The Left Wing

Ruaidhri O'Connor and Alan Quinlan were at Ireland's Captain's Run to hear assistant coach Andy Farrell's views on the defeat to Japan and the state of refereeing in the tournament ahead of the clash with Russia. Quinny assesses Ireland's performance, wonders where the leaders have gone but believes they have enough left to bounce back and achieve in Japan. It's not all Ireland, the former Munster...

The feel-good factor has gone again and suddenly Group A has got interesting. This week on the Left Wing, Luke Fitzgerald, Fergus McFadden and Will Slattery look back on the shock defeat to Japan and try to put a positive spin on things. But has the trauma of Rugby World Cups past come back to haunt them and what damage will there be to the confidence of the players? "On our day we can beat New Ze...

Ruaidhri O'Connor takes a turn in the hot seat and is joined by Cian Tracey and Jonathan Bradley to chat about the Ireland team to face Russia on Thursday. The lads discuss why Johnny Sexton's return is vital to get Ireland moving in the right direction again as an all Munster tight-five packs down together. Cian and Jonathan have both sampled the famous local Kobe beef and there are more tales ab...

Ireland have moved to Kobe as preparations for the Russia game on Thursday ramp up. Cian Tracey is joined by Jonathan Bradley as they look back on the shock defeat to Japan having had more time to reflect on it. We hear from CJ Stander who admits that the loss to the host nation was up there with the biggest disappointments of his career.  Jordi Murphy is due to link up with the squad today and th...

Ireland's World Cup hit a major speed-bump as Japan turned up the noise on an unforgettable night at the Ecopa Stadium. Cian Tracey is joined by Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley to reflect on a result that will cause shockwaves across the rugby world and puts Joe Schmidt's on course for a quarter-final against the All Blacks. Did Schmidt get his selection wrong? Was the preparation off and d...

There are growing concerns surrounding Jack Conan's ankle injury as Cian Tracey, Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley discuss the implications of the setback as Ireland gear up for tomorrow's clash against Japan. The lads relay tales of how the mayor of Fukuroi has made Ireland his second team, an elevator encounter with a legendary French scrum-half, and we hear about Jonathan's long trip to Fu...

Joe Schmidt has named his team to face hosts Japan in Saturday's clash at the Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka and the big news is that Jack Carty starts at out-half as Johnny Sexton is rested and Joey Carbery goes on to the bench. Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O'Connor hear from scrum-half Conor Murray and assistant coach Andy Farrell on why Carty is the man for the moment, while they discuss his rise from a...

Ireland took a day off their media duties in Shizuoka, which gave Cian Tracey the chance to catch up with a few familiar faces in Nagoya where South Africa are looking to bounce back from their loss to New Zealand against Namibia, while Jonathan Bradley called into the Japanese for their latest thoughts on the clash with Ireland. While they were doing that, Uruguay caused the shock of the tourname...

The Rugby World Cup has begun and it started with a bang. From Ireland's complete performance against Scotland to New Zealand beating South Africa and France overcoming Argentina, Fergus McFadden joined Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery for another episode of the Left Wing to dissect the key games. James Ryan's growing influence and spectacular playing stats week after week were lauded as was Rory...

Ireland have moved out of the city and into the country where they give their latest update today. Cian Tracey, Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley were on hand in Shizuoka to get the latest news and discuss the increasingly bullish noises coming from the Japanese camp ahead of Saturday's game. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World Cup is in full flow and Joe Schmidt’s men are on the march. Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O’Connor are on the move after the win over Scotland sets Ireland on their way to a quarter-final. They bring the latest from Hamamatsu as thoughts turn to Saturday's clash with Japan and a prospective quarter-final against the Springboks See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cian and Jonathan had to rush to the World Cup opening ceremony, to we've gone to our bench as Ruaidhri is joined by Alan Quinlan and Billy Keane to reflect on Ireland's team for Scotland and life in Japan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cian and Jonathan had to rush to the World Cup opening ceremony, to we've gone to our bench as Ruaidhri is joined by Alan Quinlan and Billy Keane to reflect on Ireland's team for Scotland and life in Japan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blurb: Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O'Connor have added Jonathan Bradley from the Belfast Telegraph to their line-up. The lads discuss first their impressions of Yokohama, how the weather is going to be a big factor this weekend and why Christian Lealiifano's remarkable recovery is already the story of the World Cup. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just another day of drama at the World Cup where Wales have lost  a coach and the Ireland back-three is looking depleted ahead of the opening weekend. Ruaidhri O'Connor and Cian Tracey bring you the latest news and views from the Ireland base in Yokohama. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing in association with Aldi, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by their World Cup-signing, Fergus McFadden. The Leinster star is signed up with the Left Wing for the duration of the tournament in Japan, and starts by looking back on his World Cup memories - both good and bad. McFadden made the 2011 squad - at Luke's expense - before falling...

Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O'Connor are back after another night of breaking Ireland injury news as Rob Kearney becomes the latest doubt for Sunday's opener against Scotland. We hear from Rhys Ruddock and his brother Ciaran (S&C coach), who both played for the Ireland U-20s at the 2009 Junior World Cup in Japan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Independent.ie's Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O’Connor are in Chiba and they’re getting used to life in Japan where Ireand are not giving up hope on injured star Robbie Henshaw who will miss the opener against Scotland but remains hopeful of playing a part at the World Cup. Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek gives an update on the Leinster man, while the lads discuss sumo, the inclement weather and Ireland...

Before heading off to the Far East on their great Rugby World Cup adventure, the Irish Independent’s Ruaidhri O’Connor and Cian Tracy joined Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery to preview the tournament, give their predictions on how far Ireland will go and who will win the tournament. Looking ahead to Ireland’s likely strongest XV Luke disagrees with the consensus on Bundee Aki getting the nod ahea...

As Ireland gear up for their final warm-up game against Wales before they depart for Japan next week, Cian Tracey and Jonathan Bradley discuss the importance of having an almost fully squad to pick from. We hear from Rory Best who talks about the lineout issues as Jean Kleyn looks for a big performance after a tricky week. The lads agree that there is a lot to like about having CJ Stander and Jack...

Fresh from being called a xenophobic, Brexit-eering, Boris Johnson wannabe, Luke Fitzgerald is back on the Left Wing with Will Slattery this week to defend and explain his anger at the Devin Toner World Cup snub. “We’re not talking about people coming over in a boat like refugees. We’re trying to keep the international game separate and special. It’s special to be Irish, you can’t just give it out...

After Ireland's record defeat to England at Twickenham, Joe Schmidt has picked his team for the redemption mission against Wales in Cardiff. Cian Tracey, Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley look at his back-row selection, the role of Will Addison and Rory Best's captaincy as the World Cup looms large. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The record defeat to England was a dark day for Irish rugby and the issues that were in evidence are still there. Ireland needs to find its form and find it badly is the view from this week’s Left Wing podcast with the Irish Independent’s rugby correspondent, Ruaidhri O’Connor, joining Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery. What went wrong is fixable says Luke but he’s more concerned with the lack of...

The Left Wing is back for another season and Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are on hand to discuss all the latest news around Ireland's World Cup preparation. The lads start off by discussing the long pre-season preparation ahead of the World Cup, as Luke looks back on the experiences he had in preparing for the big tournament under Joe Schmidt in 2015. Luke says that the long build-up can be b...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Alan Quinlan to review the 2018/19 season. Leinster saw off Glasgow in a tight PRO14 final last Saturday and Alan was impressed by the steel showed by Leinster to dig out the win. He also say that it was a very positive season for Leinster but Luke thinks the team has a lot to work on after the defeat by Sarac...