The Ruck

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PLUS

Was Will Spencer correctly sent off, is this the best ever start to a Premiership season, will Argentina be as formidable in 2019 as they were in 2015 and is there cause to ban "jackling" and bring back rucking? 

Stephen Jones welcomes Stuart Barnes, Steven James and Alex Lowe for a lively half hour of debate. 

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In a Ruck Podcast special Owen Slot debates the big questions around safety in the game: is rugby is too dangerous, should my kids be playing rugby, what is tolerable risk, what could be done to make rugby safer, and if you tinker with the game, could you destroy it?

He's joined on the panel by Alistair Hargreaves, former Saracens player who retired early after a string of concussions, Sam Peters, Sunday Times journalist, who has continually highlighted the dangers of concussion in rugby and Ross Tucker, sports scientist and consultant to World Rugby & RFU on this subject.

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Owen Slot welcomes Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones and Adam Hathaway to review the opening week of the domestic season. 

They reflect on the superb occasion at Ashton Gate, suggest different teams as the stand out side from week one, before comprehensively reviewing every fixture, including troubling times for Bath.  

Later the panel bemoan the lack of competition in the Pro 14 before analysing the amount youngsters are playing as teenagers before finishing with a brand new "God of the week".

This podcast was recorded before Matt O’Connor left Leicester Tigers.

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The Ruck returns as Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Alex Lowe and Alan Dymock.

The panel comprehensively preview the new Premiership season and form agreement on the winners and who will be relegated. 

There's also a look ahead to the Pro 14, and whether France are stealing a march on England by playing their young players sooner in the Top 14. 

Finally there's disagreement about the biggest issue facing the game, a summer holiday round up and the vital selection of The Ruck's first "God of the week" 

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Rugby World’s Alan Dymock hosts a podcast on a delicate subject: some rugby players’ struggles with alcohol misuse and addiction.

Joined by Owen Slot and Alex Lowe, and aided by a host of telling interviews including Jason Robinson, the team pick through the issue and consider what help is and isn’t out there for athletes with these or similar mental health issues.

Listen to one medic explain how some players struggling with addiction issues have been listed as having had a chronic injury instead and moved on to unsuspecting clubs. With medical examinations focused on the body and not the mind, should there be an embargo on moving on players who are struggling with drink or drugs?

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Recorded in South Africa, Owen Slot and Stephen Jones dissect another chastening test for English rugby, assessing where the key problems lie.

They point to Eddie Jones over complicating things in the England setup, the need to bring experienced players back to all positions and both have their say on the misconception the press is loving the English downturn.

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Recorded in Umhlanga Rocks, South Africa. Stephen Jones is joined by Owen Slot, Nick Cain and Stuart Barnes.

The panel review an astonishing first test and ask why England still can't handle an increase of pace, how South Africa's pragmatic selection helped them enormously and what changes England have to make?

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Stephen Jones speaks to Ben Ryan, coach of the Fiji 7's team who Olympic gold in Rio 2016.

They cover the challenges of working in a different culture, how the RFU machine led Ben to become a "poor version of himself", why other teams were overtrained and too serious, how rugby is making mistakes other sports did 30 years ago and why he'd love to improve rugby in state schools.

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