The Second Captains Podcast

Brian Fenton broke the (GAA) internet this week by announcing his retirement. We spoke to Fenton’s former Dublin teammate Paul Flynn, who thinks the Leinster Football Championship is now up for grabs.

Gavan Casey and Andy Lee joined us to discuss Hawk Tuah, Rosie Perez and Taylor V Serrano. Miguel Delaney chatted with Ken about his new book States of Play, and we give a sneak peek of our Shane O’Donnell interview live from The Olympia Theatre. 

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Ireland were ahead 22-9 at half time, at home, with three tries banked and the fans fully behind them - but instead of a comfortable win, they survived a last minute Argentinian onslaught to scrape home by 3 points. It was a win, against a good team, but the coaches didn't look too happy afterwards.

We chat to Shane Horgan and Gerry Thornley about the 13 penalties conceded, Ireland's issues with phase play and kick chase, the good form of both 10s, and the big decisions Farrell will have to make for the Fiji game.

Plus there's French rugby theatre, the rise of the south, and biased boxing commentators. 

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Richie Sadlier joins us to talk about Ireland's... memorable trip to Wembley. 

We talk about the first half and how we all felt at half-time. We talk about the unpleasant turn things took in the second half and how by the end we felt nothing at all. 

It's humiliating to talk about positives but maybe we can compare degrees of negativity. For example, it's officially 

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Are You Sick Of Winning Yet? 

Sure, Finland could have scored several goals and were desperately unfortunate to lose by a goal to nil - but as the Scoreboard Captains podcast has always insisted, winning isn't everything, it's the only thing. 

We talk about how high the standard of expectation needs to be set for Evan Ferguson and gush about how Ireland are enchanting a new generation of young fans. 

Damien Delaney joins us to analyse the game: what was the system anyway? why did we look defensively unstable? What could be done to change that? Does Caoimhin Kelleher have a chance of being Liverpool's number one? And are there any grounds for hope for a result against England at Wembley? 

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A brand new trailer for a brand new BBC Sounds series from the production team who brought you Where Is George Gibney?, Ken chatting to Daniel Wiffen, Ken chatting about David Coote, and a conversation with Gavan Casey, who's on the ground in Dallas ahead of Taylor-Serrano II and Mike Tyson-Jake Paul this Friday.

It's been a helluva week on the World Service so far, and we're bringing you a taste of it today. If you like what you hear and you want more independent, member-led broadcasting, you can sign up at secondcaptains.com/join.

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Branno was among the 38000 at the Aviva to see Drogheda win the FAI Cup final against Derry City - but the 2024 season isn't quite over yet. 

We talk about the violence in Amsterdam around last Thursday's match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv, which drew the attention of world leaders in a manner unlike any Europa League game before. 

Dion Fanning and Gavin Cooney join us in studio to talk about the weekend's Premier League. Why have Manchester City lost four in a row and what are the chances of them reverting to normal? Why can't Arsenal build any momentum to chase them? Is Ange Postecoglou going to make it to Christmas? Are Liverpool really going to win this thing at a canter? 

And with international week now OPEN we debate Heimir Hallgrimsson's scouting policy and whether Wyscout is any substitute for the high carbon-burn human touch.

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Ireland made 21 handling errors and conceded 13 penalties in an error-strewn 10-point loss to NZ on Friday night. But was it all James Lowe's fault for geeing up the crowd while celebrating a kick!!?

We chat to Gerry Thornley and Shane Horgan about this performance in isolation, and in the context of this Ireland team's form over the last few years, about Farrell's spiky post-match press conference, about what happened the attack, if both outhalves are damaged by what happened, what changes are coming in what is now a huge game against Argentina, and Australia's magical last-second win in Twickenham. 

And we have big news about a Second Captains investigative series launching this week on BBC Sounds, from the production team behind “Where Is George Gibney?”. If you subscribed to the "Where Is George Gibney?" podcast feed, that feed is now called COVER, and that’s where you’ll be able to hear this new series. If not simply search “Cover - BBC Sounds” in your podcast app; the journey starts tomorrow, Tuesday the 12th November.

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It's been a brilliant and very, very varied week on the Second Captains World Service. On Tuesday, we spoke to former Leinster and Australia star Rocky Elsom, who's currently in hiding having been found guilty of financial crimes and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison in a French court last month. He says he was never made aware of the trial, and insists he's innocent. 

On Wednesday night, we took to the Gaiety theatre for a jam-packed show which included a brilliant chat with two of Shelbourne's League of Ireland-winning players, Sean Boyd and John O'Sullivan. 

And we previewed Ireland's first autumn series international against the All Blacks with Gerry Thornley and the BBC's Chris Jones, a fixture which nowadays contains nothing but BEEF.

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The mighty (?) All Blacks are in town this week, fresh from a narrow, opportunistic win over England. They weren't outstanding.... besides the three incredible tries they scored. Post-peak NZ are not great, but still very good, and will take some beating on Friday night in Lansdowne Road.

Jamie Wall is in studio to talk about Ballygunner's path to All-Ireland club glory, the breath of fresh air provided by new champions and new names at the top table... and the legacy of James McCarthy, the Dublin football legend who retired earlier today. He might just have been the greatest footballer on the greatest team of all time. 

We also salute the exquisite news-nose of Eoin's 5-year old son, and there's an extremely wholesome story related to the 2024 Footballer of the Year, Galway's Paul Conroy. 

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They've only gone and done it... we talk about Shelbourne's title win and how Damien Duff has succeeded where some illustrious predecessors failed.

The season keeps getting better and better for Liverpool as Arne Slot keeps winning matches and rivals keep having problems.

Mark Critchley and John Brewin join us to talk over some more of the weekend's football. How did Manchester United's thinking evolve since last month, when Mark felt sacking Erik ten Hag would be too embarrassing for the club's hierarchy? Has Enzo Maresca finally found a Chelsea midfield combination that works? How did Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth beat Manchester City on Saturday afternoon? And what do they think of the news that Edu is leaving Arsenal when glory seems almost within their grasp?

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