The Rugby Pod

We're joined by Wales fly-half Dan Biggar to chat all things British & Irish Lions ahead of Warren Gatland's squad announcement and Big Jim and Goodey pick their 36-man squads for the tour as well as reminiscing about just missing out on tours gone by. Plus, we dissect all the European semi-final action and Jim's in a particularly good mood, despite his questionable fashion sense, after finally ge...

Big Jim and Goodey are back with strong views on the RFU's review into England's "sub-optimal" Six Nations performance, there's a disagreement over which big-name fly-half will miss out on the Lions tour and we catch up with new Newcastle signing Carl Fearns to hear about his six years in France and stories of car crashes, fires, failed moves and, of course, what really happened when he knocked ou...

South African World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth joins us to look ahead to the British & Irish Lions tour this summer and discuss who he's expecting to be coming up against in the second row, what the changes in the Springboks coaching staff might mean and the motivational power of Rassie Erasmus, as well as of course, what really happened in his beef with Big Jim back in 2013! Plus, we look at Warren...

Six Nations Player of the Championship Hamish Watson joins us this week to discuss everything from his English accent to Scotland's evolution and the prospect of a trip to South Africa with the British & Irish Lions. Plus, we talk Lions assistant coaches and dissect all the Champions Cup quarter-finals with from Leinster's thrilling win at Sandy Park and La Rochelle's power to two of the worst kno...

South African World Cup winner Faf de Klerk joins us this week to talk Sale's success, life in Manchester, similarities between Sanderson and Erasmus and chatting to royalty in budgy smugglers as well as looking ahead to the British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa in the summer. And, he may or may not be shaving his head if Sale win the Champions Cup! Plus, we round up all the European Round of...

We're joined by Leinster coach Stuart Lancaster fresh from winning a fourth straight PRO14 title to talk everything from England to life in Dublin, the Irish conveyor belt of talent and much more. And, we catch up with man of the moment Louis Rees-Zammit to chat Six Nations title-winning celebrations, his first glass of Prosecco, the influence of Paul Scholes and going from youth rugby to being in...

We're joined by one of the stars of the Six Nations Tadhg Beirne to discuss Ireland's demolition of England, their progress under Andy Farrell, Lions prospects, the Guinness PRO14 final this weekend, being blanked by Jim in Dublin and much more. Plus, there's a full debrief of England's first Triple Spoon since 1976, we dissect France's incredible win over Wales with an open cloth and look ahead t...

Big Jim and Goodey are back with big news to share! We're also joined by possibly the only man to forecast a Welsh Grand Slam this year, Wales and British & Irish Lions legend Scott Quinnell, who forces Jim to eat humble pie after he thought they'd be battling it out with Italy for the wooden spoon. We build up to Wales' Grand Slam game in Paris, dissect the best half of rugby in recent years at T...

Big Jim and Goodey are back and are joined by France legend and former Les Bleus head coach Philippe Saint-Andre to talk about the saga surrounding Fabien Galthie and what shape the team are in ahead of Le Crunch against England at Twickenham. We also discuss what changes we might see from Eddie Jones and how big a game it is for the England boss. Plus, Jim's confident ahead of Scotland's clash wi...

Big Jim has a sincere apology to make to the nation of Wales as there's praise for them as well as criticism of Pascal Gauzere's performance in Cardiff. We discuss England's ill-discipline, whether Owen Farrell should continue as captain, if Maro Itoje's Lions captaincy credentials have been damaged and just how bad the situation is at the moment in terms of abuse on social media. We also talk Waf...

We're joined by the most experienced referee in the game Wayne Barnes to discuss the five sendings off in the Premiership at the weekend, as well as a host of other issues in the game at the moment, and to chat about whether he's still expecting to travel to Paris this weekend to take charge of France v Scotland. There's also much discussion on France's Covid outbreak, Eddie Jones' selection polic...

Big Jim and Goodey are back to dissect everything from Scotland's false dawn and Fagerson's red card to the chicken's running jump and Farrell's worst game in an England shirt. We also chat formidable France, Shaun Edwards' dancing, Ireland's issues, Premiership ring-fencing and much more. Plus, there's a formal apology to the nation of Wales and we're very nearly joined by man of the moment Louis...

