Second Captains

Now that's a week on the Second Captains World Service. Join us at secondcaptains.com/join.

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It's our fifth birthday, and it's celebrations all-round as we begin a massive week for the Irish rugby rugby team this Monday afternoon.Ireland are 4 wins from 4 games, scoring 17 tries in the process, and are now just a win in Twickenham away from a third Grand Slam in our history - so why are there still a few lingering questions surrounding our style?We talk to Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley about the room for improvement still in this Irish team, the difference between peace-time rugby and war-time rugby, and why 3 Championships in 5 years might be more satisfying than a one-off Grand Slam.Whatever about the lingering issues in Irish minds, the English team appear to be unravelling in a cycle of negativity, tiredness on the field, and excuses off it - is the Eddie Jones honeymoon well and truly over?

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It's the fifth birthday of Second Captains and we'll be bringing you some special interviews over the next month to mark the occasion - But first Eoin wants to know whether Ken is going to give Jose Mourinho the credit he deserves after a trademark tactical masterclass saw Manchester United crush Liverpool. Some LFC fans were spitting venom afterwards, others spitting mere saliva.Meanwhile things have got extremely shambolic at West Ham United, where the crowd apparently caught in five minds over whether to cheer, boo, invade the pitch, fight or throw coins at the owners, decided to do all five.Alastair Campbell has published a Troubles-themed thriller set in the world of 1970s football. We're joined in studio by Seamas O'Reilly, the world's foremost authority on the novels of Steve Bruce, to see if Campbell's book is any better than Bruce's. We also discuss what Seamas made of Michael O'Neill's comments on the FAI pursuing Irish internationals born north of the border.

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The Big Snow of 2018 is over, and after a weekend of sport denuded by the weather, we still have plenty to chew on this Monday afternoon.Team Sky, David Brailsford and Bradley Wiggins stand indicted again after the release of a report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select parliamentary committee which outlines how Team Sky gamed the anti-doping rules to help their riders.Jeremy Whittle of The Times joins us to talk about the reputational damage done to everyone involved in Team Sky on the back of this damning report.Jim Hamilton was on the last Scottish team to win in Dublin, in 2010, and he talks to us about Scotland's woeful away form, Ireland's imposing home form, and why that doesn't necessarily mean this Saturday is a foregone conclusion.Plus there's smoking guns, the team GB tide of public opinion, and Mumford and Sons.

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MY lapel badge is apolitical. YOUR lapel badge is a political statement. The FA chief executive Martin Glenn has already apologised for appearing to bracket the Star of David as an offensive symbol alongside the emblems of ISIS and Nazi Germany, but was some kind of mess inevitable given the FA's confused policy on what is and isn't a political symbol?It feels as though the Premier League is falling out of love with Antonio Conte. The Chelsea manager has been accused of a "crime against football" by Jamie Redknapp for setting up in a 5-5-0 formation at Eastlands. Is there any sense in which Conte deserves this?Once again we turn our attention to the rotting carcass of Arsenal. Is Rio Ferdinand correct that this is the worst Arsenal team of his lifetime, or is it time to give Glenn Murray the credit he deserves?Miguel Delaney joins us to analyse the fallout from City v Chelsea. Is there a pattern to Gary Neville's occasional splenetic outbursts when he disapproves of a team's performance? And what do Pep's employers think of his ribbon stance?

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Ireland are three games in, and are still on course for a Grand Slam. And after another hugely enjoyable weekend of Six Nations rugby, certainly the championship appears well within our grasp.Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley talk us through Ireland's roller-coaster 37-27 win over Wales, with plenty of errors as well as sparkling, physical rugby to consider. And with James Ryan, Jacob Stockdale and Chris Farrell all starring, we consider what might be one of Ireland's biggest ever lineups.We talk to Tom English of BBC Scotland about that wonderful win for the home team in Murrayfield that leaves us within touching distance of securing the championship with a weekend to spare, and we also discuss Eoin Doyle's sending off for Kildare... for not wearing a gum shield.

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Ken's absence last week has led some listeners to wonder whether an automated Ken-3000 replacement could be commissioned to cover future time off, remixing and replaying the vast library of past Jose Mourinho commentary. Ken adds some new clips to the algorithm's memory cache with a dramatic U-turn.Chelsea are now struggling to get back into the race for Champions League qualification. Has Antonio Conte forgotten that motivation is about more than simply telling your players what to do?Does Scott McTominay have the potential to be a fixture in the Manchester United team? Is there anything new to say about Arsenal? And how will the yellow ribbon stand-off between Pep Guardiola and the FA play out? Jonathan Wilson and John Brewin join us to analyse.Meanwhile Diego Torres' reports on the goings-on at PSG have assumed the same place in the culture as Dallas occupied in the 80s. We crank his latest despatch through Google Translate.

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Richie Sadlier joins Eoin and Murph in studio to talk about how football management can be an emotional business. When Ipswich took the lead against local rivals Norwich on Saturday, Mick McCarthy couldn't resist having a go at his own fans.Is there ever a right time to shoot back at the same people who have been criticising you for months? On reflection, probably not... but it doesn't mean it doesn't feel really good while you're doing it. We also praise the job Chris Hughton is doing as he leads Brighton to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and analyse his potential to be the next Ireland manager.Plus Sid Lowe joins us to wax lyrical about Andres Iniesta before he returns to Stamford Bridge, the site of his favourite goal-not-scored-in-the-World-Cup-final goal.

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Without the burden of knowledge or insight, and freed from the pressure of expectation of Irish medals, the 2018 Winter Olympics has been a non-stop fun-a-thon in Second Captains HQ.Sinead O'Carroll, news editor with The Journal, told us on the World Service ten days ago why she spurns sleep in order to follow the Games, and she's in studio today to talk over all the hurt, heartbreak and heroics.If your sole focus is winning the All-Ireland, is it okay to throw your hat at the league? That's the question we ask Michael Duignan, as Waterford lost their third game in a row on Sunday. Clare are a study in contrast, and he picks one county out as a team that could win the league, and use it as a springboard for success in the summer.Plus there's Murph's biased local commentary experience, and the spectacle of watching an athlete go through the entire span of human emotional experience on television.

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Ireland remain on track for the Grand Slam after their fully-expected 56-19 win over Italy, but what happened that we didn't expect? Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley give us their thoughts on week 2 of this year's Six Nations championship.Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw going down injured certainly wasn't in the play-book, and the expected stern Italian resistance for the first 60 minutes didn't materialise either.We also didn't see the impact of the Irish bench that we expected, but is that to be expected when the game is over after 20 minutes? We also salute Owen Farrell's almost perfect performance for England, rate the threat posed by doughty Wales, and discuss why the relationship between the IRFU and the Irish media appears to be at an all-time low.Plus - Eoin explains why he loves Keith Earls, Simon has an idea for livening up Ireland/Italy games, and we salute our skating-to-work Dutch listeners.

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