The Rugby Pod

Former CEO of Harlequins, Saracens, Melbourne Storm and Global Rapid Rugby, Mark Evans sits down with me to give his take on everything from how to grow the game, ring-fencing, salary caps, a global season and what rugby union can learn from other successful sports leagues and teams around the world. It's a great chat with someone who has been at the very top of the game, with a huge amount of exp...

After a Harlequins' crucial win over Leicester Tigers on Saturday, we're joined by Man of the Match and Scottish international Huw Jones to chat about life at Quins and his hopes of a return to international duty. With the playoffs drawing closer, Jim and Goodey give their predictions of who will join Leicester and Saracens in the top 4. The lads introduce our brand new segment that'll see YOU, th...

With the Champions Cup round of 16 complete, we run through all of the results from the second leg of games over the weekend. We're joined by Munster's forwards coach and soon-to-be Head Coach Graham Rowntree to get his reaction to their victory over Exeter on Saturday. Jim and Goodey chat through some of the 26 cards shown by referees over the weekend and look ahead to some huge clashes in the qu...

Welcome to some extra podcast interviews with Big Jim. In this episode, Jim chats with one of his best mates and former Scotland and Sarries back-row Kelly Brown about their life on and off the pitch. In this new series, we'll be chatting with a mix of current and former players, coaches, decision-makers, influencers and interesting characters throughout the game. Hope you enjoy and let us know wh...

After a huge first leg of the round of 16 in the Champions Cup, Jim and Goodey are joined by Ulster and Ireland full-back Mike Lowry following their huge away win at Champions Toulouse on Saturday. The lads round off all the weekend's fixtures and look ahead to yet another massive weekend of games in Europe.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Fresh from their victorious night at the Sports Podcast Awards, the lads are joined by London Irish winger Ollie Hassell-Collins to discuss his prolific try-scoring form and how his time with England has left him hungry for a first cap. We review the weekend's action from the Premiership and URC, and look ahead to the last 16 of the Champions Cup, previewing a huge set of fixtures this weekend. Th...

The lads respond to the RFU's latest announcement around Eddie Jones' successor and have their say on who they think will be the next coach at the helm for England. We're joined by Scotland second row Emma Wassell to hear the inspiring story of how she got into rugby, the disparity between England and seemingly everyone else in the women's game and the part that funding plays in that. With the Gui...

After an action-packed final weekend of the Guinness Six Nations which saw France's Grand Slam win overshadowed by Italy's dramatic victory in Cardiff, we run through all the action from Super Saturday. We catch up with the man who masterminded Italy's win Kieran Crowley, and find out about the post match celebrations after the flight home. Jim and Goodey give their thoughts on the RFU's statement...

Heading into the final weekend of the Guinness Six Nations, we catch up with France defence coach Shaun Edwards ahead of his side's Grand Slam decider against England on Saturday. We round up all the weekend's Six Nations action and discuss whether Charlie Ewels' red card just 82 seconds into England's game against Ireland was the right call. Jim recounts Thursday in Belfast where he bumped into a...

As we approach the final stretch of the Six Nations, we're joined by England's most capped men's player of all time, Ben Youngs from inside the England camp to chat about his incredible career and life as a more "senior" member of the squad. We preview all the games in the penultimate round of the 2022 Guinness Six Nations and give our MatchPint predictions for them. Jim and Goodey cover last week...

After a dramatic Round 3 of the Guinness Six Nations, we run through the refereeing controversies in all the games, and take a look at the law which led to Italy facing a full-strength Ireland with 13 men for most of their game in Dublin. We're joined by Irish wing Jacob Stockdale to discuss Ireland's tournament so far and their prospects heading into next year's World Cup, as well as getting an u...

It's a home nations special this week as Jim and Goodey are joined by former Welsh skipper Ryan Jones and Ireland's best lid Shane Byrne. We preview England's first home game of the Six Nations with Ryan Jones and discuss Eddie Jones' potential selections as well as getting some insight into the state of rugby in Wales. The lads run through the weekend's Premiership results and predict the scores...

Big Jim and Goodey are joined by France's second-row Paul Willemse to discuss their unbeaten start to the Six Nations, and find out more about how he went from dreaming of playing for The Springboks to being one of the best locks in the world for France. We also run through England's victory over Italy in Rome as Marcus Smith steers his side back on course, and dissect how Wales managed to topple...

