The Left Wing

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest rugby news. The show kicks off with the news of Warren Gatland's return to Wales and Eddie Jones' sacking in England - is it too late before the World Cup for the two teams to bounce back or is this the boost they need? The lads then preview the Champions Cup, which kicks o...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to assess where the Irish provinces stand heading into a crucial period of the season. After the drama of the November internationals, focus turns to the club game again and we have two big games this coming weekend - Leinster vs Ulster in a derby clash at the RDS, while Munster have a must-win trip...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O’Connor to review the November internationals. The lads kick things off with a look back on Ireland's win over Australia before moving on to why the attack never really clicked during November. Johnny Sexton's absence often sees Ireland fail to hit their regular heights and Luke says the captain's uni...

With Josh van der Flier picking up the World Rugby Men's Player of the Year and Terry Kennedy the Men's Sevens Player of the Year to cap off an incredible 2022 for Irish rugby, Sinéad Kissane was in Monaco to hear from the winners and the other Irish nominees. On this episode of the Left Wing podcast, she speaks to van der Flier and Kennedy about their awards, as well as Johnny Sexton, Andy Farrel...

Cian Tracey joins Sinéad Kissane from the Aviva Stadium minutes after the final whistle with his post-match reaction to Ireland’s 13-10 victory over Australia. Ross Byrne was the hero with his match-winning penalty four minutes from time but without Johnny Sexton, it was a scrappy performance from Ireland, albeit a record-equalling 12th consecutive home victory. Sinéad will also have a special epi...

The Indo World Cup will preview every gameday of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The Irish Independent football team come together to discuss the potential winners, those who might struggle and the dark horses of the tournament. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andy Farrell has named the Ireland team to face Australia in the last of their Autumn internationals and Rúaidhrí O’Connor joins Will Slattery to analyse the starting XV and replacements and he doesn’t agree with the bookies giving Ireland a 13 point spread over the Wallabies. Sinéad Kissane and Cian Tracey will have another Left Wing podcast from the Aviva Stadium on Saturday after the final whis...

Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to look back on Ireland's win over Fiji and look ahead to the clash against Australia. Andy Farrell didn't spare his players after the sloppy performance against Fiji and Cian says that the second-string could be waiting a while for another opportunity. The lads discuss the out-half picture after the injury to Joey Carbery and the promisi...

Minutes after the final whistle, Rúaidhrí O’Connor gives his post-match reaction and analysis to Ireland’s 35-17 win over Fiji. Speaking to Sinéad Kissane for this episode of The Left Wing podcast, Rud says that despite the winning run continuing, there is still plenty of room for improvement for this Irish team, especially with the high standards they have set for themselves. The truth is though,...

It’s a debut for Athy’s Jeremy Loughman as he’s named in the Ireland XV to face Fiji on Saturday and Cian Tracey joins Sinéad Kissane to go through the line-up named by Andy Farrell which has eight changes. Sinéad and Rúaidhrí O’Connor will be back on Saturday after the final whistle with a post-match Left Wing podcast from the Aviva Stadium analysing Ireland v Fiji and Will and Luke will have the...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to look back on Ireland's big win over South Africa. The Irish forwards stood up to the Springbok barrage and Rud and Luke are in agreement that while Andy Farrell's men did a lot of things right, there is also plenty of room for improvement going forward. Thoughts now turn towards Fiji this w...

It was raucous and physical but Ireland are on top of the rugby world after a pulsating 19-16 victory over the world champions, South Africa. For this special episode of the Left Wing podcast, right after the full-time whistle from the Aviva Stadium, Sinéad Kissane is joined by Irish Independent rugby writers, Rúaidhrí O’Connor and Cian Tracey to look back on an incredible game. Plus, Will and Luk...

The Ireland team to face South Africa has been named with Conor Murray set to win his 100th cap and Sinéad Kissane is joined by the Irish Independent’s Rúaidhrí O’Connor to dissect the starting XV and discuss Ireland’s chances. Murray reaches the historic milestone with Jamison Gibson-Park on the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Ulster’s Robert Baloucoune has been given a...

Springbok legend Bryan Habana joins Will Slattery, Luke Fitzgerald and Cian Tracey on the latest Left Wing podcast to look ahead to Ireland vs South Africa. Bryan joins Will and Luke first to discuss the Springbok team announcement and their formidable bench 'bomb squad'. Bryan thinks South Africa have an edge at second row and that could be the deciding factor in a Springbok win. Cian then joins...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to look ahead to the Autumn internationals and discuss Leinster's win over Munster. Will kicks things off by asking Rud and Luke what a successful November would look like for Andy Farrell - are results the most important thing or should the Ireland head coach look to blood new players? The ag...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald look ahead to Ireland's November series with Cian Tracey. Andy Farrell has some injury headaches as he prepares to name his squad for the autumn, especially at second row and the back three where a number of star players are unavailable. The lads discuss which players are primed for a big month with Ireland and also assess...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to discuss all the latest rugby news. With the South African sides hitting the ground running and plenty of storylines involving the Irish teams, the lads are in agreement that the URC is a far stronger product than the previous PRO14. Leinster were given a mighty test by the Sharks in the RDS...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest rugby news. The chat kicks off with Leinster's win over Ulster, with Luke and Cian in agreement that the difference in forward power was key. Connacht host Munster on Friday night in a must-win game for both teams - Luke thinks the new Munster coaching staff need time to im...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to discuss all the latest rugby news. They kick things off by discussing Stuart Lancaster's end-of-season departure from Leinster to Racing 92. Luke says it is important that Leinster hire the right personality who meshes with the club's values, while Rud thinks Johnny Sexton could possibly j...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss the first round of the URC and the Emerging Ireland squad. Will kicks things off by asking Cian and Luke whether Stuart McCloskey deserves to have more than six Ireland caps after the Ulster centre continued his stellar club form into this season. The chat then turns to the Emerging Irel...

The Left Wing is back for another season and Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to look ahead to what promises to be a massive year for Irish rugby. The lads kick off with a discussion on the URC launch, where the topic of possibly playing games in Qatar was raised - and Luke and Rud have different views on the subject. The chat then turns to the upcoming 'Emerging I...

On the final Left Wing podcast of the season, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to reflect on Ireland's historic series win in New Zealand. Ireland's composure and style of play impressed the lads the most and Josh van der Flier stood out as the key man amid a huge number of heroic performers. With Andy Farrell's contract set to run until the 2023 World Cup, should...

Not content with making history last week, this Ireland team cemented themselves in further glory with a series win over New Zealand, beating the All Blacks 32-22 in the third test. For this Left Wing Live podcast, Cian Tracey joins Sinéad Kissane and Rúaidhrí O’Connor live from Wellington with post-match reaction on a famous, famous victory. For more, visit: www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/the-lef...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by the Irish Independent’s Cian Tracey and Sky New Zealand’s Ross Karl to discuss all the latest news from New Zealand. Will and Luke kick things off with Cian by discussing the performance against the New Zealand Maori, with Kieran Treadwell, Gavin Coombes and Ciaran Frawley standing out. The lads discuss Frawle...

History has been made. Ireland have finally beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand after a wild second test that saw them win 23-12 in Dunedin. Sinéad Kissane is joined by the Irish Independent’s Rúaidhrí O’Connor and live from Dunedin by Cian Tracey who describes the jubilant scenes at the stadium. For more, visit: www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/the-left-wing/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...