The Second Captains Podcast

Maybe he picked the wrong week to be away. Last week brought probably the decisive matches of the Premier League and a fight pitting Ian Harte against all the League of Ireland managers. This weekend was the FA Cup, arguments about the quality of balls, a story about a player disrespectfully bringing his dog to training. With the Champions League promising bigger things later in the week, Ken reviews his time in Miami and his trip to the really-quite-far-away Chase Stadium: did the jewel of South Florida live up to Will Smith's billing? We also talk about Manchester United's latest defeat, as is tradition.

Eoin McDevitt has been covering every corner of the island in the last couple of weeks, including a trip to Belfast on Saturday night for what turned out to be an explosive and highly controversial fight between Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan.Last week Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Peter O'Mahony announced they would all retire from Irish rugby at the end of the season. We talk to Gerry Thornley and Shane Horgan about how the three have evolved over the years, their relevance to this game against France, the challenge posed by Dupont and his teammates and why Ringrose is a big loss against this rapid looking French backline.New Zealander Clayton McMillan will be Munster's head coach next season, which is seen as bit of a coup by the IRFU. We look at his background, his achievements with the Chiefs in Super Rugby, his approach to management and why Munster need this one to work.Plus there's Felix Jones' return to South Africa, creating hostages to 6n fortune, and the sound of rowing silence.

Welcome to our weekly world service best of show which this week includes Rory Smith and Wilson on Liverpool's seemingly unstoppable title march, Andy Lee on how he and his fighter Jospeh Parker coped with Daniel Dubois withdrawing from their title fight at such short notice, our chat down in Cork with the much decorated Olympic champion rower Fintan McCarthy and Murph and Eoin get stuck into the GAA goalie debate as Murph Lovejoy pleads "won't someone please think of the shot stoppers".Join in the fun for just a fiver a month – no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details.

At 18-10 down and a man down, against a transformed Welsh team, Ireland were heading for one of the great 6N shock losses; but thanks to some pragmatism, some brilliant kicking by Gibson Park and James "air" Lowe, Easterby's side eked out a win in Cardiff to secure the Triple Crown and keep their Grand Slam hopes alive.We chat to Shane Horgan and Andrew Trimble about the nature of the second half recovery, some of the errors that meant they had to come from behind, Ringrose's red, Prendergast's ups and downs, brilliant Bealham and Scotland's missed kicks.Another Sunday afternoon, another GAA golador makes a seasonal re-appearance.  7 days after Michael Murphy's return, David Clifford started his first game under the new rules and got 3-3 to fire Kerry past Tyrone.  Why are all of Gaelic football's biggest names looking so happy/enthusiastic this February?Plus there's the latest string to Jamison Gibson Park's bow, Bundee's war face, 6N permutations and the Fenton factor.

While our Chief Soccer Correspondent is chasing the GOAT in Miami, the rest of the football world continues to roll on, or in the case of the English Premier League the word trundle may be better applied, as Liverpool look to have it wrapped up in February. We have Dion Fanning in the studio and Mark Critchley on the line to look back at a weekend that saw Arsenal slip up, Salah stake a claim for the Ballon d'Or and Manchester United say to their beleaguered staff it’s soup or nothing.We also reflect on the enormous outpouring of love for our chat with Charlie O’Leary on the World Service and reveal whether or not a spliff was offered to us on the DART.

Welcome to our weekly world service best of show which this week includes Charlie O'Leary meeting The Pope, Dion on Stephen Bradley taking on the FAI, Sharlene on the pressure of running the 400m relay final leg, plus we covered the 6N, Nunez's miss, City's fall and all the PL and CL stories and next week we review Man City V Liverpool and Wales V Ireland, chat to Andy Lee and will be all over the women's internationals and big GAA matches.Join the party for just a fiver a month—no contracts, no sign-up fee, no minimum stay, no hidden charges, and no ads. Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details.

With Ciarán Murphy (zero All-Irelands, zero All Stars) sidelined, Paul Flynn (six All-Irelands, four All Stars) joins us in the studio to look back at a gusty weekend of National League football, while Conor McManus (three All Stars, greatest Monaghan player in history) joins us on the line. We chat friend-of-the-show Michael Murphy's return featuring a tribute to 2006 era Zidane, Dublin's wind-assisted win in Tralee and the secret rule scenario. 

We look back on yesterday's supersized Dublin derby: was it a great success, did Bohemians sell out their values, and does anyone care with the moose on the loose?We also discuss whether Stephen Bradley was right to BLAST Heimir Hallgrimsson for his tactless if generally complimentary pre-Christmas remarks about Shamrock Rovers.Gavin Cooney and Jonathan Wilson join us to talk about the weekend's Premier League action. Are highly-paid modern-day footballers really entitled to be injured? Should Ruben Amorim bend or break? And when did they realise their inner reactionaries had taken control? 

‘All THIS?! FOR ONLY FIVE EURO A MONTH?!’, is what you’ll be saying after listening to this week’s World Service taster menu. Come see if our selection of tantalising hors d’oeuvres can’t tempt you to try our whole member-led, ad-free buffet? Head to secondcaptains.com/join for more details.