Harpin' On Rugby

Ahead of the URC kickoff, it's Donkeys v Tigers in the latest of our "Harp-off" mock quiz podcasts.  Will Keego finally end his losing streak?   This week's topics :  1) Leinster's chances in the URC  2) How the rest of the URC is looking  3) What can fans do to help promote Women's Rugby in Ireland? 4) How will fans take to the URC Our Ireland v Italy WRWC2021 qualifier w...

Some European fixtures were announced last week and while we don’t know the exact date just yet, we did learn that Leinster’s opening match in the quest for that fifth star will be back at the Aviva Stadium against Premiership side Bath.  So I had a quick chat with the curator of a great Twitter account @BathBytes to see how the team is shaping up for the new campaign... Our Leinster v Harleq...

This week I’m just going to have a little ramble myself if you don’t mind, harping on a few different topics that are on my mind this weather HarpinOnRugby on social media… TWITTER > https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby FACEBOOK > https://www.facebook.com/HarpinOnRugby INSTAGRAM > https://www.instagram.com/harpinonrugby/

For this 6th and final of our preseason pods I wanted to look at a couple of areas which have always needed more exposure anyway yet were even more affected by the COVID disruption, namely the Women’s game as well as men’s club rugby - I have two guests lined up who are perfect for setting the scene for the upcoming campaign. Follow @IrishWomens on Twitter > https://twitter.com/IrishWomens Foll...

In the fifth of our preseason series of pods, I spoke to a fan from each of the non-Irish URC nations about the various clubs and players we should be looking out for. Follow Dan Pearce on Twitter > https://twitter.com/CardiffRugbyWeb And his Cardiff website here > https://cardiffbluesblog.com/ Follow Andy Daniel here > https://twitter.com/scrum5ive And his website here > https://www.s...

[many thanks to those who pointed out dead air in the original posting, should have it fixed now!] This is the fourth in our series of preseason pods - if you subscribe to our feed you’ll find the last three episodes took a detailed look at Leinster’s cover in all the various positions heading into the 21/22 season.  Now it’s time to turn the spotlight on the other Irish provinces and I spoke...

This is the third in our series of preseason pods, focusing on the front row and centres - and at the end I’ll give you the ideal starting XV as chosen by the team of contributors. Follow Conor Cronin on Twitter > https://twitter.com/ccbooms Follow Keego on Twitter > https://twitter.com/nkeegan HarpinOnRugby on social media… TWITTER > https://twitter.com/HarpinOnRugby FACEBOOK > https:...

This is the second in our series of preseason pods where we have a look at Leinster’s options in the various positions for the 2021/22 season - one of our contributors is making his Harpin debut as we turn the spotlight on the back three and the second row. (look back in the podcast feed for Ep 1 which looks at Leinster's back row & halfbacks) Follow Tom Coleman on Twitter > https://twitter...

For the second half of August while the squads get together for preseason, we’ll be doing a series of pods looking ahead to the 21/22 campaign which will hopefully begin as planned in September.  We’ll have guests talking about the Irish provinces, clubs from the other URC nations, club and women’s rugby over the next while but first we’re going to take an in-depth look at Leinster’s squad. &...

We recorded right after Springboks A v Lions, so naturally we harped on something completely different!  Seriously though, our hearts aren't really in this tour so we were much more interested in Ireland v USA & the Under 20s and what they mean for the future of Andy Farrell's Ireland. Our Ireland v USA writeup > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/07/ireland-71-usa-10.html "Sorry, but m...

The teams : THE IMPROBABLES ( Neil Keegan & Ian Frizzell ) v THE IMPOSSIBLES ( Michelle Tobin & Sandy Smith ) The topics : Lions v Japan, Will/should the tour go ahead, where did all the beer in Murrayfield go, and much more The referee : Jeff "Romain" Pagano The format : Everyone takes turns harpin' on rugby, sometimes they get points, sometimes they don't, eventually someone wins The tag...

Well it’s hard to believe but July 5th will be the 2nd anniversary of this pod so what I thought I’d do was make this the show’s Season 2 finale and try something a little different with the format.  I asked four of my top contributors to join me to harp on things like firepit gate, the new branding for the Pro16 plus loads of other things and we tried to make a game of it, you’ll get the ide...

