlam Boland Kavaliers v Vodacom Bulls
NPC
Round 1
Thu 30 Jul
Waikato v Bay of Plenty
Fri 31 Jul
Tasman v North Harbour
Sat 1 Aug
Counties Manukau v Taranaki
Southland v Otago
Canterbury v Auckland
Sun 2 Aug
Northland v Manawatū
Wellington v Hawke’s Bay
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Thursday
Australia v Ireland preview
Saturday
Leave your thoughts after full time whistle on our Facebook page
Sunday
Australia v Ireland wrap pod recording
In the meantime be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP