80+ column : May 6
Our weekly newsletter looking at the wider rugby world
ON THIS WEEK’S COLUMN…
WRAP OF A WRAP
RANDLE SCANDAL HANDLED
HUGO & JERRY
LION IN WAIT
ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
CLICKBAIT OF THE WEEK
BORDEAUX BEAT BATH, BILBAO BOUND, BUT BOTH BRILLIANT & BEATABLE
LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE
TROLL PATROL
COMPETITION UPDATES (incl Super Rugby)
NEXT HARPIN’
WRAP OF A WRAP
My cough which has haunted me for the past few weeks seems to have mostly gone, at least when I’m recording podcasts which is the main thing. Both preview & wrap recordings went well, although when I met some friends in the pub after the match on Saturday it seemed to be back. “There’s a bug going round” as the saying goes so I won’t look for too much sympathy. Anyway Tom Coleman was on for the wrap pod offering his usual superb technical analysis from a coaches’ standpoint. On WhatsApp during the match he said we had the beating of him, even when we were in card trouble, and he was right. Just. But still right. Click here if you missed it.
RANDLE SCANDAL HANDLED
One step forward, two steps back. That’s the way this season has panned out for Munster.
Roger Randle debacle further evidence Munster are their own worst enemy
Rory Keane - Extra.ie
Always the right option IMO. I know many are dwelling on how “accusations like this made against a young man can stay with you for your entire life”, and this is true, but I might push back by saying “sexual assault can stay with a young woman for the rest of her life too”. If we are to constantly bring up that the legal case was dropped and he denies it all, we must also bring up that the victim has not publicly withdrawn the allegations.
But from a purely rugby standpoint, this story is about Munster who most certainly did not need this matter at all and I don’t know what they were thinking trying to pursue it. Was the agreed approach “ah, sure, it’ll be grand”???
Anyway. The matter has been dealt with and they have to try and salvage something from their season. Results have improved it’s true but concern over a Tadhg Beirne injury looms large. As the URC table stands right now there would be a Leinster/Munster quarterfinal which maybe, just MAYBE, will cause a bit of hype…
HUGO & JERRY
“He has been a model of consistency since his debut in 2020 and I believe that the best is yet to come”
Hugo Keenan signs two-year extension with Leinster and Ireland
Johnny Watterson - Irish Times
I normally use this column and feature to explore matter beyond the blue province, but this week I’m mostly looking at attitudes towards us from the outside. But I’ll start with some good news, a much deserved new contract for Hugo, and possibly more significantly, Jerry Cahir signing for Connacht, also much deserved. Obviously we’d have liked to have him stay at Leinster but once the Loose Head Wing of our treatment room clears he’ll be surplus to requirements and I’m delighted he has been able to find a home because all due respect to Lansdowne & the AIL, he has more than proven he belongs at this level.
LION IN WAIT
“I think we’ve had four or five big results at home, that has built a lot of confidence. But that’s what you need when you come to Leinster to play them.”
Lions licking their lips for Leinster challenge
SARugbyMag.co.za
All the Leinster talk is about reaching another Bilbao final but the URC task certainly cannot be ignored. We have two home matches left and will need all the points we can get to ease our playoff path when we return from northern Spain. And the South African Shield winning Lions, currently sitting above us in third spot, won’t be coming to Dublin to make up the numbers, that’s for sure. This article gives a sense of their side of things as they prepare for Saturday evening in D4.
ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE
“Every year, we want to go and do the double. It’s a hard task, not many teams do it. It can be tough at times, but we’d rather that high level of expectation.”
Leo Cullen’s ‘Golden Cleric’ act can’t hide Leinster’s mental fragility
Rúaidhrí O’Connor - Irish Independent
Rounding off this week with a couple of articles on attitudes towards Leinster from the outside. And here, by “outside”, I mean Rúaidhrí O’Connor.
He does a really good job here of playing the innocent “I’m just a humble journo asking questions” card in this article. And to be fair, assuming Leo’s “monologue” did go on for six minutes, I’m sure it was noteworthy because normally he is the embodiment of composure in these situations.
But to suggest it happened in a vacuum, or indeed simply because of pressure from within, is disingenuous to say the least. ROC & the Indo tend to lean into the anti-Leinster narrative you’ll see “LAD-splained” in the next article and they know full well what they’re doing.
There’s no doubt that Leinster’s lead going from 18 to just 4 was worth discussing, but given they won to reach yet another major final I’m not sure it was the lead of the story. So I suppose Leo was expecting a dig from ROC, got it, and reacted accordingly. If the media want to give it I hope they have a thick enough skin to take it.
Leinster’s dominance hasn’t just made them the best team in Ireland — it’s made them the most resented.
Why almost everyone in Ireland seems to hate Leinster Rugby
RugbyLAD
If you don’t think this headline jumped off the screen and hit me when looking for Front 5 articles then you don’t know me. Yet while I normally avoid sharing the link for COTW articles, I’ll make an exception here, because it is actually a fairly good explanation as to why the ABL narrative exists. And I don’t deny that some of the reasons have merit. I just want to make sure that it is understood that it IS a narrative and that the aversion to the province exists which means a lot of the assumptions they tend to draw may not be exactly accurate.
BORDEAUX BEAT BATH, BILBAO BOUND, BUT BOTH BRILLIANT & BEATABLE
“This week’s topic is very simple - Leinster have reached another Champions Cup final, so we’re going to look at how the other semifinal went to see what we will be facing in Bilbao. It was of course reigning champions Bordeaux who triumphed over Bath, what did you make of them Tom?”
LEINSTER/IRELAND SQUAD UPDATE
Tough to balance between Bilbao cotton wool and Leinster’s need to shoot for a maximum ten points from our remaining URC regular season matches. It would be really good to have Messrs Lowe and Larmour back this weekend but I can’t see anyone else from the injury update being close to consideration. I do reckon Harry could do with a start this weekend however, but with Frawley as his backup.
HARPIN’ POSSIBLE MATCHDAY 23 V LIONS
J O’Brien, J Larmour/R Ioane, H Cooney, J Osborne, J Lowe/JJ Kenny, H Byrne, L McGrath
E Byrne, R Kelleher, T Clarkson, J McCarthy, B Deeny, A Soroka, S Penny, C Doris (c)
G McCarthy, J Cahir, R Slimani, C O’Tighearnaigh, W Connors, F Gunne, C Frawley, C Tector
caveat : I have no “ITK” a la Thornley
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT
AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
N/A.
FURTHER ASSESSMENT REQUIRED:
Tadhg Furlong: is integrating into training and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
James Lowe: continues to integrate into training and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
Jordan Larmour: is back in full training and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
Tommy O’Brien: is due to be further assessed after picking up an injury in Saturday’s game and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
Jack Conan: is due to be further assessed after picking up an injury in Saturday’s game and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
Josh van der Flier: has entered graduated return to play protocols and a decision on his availability will be made later in the week.
NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION:
Robbie Henshaw: is unavailable for this week as he enters his graduated return to play protocols.
NO FURTHER UPDATES ON:
Ryan Baird, Jack Boyle, Paddy McCarthy, RG Snyman, Charlie Tector, Alex Usanov.
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.
As spats on X these days go, the Goode v Squidge one from the weekend was actually tame, yet still worth examining. Seemingly Goode spent the bulk of the Champions Cup semifinal moaning about the lack of refereeing decisions (as borne out by Riaan Louw’s video below), Squidge made a comment, and the former England 10 bit back. Then in the exchange that followed, Squidge’s sidekick Will Owen suggested Goode should be fired, which obvs isn’t cool, but he took it back.
