Harpin' On Rugby

To start the build up to Saturday’s Guinness Pro 14 final, in the latest of our “Opposition View” series of chats I invited Ulster fan Ian Frizzell onto the pod to talk about the last meeting LEIvULS a couple of weeks ago, that amazing comeback in Edinburgh, and how he reckons they’ll line up at the Aviva this weekend. You'll find Ian on Twitter here > https://twitter.com/rava_ian Our Leinster...

For the third season in a row, Leinster meet our old friends from down the N7 in the Pro14 semifinal and although it will be in a deserted Aviva Stadium as opposed to a hopping RDS, it still promises to be a classic.  In the latest from our new series of “opposition view” chats I had Munster fan Michelle Tobin back on the pod to look at how she feels their chances are of getting the better of...

I’ve said it before but I have no problem saying it again...it is awesome to have the rugby back.  We've done plenty of harpin on Leinster’s narrow win over Munster last weekend - in case you missed our writeup you can find it here .  Now it’s time to turn our attention to the match against Ulster on Saturday evening, and providing us with an opposition view is long time Ulster fan Ian F...

So here we are, just days away from the return of interpro rugby.  Of course the uncertainty is still there, of course we’ll all be knocking on wood while clutching a rabbit's foot with fingers crossed between now and Saturday evening, but that can’t stop us from looking forward to the big kickoff and what I’d like to do with these pods for the next while is to chat to a fan of Leinster’s nex...

With the return of Leinster Rugby finally within reach, I have finally plucked up the courage to defy superstition and start harping on them once more.  Already this week I wrote a post on the blog looking at our sequence of matches over the coming months and for this latest pod I invited long time Leinster fan and Harpin contributor Conor Cronin to pick his best matchday squad to put us in w...

My guest this week is Brendon Shields, who provides brilliant analytics for clubs at all levels of the game via his site Rugbycology.  A South African based in Queensland, Brendon talked to me about the post-COVID version of Super Rugby in Australia with a big top of the table clash coming this weekend,  and we also discussed the current state of the sport down there from media coverage...

This time our theme is “Changes” or “Ch-ch-changes” if you’re old enough to appreciate a nod to David Bowie.  First up we welcome a new member from South Africa to our Pod Of Three Stable, as Bottomless Rugby discuss the implications of the South African franchises moving north into the European competitions.  Next we have Rugby Bricks talking to Otere Black, who is an outhalf for our ad...

Over the course last week’s chat about Super Rugby Aotearoa with John Keenan of The Rugby Gods Podcast  we discussed some other things, so what I decided to do was hold over some of the extra content and use it for this week’s pod.  There are a few topics he went over like the different style of bonus point used in Super Rugby, how Jamison Gibson Park is perceived down in New Zealand and...

We’ve no particular theme for this Pod of Three, we’re simply sharing 3 quality clips from 3 quality rugby pods.  First we go stateside where Rugby Wrap Up talks to the commissioner of Major League Rugby about their version of the salary cap, then Loose Head has Squidge on his show to talk about the pitfalls of using rugby clips to help with content creation, and finally Ulster Rugby Lad talk...

To help me set the scene to follow Super Rugby Aotearoa for the next few weeks, I had a chat with John Keenan of The Rugby Gods Podcast who has followed New Zealand rugby closely for years and provides some good insight to all five franchises, how the first half of the competition has gone, and also what we can expect from the remaining matches. My Crusaders v Blues writeup is here > http://www...

Today’s theme is “Rugby History”.  First up we have Rugby Reloaded which is new to our PodOfThree stable and regularly covers the history of both union and league - in this one Tony Collins looks at the origins of the rivalry between the All Blacks and the Springboks.  Then The Dead Ball Area talks to former Samoa international Apollo Perelini about his career and finally the almighty Sq...

On July 5, 2019 I launched this podcast by reading out my match writeup of Ireland’s win over New Zealand in November 2018.  Over the span of more than 50 episodes since, we had a disappointing World Cup campaign, 19 wins out of 19 for Leinster and a COVID-shortened season.  Now to celebrate the pod’s first anniversary as well as the start of Season 2, as part of our RetroRugby series I...

In the 10th instalment of our #RetroRugby series we look back at Toulouse v Leinster in the Heineken Cup quarterfinal of 2006.  Although it was to be a few years before the boys in blue saw European glory, this match was a crucial part of the evolution.  Discussing it with me is Cian O’Muilleoir of Laighin Pit and @RugbyKino fame. You'll find Cian on twitter here > https://twitter.com...

