For today’s pod I had a quick chat with Neil Keego Keegan from TheCouchPunditIreland.com - it was less than 24hrs after what happened at Twickenham but we managed to put the disappointment aside for a while to harp on thinks like areas where Ireland didn’t perform as well one of our favourite topics, that of the immense over-reaction from certain quarters online.

Check our our own match writeup here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/02/england-24-ireland-12.html

This week my Back and Forward chat is with Leinster fan and frequent Harpin contributor Conor Cronin, also known as @ccbooms on Twitter.  With the Pro14 regular season having just passed the halfway stage we went through the league team by team to see how their campaigns are going so far.  Conor also gives some thoughts on Leinster’s wet windswept win over the Cheetahs last Saturday, as well as looking ahead to Round 3 of the Six Nations.

This week my Back and Forward chat is with Brendon Shields from Rugbycology.com.  

We talked about the valuable data and analytics he provides in real time for coaches, mostly at schools level, as well as crunching some interesting numbers from the first two rounds of the Six Nations.  Then since Brendon happens to be a fan of both Leinster and the Cheetahs, we also discussed the match this weekend at the RDS, as well as his overall thoughts on the South African experiment in the Pro 14.

Check out Brendon's work here > https://www.rugbycology.com/

Also on Twitter > https://twitter.com/rugbycology

An audio version of the HarpinOnRugby match writeup for Ireland's 19-12 win over Scotland last weekend.

Written form can be found here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/02/ireland-19-scotland-12.html

This week I chatted to Keego about a few issues arising from Andy Farrell’s first match in charge of Ireland, including the Murray/Cooney debate and Johnny Sexton’s supposed play-acting.

Check out his review of Ireland v Scotland here > https://thecouchpunditireland.com/2020/02/03/ireland-v-scotland-review-play-acting-and-keeping-calm/

You can catch our own writeup here > http://www.harpinonrugby.net/2020/02/ireland-19-scotland-12.html

And you can leave your thoughts on the Irish team to face Wales here > http://bit.ly/IREvWALmatchday23

With no Leinster or Ireland match last weekend I set out to interview fans from all four provinces ahead of the Six Nations.    I have elected to round off the mini-series by presenting my match preview of Ireland’s opening match of the 2020 Six Nations in podcast form, offering my own take on the questions I asked my previous guests.

1) How do you think Andy Farrell will approach the Six Nations?

2) What do you make of Johnny Sexton as captain?

3) What is your ideal starting XV to play Scotland?

I also offer some thoughts on the Scots as well predicting the match result.

With no Leinster matches the week before the Six Nations I decided to use the extra time to get opinions from fans of all four Irish provinces on a few key questions : 1) What way will Andy Farrell approach his new job 2) What do you make of Johnny Sexton as captain and 3) What team would you pick for the opening game against Scotland?

Looking back in our podcast feed you’ll see I have already had chats with fans of Leinster and Connacht in the form of Conor Cronin and Padriag Kelly respectively, now it’s Munster’s turn and I spoke to the author of the excellent WestTerraceView.

https://westterraceview.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/WTView

https://www.facebook.com/wtview/

With no Leinster matches the week before the Six Nations I decided to use the extra time to get opinions from fans of all four Irish provinces on a few key questions : 1) What way will Andy Farrell approach his new job 2) What do you make of Johnny Sexton as captain and 3) What team would you pick for the opening game against Scotland?

After talking to the blue-goggled Conor Cronin on the last pod,  I will also be getting input from provinces north and south, but this latest offering features the operator of The 2nd Row, run by Connacht fan Padraig Kelly.  

(note - recording was done ahead of official team announcement)

LINKS TO FOLLOW THE 2ND ROW :

https://twitter.com/the2ndRow

https://www.facebook.com/The2ndroww/

https://www.instagram.com/the2ndrow/

https://youtube.com/the2ndrow

In today’s pod I’m joined by Conor Cronin to have a look ahead to the upcoming Six Nations to try and see what way our new head coach Andy Farrell might be approaching it.  We discuss his objectives, what new players he can bring in, and how Johnny Sexton will do as captain among other things...

In today’s pod I’m joined by Conor Cronin to have a look ahead to the upcoming Six Nations to try and see what way our new head coach Andy Farrell might be approaching it.  We discuss his objectives, what new players he can bring in, and how Johnny Sexton will do as captain among other things...