With eir Sport leaving the market and thus giving up their coverage of the Pro16, I wanted to put the topic of broadcasting front and centre this week by inviting a panel of fellow rugby fans from around the island to talk about what we’d like to see in the new deal. Our “mini-writeups” from last weekend > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/05/mini-writeups-munvcon-benvcon-tlnvubb.html Follow Ci...

With so much talk about the addition of South African teams to the Pro14 I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check in on Italian rugby to see how they are set for all the changes to come and I found a great English language resource online in The Italian Rugby Blog, penned by Tom Golden who joined me on the pod to chat about the new President of the FIR as well as all the challenges he has ahead of him....

This week I had Nathan Johns back on the show to talk about the Robbie Henshaw tackle against Ulster as well as the laws being trialled in the Rainbow Cup. Our Harpin match writeup of Leinster v Ulster > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/05/leinster-21-ulster-17.html Follow Nathan Johns on Twitter > https://twitter.com/nathanrjohns Check out Nathan’s The Spiral website > https://tightspir...

After devoting over a dozen pods to the never ending debate over Lions selection, it was about time I had a look at the tour from the Springbok side of things and I found just the right person to do that in Andy Daniel, who runs the excellent Scrum5 blog and he also hosts an online show all about South African rugby so I asked him how the tour was being seen down there as well as what kind of team...

It hasn’t been a great week or two for Leinster rugby fans so I asked three of them to join me for a session of soul searching.  I did my best to find positives in my writeup but the lads did a good job of bringing me back to reality.  We also talked about the social media ban from the weekend with a bit of Lions chat thrown in as well for good measure. Our Harpin match writeup of La Roc...

This week we had our final round of Lions selections with a three-strong panel and as well as naming their XVs we also looked at general attitudes towards the tour itself and of course we can never do enough giving out about the Rainbow Cup so the four of us managed to get that in as well.  Then after the chat I finally get to name the panel’s combined Matchday squad for the first test in Joh...

I’m going back to my Lions Selector Panel one last time before the squad is announced on May the 6th only for this round instead of going one on one I’ll be getting XVs from them three at a time.  We also talk about women’s rugby plus a tiny bit of Rainbow Cup as well, though I should point out that we chatted before the announcement was made that the South African teams weren't travelling. H...

This week I wanted to turn the podcast focus back onto Leinster with the help of some the top Harpin contributors so we talked about the Exeter match, how the season had gone before that, what our chances are against La Rochelle and finally what the signing of Michael Alaalatoa will mean to the province. Our Harpin match writeup of Exeter Chiefs v Leinster > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/04...

This week  I wanted to learn more about the Disciplinary Committee hearing so I had a chat with the author of a great blog called Rugby And The Law and we walked through the process from start to finish. Our Harpin feature article this week which includes “mini-writeups” from 5 matches over the weekend > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/04/mini-writeups-exevlyn-fravwal-munvtls.html Ben Ci...

What was billed as a Leinster v Toulon preview ended up being more of a Pro14 final review and discussion over what Munster need to get back to the top table.  And it's just as well, because the Toulon match never happened, though in our blissful ignorance we did chat shortly after the lineups were announced about what might have been. HarpinOnRugby Guinness Pro14 Final writeup > http://ww...

Moments after the teams were named for the 2021 Pro 14 Final I spoke to Michelle Tobin about how much this match means to her and her fellow Munster fans, what matchups seem to stand out and, of course, her prediction.  She also updates us on her group of Lions supporters and their plans following the announcement that the tour is going ahead as planned. Click here for my own match preview &g...

This week my guest was Brandon Smith who hosts the Welsh Rugby Roundup show on the great ThreeBod Rugby Network, and he gave us his updated Lions XV to complete the second round of selections.  He also talked about what was something of a rollercoaster of a weekend for an Ospreys and Wales fan. Then be sure and stick around to the end of the pod where I was able to name a full Lions matchday...

This week I invited another one of our Lions panellists Debbie Knight back to the pod to give us her latest selection and also of course to look ahead to the Six Nations finale at the weekend from an English point of view. Our Harpin match writeup for Scotland v Ireland > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2021/03/scotland-24-ireland-27.html Our Harpin match writeup for Zebre v Leinster > http://w...