The Left Wing

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Neil Francis to react to CJ Stander's shock retirement and discuss all the latest Six Nations news. The lads kick things off with a discussion on the back row's surprise announcement, with Neil saying that he doesn't think Stander will stay retired, and could potentially join up with one of the South African f...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Leinster second row Devin Toner to look back on his career. Toner is closing in on the record for most Leinster appearances and although his contract is up at the end of the season, he plans on playing on for at least one more year. From his early days under Michael Cheika to making the breakthrough with Leins...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to go over all the Six Nations news. The lads kick off with a look back on Ireland's win over Italy. More offloads, a better attacking shape and a resolute defence were all on the wish-list ahead of the visit to Rome - so how did Ireland fare on that count? Both Cian and Luke think that Italy's sho...

On this week's episode of the Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Sale out-half AJ MacGinty to discuss his unique journey from Blackrock to becoming a USA international. MacGinty is enjoying a great run of form in the Premiership currently playing alongside Springbok star Faf de Klerk, and tells the lads all about life in England. They then look back at his memorable perform...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Neil Francis to discuss Ireland's Six Nations campaign to date. Neil is disappointed by the lack of progress the team has made under Andy Farrell, while Luke is concerned with the team's defence as well as the attack. The lads look back on the defeat to France last weekend, with Neil left very impressed with h...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to look back at an eventful opening weekend of the Six Nations. The show kicks off with an apology as Will eats humble pie following his slating of Scotland's chances of beating England last week, before the lads discuss the controversy surrounding the comments made by two French doctors abou...

On this week's episode of the Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to look ahead to the Six Nations championship. The lads kick things off by talking about Ruaidhri's list of the top 50 Irish players of the Six Nations era, with Luke coming in at number 31. The discussion then moves onto the championship, which kicks off this weekend. After a patchy autumn,...

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 things off by reflecting on Leinster's win over Munster and discuss whether the southern province have closed the gap on their biggest rival. Talk then turns to the Six Nations, as the lads look at Andy Farrell's selection decisions at scrum-half a...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Leinster and Ireland flanker Will Connors to discuss his eventful few months in blue and green. Connors enjoyed a brilliant spell after rugby returned last year, making his European debut against Saracens before getting his first international cap against Italy. Connors talks about his experience going up agai...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to go over all the latest rugby news and look ahead to Andy Farrell's Six Nations squad announcement. The lads kick things off by going over the state of affairs in the Champions Cup, PRO14 and Six Nations after a week that saw postponements and rescheduling. The discussion then moves on to t...

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 as we start a new year. The lads start off by discussing the situation surrounding the Lions tour, and whether it will go ahead in South Africa, in Ireland and the UK or be postponed to 2022. The discussion then moves on to the provincial derbies taking place th...

On the last Left Wing of 2020, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to reflect on all the Champions cup action. The lads start with the news of the South African teams joining the PRO14 to play in the Rainbow Cup at the end of the current season. While Luke and Ruaidhri think it is exciting from a rugby perspective, they are waiting to see how the Covid situation is in...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Brendan Fanning of the Sunday Independent to discuss the opening weekend of the Champions Cup and Ireland's World Cup pool draw. Although the tournament in France is just under three years away, the lads kick things off by discussing Ireland's difficult draw, and how the arrival of the South African teams in a...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to discuss all the week's news. The lads kick things off by discussing the legal proceedings taken by a number of former players against World Rugby over what they allege as a failure to protect them from concussion. The lads discuss the harrowing tales told by former professional players and...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss Ireland's recent struggles. After a poor performance against Georgia off the back of yet another loss to England, Andy Farrell's first year as Ireland head coach looks set to be a disappointing one with just one game to go. The lads delve into the various problems - a muddled attack, a l...

On this week's episode of the Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by London Irish flanker Sean O'Brien to recap Ireland's loss to England and to discuss his eventful career. It was another tough day for Ireland against England and the lads discuss whether Andy Farrell's men are any closer to beating their biggest rivals after suffering their fourth straight defeat. Sean O'Brien...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to look ahead to Ireland's clash with England at Twickenham. It is a big opportunity for Ross Byrne as he comes into the team at out-half in the absence of Johnny Sexton, while James Ryan takes on the captaincy. The lads discuss what Byrne needs to do to make his mark and the extra challenge...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former England and Lions prop Alex Corbisiero to discuss Eddie Jones' side as well as Corbisiero's battle with cancer. The 32-year-old was initially diagnosed with testicular cancer in late 2019 but recently underwent a bout of chemotherapy after the disease returned during lockdown. Thankfully, Corbisiero is...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to dissect Ireland's defeat to France and look ahead to the Autumn Nations Cup. The guys kick things off by assessing Jacob Stockdale's performance and Will asks whether the Ulster fullback should be kept in the team in the short-term after another poor display. Luke thinks that Andy Farrell should...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ulster prop Jack McGrath to discuss his move north and his eventful career to date. McGrath made the choice to leave Leinster for Ulster ahead of the 2019/20 season, and he explains to the lads why he decided to make a move away from his hometown team. He also tells Luke and Will what it has been like as a pro...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to look ahead to Ireland's Six Nations clash with Italy. The lads agree that Andy Farrell has put more of his own stamp on the team, with four players in line to make their debut, including Will Connors and Hugo Keenan who are in from the off. Luke talks about what Keenan needs to do to hold...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Peter Stringer to discuss Ireland's Six Nations squad, Munster's development and the legendary scrum-half's career. Andy Farrell's squad will enter their Covid bubble in Carton House today, and the lads discuss the difficulties posed by the players being away from their friends and family for an extended perio...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald discuss the opening weekend of the PRO14 and chat to former Connacht flanker Eoin McKeon about his decade with the province. It was a clean sweep for the Irish teams in the opening round of league action, and the lads weigh in on Ben Healy's heroics for Munster, Connacht's strong start to the season against Glasgow and Garr...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest news in the rugby world. Racing 92 succeeded where Leinster failed, beating Saracens to book a place in the Champions Cup final. The lads discuss how the Parisians got one over on the English giants, as well as the role of Donnacha Ryan, who continues to excel away from ho...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to pick through Leinster's defeat to Saracens and the rest of the weekend's action. Demolished at the scrum, cleaned out in the air and ill-discipline around the pitch all contributed to Leinster's surprise defeat to the English giants, and the lads pick out which part of the game they felt u...