Yet for this week’s TP detainee I’m going to overlook both sides in the matter and go straight for the operator of the Rugby on TNT Sports socials who had the cheek to portray easily the sport’s biggest independent content creator as merely a “fan”. Seriously?
Big fortnight ahead for the Irish women - despite defeat to both England & France the popular opinion is that they are closing the gap and the best way to cement this narrative would be to maximise home advantage against Wales and Scotland to round out the tournament.
I’m going for Hurricanes 38-31 Crusaders in Super Rugby this week, not just because it keeps the Canes top of the log, but also because it was a match where Jordie Barrett started on the same weekend as the Champions Cup semifinal up in the northern hemisphere, I’m sure I don’t need to spell out the relevance.
WOMEN’S SIX NATIONS
ROUND ONE
France 40–7 Italy
England 33–12 Ireland
Wales 19–24 Scotland
ROUND TWO
Scotland 7–84 England
Wales 7–38 France
Ireland 57–20 Italy
ROUND THREE
England 62-24 Wales
Italy 41-14 Scotland
France 26-7 Ireland
ROUND FOUR
SAT 9 MAY
Italy v England
Scotland v France
Ireland v Wales
ROUND FIVE
SUN 17 MAY
Wales v Italy
Ireland v Scotland
France v England
URC IRISH SHIELD
Leinster 14-31 Munster
Munster 17-15 Connacht
Leinster 24-20 Ulster
Munster 8-13 Leinster
Connacht 24-29 Ulster
Ulster 28-3 Munster
Leinster 52-17 Connacht
Connacht 23-34 Leinster
Ulster 19-26 Connacht
Ulster 21-29 Leinster
Munster 41-14 Ulster
May 9 Connacht v Munster
EPCR CHALLENGE CUP
PREMIERSHIP
Round 14
Newcastle Red Bulls 19–52 Bristol Bears
Harlequins 33–52 Sale Sharks
Saracens 19–15 Leicester Tigers
Northampton Saints 41–38 Bath Rugby
Gloucester Rugby 34–31 Exeter Chiefs
Round 15
Fri 8 May
Gloucester Rugby v Sale Sharks
Sat 9 May
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
Bristol Bears v Saracens
Sun 10 May
Newcastle Red Bulls v Harlequins
Exeter Chiefs v Bath Rugby
🔝🐱🐴
PROD2
SUPER RUGBY
Round 12
Hurricanes 38–31 Crusaders
Waratahs 17–20 Force
Fijian Drua 24–14 Highlanders
Moana 19–45 Blues
Reds 30–21 Brumbies
bye : Chiefs
Round 13
Friday 8 May
Crusaders v Blues
Reds v Chiefs
Saturday 9 May
Highlanders v Waratahs
Moana v Hurricanes
Brumbies v Force
Bye: Fijian Drua
JAPAN LEAGUE ONE
ROUND 17
ROUND 18 (final round)
Sat 9 May
Saitama Wild Knights v Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo
Shizuoka BlueRevs v Yokohama Canon Eagles
Mie Honda Heat v Toyota Verblitz
Sun 10 May
Kubota Spears v Kobelco Kobe Steelers
Tokyo Sungoliath v BlackRams Tokyo
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars v Urayasu D-Rocks
MAJOR LEAGUE RUGBY
WEEK 6
Chicago Hounds 49–31 Old Glory DC
New England Free Jacks 11–27 Seattle Seawolves
WEEK 7
Saturday 9 May
New England Free Jacks v California Legion
Sunday 10 May
Old Glory DC v Seattle Seawolves
Chicago Hounds v Anthem RC
STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 16
NEXT BATCH OF HARPIN’
Thursday
Throwback Thursday (Substack)
Friday
Leinster v Lions preview (YouTube)
Saturday
Leave your thoughts after full time whistle on our Facebook page
Sunday
Wrap pod recording (featuring Conor Cronin)
In the meantime be sure to enjoy your rugby wherever you are. JLP