The Second Captains Podcast

Thomas Ramos' kick in the 83rd minute of the last game decided the championship, broke Irish hearts, and was one of hundreds of epic moments that made up the greatest Six Nations yet.We chat to Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble about the quality of rugby on display, Ramos' reliability, Pollock's winner/loser moment, McCloskey's massive influence on Ireland, Crowley's best performance in green, Farrell's contract situation and all the positives that have come out of this tournament for Ireland.Plus there Murph's Sixth Nations Sense, a Roscommon divided and Baloucoune showing Darcy Graham he was there for the taking.

Is the future like a black highway at night? What does it really mean to 'respect the ball'? And is there anything in the game with such universal appeal as an implausibly aged footballer? We pick the likely player of the year candidates and discuss why Manchester United's transformation under Michael Carrick is Arne Slot's biggest problem in more ways than one.Rory Smith and Rich Jolly join us to talk about the weekend's football. Max Dowman brings joy. Has this been Guardiola's worst week? And are Liverpool really serious about backing Arne Slot all the way through to 2027?

Welcome to our world service taster show.To become a member and hear our shows all week it costs 5 euro a month and there’s no ads, no sign up fee, no minimum stay, no contract, and we’re independent and member led – go to secondcaptains.com/join

Rangers and Celtic timed their run well, staging a chaotic Scottish Cup quarter-final heightened by some old-school “disgraceful scenes” on an FA Cup weekend to finally get some overdue coverage on here. But are Old Firm riots as stirring as they used to be? The archive audio suggests otherwise.But - as we bemoan the violence crackling everywhere in the air, what about journalist-on-journalist violence - or journalist-on-influencer, or ant-on-elephant, or whatever you would call the astonishing attack launched by one of the people in this studio on the world’s most famous football reporter? Ken explains why he was wielding his tiny knifeTom English was at Ibrox to see the Cup quarter-final between Rangers and Celtic, and shares his impressions of the Day of Shame (plus a few thoughts on Scottish rugby’s Day of Pride).

Scotland defeated France 50 points to 40 on Saturday in one of the greatest northern hemisphere performances of the professional era, and are now in the frame for the 6 Nations championship… after losing to Italy in the first round.They face Ireland in Lansdowne Road next Saturday, a team Gregor Townsend has lost to 11 times in a row. We chat to Shane Horgan and the BBC's Chris Jones about the swashbuckling Scots, Ireland's predictable but winning rugby against Wales, France's old frailties, the Italians creating history in Rome, and where to next for Steve Borthwick's shambolic England team.The Scotland rugby whisperer takes his latest victory lap, then puts on his permutations man hat ahead of the final weekend of games, and we have some exciting plans for the playoff game in Prague.

We have a special bonus World Service podcast for you all today. The show you’re about to hear caused quite a stir amongst our members over the past week, many of whom suggested it should be released free to air. So here it is.Edwin Edogbo made his debut for Ireland against Italy earlier this month. The experience was marred by online racist abuse he suffered on Irish Rugby channels, culminating in comments on X being blocked by the IRFU. The reaction to this was one of anger, outrage and despair.Since then, we’ve been taking a look at from who and from where these comments originated, and the story is a little more complicated. Mark speaks to Dr Eileen Culloty, Associate Professor in the School of Communications in DCU where she’s also Deputy Director of the DCU Institute for Media, Democracy & Society about the rise in co-ordinated online attacks, the numbers involved, and the idea that what we are now paying such attention to are ‘phantom publics’. Do these posts reflect where we are as a society and did they receive appropriate media coverage?Thanks to our members, we get the opportunity to delve a little deeper on stories like this. Please support independent journalism and join us today for just 5 euro a month at secondcaptains.com.

The GAA weekend saw games in both the hurling and football leagues, but looming over all that was the protest at Congress in Croke Park that saw Jarlath Burns and his top table brought face-to-face with anti-Allianz protestors. Paul Flynn is with us to try and prize apart which parts of the GAA behave like a corporate entity, and which would rather remain amateur. We also discuss the Kobe McDonald phenomenon, and Cork's implosion in Derry on Sunday. Meanwhile Bundee Aki is back in the frame for Ireland selection, Stuart McCloskey is Eoin's favourite sportsman... and how Shane Lowry's late implosion at the Cognisant Classic in Florida last night will haunt him for months.  

Chelsea’s record 24-25 loss impressed a lot of people, but today we hear from Todd Boehly’s appearance at a conference in Miami where it became clear that Chelsea is about the least interesting item in his current portfolio.Dion Fanning and John Brewin join us to talk about the weekend’s Premier League action. Arsenal ground out another crucial win, but Arne Slot, for one, wrinkles his nose in disgust at what they have done to the game. But in an age of 30-man squads and 16-man teams, is greater top-down control by coaches inevitable? Meanwhile, the IFAB meeting in Wales coincided with the worst weekend for VAR nonsense in some time - but will any of the new ideas lead anywhere good?We also are glad to see that as our national day approaches, Premier League teams are reaching out to the corduroy breeches community.

Edwin Edogbo made his debut for Ireland against Italy earlier this month. The experience was marred by online racist abuse he suffered on Irish Rugby channels, culminating in comments on X being blocked by the IRFU. Mark has been taking a look at where these comments originated and spoke to Dr Eileen Culloty, Associate Professor in the School of Communications in DCU where she’s also Deputy Director of the DCU Institute for Media, Democracy & Society about the rise in co-ordinated online attacks,This week on the World Service we also discussed Infantino's values, Canada's painful loss to USA in ice hockey, Snoop Dogg at Swansea, how the hell Bodo/Glimt are doing this, Everton's scrums, Ireland's win over England, plus there's hurling on Friday, Ireland Czechia build up next week, and more 6 Nations ahead of the Wales game.To become a member and hear our shows all week it costs 5 euro a month and there’s no ads, no sign up fee, no minimum stay, no contract, and we’re independent and member led – go to secondcaptains.com/join