It's been another bumper week on the World Service and we want to serve you up a tempting slice of the action. 

There was our chat with Dara Ó Briain live from London on the best summer of his sporting life, Barney Ronay and John Brewin on the still smouldering City-Arsenal discourse, and a sneak preview of our brilliant chat with legendary former League of Ireland player and manager Dermot Keely, which goes out tomorrow. 

Plus one of the country's best GAA journalists Cahair O'Kane joined us to talk about the end of the Casement Park Euro 2028 dream and where we go from here. 

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The sport of rugby barely survived the Ken Early Rugby Special on Second Captains last week, but after a weekend deluge of tries, drama and upsets, it's back, baby!

We do a quick series recap of "last season, in rugby" including a reminder that the international team did rather well in 2023/24, while the provinces struggled.

Gerry Thornley joins us to discuss the 10-try interpro that went loco, Connacht's dynamic halfback duo, Munster's brain drain, Ireland and Leinster's outhalf subplot, Ulster's last-gasp win and the rise of coach Contepomi.

Plus there's bridesmaid Rory McIlroy's continuing psycho drama, Tony Ward the codebreaker and Ireland, THE NUMBER 1 TEAM IN THE WORLD.

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We had been told that Manchester City/Arsenal games are guaranteed snooze-fests, but it turns out we had been misinformed. John Stones got the final goal of a 2-2 thriller in the eighth minute of injury time, and it was a game so rich in drama, so packed with shithousery, and so laden with meaning for this year's Premier League title race that we simply had to hear from Jonathan Wilson and Gavin Cooney.

It might not have been a good week for Mr Mourinho in Turkey, but it will have gladdened his heart to tune into the Greatest League In The World to see both the top 2 turn into Jose teams.  

It turns out he had the answers all along - why have a back 5 when you can have a back 6, and when all else fails, why not put a centre-half up top and try and get him on the end of a few diags.  

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On this week's World Service roundup; Ken offers fresh perspective on Mikel Arteta's professional pickpocketer scheme, Eoin reopens a 34-year-old debate as to who was at fault for Toto Schillaci's goal that booted us out of Italia 90, and we share some of our chat with the great Katie McCabe live from the eartH Theatre in London last week.

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Rory McIlroy was 4 shots clear at the top of the leaderboard early in yesterday's final round of the Irish Open, was playing at his home-from-home course Royal County Down, against a field shy on world class golfers... nothing could possibly go wrong.

Malachy Clerkin of the Irish Times wants to take away the stigma of choking in sport, thinks putting is the base issue and explains why he thinks Rory will win another major, but simultaneously comes to the realisation that he may be the last person alive to admit that these late-Sunday collapses are a problem.

The 1,700 page report into the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in west London in 2017, released 12 days ago, accused Kingspan of “deeply entrenched and persistent dishonesty” and having a “complete disregard for fire safety”. We discuss Shane Lowry ending his association with Kingspan and whether Cavan GAA should follow suit.

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If Ange Postecoglou's set-up yesterday harked back to the days of Ossie Ardiles, Mikel Arteta's Arsenal paid tribute to the spirit of an even earlier time. The Basque has reconnected Arsenal with their roots - and what lies beneath. 

We also talk about Heimir Hallgrimsson's blithe lack of concern for Optics.

Jack Pitt-Brooke joins us to talk about the North London derby, the measures Ange Postecoglou has taken to address what are quickly becoming world-famous problems, and how Arsenal are likely to approach a week when they've had no favours from the fixture computer.

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We welcomed Eddie Dunbar into studio last summer to talk about the impact that a series of devastating crashes had on his career and his health.  Since then he has had another run of injuries including in this year's Giro D'Italia, but with that bad luck finally behind him, Dunbar has just won 2 stages of the Vuelta España, the second of which is the biggest win of his life. 

We talk to cycling journalist Cillian Kelly today about why this was such a timely reminder of Eddie’s class, why he has had so many crashes and what the future holds for the Cork cyclist.

This weekend Branno took a time machine back to a more sedate, more gentrified Dublin, and he is now a fully-fledged polo man and a fan of complicated menus and the British commonwealth.

Plus there’s a defeat for democracy at Central Council, and Oasis break the news of the status quo being maintained for another season in the GAA.

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You want it to be one way. You want it to be one way. You want it to be one way. But it's the other way. 

Rice '11, Grealish '26 - a script written by an English sadist. Did we manifest this? 

Damien Delaney and Richie Sadlier join us to sift through the wreckage. What didn't they like about Ireland's approach? What could we have done instead? And what should we do next? 

We also hear the latest from the press conference where John O'Shea had to insist that he is not actually at the wheel of the national team. 

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On this week's World Service tasting platter we drum up some excitement ahead of Saturday's Nations League showdown with England, Ken goes toe-to-toe with Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce on TalkSport and Craig Ray tells us why Ellis Park in Johannesburg is the toughest place to go in world rugby,

And the brilliant Ellen Keane chats to us about seeing magic, introverted extroverts and seeking spontaneity.

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This year's US Open will be the first in 20 years to not feature at least one of Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, or Roger Federer in the round of 16. This is a....good thing?

Novak Djokovic's shock departure came less than 24 hours after Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz also crashed out of the tournament. We dial in to New York City to chat to Caitlin Thompson of Racquet Magazine.

Ballygunner win again in Waterford as a Comer hop-ball sends Murph’s (original) club packing in Galway, and Scottish Rugby players have been running their mouth again.

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