Second Captains

Well, that was something. Rory McIlroy's Masters win rightly managed to make it into most of our conversations this week, and we're not even done yet - Lawrence Donegan is slated to do his victory lap tomorrow on the World Service after finally seeing his pre-tournament prediction line up with reality.  Ken also sat down with Sol Campbell yesterday, just a couple of hours before Ars...

After Rory McIlroy’s open heart captivated the world last night, we identify the anti-McIlroy who has become the symbol of the Premier League 24-25. We survey the gallant efforts of the sports media to spin gold out of the straw of the past weekend and inspect some of the suggestions that have been put forward to revive football as a spectacle.  Jonathan Wilson and Nick Ames join us to talk a...

After what must surely have been one of the most amazing days of sport any of us has ever seen, Rory McIlroy did what it often seemed he never would: won at Augusta and joined the very, very short list of golfers who've won a career Grand Slam. And he did it in the most 'Rory McIlroy at The Masters' way imaginable.  We're joined in studio by Malachy Clerkin of the Irish Times and Gavin Cooney...

Welcome to our weekly World Service taster menu which this week includes Ken on his all-time Prem XI, Prince William's tactics masterclass before the Villa PSG game, Cork's march to an inevitable All Ireland hurling title and we ask Lawrence Donegan to take responsibility for Rory not yet winning The Masters. We also covered Munster's magic day in La Rochelle, Rice's free kick glory, Madrid in cri...

If you felt some almost imperceptible shift in the world this weekend, the minutest tilting of the Earth on its axis, perhaps, there can only be one coherent explanation: it was the county of Cork and the province of Munster reclaiming their positions at the centre of the sporting universe.  The first righting of the celestial wrong came in the Stade Marcel-Deflandre on Saturday evening, as J...

Ken, Branno and Mark went to Dalymount Park in search of vitriol - and they found it - but also nearly all of the other emotions on an evening that veered wildly between blind rage and helpless laughter.  If everyone can agree the LOI is in a good place the same is not universally said of the Premier League where most of the teams are giving the impression that they would quite like to be on...

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The most cinematic moment in world football this weekend happened at Dalymount Park as Moses Dyer hammered in a killer second goal for Galway United to plunge Branno, among many others, into a world of pain. Today he takes us behind the veil of darkness as we try to reckon with Bohemians' 5 defeats in their last 6 games.  We also discuss Newcastle's JFK moment, the latest developments in Robb...

It was a positive weekend for Irish rugby with the women's team getting a near flawless 8 try victory in Italy, Leinster's B / C team taking down Siya Kolisi's star studded Sharks in Durban, Ulster showing further signs of life against the Stormers, and Munster's halfbacks steering them to a win over Connacht. And even Connacht, as bad as they were at times, can feel they got something out of the...

We have a special edition of the show for you today; we’re putting yesterday’s conversation with David and Chantal Sneyd about their son Dylan, out free to all. There was a phenomenal reaction from our members and we felt this one should be shared as widely as possible. When Dylan was two David and Chantal grew concerned that he hadn't yet started to speak. They spoke to their GP who referred Dyla...

Mayo and Kerry both spent time yesterday in the relegation zone, but they’ll spend this week looking ahead to a Division 1 final in Croke Park after a daft last day of the National Football League. Paul Flynn and Conor McManus look at this strange, fun, league campaign in full, with some flowers for newly-promoted Monaghan, and we go down through the divisions in search of possible championship bo...

Two comeback wins in four days, new options announcing themselves all over the pitch - just a couple of months on from getting wiped out 5-0 by England, it feels as though things are going... well? Damien Delaney and Richie Sadlier join us to talk about the playoff victory against Bulgaria and where the Irish team is at, eight matches into Heimir Hallgrimsson's tenure. For Damien in particular, th...

Let us take you by the hand and guide you through another week of independent, member-led broadcasting on the Second Captains World Service. This week we had Ken on victory in Plovdiv, Murph and Branno on The Moose's caboose, we discussed the ultimate "conesman" Anthony Barry and his 5,000 throw-ins, and with Ireland's recent slide in standards we asked Gerry Thornley and Chris Jones of the BBC wh...

