The Rugby Pod

As well as discussing Manu's magic and whether they've got it wrong about the Ford/Farrell combination, Big Jim and Goodey are joined by Ireland legend Stephen Ferris, who is deeply concerned about the decline of the men in green. We also hear from John Cooney about being cut from the Ireland squad ahead of the World Cup, answer your social media questions and much, much more...  See acast.com/pri...

Wales are world number one for the first time ever and we've got arguably their most important player off his Turkish sun lounger and on for a chat about expectation, preparation and sharing a room with Bradley Davies! Goodey's just back from a week in Portugal with stories of poolside chats with Johnny Sexton and his family and Big Jim pulls no punches on England going back to the Ford/Farrell ax...

We're back, in a new studio and looking lean after a pre-season of training in serious humidity. We're recording just as Eddie Jones announces his 31-man World Cup squad almost a month ahead of the deadline so break down his decisions, asking Eddie are you ok?! Goodey and Jim are divided on Scott Barrett's red card, we hear from Rory Best on why he doesn't sing Ireland's Call and much, much more.....

Big Jim and Goodey are joined in the studio by newly retired friend of the show Darren Cave as we discuss the best Premiership final ever and potentially the best club side ever, as well as check in with the Barbarians camp to see just how good a time they had in the lead up to their game against England! All that plus details of Jim's triathlon struggle and a few spicy rumours...  See acast.com/p...

Sale & England winger Chris Ashton joins us in the studio to chat about coming back to the Premiership after his Barbarians experience this time last year and his World Cup prospects. And, we catch up with Exeter scrum half Nic White ahead of the Premiership final this weekend and find out how he could be playing in the World Cup in Japan as well.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out inf...

Jim's just stepped off the plane from New York and tells us how relieved he was watching James Lang's kick drop just under the crossbar as he escapes getting Joe Marler's face tattooed on his arse by the narrowest of margins! We're joined by James Horwill to discuss missing out on the play-offs and his great career and we look ahead to the Premiership semi-finals and PRO14 final this weekend. All...

We're joined by man of the moment and European Player of the Year Alex Goode, who has just about taken his kit off and is trying to readjust to normal life after winning a third European Cup. He takes us through the celebrations and the players' movements in the hours and days after the final whistle and discusses what the victory means to the club. And, we're joined in the studio by jungle VIP an...

Big Jim and Goodey are back and are joined by Saracens lock Will Skelton to preview the Champions Cup final against Leinster this weekend. Goodey's not convinced about World Rugby's decision to take four French referees to the World Cup, with just eight from other countries, and we speak to Luke Pearce about what he makes of it all and how excited he is to be heading to his first World Cup as a re...

Big Jim and Goodey are back with the latter finally on the path to better health after hitting the gym for the first time in years this week. We've got three great guests from the success stories of the weekend as we talk to Harry Thacker going back to his old club and inflicting another defeat on them, Sebastian Negri about how massive an achievement it is for Benetton to make the play-offs in th...

Big Jim's back from Dubai where he spent a while in hospital and practiced his German, we're out of the studio and in the Wolfpack Bar as we analyse Saracens' comprehensive win over Munster and we discover directly from the Leinster camp how Big Jim wrote the Irishmen's team talk for them by predicting that they'd lose by 10 to Toulouse! All that plus a few juicy rumours and the week wrapped up in...

Jim's away in Dubai so Big Joe Marler's back in the studio and we surprise him with a phone call from his old Lions mate Rory Best to discuss one of their nights out in New Zealand, his career and look ahead to the two Irish teams' chances in the Champions Cup semi-finals as well. The Israel Folau and Billy Vunipola incidents and Joe's responses to both are discussed in depth and we check in with...

Jim and Goodey are back from Hong Kong with tales from on the pitch and off it...you won't want to miss them! We catch up with Ed Slater on Gloucester's season as well as they move to within touching distance of a play-off place and we speak to RPA Chairman Mark Lambert about the upcoming Restart Weekend and the important work the charity is doing. All that plus a couple of juicy rumours and the w...

Goodey's back from Dubai and his bags are packed again as he and Jim head straight from the Pod to the airport for a week in Hong Kong! First, though, they dissect the European quarter-finals with an open cloth...and Darren Cave joins us to talk us through his heroic performance, Stockdale's slip-up and how much his value's gone up by! There's some love for the French, reaction to Mike Ford joinin...

