The Ruck Rugby Podcast

It's the end of the season! Well, pretty much. Whilst Scotland and Wales still have matches to play, England and Ireland concluded their summer series against New Zealand and South Africa. Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher have one final dispatch from New Zealand as England lost narrowly to the All Blacks for the second week in a row. Was this another opportunity missed? And how do England become a team that wins tight matches against the top sides? And, Alfie Reynolds is joined by Peter O'Reilly to chat about Ireland's drawn series against the Springboks thanks to a last second drop goal. Is it the best result of the Andy Farrell era? Whilst Steve James and Mark Palmer to round-up results for Wales and Scotland.

Richie McCaw is one of the legends of the game. The double world cup winning former All Black captain did it all in an illustrious playing career. He sat down to chat with Will Kelleher and even went flying in a helicopter! They discuss life after rugby including commercial helicopter flying, extreme endurance racing and the pressure and privilege of leading the All Blacks.

Following the first tests of the summer tours the podcast comes to you from around the world! Will and Alex reflect on England's narrow defeat to the All Blacks and ask whether it was a missed opportunity or further signs of the side making progress? Alfie chats to Peter O'Reilly who is in South Africa for Ireland's tour against the Springboks and Mark Palmer who was in Canada for Scotland's thumping victory. Plus Steve James is across Wales' tour Down Under where Warren Gatland's side suffered another defeat!

Ahead of England's first test against the All Blacks this weekend, Will Kelleher asks 'how do you win in New Zealand?'. England have only won a test on New Zealand soil twice in their history, the last time being 2003. He chats to Lawrence Dallalgio and Neil Back who both played (and were sin binned!) in that victory 21 years ago. They reminisce about the tour which was a brutal pre-World Cup warm-up, getting kicked off the set of The Lord of the Rings and the unique challenge of taking on the All Blacks in their own backyard.

The July tours are here! Ahead of All Blacks versus England and Springboks against Ireland Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and Peter O'Reilly look ahead to the test series. Will and Alex are on the ground in New Zealand and discuss the type of match we could see, what would be 'success' for England on the tour, and the AB's appearing nervous. Will also chats to England number 8 Ben Earl and finds out what a test week looks like from a players perspective. And, Peter previews a highly-anticipated series between the World Champions and European champions as the mind games have started in South Africa.

Ahead of England's two test series against the All Blacks, Will Kelleher chats to former New Zealand coaches Steve Hansen and Ian Foster. They discuss the honour and pressure of leading the All Blacks, as well as some of their great memories from World Cup wins to a dominant 2016. They also chat about the challenges facing rugby in New Zealand, look ahead to the up-coming series with Scott Robertson now in charge of the side and give their views on England following a World Cup semi-final appearance last year.

Alfie Reynolds and Mark Palmer reflect on Glasgow's incredible victory in the URC final. Mark joins the pod from Loftus Versfeld in South Africa just hours after the full-time whistle, a match he says is the greatest victory for any Scottish side in the history of professional rugby! Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe were in Tokyo as England's summer tour got underway with a victory, they dissect the performance from Steve Borthwick's side, including Marcus Smith at fly-half, Charlie Ewels' red card and Ben Earl's cameo in the centres.

Steve Borthwick has named his England squad to take on Japan in Tokyo this weekend so Will Kelleher and Alex Lowe - who are both in Japan - react to the team selection. They discuss Marcus Smith starting at fly-half, Chandler Cunningham-South's potential impact at blindside and the exciting opportunity for the team. They also question why Borthwick went early in naming his squad and delve into a revealing answer from Henry Slade about how much he's enjoying being part of this England setup.

England face Japan in Tokyo this weekend so Alfie Reynolds speaks to Will Kelleher who is on the ground to bring us the latest from the England camp, they also discuss the match not being on television and why it is a reflection of the rugby media landscape. Mark Palmer looks back on the URC semi-finals including a huge win for Glasgow, the positive impact of the South African sides on the competition and a third straight year without silverware for Leinster. He also previews Scotland's summer tour to the USA, Canada, Chile and Uruguay. Finally, Hannah Botterman, the Bristol Bears and England prop joins the pod to preview the Premiership Women's Rugby final as Bristol face defending champions Gloucester-Hartbury.