After an explosive Six Nations opening weekend which saw Scotland retain the Calcutta Cup for the first time in nearly 40 years, we're joined by the man at the centre of the most influential moments in that game, Darcy Graham. We also unpick where it went wrong for England and discuss Scotland's grand slam hopes. Jim and Goodey run through Ireland's convincing victory over Wales as well as Italy's...

With the Guinness Six Nations finally upon us, we catch up with Wales fly-half and captain Dan Biggar ahead of their first game against Ireland this weekend. Jim and Goodey discuss Saturday's huge Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield as a fractured England prepare to take on a full-strength Scotland side. We also run through the weekend's Premiership and URC action before giving our predictions for t...

This week the lads are joined by Montpellier back-row Zach Mercer after his side's impressive victory over Exeter last weekend. He fills us in on his positive conversations with Eddie Jones and addresses the transfer rumors surrounding his possible return to the premiership. We also catch up with Edinburgh head coach Mike Blair and look ahead to Scotland's Six Nations opener and Calcutta Cup clash...

It's that time of year again and as the Six Nations draws near, we run through some potential inclusions and omissions from Eddie Jones' England squad. We also catch up with Leinster and Ireland back row Caelan Doris after Leinster's dominant 89-7 victory over Montpellier and to talk about his incredible form and recovery from concussion. Jim and Goodey discuss all the weekend's Champions Cup resu...

Having won the award for "Best Social Media" in the 2021 Rugby Pod Awards, we hear Rassie Erasmsus' acceptance speech. We're joined by Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetrees to discuss how the Cherry and Whites are back in the mix for the top 4 this season. We of course run through all the premiership and URC action, and the guys give their thoughts on the possible options for ensuring the Six Nation...

We're back with the first episode of 2022 and it's a cracker; The lads hit us with some New Year's resolutions and predecitions and TV presenter and Doddie Aid Team Captain Gabby Logan joins the lads to chat all about the charity and the amazing work that's being done. We also catch up on all the Premiership and URC action from across the festive period and Jim and Goodey discuss some major signin...

As we look back at a tumultuous 2021, the lads give out our very first Rugby Pod Alternate End of Year Awards for some of our favourite moments of the year including 'Top Lad Award', 'Most Outrageous Moment of the Year', 'Best Social Media Account', 'Skid Marks of the Year', 'Why You being 'Orrible' and a few more. Let us know in the comments if you agree or disagree... Learn more about your ad ch...

We're joined by an absolute legend both on and off the pitch in the form of Kev Sinfield. We hear about his phenomenal 24-hour, 101-mile charity run which has now raised over £2 million for MND charities. The former Leeds Rhinos Hall of Famer and current Leicester defensive coach talks about his switch from league to Union and how he has helped turn Leicester Tigers into Premiership league leaders...

It's the calm before the calm with Jim recovering from a weekend migraine whilst Goodey was off enjoying Kids' parties and nativity plays. We wrap up a big weekend of Premiership action, including an apology to Gloucester and credit to Exeter. We also chat to Munster and British & Irish Lion Tadhg Beirne about the URC, his curtailed trip to South Africa, Ireland's victory over the All Blacks and M...

With the Autumn Nations series all wrapped up, we turn our attention to the Premiership and catch up with friend of the show; Leicester Tigers Fijian winger Nemani Nadolo. Jim and Goodey chat through all the weekend's premiership and URC action as well as discussing what the recent change to World Rugby's eligibility rules might mean for European clubs. The Rumour Mill is back and Jim's got a pret...

After a record-breaking weekend for the Northern Hemisphere, we take you through all the action from the final weekend of the Autumn Nations Series. Goodey and Jim chat with England Scrum Half Raffi Quirke about his match-winning try on Saturday against the Springboks, and find out a little more about life inside Eddie Jones' "New England" camp. We also get a South African perspective from former...

Big Jim and Goodey are joined by former Ireland international and friend of the show Stephen Ferris to dissect Ireland's phenomenal victory over the All Blacks. We take look at Eddie's options at 10 for England and how the Smith / Farrell axis is evolving and whether or not it's the best option. We also round up all the action from the penultimate weekend of the Autumn Nations series and look ahea...