The Counter Ruck: The Irish Times Rugby Podcast

Rugby barely had time to catch 40 winks before the Champions Cup has come rapping on the door and rousting it for another season. With defending champions Saracens the talk of the towns and all four Irish provinces ready to go, the stage is set for a fascinating competition, whatever happens. Gavin Cummiskey is in studio to break down the Saracens scandal and talk us through the pools.It's massive seven days for the Ireland soccer teams, both men's a women's. The men have a friendly against New Zealand ahead of next Monday's crunch tie in the Aviva against Denmark, while Vera Pauw's women's side play Greece tomorrow lunchtime in Athens, having started the campaign with two wins from two. Emmet Malone has the lowdown on a crucial international week.All this plus the regrettable dickishness of Pep Guardiola in today's Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent.

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

Some weeks, the whole thing is like trying to fit a quart into a pint pot. The amount of sport that fizzed around the place over the weekend is almost too much - but we've done our best in your Monday Added Time. Forgive us our misses.Gerry Thornley and Gavin Cummiskey run the rule over the World Cup final in our last rugby pod for, oh, a fortnight or so. South Africa are world champions but it's a complicated story to cheer for. Meanwhile, England look to have played their final in the semi-final - the lads assess the mental mistakes that led to their downfall.Mary Hannigan is in studio to break down a famous weekend for Irish hockey as the women’s team qualify for the Olympics for the first time. It's the end of a long road and Mary has been on it with them for over two decades of reporting on the Irish team. On a grey morning in Dublin, it's the brightest spot around.All this plus Katie Taylor's latest world title in your Monday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent.

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

It’s here, at last. The World Cup final is upon us as England take on South Africa in Yokohama. Gerry Thornley and Gavin Cummiskey have one more pod in them, breaking down the match-ups and the ready-ups. Also, in a turn up for the books, why they both want England to win.All in your final Thursday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin.

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

England saved the signature performance of the Eddie Jones era until it couldn't have mattered more. In stuffing New Zealand in Yokohama on Saturday, they sailed into the World Cup final in grand style. There they will meet South Africa, whose win over Wales on Sunday had none of the fireworks, albeit the same reward. With Gavin Cummiskey in studio and Gerry Thornley on the line from Tokyo, we pick the bones out of semi-finals weekend.Arsenal's reputation as the Premier League club eternally closest to a nuclear meltdown was further burnished over the weekend as club captain Granit Xhaka had a public falling out with the home fans as he was being substituted at The Emirates. Amy Lawrence of The Athletic has the inside story of how the club got to this point and how much of it is the fault of Unai Emery.All this plus some jaw-dropping Tiger Woods factoids on your Monday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent.Tiger Woods: 0.30Rugby: 6.15Arsenal: 26.50

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

The World Cup fall-out continues apace. After Isa Nacewa's cutting assessment of Joe Schmidt's final year, it feels like there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge before we can put the tin lid on Japan 2019. Also, there is the small matter of the semi-finals to dig through.Gavin Cummiskey is back from his travels, disappointingly with one arm as long as the other and a distinct lack of presents for the troops. We plough on, all the same, with him in studio and Gerry Thornley on the line to break down the timing of Nacewa's intervention and the extent to which he was talking for the current squad members with whom he is close.All in your Thursday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent

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

Let the autopsy begin. Ireland are out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage - again. Ireland have been hammered when it matters most - again. Why does this keep happening? How could we have imagined anything else? Gerry Thornley and Gavin Cummiskey are on the line from Japan to pick over the bones of it all.Sports book season is upon us. Adrian Russell has written The Double, the story of Cork winning the football and hurling All-Irelands in 1990. It's one of the great GAA tales, driven by two classic managerial firebrands in Billy Morgan and Canon Michael O'Brien. Adrian dropped into studio this morning to tell us all about it.Throw in a lament for the new Gaelic football rules voted in by Special Congress over the weekend and you have Episode 100 of Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent.

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

Ireland will make history when they beat New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup quarter-final on Saturday. That’s the view from Tokyo as Gerry Thornley and Gavin Cummiskey are reasonably bullish that Joe Schmidt’s team can make the final four of a World Cup for the first time. The two-time defending champions and number one side in the world start as 12-point favourites but as Schmidt opts for a dozen players from the starting team that beat New Zealand at the Aviva stadium last year, there is a belief that this Ireland squad have the tools and belief to cause an upset.In doing so they will eke out another few weeks for captain Rory Best, forwards’ coach Greg Feek and Schmidt, all of whom step down after the tournament. The boys also explain why they think Japan’s fairytale has another chapter or two in it, which would make grim reading for the Springboks.All of this and more in the Added Time podcast with John O’Sullivan and Mary Hanningan.

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

It’s moving week for our rugby and soccer teams – by the end of it there’s a good chance we’ll have either have moved on or moved out. Gavin Cummiskey and Gerry Thornley check in from Japan, where the Rugby World Cup has been lit up by the hosts. How did nobody see Japan coming? Where do Ireland stand ahead of the quarter-final against New Zealand? Will the fact that this could be Joe Schmidt’s last week in the job have any effect? Emmet Malone is in Geneva as Mick McCarthy’s Ireland team prepares for the crucial Euro 2020 qualifier against Switzerland on Tuesday night. Here, too, there are questions. Will Aaron Connolly start? Why were Ireland so dreadful against Georgia? And are the nervy Swiss actually there for the taking? All this on your Monday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and John O’Sullivan.

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

Find your hatches, batten them down. The Rugby World Cup is descending into farce and there doesn't seem to be a thing anyone can do about it. Typhoon gonna typhoon and the Scots and Italians gonna go home sore, it seems.Proper rugby brain John O'Sullivan is in studio to co-present as we check in with our men in Japan. Gavin Cummiskey and Gerry Thornley bring us a weather report first and foremost but also the latest updates from the Ireland team hotel ahead of the game with Samoa on Saturday.All in your bonus Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and John O'Sullivan

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

Fake news is alive and well and it's taking over the Rugby World Cup. Despite reports that the sky is falling in over in Japan, Gavin Cummiskey is here to reassure one and all that Ireland are not going to be typhooned out of the competition this weekend. Contingency plans are in place and the road to a glorious quarter-final exit is secure for now.Meanwhile, back this side of the globe, we have a new football superstar. Emmet Malone joins us from Abbotstown where Aaron Connolly has just been called into the Ireland squad for the Georgia/Switzerland double-header after his man of the match performance for Brighton against Spurs on Saturday.All this plus the glory of Ciara Macgeean on your Monday Added Time, with Malachy Clerkin and Pat Nugent.Times: 05:37 Rugby 23:21 Football

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