HoR highlights : Oct 29-Nov 4

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• The title of my writeup for Leinster v Cardiff was “Rush's Blushes”

• “Few squad surprises as All Blacks head north” says AB fan Tim Cronin of the NZ touring squad

• John O'Sullivan wrote of “Lessons learned by young Connacht side”

• As an Ulster fan, Kristian Ross is probably our happiest contributor : “Ulster still keeping the Pro12 quiet”

• Liam Sinclair keep tabs on the Celtic League's non-Irish clubs : “Top half of Pro12 pulling away”

• The English Premiership is ably covered by Felix McCabe : “Premiership Round 7 wrap”

• Our Munster fan Trevor Murphy had high praise : “JJ earns his stripes in bonus-point Munster win”

• New Irishman Michael Bent is being shown the ropes by the squad : “Around The Fringes #74”

• This week's Roots & All came from Ulster : “Queen’s RFC–Update #4”

• The latest Keego offering involved some unusual choices for an Irish XV : “Keego on…Stars & Starters”

• Top post of the week here on HoR2 was from Kate McEvoy's first offering “Rugby and Nationalism” - hopefully there will be more!

• Our English panellist weighed in with his latest selections for the “Lions Selector Panel–3rd Round (ENG)”

• Facebook likes are up to 892 – top discussion was over the loss of BOD & Rory Best.

• Twitter following is up to 3540, top tweet was about Michael Bent's arrival.

• The Midweek Quiz had its most exciting playoffs yet as @paddylogan13 won his second title in a row.

• The latest “The View From The Laighin Pit #5” featured blue rinse & hair spray.

Another busy week here at HoR Manor ... stay tuned for more!

Keep an eye out for news on a new Midweek Quiz game and also the next window for the Irish Rugby Tours competition! JLP

HoR highlights : Oct 22-28

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• The title of my writeup for Scarlets v Leinster was “When It Matters”

• All Black fan Tim Cronin compared the current side to those of yesteryear : “A place in history”

• Brendan Grehan had a big hit with his latest offering “Time to put the brakes on Leinster’s U21 juggernaut”

• Every morning the tweets from Irish rugby clubs are put together to make “the HarpinOnRugby Times”

• John O'Sullivan finds cause for optimism : “Tough loss but Connacht rugby still on the rise”

• Edinburgh fans saw the funny side of their hiding in Thomond Park : “Around The Fringes #73”

• Liam Sinclair summed things up for the Non-Irish Pro12 clubs : “Much delight at return to league action”

• For my BlueMagic.ie piece I went for a Halloween theme.

• Sarah Lennon gave her weekly update : “UL Bohs return to the top of Women’s AIL”

• Judging by the hits, Kristian Ross spoke for many Irish fans with his rant : “Yet More Kidney Failure”

• Leinster props were the topic for the final qualifying trials of the Midweek Quiz...how would you have done?

• Trevor Murphy reviewed his team's Heineken Cup victory : “Munster warriors stand up and fight”

• Facebook like are up to 882 – top discussion was over the Irish squad for November.

• Every Thursday at 2pm we look at upcoming rugby on Irish telly : “BOX-KIX : Oct 18-25”

• Making a sandwich into a manwich in his popular slot we had “Keego on…Defending & Defeating”

• Twitter following is up to 3517, top tweet was this pop at the Cardiff Blues' performance at the RDS.

• Roots & All this week features updates from Claremorris RFC and Naas RFC.

• Mark Jackson gave us his latest opinions in the “Lions Selector Panel–2nd Round (IRE)”

• A second helping this week from Kristian Ross outlined the “Perfect start for Ulster”

• And last, but DEFINITELY not least, we had news on how to sign up for “Movember Irish Rugby”

Another busy week here at HoR Manor ... stay tuned for more!

With November starting during the week, keep an eye out for news on the next window for the Irish Rugby Tours competition! JLP

HoR highlights : Oct 15-21

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• The title of my writeup for Leinster v Exeter was “The Ex Factor”.

• All Black fan Tim Cronin gave his take on the new look of the famous jersey : “The AIG Blacks”

• Brendan Grehan thinks Leinster need to lighten up : “I trust the barrels are full!”

• Twitter following is up to 3490 – top tweet was this pop at Sam Allardyce.

• We were given a look at how “The Brussels Leinster Blues” saw the Leinster v Exeter match

• John O'Sullivan reckons “Job done but more required from Connacht”

• The latest topic in The Midweek Quiz was “Leinster's HCup final opponents” - would you have known the answers?

