The Ruck

Stephen Jones welcomes former England international Danielle Waterman, Sunday Times writer Sam Peters and Adam Hathaway.   The panel review the fourth pool round of the Champions Cup, reveal their Christmas wishes, name their best ever teams and debate the next steps for safety of the game after the tragic death of Nicolas Chauvin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inf...

Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Steve James and Mark Evans to review another entertaining weekend of rugby in Europe. The panel debate: is the money so big in the Premiership and Top 14 big sides are focusing more domestically than on the Champions Cup, can the demise of Wasps and Leicester be explained by club culture, and how do the Welsh sides fight back? There's also a bizarre selection for...

Owen Slot is joined by Alex Lowe, Ben Ryan and Nick Easter.  Ring-fencing looms. With so many teams in the relegation fight, will the Premiership scrap relegation, perhaps as early as this season or should they maintain the current structure? (starts at 24.23)  PLUS Ben Ryan outlines problems with the RFU's coaching pathways comparing with other approaches around the world as Nick Easter...

Stephen Jones is joined by Al Dymock, Nigel Botherway and Owen Slot in the studio to take a look at the state of rugby worldwide. We assess the current state of England, Wales, Canada, Scotland and send a love letter to Fijian rugby. We talk about the complexities arising from the forthcoming rugby world cup and Olympics and ask is the Six Nations going to be one of the best in recent memory?&nbsp...

Owen Slot welcomes Michael Lynagh, Adam Hathaway and Stephen Jones to discuss another thrilling weekend of internationals.   The panel exalt Ireland's superb performance and unpack where the All Blacks go from here with Adam contrasting certainty with the Irish starting line up against the question marks against almost every English position.  Owen and Stephen disagree whether Engla...

Was it a try or not, why didn't England take the points in the second half, what does a win over Australia win mean for Wales, and can Ireland beat the All Blacks? Alex Lowe welcomes Stuart Barnes, Paul Grayson and Dan Lyle to discuss all this and catch up with England Women's captain Sarah Hunter.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Stuart Barnes and Sarah Mockford to pour over the weekends Autumn Internationals. Including full analysis of South Africa's dreadful decision making, England's hopeless first half, and which side our panel would rather take to the World Cup. The other internationals are scrutinised before there are suggestions for changes against New Zealand.  Finally England...

Stephen Jones continues his conversation with former Wales captain and new Times columnist Sam Warburton in part two of this special episode. Sam candidly reveals his thoughts on the game including, why rugby will never be fully safe, why players should be limited to 25 starts a season and why mentally it's so tough to play all the way into July.   He also reveals how a Man Utd game help...

Stephen Jones sits down with former Wales captain Sam Warburton to discuss his life in rugby and how he’s coping without the routine and structure of the game. They also cover why England shouldn't panic, the guilt he felt whilst playing and how he rates the major nations ahead of the Autumn Internationals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PLUS plaudits for Newcastle and why the All Blacks are "sandbagging". Owen Slot welcomes Adam Hathaway, Al Dymock of Rugby World and Liam Napier from the New Zealand Herald. There's a review of the weekends European action, a full analysis of New Zealand from Liam, including the suggestion the All Blacks, are not implementing their full game plan for fear of showing their hand early.  They al...

Stephen Jones welcomes Mark Evans, Sam Peters, Alex Lowe to discuss Freddie Burns' shocking error, the tackling laws of the game and to review the Heineken Champions Cup first round. Then a look at the proposals for Rugby's League of Nations before debate around Eddie Jones' latest England squad and another selection of The Ruck's "God of the week". Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

Owen Slot welcomes Stuart Barnes, Chris Jones and Al Dymock.  The panel look at the battle at the bottom of the Premiership with the top two seemingly in a class of their own.  They also question the weaknesses with New Zealand after South Africa's performance and as the Heineken Champions Cup approaches, can anyone see beyond Leinster or Saracens? Finally after Billy Vunipola's sportsma...

