RTÉ Rugby Podcast

Neil Treacy is joined on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast by Bernard Jackman and Johne Murphy to discuss another busy week for the Irish provinces in the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.

We look at how Leinster's road to Bilbao is shaping up after their 43-13 win against Sale Sharks secured them a home semi-final against Toulon next month, while we discuss Harry Byrne's influence in the side as they show signs of clicking.

We discuss Ulster's comfortable night in uncomfortable weather conditions as they defeated La Rochelle to book a Challenge Cup semi-final against Exeter Chiefs, while we also cover Connacht's elimination at the hands of Montpellier.

Munster weren't in action last week, but there is still plenty to talk about after as they return to the URC this weekend, not to mention more rumours of coaching changes.

And in part two of this week's podcast, Hannah O'Connor joins Neil to look back at Ireland's Guinness Women's Six Nations opener against England at Twickenham.

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Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Hannah O'Connor as we recap the big talking points from the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cups, while also taking a look ahead at Ireland's Guinness Women's Six Nations campaign.

We look at the positives and negatives from Leinster's chaotic 49-31 win against Edinburgh on Sunday, where their attack finally started to click, but also contributed to a messy win.

We try to pick apart Munster's horrendous first half performance in Exeter as they fell to a 31-21 defeat to the Chiefs, while we also discuss wins for Connacht and Ulster as they march through to the Challenge Cup quarter-finals.

Hannah and Bernard cast their eye ahead to the Women's Six Nations, as Ireland open their campaign up against world champions England at Twickenham on Saturday.

And we finish this week's podcast with some listener questions.

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Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Johne Murphy on the RTÉ Rugby podcast as attention turns to the last 16 of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup.

As Leinster lead the way for Ireland in the Champions Cup, we take a temperature check on where Leo Cullen's side are as they head into the business end of the season, with their discipline and cards the major focus point.

We look at the importance of Jack Crowley to Munster's fortunes, as the out-half showed his class in Pretoria, in spite of another defeat for the province.

We ask whether Connacht can make it six wins in a row for just the third time ever, with Stuart Lancaster's in-form side hosting Sharks in the Challenge Cup on Friday.

And we take a look at Ulster's efforts to bulk up their squad for next season, after their bonus-point win away to Zebre.

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Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Johne Murphy on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast as we look back on a mixed week for the Irish provinces in the URC.

We discuss Connacht's best performance of the season as they fronted up on defence to secure a bonus-point win away to Ulster, led by the brilliant Bundee Aki.

The panel also discuss Jack Carty's legacy at Dexcom Stadium after the out-half confirmed he would retire at the end of the season.

We analyse how Ulster can pick up the pieces and finish what has been a promising season on a high, and we dig into two miserable outings for Munster and Leinster in their heavy defeats to the Sharks and Glasgow.

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Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Jonny Holland on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast as we recap the incredible final round of the Guinness Men's Six Nations.

We look back on France's dramatic 48-46 win against France to snatch the title from Ireland's hands, sealed with a last-second kick from the nerveless Thomas Ramos.

The podcast discusses how Ireland finished their championship with their best performance of the campaign, defeating Scotland 43-21 in Dublin to seal the Triple Crown.

We also try to guess how the Irish squad will look heading for their Nations Championship tour this summer, as well as discussing the future of head coach Andy Farrell.

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Neil Treacy and Bernard Jackman and joined by former Scotland international Rory Lawson on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast, as we look ahead to Saturday's Triple Crown decider.

We look back on Scotland's sensational 50-40 win against France last weekend, which has blown the competition open and given both sides an outside chance of winning the championship this weekend.

Rory brings us up to speed on how Scotland have flipped their fortunes around after their opening round defeat to Italy, where there had been calls for head coach Gregor Townsend to be sacked.

The panel preview Saturday's final round at Aviva Stadium, where Ireland will be hoping to extend their 11-game winning run against the Scots and finish their own campaign off with a ninth Triple Crown since 2004.

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Neil Treacy is joined in studio by Bernard Jackman and Brett Igoe as we look ahead to Ireland's Guinness Six Nations meeting with Wales at Aviva Stadium on Friday.

Brett has been digging through some of his favourite stats and facts through the opening three rounds of the championship, and we discuss how these paint the picture of the tournament so far.

We look at France's ability to score from both setpieces and broken play, and we also take a deep dive into Ireland's lineout, both in terms of how they are winning the ball and what they are doing with that possession.

Bernard discusses the main area of improvement Ireland need to focus on after their opening three games, while we also discuss Andy Farrell's future at Ireland, with reports linking him with Saracens after the World Cup in 2027.

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Neil Treacy is joined by Bernard Jackman and Gareth Steenson to reflect on Ireland's historic victory over England in London.

The doom and gloom dissipated over 80 minutes at Twickenham as the visitors beat their hosts by a record margin.

The victory gets the campaign back on track and sets the team up for a crack at the Triple Crown over the next two games.

Can this be a turning point ahead of a World Cup year in 2027?

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Hugh Cahill is joined by Bernard Jackman and Jonny Holland to preview Ireland's crucial Six Nations clash with England.

With the England team already named, Andy Farrell and his coaching staff can start planning for Twickenham, with Jonny saying it is crucial Ireland take England out of their comfort zone.

Henry Pollock's inclusion for England could spell bad news for Ireland, but a fascinating back row battle awaits.

An improved scrum performance is critical, especially as Steve Borthwick preaches the brilliant basics of the England approach.

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Hugh Cahill and Bernard Jackman dive deeper into the state of Irish rugby as the senior men's team face into a critical Six Nations clash with a resurgent Italy on Saturday.

Bernard has had a lot of correspondence in recent days from people who are very engaged and concerned about the future of Irish rugby (2:00), even if there is a feeling of disconnect among others. He cites the small crowd at the Ireland XV game in Limerick on Friday night.

Hugh asks Bernard for his take on the theory that Jacques Nienaber is to blame for Ireland's poor form... Spoiler alert, he isn't buying it (10:00).

Ireland are the only team in the world chasing a high phase count, believes Bernard, when the game now requires a different, less draining approach.

Has closing the foreign project player pathway impacted Ireland negatively (18:00)? The IRFU can't be surprised given the rule change so the onus is on the provinces to identify the talent.

Looking ahead to Italy, Bernard believes Andy Farrell will drop some frontliners this weekend (21:00), whatever the risks involved against an Azzurri unit who have their tails up.

Bryn Ward being promoted from the XV bench to the senior 23 at the Aviva would be a remarkable rise, with Bernard also making a case for Edwin Edogbo.

The loss of leadership from retirements of Cian Healy, Conor Murray and Peter O'Mahony is being felt but Bernard says that shortfall has to come from the new generation of players, rather than coach Johnny Sexton (25:00). But are the new generation cut from the same cloth?

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