The Ruck

England have beaten the All Blacks for the 9th time in their history! Steve Borthwick's side ran out comfortable winners for a statement victory. Alfie, Alex and Will react to the result and discuss what it now means for England moving forward. They pay tribute to George Ford who produced an outstanding performance to guide England to victory. And, they ask what does it tell us about this New Zeal...

All Blacks legend and double world cup winning New Zealand captain Richie McCaw joins Alfie, Alex and Will to look ahead to the match against England this weekend. He explains why an All Blacks team should never be 'developing', what makes Ardie Savea such a great player and how he thinks the game will go at Twickenham. The boys also explain why it is such an important match for the Steve Borthwic...

Alfie Reynolds, Elgan Alderman and Stuart Barnes look back on the latest from the November internationals. They're joined by Mark Palmer to reflect on an agonising defeat for Scotland against New Zealand and ask will they ever beat the All Blacks? They also chat about South Africa's stunning performance away to France in Paris on Saturday night and Steve Tandy's Wales tenure starting with defeat t...

Alfie Reynolds and Will Kelleher look back on England's victory over Fiji at Twickenham. For the second week in a row Steve Borthwick's side managed to win the match comfortably despite not being at their best. Plus, Fiji gave further evidence that they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with at international level. With New Zealand next up for England, they ask how well the first two week...

It's the second weekend of November internationals so Alfie, Alex and Elgan look ahead to the action. They are at the England training base so discuss another very interesting squad selection from Steve Borthwick. Including Chandler Cunningham-South getting the opportunity at number 8, Maro Itoje dropping to the bench and Marcus Smith being deployed at full-back. Plus, they look ahead to the other...

Alfie, Will and Owen Slot are back to review all the November internationals over the weekend and preview the upcoming round of fixtures. They are joined by double world champion Springbok, Steven Kitshoff, who looks back on that epic world cup quarter-final in 2023 between France and South Africa and looks ahead to the sides meeting again in Paris on Saturday. He also chats about his life threate...

Alfie, Alex and Will react to England's victory over Australia at Twickenham as Steve Borthwick's side started their November campaign with a 25-7 win. They chat about the impact of the England bench, Henry Pollock (of course!) and how they got over the line. Alfie makes the case for the match being an example of how England have progressed over the last 12 months but Alex & Will are more meas...

England begin their November internationals this weekend by welcoming Australia to Twickenham. Alfie and Alex are at the England training base to preview the match. They discuss Steve Borthwick's bold matchday squad and explain why the England head coach is under-appreciated for the brave selection decisions he makes. They chat about Tommy Freeman starting at outside centre, the back-row balance a...

It's the start of the November internationals so Alfie and Will look ahead to the matches this weekend, including England's game against Australia. They discuss Steve Borthwick's bold selection of moving Tommy Freeman to outside centre, which means no Ollie Lawrence, as well as George Ford starting at fly-half. Sam Warburton chats to Will about the WRU's plans to cut the number of regional sides f...

Alfie, Alex and Will are at England's training base after Steve Borthwick announced his training squad ahead of the November internationals. Teenage sensation Noah Caluori has been fast-tracked into the set-up, could he genuinely play a role next month? Owen Farrell isn't a part of this squad but will he return to international duty in the future? And, what does Tom Willis' move to Bordeaux next y...

Alfie, Alex and Will question whether the rugby establishment wants to see R360 - the new global franchise competition - be successful. It follows last week's announcement by eight of the world's top unions that players who sign-up will be banned from international selection. So they ask how much of a setback is this for the organisers? What questions do they need to come out and answer? And, coul...

Ahead of 'Derby Weekend' in the Gallagher PREM, Will Kelleher heads to the midlands to chat to Northampton Saints. He speaks with Director of Rugby Phil Dowson, plus two of the clubs British & Irish Lions in Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman. Fin explains that wanting to earn more caps for England was a big motivation for signing a contract extension, despite the lure of R360. And find out why he wa...

