The Ruck

By The TimesSports News Sports News Rugby

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Typical duration
36 min
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The Ruck episodes

October 20, 2025 Caluori's surprise inclusion, Willis' shock departure - England's November squad!
Alfie, Alex and Will are at England's training base after Steve Borthwick announced his training squad ahead of the November internationals. Teenage sensation Noah Caluori has been fast-tracked into the set-up, could he genuinely play a role next month? Owen Farrell isn't a part of this squad but will he return to international duty in the future? And, what does Tom Willis' move to Bordeaux next year, which makes him ineligible for England, tell us?

Plus, the boys look back on the PREM action over the weekend including brutal defeats for Harlequins, Gloucester and Sale.
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48 min
October 13, 2025 Does rugby want R360?
Alfie, Alex and Will question whether the rugby establishment wants to see R360 - the new global franchise competition - be successful. It follows last week's announcement by eight of the world's top unions that players who sign-up will be banned from international selection. So they ask how much of a setback is this for the organisers? What questions do they need to come out and answer? And, could the disruption actually be a good thing for the game!?

Plus, they discuss what England's backline could look like for the November internationals, in particular does Owen Farrell return and who starts at fly-half? And, give their view on what the big talking points in the sport will be come the end of 2025. Will the Springboks have asserted their dominance? Will Ireland have dropped off? And where on earth will Wales be?
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1 hr 2 min
October 09, 2025 Two Lions on the pod: Fin Smith staying at Saints & Tommy Freeman’s positional switch.
Ahead of 'Derby Weekend' in the Gallagher PREM, Will Kelleher heads to the midlands to chat to Northampton Saints. He speaks with Director of Rugby Phil Dowson, plus two of the clubs British & Irish Lions in Fin Smith and Tommy Freeman.

Fin explains that wanting to earn more caps for England was a big motivation for signing a contract extension, despite the lure of R360. And find out why he was disappointed with his performances on the Lions tour.

Tommy Freeman brings up his 100th Saints appearance on the weekend so he reflects on the journey to this point and discusses what the future might hold. Will he be a 13 going forward?

Plus, Phil Dowson looks ahead to a big East Midlands derby against Leicester Tigers!
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44 min
October 06, 2025 Lewis Moody's heart-breaking MND diagnosis - what is sport's connection to the disease?
2003 World Cup winner Lewis Moody has announced that he has motor neurone disease, so, Alex Lowe and Stuart Barnes join Alfie Reynolds to pay tribute to a great man and brilliant player. Tom Kershaw also discusses his investigation for The Times earlier in the year where he looked into the links between elite sportspeople and MND.

They also look back on the second weekend of the PREM and ask whether Newcastle were correct to part ways with Steve Diamond and if it's too early to view Bath and Saracens as the best two clubs in the division. It was the opening weekend for the CHAMP which saw the return of Worcester Warriors, their back-rower Matt Kvesic chats to Alfie and Alex.

And, Stuart explains why 2025 was the best Rugby Championship we've ever seen.
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55 min
September 30, 2025 The Champ, The Prem, and the future of English club rugby
Promotion and relegation, franchising and the rugby pyramid; these are all issues that are so fundamental to the state of English rugby, and things so few people agree on.

So, to tackle these meaty topics Will and Alex go to Twickenham to meet Simon Gillham, the chair of the new Tier 2 board, and vice-president of French Pro D2 side Brive.

Can the Champ, which relaunches this weekend, and the Prem finally get on, coexist and thrive together?

How could promotion to the top flight work? Will London Irish return like Worcester Warriors have?

And Will there be an end to "self-interest" on all sides? We discuss it all, and rattle through the news from the opening round of the Prem, plus the finale of The Rugby Championship.

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1 hr 7 min
September 27, 2025 Red Roses glory as England win home World Cup
England are world champions! The Red Roses have won the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup so outside Twickenham Alfie, Elgan and Alex look back on the final and the tournament as a whole. They ask what this moment will mean for women's rugby in England? And, what it will mean for the women's game as a whole as other unions play catch up to this all conquering England side? They dissect the performance and credit England's dominance in the final over Canada, plus talk about the job John Mitchell has done as head coach.
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27 min
September 23, 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup final preview!
This weekend England face Canada in the Women's Rugby World Cup final. Alfie and Elgan look ahead to the match and ask if the Red Roses can finally get over the line and become world champions. How big a burden are the psychological scars from previous failures? Will it be a seminal moment in the history of women's rugby in England? And, has this tournament broken through to new audiences outside of rugby circles? Alfie also chats to Red Roses legend Rocky Clark who admits it will be an emotional moment watching them play in front of a sold out Twickenham.
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40 min
September 22, 2025 'PREM' season preview - A new Red Bull era and Thursday night rugby
The new season is here! Ahead of domestic rugby restarting Alfie and Will are at Twickenham to look ahead to the action. It's been a huge summer of change at Newcastle who are now owned by Red Bull, so Director of Rugby Steve Diamond explains what that means for the club and how they can start looking up the table. The season kicks off on Thursday night as Sale host Gloucester, so Sale Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson looks ahead to that and reveals he was watching on in awe at Tom Curry during the Lions tour. Alex and Will then speak with PREM Rugby CEO Simon Massie-Taylor who explains that the league is in a great place, why they decided to rebrand and who he thinks will win the title!
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1 hr 4 min
September 16, 2025 Were Ireland robbed of a World Cup semi-final?
Alfie and Elgan are at the England team hotel ahead of their semi-final against France in the World Cup this weekend. They chat to second-row Morwenna Talling following her player of the match performance against Scotland. They also look back on all the other quarter-final action and ask whether Ireland were unlucky that France's Axelle Berthoumieu wasn't shown a red card for biting but instead only banned retrospectively. Plus, what next for South Africa and Scotland following excellent campaigns? And, who will progress into the final? They also round up another brilliant weekend of action in the Rugby Championship.
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47 min
September 09, 2025 Is an England v New Zealand final the best thing for the World Cup?
The Women's World Cup is into the knockout rounds! Ahead of the quarter-finals Alfie and Elgan are at Twickenham where they chat to the Managing Director of the tournament Sarah Massey. They discuss the great attendances during the pool stages, TV viewership and the importance of growing women's rugby. They also ask whether New Zealand displayed their title credentials for the first time at the weekend and whether the Black Ferns meeting England in the final is the ideal match-up. Plus, Fiji beat Wales for their first win over northern hemisphere opposition, Australia caused England problems and John Mitchell has injury concerns ahead of the last-8. They also round up the action in the Rugby Championship.
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37 min

About The Ruck

From the publisher's feed

The podcast they play in heaven.

Join Alfie, Alex, Will and Charlie along with the best of The Times and The Sunday Times rugby writers as they ruck over the best games and biggest names…