The Ruck Rugby Podcast

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.

Alfie Reynolds and Stuart Barnes look back on the Premiership semi-finals as Northampton Saints and Bath booked their spots at a sold out Twickenham. They discuss the vast improvements in both sides' forward packs and the contrasting celebrations at Franklins Gardens and The Rec, as well as looking ahead to the final. They also review the defeats for Saracens and Sale and name their God or Goddess of the week.

Alfie Reynolds, Stuart Barnes and Peter O'Reilly look back on the Champions Cup as Toulouse beat Leinster in a brilliant final at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It's Leinster's third straight defeat in the final, so was this them choking or simply Toulouse being too good? They also discuss the conclusion of Gloucester's season as they lost to the Sharks, who became the first South African side to win one of the traditional 'European' finals and they preview a return to Premiership action with the semi-finals this weekend.

Premiership Rugby's Chief Growth Officer, Rob Calder, joins Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher to discuss the potential re-brand of the Gallagher Premiership. He worked for the ECB on the 'The Hundred' so chats about changing the league's name, neutral venue semi-finals and whether the final could be moved away from Twickenham? Plus, Sale Sharks' Sam James reflects on the club reaching the play-offs following a big win against Saracens and the boys go through the rest of the weekends action and look ahead to the Champions Cup final between Leinster and Toulouse.

Ahead of the final weekend of the Premiership season Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Will Kelleher make the trip to Bear Country. They spend a day at Bristol Bears' high performance centre to get a behind the scenes look at the club, including chatting to director of rugby Pat Lam, COO Tom Tainton as well as James Dun, Joe Batley, Callum Sheedy and Harry Randall.