This weekend Northampton face Leicester at Twickenham in aid of Rob Horne. In this special episode, Owen Slot meets Rob to discuss his life changing injury. The former Australian international speaks about choosing to adopt a positive outlook after his paralysis, how it was helpful he was never given false hope and despite chronic pain, how he's grateful to rugby rather than resentful. ...

Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Alex Lowe and former World Cup winning player, Danielle Waterman. They cover the fallout from Bath resting players, whether defensive coaches need to do more to earn their money and is the Premiership too predictable at this stage of the season?  There's a full review of the Premiership weekend before Dannielle expands on what professional contracts will mean...

Alex Lowe welcomes Paul Grayson, Alan Dymock and Stephen Jones to debate the exclusion of Danny Cipriani, whether new defence coach John Mitchell is Eddie Jones' successor and was Leicester vs Worcester the game of the season?  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PLUS Was Will Spencer correctly sent off, is this the best ever start to a Premiership season, will Argentina be as formidable in 2019 as they were in 2015 and is there cause to ban "jackling" and bring back rucking?  Stephen Jones welcomes Stuart Barnes, Steven James and Alex Lowe for a lively half hour of debate.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a Ruck Podcast special Owen Slot debates the big questions around safety in the game: is rugby is too dangerous, should my kids be playing rugby, what is tolerable risk, what could be done to make rugby safer, and if you tinker with the game, could you destroy it? He's joined on the panel by Alistair Hargreaves, former Saracens player who retired early after a string of concussions, S...

Owen Slot welcomes Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones and Adam Hathaway to review the opening week of the domestic season.  They reflect on the superb occasion at Ashton Gate, suggest different teams as the stand out side from week one, before comprehensively reviewing every fixture, including troubling times for Bath.   Later the panel bemoan the lack of competition in the Pro 14 before...

The Ruck returns as Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Alex Lowe and Alan Dymock. The panel comprehensively preview the new Premiership season and form agreement on the winners and who will be relegated.  There's also a look ahead to the Pro 14, and whether France are stealing a march on England by playing their young players sooner in the Top 14.  Finally there's disagreement about the b...

Rugby World’s Alan Dymock hosts a podcast on a delicate subject: some rugby players’ struggles with alcohol misuse and addiction. Joined by Owen Slot and Alex Lowe, and aided by a host of telling interviews including Jason Robinson, the team pick through the issue and consider what help is and isn’t out there for athletes with these or similar mental health issues. Listen to one medic explain how...

Recorded in Camps Bay, South Africa, Stephen Jones and Owen Slot conclude season two of The Ruck by reflecting on England's final test victory, their favourite moments of the tour and find out whether Stephen managed to keep both of his shoes this time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recorded in South Africa, Owen Slot and Stephen Jones dissect another chastening test for English rugby, assessing where the key problems lie. They point to Eddie Jones over complicating things in the England setup, the need to bring experienced players back to all positions and both have their say on the misconception the press is loving the English downturn. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...

Recorded in Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa. Stephen Jones is joined by Owen Slot, Nick Cain and Stuart Barnes. The panel review an astonishing first test and ask why England still can't handle an increase of pace, how South Africa's pragmatic selection helped them enormously and what changes England have to make? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stephen Jones speaks to Ben Ryan, coach of the Fiji 7's team who Olympic gold in Rio 2016. They cover the challenges of working in a different culture, how the RFU machine led Ben to become a "poor version of himself", why other teams were overtrained and too serious, how rugby is making mistakes other sports did 30 years ago and why he'd love to improve rugby in state schools. Hosted on Acast. Se...

Stephen Jones welcomes Alex Lowe of The Times, Adam Hathaway from various tabloids and Duncan Bech from PA. The panel bring you incisive royal wedding analysis, before focusing on the strange timing of Paul Gustard's move to Harlequins, with England 15 months out from a World Cup what does it say about morale, does it reveal a vote of no confidence, and who should replace him? There's also a full...