The Ruck

Following the Champions Cup quarter-finals Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Alan Dymock review the weekend. Alex was in France for Harlequins' sensational win away to Bordeaux and Exeter's defeat to Toulouse. They question whether South African sides being involved in a 'European' competition is currently working and how the issues facing the tournament can be resolved, after the Bulls...

Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Elgan Alderman review the last-16 in the Champions Cup, preview the return of the Women's 6 Nations and discuss rugby's scheduling issues. They also chat to the England and Toulouse flanker Jack Willis about life in France, wanting to add to the club's great history and being unable as an overseas player to be picked by England. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

Alfie Reynolds, Mark Palmer and Elgan Alderman round-up the latest action from the Premiership and Women's 6 Nations, plus look ahead to the last-16 of the Champions Cup. They discuss Irne Herbst's 7 minute yellow card in the Quins v Bath game, a missed opportunity for Scotland in the 6 Nations and Elgan's weekend of French rugby. Alfie also chats to Northampton Saints back row Lewis Ludlam to pre...

Following a busy weekend of Women's Six Nations and Gallagher Premiership, Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher look back on the action. Alfie chats with England back-row Marlie Packer after she made her 100th England appearance in their win over Italy. Plus, the boys discuss which sides might be hitting their form for the Premiership run-in, how much is too much for season tickets? And, na...

The men's Six Nations reached its conclusion on the weekend as Ireland won back-to-back titles. Alfie Reynolds, Elgan Alderman and Mark Palmer review all the action between Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Italy. Whilst Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe report in from Lyon where England narrowly lost to France. They chat about Wales' wooden spoon, Italy's best ever Championship and ask where Scotland go fro...

The Six Nations produced one of its great days on Saturday with Italy and England beating Scotland and Ireland in two epic matches. Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher discuss all, including why it is England's best performance and result since the 2019 World Cup semi-final. Will chats to Italy back-row Seb Negri after they won at home in the Championship for the first time in 11 years. Pl...

Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe are joined by two British Lions legends, to find out if anyone (but particularly England) can stop Ireland, if Italy can bring the fight to Scotland, and to ask what would be a successful championship showing for Wales. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Kelleher, Alex Lowe and Mark Palmer get together in an Edinburgh hotel lobby to unpick the 3rd round of the 6 nations. It's a familiar story for Wales and England, but the ending in France for Italy was anything but... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Times columnists and former internationals Courtney Lawes and John Barclay join Will Kelleher to look ahead to Saturday's Calcutta Cup Clash, and to look back on their own memories of thumpings, scuffles in the tunnel and that Finn Russell pass... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Will Kelleher is joined by Elgan Alderman, Mark Palmer and Bernard Jackman to preview next weekend's 6 Nations 3rd round. The team also get stuck into a discussion on how to speed up the game and reduce stoppages PLUS an interview with Harlequins and England A wing Cadan Murley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Weekend two of the 6 Nations is in the books and there's plenty to get stuck into... Will Kelleher is joined by Mark Palmer, Stuart Barnes and Owen Slot to discuss a controversial French win at Murrayfield, a familiar result for Wales at Twickenham, and Ireland putting Italy to the sword. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The opening weekend of the 6 Nations lived up to its billing with plenty of drama on the pitch. Alfie Reynolds is joined by Owen Slot and Peter O'Reilly to look back on the action in Marseille as Ireland beat France, Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe send in a dispatch from Rome following England's opening weekend victory and Mark Palmer joins the pod to reflect on Scotland winning in Cardiff for the fi...

Will Kelleher heads north of the border and is joined by Mark Palmer to spend a day in the Scotland camp ahead of the start of the 2024 Six Nations. They chat to Kyle Rowe, Luke Crosbie, Arron Reed and Andy Christie as Scotland prepare to get their tournament underway against Wales in Cardiff, a venue they haven't won at for two decades. They hear from the players about their back stories and disc...

The Six Nations is here! With the 2024 championship kicking off on Friday night, Alfie Reynolds is joined by Will Kelleher, Mark Palmer, Peter O'Reilly and Elgan Alderman. They discuss each nation and the big questions and talking points they face heading into the tournament. Who are the favorites out of Ireland and France? What does success look like for Scotland? Can England reconnect with Twick...

Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher and Stuart Barnes reflect on the conclusion of the Champions Cup pool stages and question whether the format of the competition still needs tweaking. They discuss the massive news that Louis Rees-Zammit is putting his rugby career on hold to pursue a career in the NFL and that Joe Schmidt is the new head coach of the Wallabies. Plus, Alfie and Will sit down and chat t...

Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher join Alfie Reynolds to look back on another weekend in the Champions Cup, which once again provided some great matches and highlighted the current issues with the competitions structure. They also chat about Andy Farrell being named British and Irish lions head coach last week and debate whether a lions tour would be successful for the women. Plus, with Steve Borthwick...

England, Saracens and British and Irish Lions hooker Jamie George joins Will Kelleher and Alfie Reynolds for today's episode. He chats about the latest round of Premiership action, as the race for the play-offs hots up and Jamie's team mate Owen Farrell has been linked with a move to France. He also explains why England players have opted to start a new agency to look after their contractual and c...

Happy new year! What better way to start 2024 than with the first Ruck of the year. Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher name a men's World XV of 2023, which is dominated by South Africa and New Zealand who reached the World Cup final. Alfie chats with England under-20 and Northampton Saints back-row Henry Pollock to chat about his successful 2023 and look ahead to what the new year might b...

Sale Sharks invited us up to Manchester to go behind the scenes at the club. Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher make the journey to the North-West to get a better understanding of what is making the Sharks tick and the overall development of the club. They chat to co-owner Michelle Orange, Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson, England internationals George Ford and Manu Tuilagi and youngsters...

Alfie Reynolds and Will Kelleher round-up another weekend of the Champions Cup. Including good wins for Northampton, Saracens, Leicester, Exeter and Bath. But with a number of teams deciding to rotate their squads at the weekend they debate if that is a negative thing for the competition. They also chat to Stormers Head Coach John Dobson after they beat La Rochelle with a last-gasp conversation. P...

Following English clubs winning 7 of their 8 matches across the opening round of the Champions Cup, Alfie Reynolds, Will Kelleher, Alex Lowe and Stuart Barnes reflect on all the action, including the awkward problems which arise from South African clubs taking part. They also debate Henry Arundell deciding to miss out the 2024 6 Nations by staying in France with Racing 92 and what it means for the...

A busy pod this week! Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher ask if the media are responsible for Owen Farrell having to take time away from international rugby. They also question where Newcastle Falcons go next after an eighth straight defeat in the Gallagher Premiership, plus they round up all the other results including more heartache for Gloucester but big wins for Harlequins and Northam...

Alfie Reynolds, Stephen Jones and Will Kelleher round up all the latest Premiership action. They discuss England's mounting injury list in the back-row, Gloucester and Bristol's struggles and Saracens and Sale still looking like the two best sides in the league. With last week marking the 20th anniversary of England's World Cup win in 2003, Steve laments on the RFU not capitalising on that success...

Wayne Barnes joins Alfie Reynolds and Stephen Jones to reflect on his career as a referee after retiring following the World Cup final. He chats about how to stamp down on abuse in rugby, a 20 second shot clock for lineouts and the importance of officials working as a team. Alan Dymock also joins Alfie and Steve to reflect on derby weekend in the Premiership, the opening round of Premiership Women...

Following the 5th round of fixtures in the Gallagher Premiership, Alfie Reynolds, Stuart Barnes and Elgan Alderman look back on all the action. They discuss Finn Russell 'shushing' The Shed as Bath beat Gloucester, what a great weekend it was for fly-halves and Bristol's struggles. They also chat about the return of the England A side and how important those fixtures can be for developing talent....