The Left Wing

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and New Zealand rugby journalist Liam Napier to look ahead to Ireland vs the All Blacks. To start off, Will, Luke and Cian look back at the big win over Japan - how much can be read into Ireland's impressive victory? Ireland offloaded far more than in previous matches, but Luke has an interesting v...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhrí O'Connor to look ahead to the autumn tests. We are at the midway point between World Cups, so how has Andy Farrell fared to date? Luke and Ruaidhri give their assessment of the positives and negatives of Farrell's tenure ahead of a crucial November period. Talk then turns to Ireland's schedule this mo...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest rugby news. The lads kick off by discussing Johnny Sexton's comments about Ireland's fresh approach to the World Cup, with the team now actively speaking about the tournament two years in advance. Is it a good idea or is there a danger that the pressure to finally deliver...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhrí O'Connor to pick through Andy Farrell's Ireland squad for the autumn series. Dan Sheehan and Ciaran Frawley are the two uncapped players named while there is a return for Simon Zebo after 4.5 years in international exile. Although Farrell has named a strong squad, will Ireland be undercooked with no b...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Jonathan Bradley of The Belfast Telegraph to discuss all the latest rugby news. The lads kick off by asking Jonathan about the state of Ulster rugby as the province moves into their fourth year under head coach Dan McFarland. The signing of Duane Vermeulen, John Cooney's uncertain future and the emergence of N...

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 lads kick off with a look at how the South African sides have fared over the opening two weekends of the URC. With seven defeats from eight, it has been a tough opening for the four new franchises and the lads discuss the challenges facing the quartet as the...

The Left Wing is back for another season and Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined for the first episode by Ruaidhrí O'Connor and former Ireland international Alison Miller. The panel kick things off with a post-mortem of Ireland's failure to qualify for the Women's World Cup after a disastrous defeat to Scotland last weekend. Alison says that change is needed at the top of the sport to ens...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss the Lions test team and look ahead to Saturday's clash with the Springboks. Warren Gatland has once again sprung a number of selection surprises, with Conor Murray forced to settle for a place on the bench after the head coach opted to start Scotland's Ali Price. The lads discuss a...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss a crazy day on the Lions Tour. Two positive Covid cases - one in the coaching group and one in the playing squad - left the game against the Sharks in doubt, and although it ultimately went ahead, Warren Gatland was forced to rejig his team. With uncertainty surrounding the players who ar...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former Scotland international Jim Hamilton to discuss all the latest Lions news. The show kicks off with a discussion on whether the Lions should be travelling to South Africa at all given the Covid situation there, with the lads saying that sport can be an important tool to give people enjoyment during tough...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald discuss Warren Gatland's first Lions selection and are joined by Sevens stars Billy Dardis and Harry McNulty to discuss Ireland's historic Olympic qualification. The lads kick off the podcast by talking about what a good performance against Japan this weekend could mean for the Lions' Irish contingent, and about how importa...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss all the latest rugby news. The PRO14 is no more... now the Irish teams will be playing in the United Rugby Championship. The four big South African sides are joining the original PRO12 outfits to form a new league - and the lads sink their teeth into all the various changes. The la...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest rugby news. The lads kick things off with the latest on the fire pit accident that saw Springbok duo Damian De Allende and RG Snyman along with Munster team-mates Mike Haley and CJ Stander suffer burn injuries, before moving on to the news that Benetton will play in the Ra...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Leinster and Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier. The lads kick off with a chat about Leinster's recent Champions Cup semi-final defeat to La Rochelle, as Josh explains the learnings the team can take from the loss. The 28-year-old flanker is in top form at the moment after some impressive performances against...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss the Champions Cup final and all the latest rugby news. Toulouse became the first team to win five European Cups by beating Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle. The lads discuss all the major talking points - from Levani Botia's red card, to Ronan O'Gara going away from one of his coaching lessons...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss all the latest rugby news. The lads kick things off by discussing whether people have a bit of fatigue around rugby, with the Rainbow Cup failing to capture the imagination. The recent inter-pros saw Connacht secure a big win over Munster, but one major talking point has been the C...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Springbok World Cup winner BJ Botha to get the South African view ahead of the Lions tour. Amazingly, the Springboks haven't played a game since beating England in the World Cup final, and BJ outlines the challenges facing South Africa ahead of the visit of Warren Gatland's side. Luke and BJ discuss some of the...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey for an emergency podcast to discuss the Lions squad announcement. The lads kick off by discussing James Ryan's omission and the reasons given by Warren Gatland. Luke thinks Ryan was hard done by while Cian thinks it is a bad look for Irish rugby that Ryan and Garry Ringrose, two of Ireland's top you...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Neil Francis to look back on Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final defeat and look ahead to the Lions squad announcement. For the third year in a row, Leinster have failed to win back the European Cup - this time losing to Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle side. Luke picks out the areas he thinks cost Leinster the game,...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss the upcoming Lions squad announcement and Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final against La Rochelle. Will and Luke kick things off by discussing how Luke found out about his selection for the 2009 tour, and his initial experience meeting up with the squad. Luke, Will and Ruaidhri then...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Leinster out-half Ross Byrne to discuss the recent win over Exeter and much more. Byrne came off the bench to steer Leinster to a famous win at Sandy Park, and he tells the lads how the province managed to overturn a 14-0 deficit and come out on top. The out-half gives an insight into what his mentality was wh...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Brendan Fanning of the Sunday Independent to discuss all the latest rugby news. The lads kick things off with a look back at Leinster's epic win over Exeter in the Champions Cup final. Luke breaks down the defensive issues that saw Leo Cullen's men go 14-0 down in the opening stages, while Brendan takes a look...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former Ireland international Niamh Briggs to look back on an eventful weekend of European rugby and look ahead to Exeter vs Leinster and the Women's Six Nations. Everyone was impressed with Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle side and the discussion quickly turns to whether the Munster legend is a live option to return...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss the state of Munster rugby after their PRO14 final defeat to Leinster. It is Munster's sixth consecutive defeat to their biggest rivals, including their fourth knockout loss in a row, and the lads begin their discussion by asking why they were so off the pace at the RDS last weekend. Luk...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss Ireland's win over England, the crazy finish to France vs Wales and look ahead to Leinster vs Munster in the PRO14 final. Ireland delivered the best performance of the Andy Farrell era to thump England at the Aviva Stadium - but where did the dominant display come from? Will asks R...