The Leinster Listen

Episode 81, and the South Africa block ends with another one-score loss, Leinster went down 26–20 to the Sharks at Kings Park, Thomas du Toit’s scrum dominance and Edwill van der Merwe’s late intercept denying the champions even as Andrew Osborne’s injury-time try banked a second losing bonus point. Here is what I'm hitting on this week's episode:
📰 News Items; Doris ruled out until the new year, Bleyendaal on a fresh Carbery and evolving Leinster attack, Paisami’s Bledisloe ban, Sheedy’s viral header before Cardiff, and Rennie’s scrum-law broadside.
🏉 BKT United Rugby Championship Round 2 results; Full scoreboard and where the Irish provinces sit after two rounds.
📋 Overall opinion; Set-piece pain, Prendergast’s brief lead, and why three log points still beats last year’s SA haul.
🔍 Match events; Timeline from Henshaw’s opener to van der Merwe’s intercept and Osborne’s late consolation.
📊 URC positioning; Sharks top the log, Leinster still winless with bonus points, Cardiff waiting at the Laya Arena.

Episode 80, and the URC title defence starts in the Lions den, Leinster fly to Ellis Park for Round 1 with a youthful matchday 23, no Jamison Gibson-Park, and the biggest selection story of the week: Andrew Porter at tighthead, not his usual loosehead jersey. Here is what I'm hitting on this week's episode:
📰 News Items; Porter and O'Brien fit, Gibson-Park groin, Nienaber's Ellis Park warning, France Women's burning-bus chaos, and Irish Friday night URC openers for Ulster and Connacht.
🏉 BKT United Rugby Championship Round 1 predictions; Full opening-weekend scoreboard from Treviso to Johannesburg.
📋 Details of our game; Kick-off, Ellis Park, Ben Breakspear in the middle, and where to watch on TG4 and Premier Sports.
👕 Team lineups; Pitch-style sheets for both sides, with a headline callout on Porter packing down at 3 beside Usanov and McCarthy.
🎯 Score and MOTM prediction; Market handicap, form lines, and why I'm backing Porter to boss the scrum.
💬 Discussion Point; Porter at 3, loosehead legend, tighthead return? What Cullen might be signalling for Furlong, Ireland, and the Sharks week.

Episode 79, and we're reacting to one of the maddest women's Tests you'll see — Ireland led by twelve at half-time at Tallaght Stadium, scored six tries, and still lost 40-36 to a USA side that overturned a 19-point deficit in the WXV Global Series opener. No preview went out — the draft call was a comfortable Ireland win — so this is pure post-match autopsy plus the Sunday Leinster news as the men's squad fly south. Here is what I'm hitting on this week's episode:
📰 News Items; Munster's Leicester pre-season sting, Leinster's 41-man South Africa departure, Doris still out, and Baird plus the Cardiff Laya homecoming date
🏉 WXV Global Series match results; Full Round 1 scoreboard from Cardiff to Tallaght — Wales, Italy, the England–Canada draw, France, New Zealand, and our game
💭 Overall opinion of the game; The first-half green wave, the Elmes Kinlan sin-bin swing, Jack Hanratty's Eagles comeback, and Erin King's post-match message on TG4
📋 Analysis of the game events; Chronological tries from Elmes Kinlan's opener to Dorothy Wall's late score — official POTM Freda Tafuna
📊 WXV Global Series positioning after this weekend; What Round 1 means in the touring model and Ireland's immediate focus on Japan in Galway.

theleinsterlisten.com

Episode 78, and we're back with another Leinster Club Interview on The Leinster Listen, this time with Tullow RFC being represented by Paddy Browne. A Carlow club founded in 1928 and reborn in 1971 at John Browne Park in the Blackgates, now in Leinster League Division 1A with three Towns Cup wins (2017, 2023, and 2024), a clubhouse Bernard Jackman once called home, and the same Browne, Roche, Dawson, and Kenny families still woven through the place.
🏉 Who they are; Paddy Browne on his name, role, and a club with roots back to 1928
💚 What makes them different; rural Carlow identity, community depth, and life at the Blackgates
👩‍🦰 Women's rugby; how the women's game fits Tullow today
📜 Club history; the stop-start early years, the 1971 relaunch, and Towns Cup glory
🎯 Challenges and ambition; retaining players, competing at 1A level
⭐ Legends and grounds; the players people still mention
📍 How to join; training nights, the Blackgates, and how to get in touch via tullowrfc.com

Episode 77, and we're back on the men's side — Leinster's first game at the redeveloped Laya Arena in over two years. Zebre Parma visit Donnybrook on Saturday for a pre-season test event before the URC title defence kicks off against Cardiff on the 23rd. Here is what I'm hitting on this week's episode:
🏉 Pre-season context; Zebre's 21-21 draw with Benetton, Leinster's 31-29 loss at LOU Lyon, and what to expect from a capped-attendance friendly at the RDS
📋 Match details; kick-off, venue, weather, tickets, and the Laya Arena return after two seasons at the Aviva
👕 Team lineups; Zebre were too afraid to release theirs
🔮 Score prediction; Leinster 47-22, MOTM Caspar Gabriel