The Left Wing

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Stephen Ferris to look ahead to a big weekend of European rugby and discuss Leinster's win over Ulster in the PRO14 final. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Jonathan Bradley of the Belfast Telegraph to preview the PRO14 final. Leinster take on Ulster in the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night, which is the northern province's first appearance in a final since 2013. Jonathan gives the lads an insight from the north on how Dan McFarland has turned things around, while L...

On this episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald discuss the latest PRO14 action and chat to Jerry Sexton about his diverse rugby career. The brother of Ireland star Johnny has played in France, England and until COVID-19, was in Port Elizabeth in South Africa playing for the Southern Kings. However, the South African outfit recently folded and Sexton tells the lads about his ti...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to reflect on rugby's return at the Aviva Stadium. Leinster dealt Munster another defeat in their rivalry but there were plenty of talking points afterwards. Is the gap closing between Leinster and Munster or is it as big as ever? The lads discuss Conor Murray's performance and whether scrum-half C...

Rugby returns this weekend and The Left Wing is back too as Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor and Cian Tracey of the Irish Independent to chat about the upcoming action. Rugby gets back under way at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday with a blockbuster Leinster vs Munster clash, followed by Connacht vs Ulster on Sunday, and there are plenty of talking points ahead of the...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Jamie Heaslip to discuss rugby in lockdown, his career and life in retirement. With players confined to their homes for the most part like the rest of the population, Jamie and Luke discuss how they will go about maintaining their fitness while in lockdown. The lads then discuss life after rugby, with both Luk...

This week on The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald observe podcast social distancing as they recap a wild week in rugby. With the PRO14 final cancelled and the Champions Cup on ice, it’s looking increasingly likely that the club rugby season won’t be completed. The lads discuss the latest cancellations, reflect on Leinster’s lost perfect season attempt and chat about Ian Madigan’s move...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor of the Irish Independent to discuss all the latest rugby news. There has been further disruption to the rugby schedule as coronavirus continues to spread across the world, with the Six Nations, the PRO14 and possibly the Champions Cup all experiencing problems. The possibility of playing big...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to discuss the latest news around the Ireland team and former Leinster hooker Bryan Byrne joins the lads to chat about his move to Bristol. With Ireland vs Italy already postponed and the rest of the Six Nations games up in the air, there is a lot of uncertainty around the rugby world. Cian explain...

On the latest Left Wing schools rugby special, Will Slattery is joined by Tony Ward and Des Berry to look ahead to the cup semi-finals. The lads start in Leinster, where St Michael's take on Newbridge and Clongowes go up against Castleknock. St Michael's recorded an impressive quarter-final victory over Gonzaga, giant-killers of Blackrock, and the panel think that they will be too strong for the K...

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 defeat to England. Luke is disappointed that the pattern of the loss followed along similar lines to Ireland's recent defeats to England, while Neil says that Ireland were outfought by Eddie Jones' side. The form of the Ireland half-backs, Conor Murray and Johnny S...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey of the Irish Independent and former England fullback Ben Foden ahead of a huge Six Nations weekend. Ireland take on England at Twickenham this weekend with the Triple Crown at stake, and Cian is cautiously optimistic that Ireland can produce a big performance. Andy Farrell is set to name an unchang...

Improved Ireland, South Africa look north and Rhys Ruddock on his Six Nations omission On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor and Rhys Ruddock after another Six Nations weekend. Ireland made it two wins from two under Andy Farrell, and the lads talk through the different improvements made in the victory over Wales. Ruaidhri discus...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery is joined by Tony Ward and Des Berry for another schools rugby special. Gonzaga’s sensational win over Blackrock is a big discussion point as the panel review the opening round in Leinster and look ahead to the quarter-finals. The lads also check in on the progress in Munster, Connacht and Ulster and pick out a number of players to watch. The L...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald look back on the opening weekend of the Six Nations. Ireland got the win over Scotland but there wasn't a whole lot different about the approach as Andy Farrell's men eked out a win at the Aviva Stadium. It is only one game into Farrell's tenure as head coach but already Luke is concerned that we haven't seen a departure fr...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing podcast, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined on the line by Bristol out-half Ian Madigan to preview the Six Nations. The lads discuss Andy Farrell's first team selection, with Luke and Ian weighing in on the decision to start Conor Murray over John Cooney. Caelan Doris has been selected to make his Ireland debut, and Ian is very excited to see what t...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery is joined by Tony Ward and Des Berry for a schools rugby preview. Tony has complied a bumper schools rugby supplement that is available in Saturday’s Irish Independent, and he previews the Leinster, Munster, Connacht and Ulster competitions. Can anyone stop St Michael’s in Leinster? Tony is calling them the school’s ‘Dream Team’ as they return...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald discuss the fallout to the Saracens salary cap scandal and look back at the final weekend of European pool action. Saracens are set to be relegated to the RFU Championship after being found guilty of another salary cap breach this season, with the future of their star-studded squad uncertain. However, despite being relegate...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor to review all the Champions Cup action and look ahead to Ireland's Six Nations squad announcement. Leinster are still riding high in Europe after recording their fifth straight pool win, but Luke and Ruaidhri both agree that their defence could be their undoing later in the tournament if they...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Cian Tracey to review all the festive inter-pros as well as look ahead to the upcoming Champions Cup clashes. Munster were rocked by the news that Joey Carbery will be on the sidelines for the foreseeable future with an arm injury, and the lads discuss the implications for Johann van Graan ahead of a...

On today's Left Wing Christmas special, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald look ahead to the rugby over the festive period. Leinster's trip to Thomond Park to face is Munster is the highlight and Luke looks back on his memories of playing at the Limerick ground. Luke also looks back at the games last weekend, and expresses concerns over Leinster's defence after conceding six tries in the win over U...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald discuss Andy Farrell's first Ireland training squad, the Champions Cup action and Johnny Sexton's future. Farrell named a 45-man squad for a 24-hour mini-camp, with the omission of Rob Kearney, Sean Cronin and Jordi Murphy catching the eye. Despite many saying that this is likely the end of Rob Kearney's international caree...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ulster scrum-half John Cooney to discuss his stellar season to date. The number nine has been the star man for the northern province as they have started their European campaign with three wins against Bath, Clermont and Harlequins. After slotting a pressure kick to beat Quins, Cooney opens up on how he keeps...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and Bernard Jackman to look ahead to a huge weekend of European rugby. All four of the Irish provinces have made a good start to the Champions Cup campaign, but Bernard thinks the tournament have problems coming down the track; chiefly that the English and French clubs put more emphasis on their do...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald look back on another successful Champions Cup weekend for the Irish sides. Munster played out a thrilling encounter with Racing 92 at Thomond Park and although Johann van Graan's side battled back to earn a valuable draw, that might not be enough when the points are added up at the end of the pool stage. Munster played some...