• Kristian Ross was full of praise for his province : “Late bonus for Ulstermen”

• Liam Sinclair featured what was a “Tough opening round for non-Irish Pro12”

• For my BlueMagic.ie piece I had a look at the Scarlets loss to Clermont.

• Sarah Lennon gave her weekly update : “High-flying Highfield stay top of Womens AIL”

• Every Thursday at 2pm we look at upcoming rugby on Irish telly : “BOX-KIX : Oct 18-25”

• While on Fridays I do my piece for SportsNewsIreland looking ahead to the weekend.

• Not often you find a rugby article that refers to Downtown Abbey : “Keego on…Scars & Scarlets”

• And it was Kirsten Bruce's turn to update us for the “Lions Selector Panel–2nd Round (SCO)”

• Facebook Likes are up to 878. Top discussion was over Alan Quinlan's article.

• Finally top post of the week here on HoR2 was this: “Heineken Cup Rd 2 predictions : Hook & Lenihan”

Another busy week here at HoR Manor ... stay tuned for more! Check out social media on Monday evening for news on your last chance to qualify for the Midweek Quiz playoffs – grand prize, the new Leinster Heineken Cup jersey courtesy of BlueMagic.ie!

HoR highlights Oct 8-14

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• The title for my Monday writeup of Leinster's win over Munster was “Captain Jamie”

• All Black fan Tim Cronin was more than happy to give a wrap up of “The 2012 Rugby Championship”

• Brendan Grehan tried to analyse where Munster stood after the their defeat in Dublin with his piece “The Red Mist Rising”

• While it seems some TV pundits were more interested in the Aviva magpie : “Around The Fringes #72”

• Twitter following is up to 3,473, and the HoR re-tweet record got smashed by this Richie McCaw joke.

• John O'Sullivan's did his weekly piece on his home province : “Connacht brought back down to earth”...

• ...as did Kristian Ross, with a slightly different take on the same match : “Emotional return to Ravenhill”

• Munster fan Trevor Murphy saw silver linings at the Aviva the previous weekend : “Plenty of positives for Penney & co”...

• ...while Felix McCabe delivered his usual excellent “English Premiership Round 6 wrap-up”

• Week 2 of the BlueMagic.ie Midweek Quiz saw anagrams of foreign players who used to play for Leinster...would you have known them?

• Keego had a busy week on the publishing front, with pieces both before and after the Munster match as well as a look ahead to the Chiefs.

• The Women's AIL took a week off so Sarah Lennon focused on “New-look Leinster prepare for Women’s Inter-pros”

• Liam Sinclair gave his weekly offering : “The RaboPro12 prepares for the “big show””

• Over on BlueMagic.ie I said the Exeter Chiefs would be no push-overs. Reckon I was onto something.

• In case you don't know, every Thursday at 2pm we give you a list of the upcoming week's rugby on Irish telly.

• This week's Roots&All updates were from Claremorris RFC and Naas RFC.

• It was our Welsh contributor's turn in the “Lions Selector Panel–2nd Round”

• Facebook Likes are up to 870...the McCaw joke was popular here too, but so was this one about Saracens.

• Last, but not least, I did a writeup of the Leinster A match at Donnybrook.

Another busy week here at HoR Manor ... stay tuned for more! And don't forget the Irish Rugby Tours competition...the next window for entries opens between Tuesday and Thursday!

HoR Highlights Oct 1-7

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• Facebook following stays at 865 – they had their first chance to enter the Irish Rugby Tours competition last Sunday. More to come!

• Brendan Grehan kicked off the week, proclaiming “The West’s Awake; long may it continue!”

• I wasn't quite so optimistic with my writeup of Leinster's western woes : “Priorities”

• All Black fan Tim Cronin had some sympathy for the other lot : “Wallabies run out of players”

• While Felix McCabe delivered his usual thorough “English Premiership Round 5 wrap-up”

• John O'Sullivan clearly took great pleasure in reporting on his beloved Connacht's success :”Heineken champs dismantled”

• While Ulster fan Kristian Ross was in a similar good mood : “Ulstermen stand up and lead the way”

• Quiz topic for the 1^st night of the BlueMagic.ie League was “former Leinster scrum-halves” - would you have gotten all three correct?

• Liam Sinclair keeps tabs on the “Non-Irish Pro12” clubs : “Pro12 Champions on the rise again”

• Heineken Ireland provided us with a peek behind the scenes at the launch of that competition they sponsor.

