Rugby Podcast Discussions

Rigor Mortis

There is an increasing number of podcasts dedicated to the game. Some of which are now attracting some decent contributors.

I was listening to Rugby Dungeon this evening and they had Ben Darwin on. An ex Aussie international, he is now running a moneyball style consultancy service. Really fascinating discussion about the dynamics of how to build a great team. Much praise for Leinster, Munster and the IRFU among others. Anyway, i thought that it might be worth having a Podcast discussion thread to review some of the topics that come up on the weekly shows.

For What its worth, my main weekly listens are Blood and Mud, Eggchasers and Rugby Dungeon

Dave_The_Sheep

Ruggamatrix has been around a long time, listen to them a fair bit though not lately.

Cookiemunster

The new Joe.ie pod the Hard Hards is pretty good. ROG, Donnacha O'Callaghan and Kevin McLoughlin have been on pretty regurlarly.

hunkydory1

'The Rugby Pod' with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode. V funny and a great hours listening

I like Eggchasers but obviously it's very English focused. I'd tend to download the Off The Ball rugby stuff too, generally on a Monday, Wednesday and sometimes BOD is in on a Friday.

It's summer now so I'd say a few of them might go on hiatus.

Hadn't heard of Rugby Dungeon before so I'll give it a go.

Rigor Mortis

Rugby Dungeon is one interview every week. Its the JB lad off Eggchasers.
Blood and Mud is worth a listen. A bit darker and swearier and there is a welsh guy on it, so the Pro 12 gets a better run

aloooof

I'd be a fan of Eggchasers as well, good and light-hearted. This might be controversial but I also really like Off the Ball's Wednesday Night Rugby with Keith Wood and the much maligned Gerry Thornley... (expecting a backlash on this!)

scrights

Wood/Thornley is awful.

wp_rathead

EggChasers is good, can be a bit Aviva Premiership centered but still good listen, their quizzes are very funny
Craggy Island Rugby is essential for Connacht fans and worth a listen even if not - wish every team had their own version of this
Off the Ball Rugby can be very hit or miss

aloooof

wp_rathead wrote: »

EggChasers is good, can be a bit Aviva Premiership centered but still good listen, their quizzes are very funny
Craggy Island Rugby is essential for Connacht fans and worth a listen even if not - wish every team had their own version of this
Off the Ball Rugby can be very hit or miss

I can't bear Off the Ball when Cummiskey is on it. Talks over everyone.

wp_rathead

aloooof wrote: »

I can't bear Off the Ball when Cummiskey is on it. Talks over everyone.

Ya he is painful to listen too and don't tend to listen if he is on the panel

conf101

I've listened to Eggchasers for a few years now and I love it but is anyone else starting to get sick of the constant Pro 12 bashing? It was funny for a while (and not without merit) but it's starting to wear a bit thin for me. I don't mind at all that the Pro 12 doesn't get nearly the same airtime as the Aviva, but I'm just kinda done with the constant bashing.

Quintis

Eggchasers is good, if sometimes a bit long, Rugby Dungeon depends on the guests with some very strong and some mixed episodes. Green and Gold is good for Super Rugby and Aussie rugby in paricular, they will cover the Lions a lot. Craggy Rugby for the Connacht supporters can be interesting. Rugby Tonight and Full contact can be a bit meh, same as the RTE Rugby one. There is The Thistle for Scottish rugby which can be good, Fantasy Rugby Draft for Super Rugby which gives a different player stat based insight, The Rugby Coaches Corner which is different, interviewing coaches and practices. The mix on the Hard Yard, Joe.ie podcast is good, Ferris, ROG and Donnacha. The Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton and Goode is good too.

Would listen to Hard Yards (Irish view), Eggchasers (Englisgh, Prem view) and Green & Gold (Aussie, Super Rugby view) most weeks, the rest are good but you could easily take them or leave them

Rigor Mortis

conf101 wrote: »

I've listened to Eggchasers for a few years now and I love it but is anyone else starting to get sick of the constant Pro 12 bashing? It was funny for a while (and not without merit) but it's starting to wear a bit thin for me. I don't mind at all that the Pro 12 doesn't get nearly the same airtime as the Aviva, but I'm just kinda done with the constant bashing.

In fairness, while i think it is OTT, when they actually explain the rational arguments against the Pro12, they do stack up. For as good as the top 6/7 teams are in the Pro12, we have more meaningless games, we have more games where top players are rested and Irish and Glasgow aside, the atmosphere at games does tend to be poor enough at times.

If you tire of Eggchasers for that reason try Blood and Mud. There is a welsh lad on that and they are more balanced on the whole Pro12 thing.

Yamanoto

hunkydory1 wrote: »

'The Rugby Pod' with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode. V funny and a great hours listening

Find the banter insufferable tbh.

Listen to Off the Ball, Brian Moore's Full Contact, Second Captains & Ruggamatrix

mogwai81

The Off the Ball roadshow (mainly Donncha O'Callaghan) was very good this week!

OldRio

mogwai81 wrote: »

The Off the Ball roadshow (mainly Donncha O'Callaghan) was very good this week!

+1 on this. Excellent entertainment.

Buer

mogwai81 wrote: »

The Off the Ball roadshow (mainly Donncha O'Callaghan) was very good this week!

Was at it. Sexton, as expected, is dull as dishwater but I imagine it was quite interesting listening.

DOC was great entertainment but it was also a decent insight into his life now as a 38 year old professional. I got the feeling that, whilst he's successful and loves his job, the life is a tad lonely.

Buer

Buer wrote: »

Was at it. Sexton, as expected, is dull as dishwater but I imagine it was quite interesting listening.

DOC was great entertainment but it was also a decent insight into his life now as a 38 year old professional. I got the feeling that, whilst he's successful and loves his job, the life is a tad lonely.

His wife and kids haven't moved with him to Worcester right (haven't listened yet)? I can imagine so then.

OldRio

Woody to Sexton "Did you hate him Johnny did ya hate him?"

Haha.

conf101

It was quality radio alright. Top notch stuff.

I actually thought Sexton was more interesting than I expected him to be. He has a very droll way of speaking but he still had a fair amount of interesting input and even cracked a few jokes. In fairness, he was surrounded by three big personalities who are well used to the media, I think that did him no favours.

Buer

OldRio wrote: »

Woody to Sexton "Did you hate him Johnny did ya hate him?"

Haha.

I can't remember if that was the one where he didn't actually speak? But he smiled at the audience and nodded hence the laughter. Wouldn't say it for the mic though!

Buer

Ximena Poor Matte wrote: »

His wife and kids haven't moved with him to Worcester right (haven't listened yet)? I can imagine so then.

Correct. He gets home for 48 hours every couple of weeks, apparently. Lives with one or two of the lads. Would be very tough but he has a very small window left and each year he keeps going is another big chunk of money in the bank for later life.

Loved a couple of his stories. Living with Matt Cox who was trying to hook up with some Irish girl who was over for Cheltenham via Tinder. Cox trying to get DOC to come along to break the ice so he could swoop in. He has a fantastic delivery.

CatFromHue

conf101 wrote: »

It was quality radio alright. Top notch stuff.

I actually thought Sexton was more interesting than I expected him to be. He has a very droll way of speaking but he still had a fair amount of interesting input and even cracked a few jokes. In fairness, he was surrounded by three big personalities who are well used to the media, I think that did him no favours.

Yeah I thought Sexton did well. He's not a natural at this like DOC or Woody are but he still kept it interesting and made the crowd laugh a bit too.

A few good little jokes about the Welsh getting selected for the Lions went down well :pac:

Anything with DOC and/or ROG on it are brilliant to listen to.

Pop up a lot on The Hard Yards. Definitely worth adding to your list.

Neil3030

Tried Eggchasers a few times, and I don't think I'll be sticking with it. One too many "Oirland" comments, and the guy calling his fantasy team "The President's Club" seems incredibly distasteful.

Quintis

Neil3030 wrote: »

Tried Eggchasers a few times, and I don't think I'll be sticking with it. One too many "Oirland" comments, and the guy calling his fantasy team "The President's Club" seems incredibly distasteful.

Ya, they are gone off the boil, an hour and 40 minutes is way too much ****e talk as well

Dog Botherer

Blood & Mud is the only one I can hack, sometimes the lads can get things very wrong but they're happy to admit it, plus they don't filter themselves at all. Definitely have more of an emphasis on English and Welsh rugby though. Lee and Josh have a very natural rapport, sounds more like two mates who love the game just having a chat and riffing off each other than other more formal podcasts.

Worth it for Josh's weekly rants about Welsh rugby and Lee's songs alone, really.

conf101

Quintis wrote: »

Ya, they are gone off the boil, an hour and 40 minutes is way too much ****e talk as well

I've listened to them for a few years and really enjoyed them, but lately I find myself rolling my eyes at a lot of what they say. Previously I could tolerate JB because I liked Phil and Tim but he's getting harder to listen to and the other two don't call him out on his sh1t enough.

Akrasia

Three Red Kings podcast is very good for Munster and Irish national rugby stuff

He does free podcasts but if you can spare 2 euros a month for patreon you get extra podcasts and access to his analysis and gifs before and after every munster and Irish match.

