The Ruck

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Eddie Jones is one of the finest, sharpest and most inventive coaches in rugby union and this year he will lead England to a World Cup.

In this episode of the new in-depth Times Sport podcast, LifeTimes, he describes how he has always been an outsider, why his drive to create conflict once led him to kiss an opponent and how he has had to evolve as a coach and a person.

In an hour with Matt Dickinson he also speaks of his grandparents’ experience in an American internment camp, the mistakes he made with Australia and the books he believes have made him a better coach.

Make sure you go and subscribe to LifeTimes so that you never miss an episode, including the opening show with Paul Pogba and the second episode with England forward Fran Kirby.

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Shambles of the season...

In the final Ruck podcast of the series Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot and Alex Lowe to pay tribute to Exeter and praise Saracens after a breathtaking Premiership final.

Plus the panel select their articles of the year, stories they missed, the best interviews and a favourite venue before highlighting what England need to add to compete in Japan.  

Finally Owen and Alex pick their top five Stephen Jones rants of the 2018/2019 campaign. 

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Coaching, culture, recruitment, the salary cap, all of the above?

Owen Slot heads to the pub with former players Alistair Hargreaves, Chris Wyles and Will Fraser to try and find the definitive answer ahead of the Premiership final.

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Stephen Jones welcomes Stuart Barnes, Alex Lowe and Adam Hathaway to assess every Premiership clubs season. 

The panel then predict and preview the Premiership semi finals and Pro 14 final.

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Owen Slot, Mark Evans and Michael Aylwin reflect on Saracens triumph, and who who can stop them in future. 

Then Mark and Micheal talk about their new book, arguing rugby is now at a crossroads where a number of issues will either be resolved or cause the sport to decline.

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Stephen Jones sits down with Lawrence Dallaglio to remember his career in Europe and preview the Champions Cup final.  

Dallaglio also delivers his assessment of Wasps season and explains why the world cup winning team of 2003 need a pathway to influential positions in the game. 

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This week Owen Slot is joined by Ben Ryan, Chris Jones and Alex Lowe.

The questions to the panel are: Is this really the most exciting Premiership ever? Who is the best signing of the year? We also speculate on who the next England coach might be and Ben Ryan gives us the details on Rugby X - what's being called the T20 of Rugby and why it's necessary for rugby's future.

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Stephen Jones travels to Franklin's Gardens ahead of the decisive Premier 15's final between Saracens and Harlequins on Saturday.

Captains Lotte Clapp and Rachael Burford explain what victory would mean for their respective sides before expanding on the recent revolution in the women's game.

Coaches Gary Street and Alex Austerberry reflect on preparing players who can be balancing jobs with training and the influx of new young talent into women's rugby.

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Saracens, football behaviour and half games 

Stephen Jones presents from Franklin's Gardens with Owen Slot, Nick Cain and Adam Hathaway. 

Is football behaviour creeping into rugby, who shone in the Champions Cup, why isn't every nation in for the Saracens coaching team, can the cuts to grass roots rugby be explained and will the relegation battle continue to the end of the season? 

Finally do you back Slot or Jones on the new half game proposals?

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Owen Slot and Stephen Jones sit down with referee Wayne Barnes to review the week in rugby. 

The panel discuss great rugby comebacks in honour of Tiger Woods, the fall out from Israel Folau and Billy Vunipola's social media comments and the Champions Cup semi-finals.  

PLUS Wayne Barnes on how he'd make the game safer.

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talkSPORT presents Bloodgate: 10 Years On 

The scandal stained the reputation of Harlequins and the image of Rugby. 

We return to April 12 2009 and speak to some of the key individuals involved in the match, the subsequent cover-up and fall-out. This includes Tom Williams - the player at the centre of Bloodgate. In addition, we interview some of the biggest names in the sport including Sir Clive Woodward, Brian O'Driscoll, Michael Cheika, Lawrence Dallaglio and Nigel Owens. We also uncover new evidence and allegations that point towards widespread cheating practices that go to the very top of Rugby. 

Presented by former Times Rugby correspondent Mark Souster. 

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Stephen Jones welcomes Rochelle Clark, Christian Day and Owen Slot for a packed review of the weekends action and detailed focus on RPA charity Restart Rugby. 

First the panel review the Premiership games after another amazing weekend which leaves Newcastle v Leicester as the potential match of the season. 

Then RPA player liaison officer, Christian Day outlines the Restart Rugby project which helps players both current and former with coping with a range of issues. All the Premiership clubs are raising awareness and funds this weekend.

Finally Rochelle previews the Premier 15's semi-final weekend.  

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Owen Slot, welcomes Alan Dymock, Sam Peters and Rory Teague.

They cover Leicester's relegation threat and the laws of the game being reviewed in Paris. 

Also Rory Teague unpacks his time coaching at Bordeaux and debates the cultural differences between French and English rugby.

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Was Wales win a one off? Can Wales win the World Cup? Did England have a plan B? 

