The Counter Ruck: The Irish Times Rugby Podcast

Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join Nathan Johns to pick through the weekend’s interpro action. Friday night saw Connacht struggle away in Glasgow with the set-piece and maul proving an issue. The panel discusses how Connacht continue to look to improve their tight five while analysing Bundee Aki’s return to action at the start of what could be his last season in Irish rugby.

Elsewhere, the first interpro of the season brought about a thriller as Ulster and Munster went tête-à-tête for a draw in Belfast. Clayton McMillan’s side raced out to a commanding hall-time lead only for Ulster, spearheaded by the likes of Robert Baloucoune, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale, to pull things back for a dramatic draw.

Finally, Leinster returned to the RDS for the first time in competitive action as they saw off Cardiff. In a performance that featured impressive counter-attacking displays from the likes of Hugo Keenan and Sam Prendergast, our trio looks at how Leo Cullen’s side are trying to evolve their attack in a bid to ultimately catch up with some of their French foes later this season.

Produced by John Casey.
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Following Munster’s appointment of former Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee as CEO, can the province build towards former glories?

In today’s Counter Ruck rugby podcast Nathan Johns and Gerry Thornley look back at an era for the province which has been criticised for underachievement and ask whether Lee is the man to fix a culture that former players have described as “broken”.

Gerry believes there are some strong indications that Munster has at last got the backroom leadership it has been lacking with Lee “fronting up” to the media and the public rather than leaving it to head coaches to explain what is amis.

Munster travel to Ulster this weekend for the season’s first inter-provincial tie. The loser, Gerry explains, will go into the first round of European fixtures in the bottom eight of the URC table.

So what does the future hold for Munster? And can it produce the consistent success its fan base expects?

Presented by Nathan Johns. Produced by Andrew McNair.
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After round one saw all four Irish provinces lose to kick off the URC season, this weekend brought a more encouraging set of results spearheaded by impressive outhalf displays. Gordon D’Arcy joins Nathan Johns to review all the action as Connacht and Munster secured victory, Ulster took a draw away in Glasgow and Leinster wrapped up their South African tour with a losing bonus point.

On Friday night, Ciarán Frawley scored two tries in his first Connacht game since moving west from Leinster, the second a vital late contribution as the western province withstood a creaking scrum to beat Benetton away in Italy. Frawley offered an exciting window into what life might be like at Connacht with Frawley linking with Mack Hansen and Sam Gilbert, while Sean Jansen impressed off the base of the scrum.

Munster had their own impressive outhalf, youngster Charlie O’Shea also scoring two tries as the province continues to look to fill the gap left by Jack Crowley’s injury. Using O’Shea’s willingness to be brave in attack, the pod analyses a wider shift in Irish rugby to trust players willing to take risks and impact games in a positive way.

In this vein, Todd Lawlor at Leinster comes in for more praise despite Leinster’s loss, as does Ethan McIlroy at Ulster after their draw in Scotland.

However, we also look at some weakness up front with many a provincial scrum struggling over the weekend, particularly against South African opposition.

Produced by John Casey.
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Andrew Trimble and London Irish chairman Daniel McKeown want to examine rugby’s governance. Looking at the money flowing in at a the international level, they want to know why so many clubs are still struggling. Worcester, Irish themselves and Wasps have all had well-documented financial troubles, while clubs further afield in Argentina and Australia have also gone under.

Is rugby doomed to only succeed at international level, or should the governance structure be changed, featuring more control of star players for clubs and better initiatives to get more people watching the club game?

Speaking from their experience attempting to revive London Irish, Daniel and Andrew discuss their plans with Nathan Johns and John O’Sullivan.
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For the first time since 2009, all four Irish provinces started their domestic campaign with defeat. With Connacht and Ulster both losing at home on Friday night, Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan reflect on the teams they selected as their ones to watch heading into the season. Is it time to row back on preseason positivity or will reinforcements of senior players in the weeks to come right the respective ships?

On Saturday, Leinster lost away to the Lions despite promising performances from a number of young players. Gordon picks out who impressed him from a counter-attacking sense as we wait to see how Leinster will shift their style in a bid to be more competitive against the bigger European sides. We also discuss Munster’s loss at home to Glasgow despite the likes of Ben O’Donovan and Kieran Brookes putting in positive displays.

The panel also pays tribute to Béibhinn Parsons after she became Ireland’s record try-scorer in Sunday’s win over Japan.

Produced by John Casey.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.