Today’s theme is “Kiwi influence”.  First up we have Pick & Drive Rugby from Australia talking about a round of matches from Super Rugby Aotearoa, then on Wind Yer Neck In, Niall Annett talks to Joe Schmidt about communicating with his squads, and finally the 2nd Row asks Jake Heenan about Connacht’s 2016 Championship winning season. 1. Pick & Drive Rugby : The Rise of The Blues! http...

This week my guest is Ian Frizzell, who has recently been appointed to the role of COVID-19 Club Safety Officer at Ballymoney RFC.  I got him on to tell us a bit about himself and how he got into rugby, about the club, and of course what the position entails.  And as he’s also a massive Ulster Rugby fan I couldn’t let him go without sharing his thoughts on their chances once provincial r...

Our theme today is “Coping with COVID19” and our sources are all non-rugby-focused podcasts talking to those involved in the sport.  First there’s The Sports Psychologist with Maire Treasa Ni Cheallaigh who’s guest is Dr Hannah McCormack the campaign manager for Tackle Your Feelings, a wellbeing initiative from Rugby Players Ireland.  Then Ulster and Ireland back row Claire McLaughlin is...

This week’s pod has three hats.  It’s episode 54 of the HarpinOnRugby Podcast.  It is also episode 9 of our #RetroRugby series where we look back over big matches from years gone by.  But most importantly, this features highlights from Episode 3 of a new Facebook Live venture between Harpin On Rugby and Three Blokes A Ball And BOD.  Myself and Big Joe Shep were honoured to welc...

Our theme for today’s The Pod Of Three is travel, something we haven’t been able to do much in the past while.  First, The Rugby Player talks to Ireland Men’s Sevens star Harry McNulty about different places he has been around the globe, then Rugby Abroad gets Michael Walker-Fitton, an English lock currently plying his trade in Spain, to talk about a previous spell in the lower divisions of F...

For this pod I had a chat with Denis Hurley...no, not the former Munster winger, this is the curator of the excellent MuseumOfJerseys.com which proved to be a valuable resource in setting up the Ireland Jersey McJerseyface Cup.   We talked about how he set up the site andwhat drives opinion on jersey designs among other things. Here's his site > https://museumofjerseys.com/ The post t...

We have three new shows to share with you this time around, well they’re new to this feature anyway.  First up there’s The Driving Maul Show which looks at some broader positive effects of the return to Super Rugby in New Zealand, then TJ from Rugby Muscle gives his take on the proposed changes to the Laws of the Game, and finally the Brandon Smith Podcast talks to a young Scottish referee ab...

For this pod we’re bringing back our #RetroRugby series, looking back at a great contest from years gone by and today long time Harpin commenter Richard Mifsud and I feature a Leinster triumph on the road to earning star number four.   If you’d like to rewatch the match yourself before listening to our thoughts just hit pause and click the YouTube link below, we promise to wait patiently. Lin...

This is the 9th instalment of our new feature we call the Pod of Three, where we share clips from the best independent rugby podcasts. Each of our guest pods today is dealing with changes which have happened during, or in some cases because of, the coronavirus break.  First, The Advantage Over podcast from RugbyReferee.net looks at the proposed law tweaks from World Rugby, then Talking Rugby...

For this, episode 51 of our main podcast, we are sharing with you some highlights the premiere of yet another new feature that aired this week - a Facebook live show called The Leinster Laighin which we’re doing in conjunction with Three Blokes & Ball and BOD.   You can click here to watch the full show itself, but for this pod we cover three parts of it - first, I talk to Big Joe Shep ab...

For this episode things are going to be a little bit different.  On Thursday, May 28 at 8:30pm I’ll be joining up with Big Joe Shep from the excellent Facebook Live offering Three Blokes A Ball & BOD for a new show called The Leinster Laighin where we’ll be looking to merge the Leinster-focused approach of HarpinOnRugby with Big Joe’s trademark global reach brand.  So for this pod I’...

For this episode we’re travelling back in time to the start of the COVID lockdown period.  What The Ruck remind us what it was like to preview actual rugby matches as they looked ahead England v Ireland in the Six Nations, The MaulOver Podcast try reminds us of the controversial incidents we love to harp on as they try to make sense of the whole Joe Marler/Alun Wyn Jones kerfuffle, and finall...