Big Jim's back from his trip to Twickenham with tales to tell and is revelling in Scotland's dominance in the Calcutta Cup. We discuss what needs to change for England and hear from Ben Youngs, Luke Cowan-Dickie and debutant Beno Obano on where it all went wrong. Peter O'Mahony's red card, Billy Burns' error, Johnny Williams' tackle, Antoine Dupont's brilliance, what to do about Italy, all the Pre...

Fresh from signing a new deal, England defence coach John Mitchell joins us to fill us in on how preparations for the Six Nations have gone and look ahead to the Calcutta Cup. We discuss whether this is finally Scotland's year, if Ireland can mount a serious challenge and what constitutes success for Wayne Pivac and Wales. And, Goodey's recording from his emperor bed as he recovers from an operati...

Big Jim and Goodey are back with the inside scoop on all the drama that happened at Quins with Paul Gustard leaving the club and we catch up with England's new star Paolo Odogwu to talk Eddie Jones, the Italian alternative, Cov, clothing lines, building a brand and much more. Plus, we dissect the Six Nations squads, share some juicy rumours and Jim goes full Scottish for Burns night...  See acast....

We're joined by European Rugby's head honcho Simon Halliday to find out the plan for concluding this season's Champions Cup, how disappointed he was with the French government and what big plans are afoot for the competition in the coming years, as well as whether he sees the Lions tour going ahead and how all of the various tournaments have a knock-on effect on one another. We also discuss Ealing...

Big Jim and Goodey are back to dissect all the fallout from European rugby being suspended with an open cloth and debate whether it's the right decision and why the Premiership isn't being brought forward to fill the void. We also discuss whether the Six Nations will go ahead, catch up with one of the players of the Premiership season so far in Newcastle Falcons' Gary Graham and Jim makes hard wor...

We all need a bit of positivity and inspiration in our lives right now and we're back to kick off the New Year with a man who can inspire us all, the legend that is Doddie Weir. He gives us the lowdown on Doddie Aid and how we can all get involved in January among other things and we also hear from Duncan Weir after he got rid of the Afro and raised a lot of money for Acorns Hospice. The Scotland...

We react to the news of a familiar looking pool draw for the 2023 World Cup and round up the opening round of Champions Cup action, while Big Jim opens up about his own experiences of concussion and dementia in light of the news that hit the headlines this week. We chat to legal and medical experts about whether any litigation could be successful, what changes are needed in the sport and what the...

We discuss all the Autumn Nations Cup action as England beat France but Eddie Jones isn't happy and we're joined by former Ireland head coach Eddie O'Sullivan for a debate on both Ireland and Scotland after he called the Scots "deluded" at the weekend and wasn't happy with Stuart Hogg's post-match comments. He also gives us his view on where the game is at right now and talks about the possibility...

Big Jim's calmed down after an incident at the weekend and he and Goodey are putting the world to rights and coming up with a plan to solve all rugby's ills, as well as not holding back about Romain Poite's performance! We discuss Billy Vunipola's place in the England team, dissect all the Autumn Nations Cup and Premiership action with an open cloth and look ahead to England v France this weekend...

Big Jim is back and opens up about an incredibly tough week for him, he and Goodey disagree about the England v Ireland game and we check in with Nemani Nadolo as he continues too isolate in his hotel room to find out if we're going to see Fiji in action on the final weekend of the Autumn Nations Cup. All that, plus we discuss Scotland v France, more pressure on Pivac, all the Premiership action,...

We're joined by Ireland and British & Irish Lions legend Sean O'Brien to look ahead to Ireland's game against England at Twickenham and the Lions tour to South Africa in the summer, as well as catch up with how he's getting on at London Irish after a horrible time with injury. And, Freddie Burns is standing in for Big Jim all the way from Japan chatting about everything from manscaping to cats on...

Big Jim and Goodey are joined by David Humphreys to discuss what happened at the end of his time at Gloucester and how he's ended up working with Georgia as they prepare to face England at Twickenham this weekend. We look ahead to the Autumn Nations Cup in depth, dissect the two red cards for Australia and New Zealand with an open cloth, Jim questions another big name in the Ireland team and Goode...

Big Jim and Goodey are here to dissect the final weekend of the Six Nations with an open cloth, we hear from legendary Scotland & Lions coach Sir Ian McGeechan on how this Scotland side compares with those gone by and how many Scots will get into Warren Gatland's Lions squad next year and Jim has some question marks over two of the biggest names in the Northern Hemisphere in Alun Wyn Jones and Joh...