Second Captains

Jonathan Pearce went full Jonathan Pearce, England went full England and Dr Ken diagnoses glazed eyes.Plus Murph on the GAA's Mr fix it, and Frances Murphy's birthday greeting. Welcome to another taste of the Second Captains World Service.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A spying scandal has erupted ahead of the World Cup semi-final between England and the USA and Phil Neville has another national team set-up to criticise.We look back at the quarter-finals and forward to tomorrow's much-anticipated Anglo-American showdown in Lyon.Also today, we go through Swiss Ramble's snapshot of Arsenal's lost decade.We're joined from Lyon by Caitlin Murray, author of "The National Team", a history of the USWNT, to talk about the Americans' march toward the final and why many perceive them as the villains of the tournament.Plus there's the audacity of Hope Solo, football idealists, selling jerseys and putting out a Lance vibe in France.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first part of the hurling summer has ended, and it's ended with Wexford and Limerick on top in Leinster and Munster. If that sounds like it has a real mid-90s vibe to it, then you'd be right. Hurling Uber-mensch and the soul of Wexford, Liam Griffin, tells us why winning on the double, in minor and in senior, was so important for Wexford, and why it's a reward for hard work, planning, an exceptional playing group, and for Davy Fitz's application. Two-time all-star Seamus Hickey wasn't surprised by anything he saw from Limerick yesterday, as they dismantled the form team of the summer so far Tipperary in the Munster final. He tells us what drives this young team forward. Plus there's an attack on Wicklow from Murph, two fingers to Oliver Cromwell, professional fouls, flawless hurling, and feel-good vibes all over the place.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 1501: Donegal Dominant, Dublin Dismissive, Kerry Unconvincing, The Dublin Q - 24/06/2019 by Second Captains

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ep 1500: Pip Lets Rip, Ref Quits, LVG On Messi - 24/06/19 by Second Captains

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We didn't think we'd spend at least part of this week discovering factoids about the many and various ways that Scotland have managed not to qualify from World Cup groups, but after the misadventures of their women's team against Argentina last night, that is exactly what we've been doing on the Second Captains World Service. We present the results of those findings here on this SC taster menu, along with Eoin's wife pranking him, Oisin McConville backing Donegal for Sam (in a manner of speaking), and US Murph on the Toronto Raptors' NBA finals win.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Munster hurling championship last year had plenty of fire-works, but it didn't have drama to match the last few minutes of the Leinster hurling championship round-robin series on Saturday, as first Galway, then Dublin, then Wexford, then Kilkenny all found themselves staring elimination from the All-Ireland championship in the face. When the music stopped, it was 2017 champions, and All-Ireland finalists in 2018, Galway who were left in fourth place, and staring at a long summer. Michael Duignan and Malachy Clerkin were in Wexford Park and Parnell Park respectively, and they could hardly have asked for any more entertainment. Galway's horrible weekend was compounded when their footballers lost to Roscommon in the Connacht final on Sunday, and there's a mention to for the rather bloodless affair in Thurles between Tipp and Limerick, which nonetheless attracted almost 40,000 people into the stadium. Plus there's some typically exuberant Roscommon radio commentary, permutation puzzlers, blasé Galway fans, and Murph's festival of pain.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nine of the 16 second round teams at the Womens' World Cup have been confirmed, and the Americans still look like the team to stop, after following up their demolition job on Thailand with a 3-0 defeat of Chile.Meanwhile Paul Pogba has announced that he feels like a new challenge, somewhere else. But where? Who can afford him? And what direction do United take after he leaves?Rebecca Myers of the Sunday Times joins us from Nice to talk about the USWNT - a "super-elite" sporting institution that has to deal with more than the usual share of political pressure.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to our weekly sprinkling of the Second Captains World Service.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's been a dark time for the Gaelic football fans out there, as their game has been ignored in favour of the small ball, on television at least. So there's no better antidote for that than a reunion of the Second Captains punditry dream-team of Mike Quirke and Oisin McConville on today's show. It will be a Cavan/Donegal Ulster final, after their stunning wins at the weekend - just what exactly has happened to make the Ulster championship the greatest show on turf this summer? And with the Dublin dominance continuing unabated, what steps are Meath taking to ensure that one day they'll be able to mount a challenge? Plus there's another very profitable weekend on the golf course for Rory McIlroy, a day of shame for hurling (as one of their refs actually applies the rules), good news at last for Graeme McDowell, and a silver medal for the Irish oche-artistes at the world darts championship.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.