Rigor Mortis

Still enjoy Eggchasers, although I take the points being made here. I still think they have a nice blend going on. While the Oirish thing is annoying, most of the negative points they make about the ProXIV are probably fair.
Blood and Mud is really very good and I have gotten into the Hard Yards lately. In the Bin is fine too, I find the accents annoying but they are grand.

nordydan

The 1014 on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvv-9nUY-6zssj0uw4PrFKg

Dog Botherer

nordydan wrote: »

The 1014 on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvv-9nUY-6zssj0uw4PrFKg

I've tried watching them a few times, had to give up on them though because they were just a bit dull. Also, considering how heavily they work off of stats, it's bizarre how little they seem to know about any rugby outside of Ireland or NZ compared to even the average fan on here.

WeleaseWoderick

Started listening to the Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode recently. They both come across as genuinely funny and it's good to get a perspective that isn't just Ireland focused.

Not sure I'd listen to it outside of Six Nations or Champions Cup windows though as I've no real interest in the Premiership.

nordydan

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

Still enjoy Eggchasers, although I take the points being made here. I still think they have a nice blend going on. While the Oirish thing is annoying, most of the negative points they make about the ProXIV are probably fair.
Blood and Mud is really very good and I have gotten into the Hard Yards lately. In the Bin is fine too, I find the accents annoying but they are grand.

I think the Oirish thing is overstated, they slag off all the nations and themselves! It's good but too long, they should edit a bit more before releasing

mfceiling

Listened to Luke Fitzgerald's left wing podcast but unfortunately never again.

His pronunciation is terrible in that D4 way of putting an O before every word that has an I in it, or referring to every player by a nickname they once had made it very hard work.

Quintis

nordydan wrote: »

I think the Oirish thing is overstated, they slag off all the nations and themselves! It's good but too long, they should edit a bit more before releasing

I think they were overly harsh on Ireland on their grind it out win against France, writing them off, and then overly glowing about England's ability to grind it out against Wales, saying it is the sign of a champion team, think there are obvious biases/double standards which is to be expected

Rigor Mortis

WeleaseWoderick wrote: »

Started listening to the Rugby Pod with Jim Hamilton and Andy Goode recently. They both come across as genuinely funny and it's good to get a perspective that isn't just Ireland focused.

Not sure I'd listen to it outside of Six Nations or Champions Cup windows though as I've no real interest in the Premiership.

I listened to that a few times, its was like listening to a couple of 14 year old boys. Maybe i got bad episodes but it was too 'lads lads lads' for me

Sangre

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

I listened to that a few times, its was like listening to a couple of 14 year old boys. Maybe i got bad episodes but it was too 'lads lads lads' for me

It 100% is 'lads lads lads' but a lot of it is tongue in cheek. They do have some interesting guests and are obviously still very clued in to the game. Have broken a lot of rugby stories. They are also refreshingly honest about the characters in the game.

Not for everyone though and limited rugby analysis.

Sangre

Quintis wrote: »

Ya, they are gone off the boil, an hour and 40 minutes is way too much ****e talk as well

Yes, they really need to tighten up their programmes. I get the impression they are busier in their real lives now so less time for a more polished podcast. It would really improve the quality of the podcast.

Quintis

Sangre wrote: »

Yes, they really need to tighten up their programmes. I get the impression they are busier in their real lives now so less time for a more polished podcast. It would really improve the quality of the podcast.

Agree 100% length does not equal quality, I think a good 40-60 minute podcast is much better.

Also think Andy Goode is very knowledgeable, knows the game and players very well

ionadnapokot

“Snowed in” today & listening to Blood & Mud podcast. Not the greatest sound quality but quite funny - not for insightfull analysis.
I particularly like their **** - good section.
Last 17mins
http://www.bloodandmud.com/2018/02/podcast-100-six-nations-round-3-mike-bubbins.html

Dog Botherer

ionadnapokot wrote: »

“Snowed in” today & listening to Blood & Mud podcast. Not the greatest sound quality but quite funny - not for insightfull analysis.
I particularly like their **** - good section.
Last 17mins
http://www.bloodandmud.com/2018/02/podcast-100-six-nations-round-3-mike-bubbins.html

I've noticed the few times they go for some insightful analysis they very often get it wrong. It's grand though, because they don't care at all.

Lee's song about the Cardiff Blues on last week's podcast nearly had me in tears laughing driving to work. Dangerous stuff.

RugbyLover123

Eggchasers - Listen to this every week, easy listen when driving etc. Have some good insights and well connected to some Prem clubs. Make good points about the game too which I'd agree with for the most part.

The Rugby Pod - tried to get into but find they can get lost in trying to be a bit laddish amid their analysis of games/teams.

Hard Yards - Finding this more & more difficult to listen to. Usually have some very good guests but the interviewer is awful imo and can ask some very random questions. Voices quite bland and talk can be repetitive at times. Also don't get the need why they need to play the Donnacha O'C chat about Murder she Wrote every episode.

Left Wing - liking this more. Understand the chat about Luke and his nicknames etc but he has some good insights into the game at times and don't think he's too bad an interviewer.