• Sarah Lennon kept us up to date on the Women's game here in Ireland : “Highfield top the AIL after another rout”

• For my weekly piece on BlueMagic.ie I was asked to come up with a dozen classic Leinster tries – definitely a labour of love!

• The latest instalment of Roots & All was provided by “Queen’s RFC–Update #3”

• Rich Church-Keen's turn came around again for the “Lions Selector Panel–2nd Round (ENG)”

• Leinster fans RK & Z mulled over their fortunes as they gave us “The View From The Laighin Pit #4”

• And on the morning of the big match I re-posted a rant about the name of that stadium we were all heading to :”What’s In A Name?”

• Twitter following is up to 3440, and it was great to be able to meet some of them in the Sandymount Hotel last night.

Another busy week here at HoR Manor ... stay tuned for more! JLP

HoR highlights Sep 24-30

Here's some links to all the rugby we've been harpin on for the past week...

• Despite beating Edinburgh, I wasn't happy with the standards on display by Leinster.

• Brendan Grehan wondered why there is no highlights show for the Pro12? : ”Why we need more of Craig Doyle on TV”

• Quade Cooper's latest follies are a source of endless amusement for All-Black fan Tim Cronin : “Hey Quade, sounds like you need a cuddle!”

• Twitter following is up to 3424, most popular tweet was this link to a YouTube clip of Leinster fans singing SUFTUM.

• "Around The Fringes #71” found Quade, Richie & Sonny Bill to have much in common.

• Connacht's mauling of Leinster didn't look likely to John O'Sullivan two days earlier : “Injury count worsens for Connacht”

• We had a new champion of the Midweek Quiz in @paddylogan13 – check out the questions he had to face, maybe you can challenge next month?

• Liam Sinclair previewed the Non-Irish Pro12 clubs as always : “Welsh regions face Irish test”

• While Felix McCabe gave another fine offering : “English Premiership Round 4 wrap-up”

• My weekly piece for BlueMagic.ie wondered why Leinster Rugby fans don't have a decent song to sing.

• In her weekly column Sarah Lennon rounded up the high-scoring opening weekend : “11-try Highfield lead the way in Women’s AIL”

• This week's Roots&All updates came from Claremorris RFC and Naas RFC.

• A new “unriggable raffle” was announced with a great prize courtesy of Irish Rugby Tours. If you'd like to enter I'd stay tuned to the HoR Facebook page today if I were you.

• Speaking of Facebook, Likes held steady at 865 and the hottest topic was the post-mortem after Leinster were gutted in Galway.

• Neil Keegan had two contributions this week : “Keego on…Tributes & Triskaidekaphobia” & “Keego on…November & Novices”

• And last but certainly not least we had “The View From The Laighin Pit #3” which saw a few new voices added to the mix.

Another busy week here at HoR Manor as you can see...you can be sure it can only get busier over the next seven days what with the big match at the Aviva! JLP

HoR highlights Sep 17-23

It was a sombre week around the rugby blogosphere, but here's what we managed to harp on...

• Brendan Grehan gave his thoughts on the HCup format debate : “The end of the European Cup? I don’t think so.”

• All Black fan Tim Cronin penned the week's most popular post, “The Worldwide Rugby Community”

• My Leinster match writeup was difficult for differing reasons : “Treviso-18 Leinster-19”

• Twitter following is up to 3,402 – most popular tweet was this exclusive pic from the ERC meetings.

• John O'Sullivan feels it's “Back to the drawing board for Connacht”

• Our Ulster columnist Kristian Ross showed how the “Ulstermen stand up for Nevin”

• Trevor Murphy used his Munster column to write about how Nevin Spence was “A young man of immense talent & courage”

• Liam Sinclair explained that “Pretenders v Champions the Pro12 match of the week...”

• Facebook Likes are up to 865, posts during the week included this breaking news about the new England kit.

• Sarah Lennon's weekly column about the women's game on these shores : “UL Bohs the favourites as Women’s AIL kicks off”

• BOX-KIX is a popular feature every Thursday, teeing up the live rugby action on Irish telly for the following week.

• Felix McCabe gave us another quality Premiership round-up : “Perfect start for Quins continues”

• If Google+ is your thing, HoR is now sharing the full range of content on our page there.

• And last, but not least, Kirsten Bruce shared her latest offering in the “Lions Selector Panel–1st Round (SCO)”

Busy week ahead on HoR, the latest Midweek Quiz game will take place Tuesday AND Wednesday and a champion will be found, plus all the regular features will be back. Stay tuned! JLP