It’s Joe Schmidt’s last Six Nations with Ireland and he’s sure to want to go out on a winning note, but should one eye be on the World Cup and our chances there?

On this week’s Left Wing podcast, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Irish Independent Rugby Correspondent, Ruaidhri O’Connor, and outspoken columnist, Neil Francis, to look ahead to Ireland’s opening clash against England as well our chances of winning the tournament overall.

Plus, former Irish international, Fiona Steed, gives the run down on the Irish Womens’ Six Nations. The opening games against England on Friday and the clash against France will be their toughest challenges and a top three finish should be Ireland’s goal, she tells Will and Luke.

One of the main talking points however, is whether Joe Schmidt should be looking to blood new players in the coming weeks with the World Cup year in mind and Luke says he’d rather a drop off in the Six Nations than the World Cup.

‘It’s all about the quality of coaches,’ says Neil Francis. ‘Joe will figure out how to beat the opposition, even if it takes until the second half against the English.’

For more from the Left Wing podcast visit https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

The Left Wing podcast is in association with Aldi.

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The Six Nations may be fast approaching, but so are the Schools Rugby cup competitions and in a special bonus episode on the Left Wing, Tony Ward joins Will and Luke to preview this year's Schools Rugby with a special supplement appearing in Saturday's Irish Independent.

The usual suspects - Blackrock and St. Michaels - are the favourites once again, but Belvedere and Clongowes can never be discounted, while the stand-out tie for the weekend opening fixtures has to be Terenure v St. Marys.

"The competition was always big," says Tony. "But it's getting bigger and bigger and so are the players as well."

With a background on every squad covered, Tony Ward also features Temple Carrig school in Greystones which he believes will be a force in the years to come.

For more from the Left Wing just go to:
https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-left-wing/

And don't forget, you can get the 2019 Schools Rugby supplement in Saturday's Irish Independent.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ian Madigan to discuss his first season in the Premiership with Bristol.

Madigan joined Bristol in 2017 and won promotion to the top flight after a year in the Championship. Madigan opens up on the challenges and excitement of playing Premiership rugby, as well as talking about how the Bristol project is developing under Pat Lam.

Madigan also discusses his hopes of an Ireland recall as well as the development of Joey Carbery as he looks to challenge Johnny Sexton for the starting out-half jersey.

It was also another great weekend for the provinces, with all four Irish teams booking European quarter-final places. Luke and Will look back on a brilliant weekend for Irish rugby as well as Joe Schmidt's surprise decision to select Jack Carty ahead of Ross Byrne in his Six Nations squad.

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On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by the Irish Independent’s Cian Tracey to look back on a cracking weekend of Champions Cup rugby.

All four Irish provinces won in Europe, and the lads start off by talking about Ulster’s big win over Racing 92.

Jacob Stockdale crossed for two more tries and Luke pays tribute to the Irish winger, who is in sensational form.

Simon Zebo was allegedly subjected to racial abuse from the Kingspan crowd in Belfast, and the panel weigh in on the incident.

Munster and Leinster also enjoyed important wins, with Joey Carbery’s form, Scott Fardy’s place among Leinster imports and Garry Ringrose’s development all up for discussion.

Luke also has praise for Connacht after they saw off Sale at the Sportsgrounds in the Challenge Cup.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor to look ahead to a massive weekend of Champions Cup rugby.

Leinster, Munster and Ulster all have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals and are facing into tough European tests. Munster are first up on Friday night with a trip to Gloucester, with Leinster and Ulster hosting French giants Toulouse and Racing 92 respectively on Saturday.

Luke is predicting an Irish clean sweep while Ruaidhri thinks Ulster could be the team that runs into trouble.

The lads also discuss Connacht centre Tom Farrell's emergence this season and whether he might be called into Joe Schmidt's Ireland squad for the 2019 Six Nations. Will also asks the lads whether the amount of Leinster talent across the four provinces - 26 of the 60 starters in the weekend's inter-pros were from Leinster - is diluting the unique identity of the teams.

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On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Irish Independent rugby correspondent Cian Tracey to look back at the festive rugby and look ahead to 2019.
Will is billing 2019 as the biggest year in the history of Irish rugby and the lads agree that there is a lot to be excited about ahead of the World Cup.
Looking back at Leinster vs Munster at Thomond Park, Johnny Sexton’s fiery style of captaincy is discussed. Luke thinks that Sexton will learn from the tough outing and will improve his dialogue with referees as a result.
Connacht’s continued growth, Munster’s attacking structure and Ulster’s development are all up for discussion as The Left Wing returns for 2019.

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On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Jordi Murphy to discuss his move from Leinster to Ulster and his career to date.

Murphy made the decision midway through last season to move up north, and he explains why he decided to leave Leinster after seven seasons. The Ireland back row also discusses the misconceptions around players from the Republic of Ireland moving to Belfast to play for Ulster, and says his experience has been a really positive one.

Ulster have gone through a number of changes on and off the field in the last few years and Murphy gives an insight into head coach Dan McFarland and his coaching staff.

Luke and Will also discuss what Christmas is like for rugby players, rugby Christmas parties and go over all the Champions Cup action from last weekend. The lads are in agreement that Castres were guilty of some very cynical play against Munster, but Luke thinks that Johann van Graan's men are often guilty of poor discipline themselves.

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On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Munster and Ireland second row Tadhg Beirne to discuss his unique journey to the top.

Beirne was let go by Leinster in 2016 and signed with the Scarlets in Wales. He quickly became one of the stars of the PRO 12 and won the league in his first season before signing with Munster.

Beirne opens up on the tough parts of his journey, like the injury problems he had at Leinster, as well as the success he has achieved since, culminating in winning his first international cap last June.
Luke and Will also discuss last weekend’s Champions Cup action, which featured a clean sweep from the Irish provinces.

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On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Irish Independent rugby correspondent Cian Tracey to discuss all the latest rugby news.
The lads start with their belated reaction to the news that Andy Farrell will replace Joe Schmidt as Ireland head coach after the World Cup, with Luke saying that it’s a natural time to move on after a brilliant tenure.
Talk moves to Leinster’s strength in depth after their big win over the Dragons, with Will asking how the province is able to hold onto so much young talent.
Joey Carbery’s continued development at out-half, Ulster’s progress under Dan McFarland and Connacht’s good form are also up for debate.

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On this week’s episode of the Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by USA Eagles Head Coach Gary Gold and USA attack coach Greg McWilliams to discuss this weekend’s game and the state of US rugby.

Greg has previously been the Director of Rugby of St Michael’s College and the backs coach for the Irish women’s team so he is well placed to asses the current state of Irish rugby as well as the journey American rugby is going on.

Gary’s background as a former Springboks assistant and an ex-head coach in the Premiership gives him a unique perspective to talk about the state of world rugby as well as his American mission.

Ireland’s position in the world rugby rankings, USA’s potential and this weekend’s game are all on the agenda too.

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