Goodey's away in Dubai so we check in with him at the all you can eat buffet but the King of Bath Freddie Burns is with Big Jim in the studio in his place talking brutally honestly about a certain moment earlier in the season, his love life, Bath's season and much more. We also catch up with the Premiership's Player of the Month Rory Hutchinson, discuss Leicester and how many teams are in a relega...

Good things come to those who wait! Jim's walked the Calcutta Cup all the way back up to Edinburgh (or missed his flight earlier this week!) and is back to revel in Scotland's Calcutta Cup comeback. We speak to the Scottish hero Finn Russell and also catch up with Welsh Grand Slam winner Rob Evans to find out all about their celebrations and to get the answers to what everyone wants to know about...

Big Jim and Goodey arrive in the studio after spending two days travelling down from Murrayfield with the Calcutta Cup and Darren Cave joins them in the studio to discuss all things Six Nations. We catch up with Wales centre Scott Williams to discuss their Grand Slam hopes and hear from Red Roses Captain Sarah Hunter on the prospect of sealing a Grand Slam at Twickenham on Saturday and where the w...

Big Jim has some explaining to do about his house in Harpenden that belonged to Nigel Wray, we discuss the effectiveness of the salary cap, the PR problems of the proposed World League and are joined by Ospreys legend Sean Holley to assess the region's potential merger with the Scarlets and the WRU's handling of the situation. All that, plus a look at the Six Nations and the Premiership and the we...

We're back to dissect Wales' victory over England, including discussing Sinckler's short fuse and Biggar's balls, and Jim has an apology for the nation of Wales for underestimating them! We also check in with Ireland debutant Jack Carty to hear about his week, his initiation sing-song and a certain crazy bus journey that went viral. We also take a look at the weekend's Premiership and PRO14 action...

Jim's got a tale to tell about a 14-hour journey to Edinburgh, Mourad Boudjellal has given Goodey some more ammunition and he gives it to him both barrels and we build up to a massive weekend of Six Nations action by speaking to former Wales and British & Irish Lions international James Hook about Wales v England. We also talk to 50-cap England back rower Tom Wood about the game at the Principalit...

As well as Goodey's much anticipated take on France's failings and England's success at Twickenham, we get a French view from the country's former head coach Philippe Saint-Andre. We chat to former Ireland international and British & Irish Lion Stephen Ferris about the men in green's win over Scotland at Murrayfield and we speak to Thomas Young about a very proud weekend for him as he made his Six...

Big Jim and Goodey are joined in the studio by Ulster and Ireland's Darren Cave to pick the bones out of England's victory at the Aviva Stadium. Jim confesses he's England 'til he dies and has an apology for Eddie Jones. And, we catch up with Joe Marler to see what it was like watching the Six Nations from the pub and find out he might be rivalling Jim for his 'Dad of the Year' title!  See acast.c...

The Six Nations Special is here! Jim and Goodey are joined by a guest from each of the nations involved (apart from France as Goodey's name is mud across The Channel!) to preview the start of the tournament and discuss each team's chances. Plus, there's a £5K bet on the line...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...

We’re back and discussing Jim’s hot morning date, Eddie Jones’ attention seeking and the success of the PRO14 teams in the Champions Cup! We check in with Toulouse fly half Zack Holmes to see if they deliberately avoided getting a try bonus point in order to dodge a trip to Leinster and catch up with Billy Burns after Ulster won at Welford Road to secure their place in the quarter-finals for the f...

We catch up with Grant Gilchrist this week to get the lowdown on Edinburgh's historic win at Toulon and look ahead to an even bigger game against Montpellier and we check in with George Kruis to chat about Saracens' progress, England's Six Nations squad and whether his mate Alex Goode might get a look in. Oh and we hear a bit from Danny Cipriani after Goodey caught up with him recently. All that p...

Ulster & Ireland's Darren Cave joins Big Jim & Goodey in the studio to look ahead to this weekend's Champions Cup action and discuss all the latest goings on in the Premiership and PRO14. And, we check in with Josh Beaumont after Sale's huge win over Saracens and catch up with Gareth Steenson to discuss his journey with Chiefs, ring fencing, his new bar and much, much more. All that plus a bucket...