Craggy Rugby podcast

The new season is almost upon and an almost full Craggy Crew share their hopes, aspirations and fears for the challenge the new United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup hold in store for Connacht Rugby. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

IWilliam Davies and Alan Deegan discuss the somewhat lob-sided looking URC fixture list from a Connacht perspective as the approaching new season for the Men's team gathers momentum in Part 1 of the podcast. In Part 2 there is full coverage of the Women's first Interpro of the season with Connacht legend Ali Miller giving her insightful thoughts on the narrow defeat at home to Leinster as well as...

Connacht are back training, the Lions have just won the first Test against South Africa, the Champions Cup draw has Connacht taking on the might of Leicester Tigers, who will visit the Sportsground for the first time ever, as well as a first ever match against Stade Francais Paris, what a couple of fantastic trips, COVID notwithstanding, to look forward to for the fans. The western province have 2...

In a Craggy Rugby exclusive, Andy Friend spoke at length about his hopes and expectations for Connacht Rugby in the new United Rugby Championship. He spoke to Rob Murphy and Linley MacKenzie on a video conference call as he approached the end of his quarantine period in a Brisbane hotel on a much needed trip home to Australia. The genial Aussie spoke about the challenge of taking Connacht to the n...

The PRO14 has morphed once again and now we have the United Rugby Championship, the URC. William Davies and Niall Shiel join Alan Deegan to discuss this seismic shift in international club rugby and how big a challenge it is going to be for Connacht. We also talk about the excellent representation at both U20 and Senior Men International level that Connacht players will be making in the upcoming 6...

Well that was a sometimes weird and sometimes wonderful season. Was it a good season or not for Connacht, how much did Connacht miss their fans, who was the most impressive player, it's all in the podcast in the company of Danny Deegan and Dave Finn with Alan Deegan hosting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A craicing end of season performance brought the desired result that Andy Friend had demanded after the poor performance and result that leaves Connacht bouncing into the off-season on a bit of a high. The Craggy Crew take you through the match and discuss the big win and we hear from Andy Friend and Alex Wootton in the press conference. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies chatted to Connacht forwards coach Jimmy Duffy about the team selection for Connacht's final game of the season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht invariable finish the season on a loss, winning only 4 of their 19 final regular season games since the start of the PRO14, will it be any different against an Ospreys side with a lot to play for? We hear from Bundee Aki for the first time since becoming a Lion, as well as an obviously angry Andy Friend who seems determined that Connacht finish with a bang. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/...

Bundee Aki spoke at a Connacht press conference for the first time since being selected for the British and Irish Lions today, we hear all the questions from the live section of the press conference in this mini pod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Benetton kept their hopes reaching the Rainbow Cup final firmly on course when a dogged win over the maddeningly inconsistent Connacht team in Treviso. The visitors lost the man earning his 200th cap, Denis Buckley, after only 32 seconds which had a massive impact on the game as the majority of the 15 penalties that Benetton won in the match came at scrum time, losing Abraham Papali'i to yet anoth...

William Davies spoke to Nigel Carolan after the Connacht team was announced for the trip to Treviso to take on table topping Benetton in the Rainbow Cup. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denis Buckley will become only the 3rd player to play 200 times for Connacht when he takes the field against Benetton in the Rainbow Cup in a game that sees the Italian side looking to keep their unbeaten record as they top the Rainbow Cup table. William Davies was asking the questions at the press conference where Denis was joined by Connacht defense coach Pete Wilkins. Linley MacKenzie and Danny...

Connacht stood up and fought for every minute of this hard fought victory against a fully loaded Munster team to halt a run of 8 defeats in a row against their southern provincial rivals. Rob Murphy takes you through the match, we hear from his co-commentator William Davies for their immediate post match reactions. There is also the thoughts of Andy Friend and Niall Murray from the press conferenc...

William Davies caught up with Connacht defensive coach Pete Wilkins on an interesting team selection for the second trip to Thomond Park this season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies and Niall Sheil join Alan Deegan to preview the second trip of the season to Thomond Park for Connacht as they look to bounce back after the hammering by Leinster last weekend. We hear the thoughts of Gavin Thornbury and Andy Friend from the press conference, with some probing questions from both William and Linley on the loss of Quinn Roux and the work being done to make Connacht m...

Connacht started the game like a whirlwind but got blown away by a hurricane of a performance by the PRO14 champions in the Sportsground in round 2 of the Rainbow Cup. The Craggy crew are not too despondent with the home team been hammered by one of the best teams in Europe and are buzzing about Bundee Aki becoming Connacht's 4th British and Irish Lion. We also hear the post-match thoughts of Andy...

William Davies chatted to Connacht forwards coach Jimmy Duffy about the team selection for the home match against Leinster in the Sportsground on Saturday evening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht have an unusual opportunity to complete a double over Leinster when the PRO14 champions arrive in the Sportsground on Saturday evening. Linley Mackenzie, Sports Editor for the Galway Advertiser and Connacht Rugby correspondent for the Irish Times joins resident Craggy statsman Danny Deegan and host Alan Deegan to discuss the challenge that the Leinster will represent to a resurgent Connac...

Who knew how important the new law allowing the captain to challenge a refereeing decision would be in changing the result of a match, well now we know. Connacht came from 10 points behind in Belfast to record only their second win in 61 years away to their northern neighbours while also securing their first ever bonus point win in the Kingspan Stadium. Rob Murphy and William Davies take you throu...

William Davies caught up with Nigel Carolan to discuss the team selected to take on Ulster in the first interpro of the Rainbow Cup in Belfast. We also get the latest squad update for Connacht as well as the thoughts of Ulster skill coach Dan Soper and Jacob Stockdale on the threat that Connacht pose to the northern province in round 1. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Rainbow Cup has finally arrived, all be it a very fragmented tournament and Connacht get the opportunity to play 3 more interpros, with a trip to Belfast first on the list. William Davies spoke to Andy Friend, Jimmy Duffy and Finlay Bealham in the press conference and he is joined by Linley MacKenzie, Danny Deegan and host Alan Deegan to preview the match as well as talk about the impending de...

A disappointing finish to the season for Connacht as they once again fail to register a win in England as they were well beaten by Leicester Tigers. We hear the post-match thoughts go Andy Friend and Paul Boyle while Rob Murphy and William Davies take you through the match. William and Rob are joined by Alan Deegan to try and make sense of another Jekyll and Hyde performance by this talented but f...

It's a European knockout match and there has been some more big news from Connacht this week so a bonus podcast is needed. William Davies interviews Pete Wilkins about the team selection for the Leicester match as a well as getting a little insight into Wilkins new role as Senior coach for next season. William also interviewed BBC Leicester's main rugby commentator Adam Whitty about the surprising...

It's a big European week for Connacht as they take on the might of the Leicester Tigers for the first time in a competitive match and the Craggy Crew cogitate over how the western province can break their hoodoo of loses in England with only 2 wins ever recorded on English soil. The crew also pay tribute to Nigel Carolan who announced his departure from Connacht last week and we hear from the man...