Dan Burn, Eddie Howe, Yasir Al-Rumayyan: they dream the same dream, they want the same thing. At least they all did at Wembley Stadium yesterday evening. As for tomorrow, who can say...  Rory Smith of the Athletic joins us to talk about the game. How did Newcastle so comprehensively get the better of the league leaders? And how does the result affect the perception of Liverpool's season,...

Let us take you by the hand and guide you through another week of independent, member-led broadcasting on the Second Captains World Service.  Our first stop, the port of Stockholm via Darwin Nunez's - if not unforgivable then certainly unforgettable - penalty shootout miss against PSG on Tuesday evening. After a light lunch, we'll take in a conversation with one of the great sp...

Ireland only had to make four tackles in the opening 18 minutes of this game, and they were ahead against a Dupont-less France early in the second half. But it was a worrying capitulation after that as Galthie's men scored 42 points in a game that will linger long in the memory. We talk to Shane Horgan, Chris Jones of the BBC and Ruaidhrí O'Connor of the Irish Independent about what went wrong aft...

Anger stalks the land, as discontented fans rebel against owners, against prices, against the way the game is going - but is anybody listening? To answer this question we consider the case of the lesser-spotted Chelsea Football Club, with contributions from co-owner Todd Boehly and coach Enzo Maresca. If this is how things are in ‘real football’ then maybe the Sidemen vs YouTube Allstars, rather t...

Ireland approach a grandchildren to tell time moment in the 6 Nations, Alisson Becker puts in a lifetimer of a performance against PSG in the Champions League last 16, Old Man Murphy likes life under Jim Gavin's rule enhancements: a small but hearty taste of our week on the World Service.  If your appetite is sufficiently whetted, go to secondcaptains.com/join for member-led, ad-free bro...

Maybe he picked the wrong week to be away. Last week brought probably the decisive matches of the Premier League and a fight pitting Ian Harte against all the League of Ireland managers. This weekend was the FA Cup, arguments about the quality of balls, a story about a player disrespectfully bringing his dog to training.  With the Champions League promising bigger things later in th...

Eoin McDevitt has been covering every corner of the island in the last couple of weeks, including a trip to Belfast on Saturday night for what turned out to be an explosive and highly controversial fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan. Last week Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Peter O'Mahony announced they would all retire from Irish rugby at the end of the season. We talk to Gerry Thornley...

Welcome to our weekly world service best of show which this week includes Rory Smith and Wilson on Liverpool's seemingly unstoppable title march, Andy Lee on how he and his fighter Jospeh Parker coped with Daniel Dubois withdrawing from their title fight at such short notice, our chat down in Cork with the much decorated Olympic champion rower Fintan McCarthy and Murph and Eoin get stuck into the...

At 18-10 down and a man down, against a transformed Welsh team, Ireland were heading for one of the great 6N shock losses; but thanks to some pragmatism, some brilliant kicking by Gibson Park and James "air" Lowe, Easterby's side eked out a win in Cardiff to secure the Triple Crown and keep their Grand Slam hopes alive. We chat to Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble about the nature of the second half...

While our Chief Soccer Correspondent is chasing the GOAT in Miami, the rest of the football world continues to roll on, or in the case of the English Premier League the word trundle may be better applied, as Liverpool look to have it wrapped up in February.  We have Dion Fanning in the studio and Mark Critchley on the line to look back at a weekend that saw Arsenal slip up, Salah stake a clai...

Welcome to our weekly world service best of show which this week includes Charlie O'Leary meeting The Pope, Dion on Stephen Bradley taking on the FAI, Sharlene on the pressure of running the 400m relay final leg, plus we covered the 6N, Nunez's miss, City's fall and all the PL and CL stories and next week we review Man City V Liverpool and Wales V Ireland, chat to Andy Lee and will be all over the...

With Ciarán Murphy (zero All-Irelands, zero All Stars) sidelined, Paul Flynn (six All-Irelands, four All Stars) joins us in the studio to look back at a gusty weekend of National League football, while Conor McManus (three All Stars, greatest Monaghan player in history) joins us on the line.  We chat friend-of-the-show Michael Murphy's return featuring a tribute to 2006 era Zidane, Dublin's w...