On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ulster scrum-half John Cooney to discuss his stellar season to date.

The number nine has been the star man for the northern province as they have started their European campaign with three wins against Bath, Clermont and Harlequins.

After slotting a pressure kick to beat Quins, Cooney opens up on how he keeps a cool head when standing over a match-winning penalty.The 29-year-old missed out on World Cup selection in the summer but used the omission to hit the ground running for Ulster; he says that he has used the disappointment to spur him on this season.

Cooney also discusses the parts of his game he is looking to improve as he looks to break into Andy Farrell's Ireland squad.Leinster's impressive win over Northampton, Munster tight affair with Saracens and the IRFU report into Ireland's World Cup failure are all up for discussion too.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and Bernard Jackman to look ahead to a huge weekend of European rugby.

All four of the Irish provinces have made a good start to the Champions Cup campaign, but Bernard thinks the tournament have problems coming down the track; chiefly that the English and French clubs put more emphasis on their domestic competitions.

However, there is still some big games on the horizon - with Munster's clash with Saracens set to be a belter. Stephen Larkham is getting a lot of praise for his performance thus far as the Munster backs coach, but the Saracens defence will be a stern test for his attack.

Leinster's young guns continue to impress - is this weekend the time for Leo Cullen to give some young players a chance in Europe?
Ulster's brilliant turnaround, Connacht's progression and the problems at the Ospreys are all up for discussion too.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald look back on another successful Champions Cup weekend for the Irish sides.

Munster played out a thrilling encounter with Racing 92 at Thomond Park and although Johann van Graan's side battled back to earn a valuable draw, that might not be enough when the points are added up at the end of the pool stage.

Munster played some great rugby but there are question marks over the form over Conor Murray, especially with John Cooney playing so well for Ulster in the win over Clermont.

Leinster, meanwhile, dug out an impressive win in Lyon to make it two from two - but more interesting was the insight that Stuart Lancaster gave into how he coaches the team.

Elsewhere, Connacht battled well against Toulouse before falling away while Ronan O'Gara had a tough outing with La Rochelle in Sale.
Will also unveils his first European power rankings of the season, while the lads also look ahead to Andy Farrell's first Six Nations squad.

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It’s back to the bosom of European rugby where all is warm and comforting for Irish teams who get to win their games again and on this week’s Left Wing, Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery look back on a great opening round of matches for the Irish provinces.

They also look ahead to the weekend games including Ulster at home to Clermont, Connacht away to Toulouse, Leinster’s visit to Lyon and the much anticipated Simon Zebo return to Munster with Racing.

It’s sure to be a hero’s welcome for Zebo in Thomond but Luke can’t see Munster losing whilst he also tips Leinster’s pack to win it in Lyon. Jacob Stockdale’s heroics against Bath showed he can produce the goods defensively and if he can work as hard defensively every week he can be ‘one of the all-time greats’ according to Luke.

Plus, Will speaks to the Sunday Independent’s rugby correspondent, Brendan Fanning, about his exclusive Joe Schmidt interview in this weekend’s paper. Schmidt has a new book out and Fanning reveals how the former Ireland coach has been coping post-World Cup. The question is though, does Luke get a mention in Joe’s book?

For more from the Left Wing you can visit the show page:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

The Left Wing is sponsored by Aldi.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and Ruaidhri O'Connor to preview the new season of the Champions Cup.

Luke and Will welcome Cian and Ruaidhri back into the studio after their time covering the World Cup in Japan, and the panel give their view on the state of Irish rugby after a tough couple of weeks.

Thoughts then turn to Europe, with Leinster well primed to have a good tournament after being handed a favourable pool draw. For Munster, they are in the pool of death along with Saracens and Racing 92, and could struggle to get out of it. Ulster look to be in with a good shout to once again make the quarter-finals while Connacht might have to settle for one or two big scalps after being lumped in with some heavyweight contenders.

The lads also discuss the form of Ireland's key men heading into a European weekend as well as where Joe Schmidt might end up next.

For more from the Left Wing you can visit the show page:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

The Left Wing is sponsored by Aldi.

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Former England centre, Ben Te’o joined Luke Fitzgerald, Fergus McFadden and Will Slattery on this week’s Left Wing podcast as they looked back on England’s World Cup final defeat.

“In camp, every day, for four years, Eddie used to say ‘We’re going to win the World Cup’,” Te’o revealed. “He built a game to beat New Zealand but not necessarily South Africa. I don’t know if England’s minds switched enough to respect South Africa.”

Te’o also spoke about his current Toulon adventure and of his time with Leinster and how Joe Schmidt had talks with him about staying in Ireland for another year to qualify for the national team.

Plus Luke and Fergus discuss what it’s like for the Irish provinces when the international players return and how they’ll be looking forward to putting the World Cup behind them and concentrating on this week’s interpros.

For more from the Left Wing you can visit the show page:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

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It's all over and South Africa are the world champions after a sensational final performance in Yokohama.
Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley were there to witness a forward masterclass from Rassie Erasmus' men.
What went wrong for England? What went right for the Springboks? And what will it mean for the Rainbow Nation?
The lads assess it all and give their final thoughts on an incredible seven weeks in Japan before saying sayanora!

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It's finally here. No, not the third/fourth place play-off, but tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final in Yokohama.In their penultimate podcast from Japan, Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley assess England and South Africa's strengths and weaknesses, assess whether Eddie Jones' men can get back to the level they reached against New Zealand and wonder why Maro Itoje isn't on the shortlist for World Rugby player of the year.Jonathan picks his team of the tournament and the lads wonder whether this World Cup has been any good.

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Much as you might hate to admit it, England are on course to win the Rugby World Cup and you have to admire the way they're going about it. On this week's Left Wing, Fergus McFadden joins Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery to preview the 2019 final and everyone is tipping England to win it.

Is this the culmination of the Eddie Jones grand plan and will it be Sir Eddie if he leads them to greatness? Plus, the panel look back on Warren Gatland's legacy, New Zealand's concerns for their future and ask what style of play for Irish rugby in the post Joe Schmidt era.

"What Stuart Lancaster's biggest strength is that he's brought in multi phase play to Leinster and it’s the way we’re training," says Fergus. "The Irish team didn’t evolve with the same type of sessions and all the emphasis on set pieces. I feel like Joe didn’t move forward."

For more from the Left Wing you can visit the show page:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

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It's the final week of the World Cup and, after two contrasting semi-finals set up an England v South Africa World Cup final, Ruaidhri O'Connor and Jonathan Bradley look back at the weekend just gone and begin to talk about Saturday's show-piece.

The lads assess England's greatness, while they wonder if the 'Boks have a trick or two up their sleeves after boring their way to the final against Wales.They assess Wales' weird World Cup, with Warren Gatland's men left in a weird position where they achieved their goal but could have gone further.

And as the end comes into view, there's some frantic sight-seeing to be done as Ruaidhri recounts his run-in with a Japanese lad in a Munster jersey.

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