2003 World Cup winner Lewis Moody has announced that he has motor neurone disease, so, Alex Lowe and Stuart Barnes join Alfie Reynolds to pay tribute to a great man and brilliant player. Tom Kershaw also discusses his investigation for The Times earlier in the year where he looked into the links between elite sportspeople and MND. They also look back on the second weekend of the PREM and ask wheth...

Promotion and relegation, franchising and the rugby pyramid; these are all issues that are so fundamental to the state of English rugby, and things so few people agree on. So, to tackle these meaty topics Will and Alex go to Twickenham to meet Simon Gillham, the chair of the new Tier 2 board, and vice-president of French Pro D2 side Brive. Can the Champ, which relaunches this weekend, and the Prem...

England are world champions! The Red Roses have won the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup so outside Twickenham Alfie, Elgan and Alex look back on the final and the tournament as a whole. They ask what this moment will mean for women's rugby in England? And, what it will mean for the women's game as a whole as other unions play catch up to this all conquering England side? They dissect the performance...

This weekend England face Canada in the Women's Rugby World Cup final. Alfie and Elgan look ahead to the match and ask if the Red Roses can finally get over the line and become world champions. How big a burden are the psychological scars from previous failures? Will it be a seminal moment in the history of women's rugby in England? And, has this tournament broken through to new audiences outside...

The new season is here! Ahead of domestic rugby restarting Alfie and Will are at Twickenham to look ahead to the action. It's been a huge summer of change at Newcastle who are now owned by Red Bull, so Director of Rugby Steve Diamond explains what that means for the club and how they can start looking up the table. The season kicks off on Thursday night as Sale host Gloucester, so Sale Director of...

Alfie and Elgan are at the England team hotel ahead of their semi-final against France in the World Cup this weekend. They chat to second-row Morwenna Talling following her player of the match performance against Scotland. They also look back on all the other quarter-final action and ask whether Ireland were unlucky that France's Axelle Berthoumieu wasn't shown a red card for biting but instead on...

The Women's World Cup is into the knockout rounds! Ahead of the quarter-finals Alfie and Elgan are at Twickenham where they chat to the Managing Director of the tournament Sarah Massey. They discuss the great attendances during the pool stages, TV viewership and the importance of growing women's rugby. They also ask whether New Zealand displayed their title credentials for the first time at the we...

The second round of the women's rugby world cup provided the best two matches of the tournament so far! Alfie and Elgan are down near Brighton to review all the action and preview the final round of pool matches. They discuss who will progress from Pool A out of Australia and the USA and hear from the Wallaroos co-captain Emily Chancellor as Australia hope to upset England this weekend. They also...

Following the opening round of fixtures at the women's Rugby World Cup, Alfie and Elgan look back on all the action. They discuss the Red Roses performance against the USA and question who impressed out of France, Ireland, New Zealand and Canada as the sides best placed to trouble England. They also reflect on a brilliant Scotland performance against Wales but also how disappointing Sean Lynn's si...

The women's world cup starts this week so Alfie Reynolds and Elgan Alderman look ahead to the tournament. They ask whether 2025 is going to be the year that England are finally crowned world champions and who out of France, Canada and New Zealand are best placed to trouble them. They preview every pool, speak about who the stars of the world cup will be and discuss whether a home world cup win cou...

Following the conclusion of the 2025 Lions tour Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Owen Slot and Will Kelleher bring you one final pod from Australian soil. They reflect on a joyous 7 weeks covering the tour, including their final reflections on the test series and what the future of the Lions tour looks like. How can they make the tour games in Australia more engaging? Should there be a Barmy Army-style...

The 2025 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia ended with one of the most bizarre test matches! Biblical rainfall and a thunderstorm delayed proceedings before Australia won the match in Sydney. Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe join Alfie Reynolds to round up the occasion and the series as a whole. They ask whether Australia were under-prepared for the first test and how much that cost them in th...

Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Owen Slot preview the third and final test in the 2025 Lions tour. They discuss why Andy Farrell naming such a strong squad is no surprise as the Lions eye a 3-0 series victory. Plus they ask whether Australia are capable of winning the match to avoid being labelled the 'worst' opposition the Lions have faced. They also salute Tadhg Furlong as he is set to start his 9...