RugbyLover123

RugbyLover123 wrote: »

Eggchasers - Listen to this every week, easy listen when driving etc. Have some good insights and well connected to some Prem clubs. Make good points about the game too which I'd agree with for the most part.

The Rugby Pod - tried to get into but find they can get lost in trying to be a bit laddish amid their analysis of games/teams.

Hard Yards - Finding this more & more difficult to listen to. Usually have some very good guests but the interviewer is awful imo and can ask some very random questions. Voices quite bland and talk can be repetitive at times. Also don't get the need why they need to play the Donnacha O'C chat about Murder she Wrote every episode.

Left Wing - liking this more. Understand the chat about Luke and his nicknames etc but he has some good insights into the game at times and don't think he's too bad an interviewer.

Largely agree with all this. I can see why the Left Wing might be grating for some but as a Leinster supporter Luke Fitz has access to the players and in recent times he's had Heaslip, Ruddock, McFadden all on for full hour podcasts which I find really excellent. But it is basically a Leinster podcast.

I've bounced off the Hard Yards now. I listen to the other two regularly.

Bazzo

ionadnapokot wrote: »

“Snowed in” today & listening to Blood & Mud podcast. Not the greatest sound quality but quite funny - not for insightfull analysis.
I particularly like their **** - good section.
Last 17mins
http://www.bloodandmud.com/2018/02/podcast-100-six-nations-round-3-mike-bubbins.html

Just gave it a listen there. Let's see:

Bit of a backhanded congrats to Heaslip on his career, felt the need to mention they've thought he is a flat track bully and overrated in the past, and go on to mention that he has been noticeably declining recently and I think one of them said it was probably injuries catching up with him(???). On to the Ireland Wales game now and moaning about the ref, two Ireland tries were "scandalous", "Ireland were crossing about 12 times in the first half and not penalised". Very much a "We're not saying the ref is why we lost BUT..."

Ehhh ok, think I've had enough tbh. Some funny enough comments, probably grand to listen to if you're a Welsh fan. Similar enough to The Left Wing for me..

ionadnapokot

Bazzo wrote: »

Just gave it a listen there. Let's see:

Bit of a backhanded congrats to Heaslip on his career, felt the need to mention they've thought he is a flat track bully and overrated in the past, and go on to mention that he has been noticeably declining recently and I think one of them said it was probably injuries catching up with him(???). On to the Ireland Wales game now and moaning about the ref, two Ireland tries were "scandalous", "Ireland were crossing about 12 times in the first half and not penalised". Very much a "We're not saying the ref is why we lost BUT..."

Ehhh ok, think I've had enough tbh. Some funny enough comments, probably grand to listen to if you're a Welsh fan. Similar enough to The Left Wing for me..

Ok!
Like Dog Botherer I get a kick out of the English lads impresssions. He does a good Eddie Jones.
he called Joe an albino toddler face!!!

Bazzo

ionadnapokot wrote: »

Ok! I think it’s good for a laugh. Like Dog Bother I get a kick out of the English lads impresssions. He does a good Eddie Jones.
he called Joe an albino toddler face!!!

Yeah like I said, funny in bits, but the content was extremely biased.

ionadnapokot

Bazzo wrote: »

Yeah like I said, funny in bits, but the content was extremely biased.

Yea It’s not for an Irish audience. As in it’s not targeting Irish listenership.
I think I’ve reached a limit on the Irish stuff at the moment. I’ll be back on board my bandwagon on Monday!

Rigor Mortis

Bazzo wrote: »

Just gave it a listen there. Let's see:

. On to the Ireland Wales game now and moaning about the ref, two Ireland tries were "scandalous", "Ireland were crossing about 12 times in the first half and not penalised". Very much a "We're not saying the ref is why we lost BUT..."

Ehhh ok, think I've had enough tbh. Some funny enough comments, probably grand to listen to if you're a Welsh fan. Similar enough to The Left Wing for me..

In fairness, they were both very clear that Ireland were the better team and should have won by more. The line about crossing was totally fair. We have been getting away with that all season.

One of the better things about listening to the UK based pods is that you get a different non green tinged view of things. I think on balance, you get a lot of respect for the IRFU and for the provinces.

Bazzo

Rigor Mortis wrote: »

In fairness, they were both very clear that Ireland were the better team and should have won by more. The line about crossing was totally fair. We have been getting away with that all season.

One of the better things about listening to the UK based pods is that you get a different non green tinged view of things. I think on balance, you get a lot of respect for the IRFU and for the provinces.

Living in England for nearly 5 years now I think I probably regularly get a pretty non green tinged look at things anyway. Again, I thought it was a very backhanded "We didn't lose the game because of the ref BUT...". I would call that podcast a very red tinged view on things. Probably grand(and very funny at times to be fair) listening if you're a Welsh fan, but I find anything that slanted extremely grating.