ON THIS WEEK’S COLUMN…

• WRAP OF A WRAP
• DIVIDING BY 10
• THE ANNUAL POST MORTEM
• UNNECESSARY REF CHAT
• RED FLAGS
• (TIE) BREAKING NEWS
• BOUNCING BACK FROM BILBAO
• FULL TIME THOUGHTS
• LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE
• TROLL PATROL
• COMPETITION UPDATES (incl Super Rugby)
• NEXT HARPIN’

WRAP OF A WRAP

I don’t make a secret of the fact that I do enjoy other sports apart from rugby, and if I lived elsewhere growing up, this content-creating passion project could have had a much different theme.

For example, had I stayed in the USA and not moved to Ireland as a boy, the chances are strong I would have taken to baseball, in which case I’d be harpin’ on the Oakland A’s, being the team based closest to where I was born. Had the sliding doors sent my life in that direction however, I’d be pretty annoyed now as the team are no longer based there so it’s probably just as well.

Then there’s football. When I did move to Ireland aged 8 and joined a new school I found myself under immediate pressure to pick a football team and for reasons that are too long for these pages, I chose Tottenham Hotspur. And their current plight isn’t a whole lot better than Oakland’s, and just a few hours before recording the already-difficult Champions Cup final wrap pod, they played a match which could have resulted in their relegation.

In the end the pod was a tough record anyway, but I can’t help but feel that had Spurs “gone down” my mood would have been much worse! And this of course is not to take anything away from my fellow podster Hugo Gordon, who despite enduring a difficult rewatch was able to deliver excellent, balanced analysis for the disappointing afternoon in Bilbao. Click here to check it out if you missed it.

DIVIDING BY 10

This year, he has not started at outhalf in any game.

Ciarán Frawley explains why he’s leaving Leinster for Connacht

Nathan Johns – Irish Times

In different circumstances you might think the headline was “clickbait”, but to be fair to Nathan the article does exactly what it says on the tin.

Apparently Tuesday was officially “World Redhead Day” so I’m not sure if this was a factor in the timing of this article but it’s true his leaving Leinster for Connacht has been much discussed since last Saturday when his introduction at first receiver seemed to make a difference to Leinster’s attack.

For my part I am torn on the Frawley debate. Of course I don’t want to see him go, but I also think it’s very naive to assume that Leinster could have easily kept him.

The formal announcement of his departure was just before Christmas, which means the decision was made prior to then. At this time, Sam Prendergast, rightly or wrongly, was the presumptive starter for both Leinster and Ireland, and Harry Byrne was pushing him strongly for the reserve role, in fact for many the argument was that it was he who should be starting, which he did in Bilbao.

Plus do we really think that we have full autonomy in such things? Was it purely that “Leinster let him go”? That is not how the Irish pro rugby model works. What annoys me about a lot of the opinion is that it seems to assume our provinces are clubs like they are in the 🔝🐱🐴. For me, this is the deepest issue. Unless we revert to an exact replica of what the French do and let sugar-daddies own and operate the teams, we will always have limitations and priority has to be given to the national team.

If Ciarán is guaranteed gametime at 10 in Galway, it should improve his Ireland chances. Working under Stu certainly won’t hurt either. It will be very interesting to see how they get on next season with Champions Cup rugby also on the menu.

Going back to Sam, I really hope we’re not writing him off altogether. I can totally see a redemption arc for him, but to my mind FWIW I believe it is crucial that, barring injuries, he does not start at 10 for Leinster again this season, nor does he start on the South African tour to kick off next season. For me that sends the message that he is to fight for the jersey, and with Joey Carbery seemingly on the way in, we should have options. There is of course also Caspar Gabriel on the conveyor belt, though I hear there may be plans for a short stint away from Leinster, nothing concrete just yet.

Sometimes I wonder if we are subconsciously holding our prospects up against the memory of Johnny Sexton, when he was clearly the definition of a once-in-a-generation talent. The superstar of your team does not have to be the 10. But it does help to know who is your preferred option so you can develop an overall attack strategy so hopefully now that all the moves are done Leinster can at least have a handle on this going into 2026/27.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL COLUMN ON SUBSTACK

ON THIS WEEK’S COLUMN…

• WRAP OF A WRAP
• HAIL TO THE KING
• BEEP BEEP
• HEAD GAMES
• SPITTING, NO IMAGE
• BELL WEATHER
• FUTURE FIXTURES
• THE BILBAO 23 (BONUS CHAT MEETS LEINSTER SQUAD UPDATE)
• TROLL PATROL
• COMPETITION UPDATES (incl 🔝🐱🐴)
• NEXT HARPIN’

WRAP OF A WRAP

Ten Leinster tries in one match are always exciting to watch especially live, but when you add the context of our season, namely that only the win was of actual use to us plus we’ve a slightly bigger match the following weekend, you end up with a match that will be very quickly forgotten. As the saying goes, “the show must go on” so we did produce a wrap pod for Leinster v Ospreys, with Ciarán Duffy from Post To Post Sport joining me for a chat on Sunday evening, but we decided to cover the whole match in just the opening portion and use the rest of the time to go back over Leinster’s URC regular season. ICYMI click here to check it out.

Like I said last week, Sunday’s Six Nations finale at the Aviva Stadium had to be about more than just the crowd, there was a match to be played and a solid third place finish to be earned. And what a performance it was. Although we did finish 3rd last year, that included a defeat to the Scots so there were scores to be settled and, well, I think you can safely say that was done and then some. This back row of Hogan, King and Wafer is a world class trio to build the team around and under Scott Bemand they have looking like a well coached group who enjoy working together and we have seen plenty to back up Erin’s claim in the quote.

And yes, the crowd was great too. But if they continue on this path as looks likely, there’s more big numbers to come there too.

Next up is the new incarnation of the WXV, known as “The Global Series” – it seems to be a women’s version of the Nations Championship although thankfully they have not just simply replicated the men’s version (they probably could do something similar with the Six Nations too).

Here’s an explanation of the new comp taken from the official site…

“The top 12 teams (Australia, Canada, England, France, Italy, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, USA, Wales) will compete in a home-and-away, cross-regional touring model within a newly aligned September – October international window. Significantly, unions will retain domestic commercial rights to their home fixtures, recognising the importance of growing the value of the women’s game in each country, and supporting reinvestment in player pathways and national programmes.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL COLUMN ON SUBSTACK