The Ruck

England have announced a new defence coach in Joe El-Abd but he'll take on the position part-time, whilst Felix Jones serves his notice period from Ireland. It's all a bit messy so Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Alfie Reynolds answer the big questions on what it means for Steve Borthwick and England ahead of the Autumn. Plus, they look back on the Premiership action at the weekend. Hosted...

The Gallagher Premiership returned on the weekend but was it the spectacle that fans were hoping for? Bath were brilliant on Friday night to beat Northampton in a re-match of last seasons final but plenty of other matches were error strewn and sloppy. Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Alfie Reynolds ask why that was the case and whether rugby has an issue with the product on display? Plus, they review...

Will Kelleher made the trip to Manchester to have a chat with England and Sale fly-half George Ford. Injury ruled Ford out of England's summer tour so as well as previewing the new Premiership season he reflects on the matches against New Zealand, his fitness and return to playing, plus a possible move to rugby league at the end of his career. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...

Ahead of the Premiership season Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe make the trip to Newcastle to preview the new campaign. Following a season where the Falcons lost all of their matches they ask whether they can compete in the division this season? To help them answer that question they speak to Director of Rugby Steve Diamond, captain Callum Chick and Chairman Matt Thompson about the cha...

The pod is back! Ahead of the new season Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher return with news about the new Professional Game Partnership. What is it? And why should supporters care? They go through some of the major talking points including the power it gives England head coach Steve Borthwick and plans for the second tier. They also discuss the shock resignation of England's defence coac...

It's the end of the season! Well, pretty much. Whilst Scotland and Wales still have matches to play, England and Ireland concluded their summer series against New Zealand and South Africa. Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher have one final dispatch from New Zealand as England lost narrowly to the All Blacks for the second week in a row. Was this another opportunity missed? And how do England become a team...

Richie McCaw is one of the legends of the game. The double world cup winning former All Black captain did it all in an illustrious playing career. He sat down to chat with Will Kelleher and even went flying in a helicopter! They discuss life after rugby including commercial helicopter flying, extreme endurance racing and the pressure and privilege of leading the All Blacks. Hosted on Acast. See ac...

Following the first tests of the summer tours the podcast comes to you from around the world! Will and Alex reflect on England's narrow defeat to the All Blacks and ask whether it was a missed opportunity or further signs of the side making progress? Alfie chats to Peter O'Reilly who is in South Africa for Ireland's tour against the Springboks and Mark Palmer who was in Canada for Scotland's thump...

Ahead of England's first test against the All Blacks this weekend, Will Kelleher asks 'how do you win in New Zealand?'. England have only won a test on New Zealand soil twice in their history, the last time being 2003. He chats to Lawrence Dallalgio and Neil Back who both played (and were sin binned!) in that victory 21 years ago. They reminisce about the tour which was a brutal pre-World Cup warm...

The July tours are here! Ahead of All Blacks versus England and Springboks against Ireland Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Peter O'Reilly look ahead to the test series. Will and Alex are on the ground in New Zealand and discuss the type of match we could see, what would be 'success' for England on the tour, and the AB's appearing nervous. Will also chats to England number 8 Ben Earl a...

Ahead of England's two test series against the All Blacks, Will Kelleher chats to former New Zealand coaches Steve Hansen and Ian Foster. They discuss the honour and pressure of leading the All Blacks, as well as some of their great memories from World Cup wins to a dominant 2016. They also chat about the challenges facing rugby in New Zealand, look ahead to the up-coming series with Scott Roberts...

Alfie Reynolds and Mark Palmer reflect on Glasgow's incredible victory in the URC final. Mark joins the pod from Loftus Versfeld in South Africa just hours after the full-time whistle, a match he says is the greatest victory for any Scottish side in the history of professional rugby! Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe were in Tokyo as England's summer tour got underway with a victory, they dissect the pe...

Steve Borthwick has named his England squad to take on Japan in Tokyo this weekend so Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe - who are both in Japan - react to the team selection. They discuss Marcus Smith starting at fly-half, Chandler Cunningham-South's potential impact at blindside and the exciting opportunity for the team. They also question why Borthwick went early in naming his squad and delve into a r...

England face Japan in Tokyo this weekend so Alfie Reynolds speaks to Will Kelleher who is on the ground to bring us the latest from the England camp, they also discuss the match not being on television and why it is a reflection of the rugby media landscape. Mark Palmer looks back on the URC semi-finals including a huge win for Glasgow, the positive impact of the South African sides on the competi...

Northampton Saints are the Premiership champions for the first time in 10 years! Alfie Reynolds and Alex Lowe are back at Twickenham to reflect on their victory over Bath and to react to Steve Borthwick's England squad for their summer tour to Japan and New Zealand. They ask whether, despite having a player sent off, the Premiership final was a missed opportunity for Bath? And, is this a pivotal s...

Alfie Reynolds and Stuart Barnes look back on the Premiership semi-finals as Northampton Saints and Bath booked their spots at a sold out Twickenham. They discuss the vast improvements in both sides' forward packs and the contrasting celebrations at Franklins Gardens and The Rec, as well as looking ahead to the final. They also review the defeats for Saracens and Sale and name their God or Goddess...

Alfie Reynolds, Stuart Barnes and Peter O'Reilly look back on the Champions Cup as Toulouse beat Leinster in a brilliant final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It's Leinster's third straight defeat in the final, so was this them choking or simply Toulouse being too good? They also discuss the conclusion of Gloucester's season as they lost to the Sharks, who became the first South African side to...

Premiership Rugby's Chief Growth Officer, Rob Calder, joins Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher to discuss the potential re-brand of the Gallagher Premiership. He worked for the ECB on the 'The Hundred' so chats about changing the league's name, neutral venue semi-finals and whether the final could be moved away from Twickenham? Plus, Sale Sharks' Sam James reflects on the club reaching th...

Ahead of the final weekend of the Premiership season Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher make the trip to Bear Country. They spend a day at Bristol Bears' high performance centre to get a behind the scenes look at the club, including chatting to director of rugby Pat Lam, COO Tom Tainton as well as James Dun, Joe Batley, Callum Sheedy and Harry Randall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priva...

After Gloucester lost 90-0 away to Northampton, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Alfie Reynolds question whether they disrespected the Premiership by fielding a weaker side? Before that they also discuss the race for the play-offs as we head into the final weekend and debate the good, bad and unintended consequences - especially around the scrum - of World Rugby's law changes which will come into effe...

It wasn't to be for Northampton Saints or Harlequins as they both lost in the Champions Cup semi-finals. Leinster and Toulouse, two of Europe's most prestigious clubs will contest the final at the end of May. Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher, Stuart Barnes and Peter O'Reilly look back on the action. They discuss the two great occasions in Toulouse and Dublin, question whether it was a missed opportun...

Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher review another weekend of domestic rugby as the Gallagher Premiership served up contrasting matches in Bath v Saracens and Harlequins v Northampton, both of which were fascinating! They chat about officiating controversy and the race for the play-offs, Rocky Clark joins the pod to look back on the conclusion of the Women's 6 Nations as England won anothe...

Ahead of Harlequins facing Northampton Saints at Twickenham this weekend and with a big Champions Cup semi-final on the horizon against Toulouse; Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe head to the training ground to find out what makes the club unique. They speak to Chandler Cunningham-South, Cadan Murley, CEO Laurie Dalrymple and Head Coach Danny Wilson about the clubs playing philosophy, pu...

Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Elgan Alderman reflect on the weekend's action in the Premiership and Women's 6 Nations, including huge wins for the Red Roses and Bristol. Following England's comfortable victory over Ireland at Twickenham Alex chats with broadcaster Johnnie Hammond about the competitive balance to the women's tournament. And, with Newcastle shipping over eighty points to Bristol, wh...

With England set to host Ireland at Twickenham in the Women's 6 Nations this weekend Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Elgan Alderman head up to Pennyhill Park to go behind the scenes of the Red Roses training camp. They speak to head coach John Mitchell as well as Sydney Gregson and Ellie Kildunne about what drives the number one team in the world to keep improving, teacher training, unexpected j...