Owen Slot welcomes Sarah Hunter, Stephen Jones and Ben Ryan to unpick the latest round of the six nations in both the men's and women's games. 

PLUS 

The panel debate whether up to 600 tackles in a match is too much, and if the spectacle is getting worse.

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6 NATIONS Week 3 Preview

Stephen Jones is joined by Mark Evans, Alex Lowe and Steve James to preview a huge Six Nations match between England and Wales this weekend, look forward to the weekend's other games and pick their God or Goddess of the week

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Owen Slot welcomes World Cup winners Lawrence Dallaglio, Michael Lynagh and Sarah Hunter to contextualize England’s crushing defeat of France. 

They discuss why England’s coaching team deserve praise and ask if the kicking game seen in recent weeks is a tactical innovation or a reintroduced old trick. 

PLUS why the current French management defies logic and do Italy need to justify their place in the tournament?  

Finally Sarah Hunter rounds up the womens Six Nations so far.

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Owen Slot welcomes Stuart Barnes, Stephen Jones, Peter O'Reilly and Sarah Hunter to discuss a fantastic opening weekend in the Six Nations.

They cover where the victory sits in great English performances, there is disagreement about the implications for the World Cup and do Ireland now face a repeat of England's meltdown campaign from last year? 

PLUS England captain Sarah Hunter guides us through the main talking points in the women's six nations and humble pie is on the menu as the panel pick their 'God of the Week'.

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Stephen Jones welcomes Stuart Barnes, Nick Cain and red top king Adam Hathaway to preview the greatest tournament in rugby.

Peter O'Reilly explains the mood in the Irish camp and why this is the best Ireland team he's ever seen ahead of the the Six Nations.

Also is this still the fan tournament? We review the vast cost of attending the matches before finishing with God or Goddess of the week.

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Stephen Jones welcomes Nick Easter, Simon Halliday and Nigel Botherway to cover a wide range of topics.

Nick Easter outlines the lure of coaching in South Africa.

Plus the rule change which means teams can't relax in Europe, the key man for Saracens this year and why was Munster vs Exeter so engrossing?

Looking ahead to the Six Nations what grade would the Eddie Jones era get, and is it a problem everyone now plays the same way?

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To coincide with Stuart Barnes' new book, Stephen Jones grills his old friend on his life in rugby. 

Including: why the book doesn't have a chronological structure, why a stag do fight with Jeremy Guscott's helped his career? How a fear of failure stifled chances with England and how he regrets the lack of sports phycology when he played the game.

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Stephen Jones welcomes Stuart Barnes, Mark Palmer and Martin Gillingham to focus on Scottish and French teams in Europe.

There's also a preview of this weekend's Champions Cup action and a early look ahead to the Six Nations. 

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Owen Slot welcomes Alex Lowe, Al Dymock, and Mark Evans to discuss big issues off the field.

Is the club breakaway threat credible and could relegation still be scrapped this season?

On the field the Premiership continues to thrill but how high is the standard, has the quality of the English clubs been exposed in Europe?

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Owen Slot hosts Stephen Jones and Adam Hathaway to digest a remarkable week of rugby. 

First, Sam Peters joins the podcast to discuss his altercation with Sale Director of Rugby Steve Diamond and explains why he won't be making a formal complaint, and the panel consider the role of journalists in rugby. 

PLUS Has Alex Dombrandt's starring role usurped Chris Robshaw, was the alleged spitting incident resolved correctly, and who has the boldest prediction for 2019? 

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Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Steve James and Mark Evans for a festive special.

Can the panel cope with Owen's quiz of the year, which are the best grounds on the planet and who from the rugby world would be invited to Christmas dinner?

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Stephen Jones welcomes former England international Danielle Waterman, Sunday Times writer Sam Peters and Adam Hathaway.  

The panel review the fourth pool round of the Champions Cup, reveal their Christmas wishes, name their best ever teams and debate the next steps for safety of the game after the tragic death of Nicolas Chauvin.

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Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Steve James and Mark Evans to review another entertaining weekend of rugby in Europe.

The panel debate: is the money so big in the Premiership and Top 14 big sides are focusing more domestically than on the Champions Cup, can the demise of Wasps and Leicester be explained by club culture, and how do the Welsh sides fight back?

There's also a bizarre selection for the "God of the week".

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Owen Slot is joined by Alex Lowe, Ben Ryan and Nick Easter. 

Ring-fencing looms. With so many teams in the relegation fight, will the Premiership scrap relegation, perhaps as early as this season or should they maintain the current structure? (starts at 24.23) 

PLUS Ben Ryan outlines problems with the RFU's coaching pathways comparing with other approaches around the world as Nick Easter details his experience in South Africa as a young coach and the panel debate the best way to develop backroom talent. 

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Owen Slot welcomes Michael Lynagh, Adam Hathaway and Stephen Jones to discuss another thrilling weekend of internationals.  

The panel exalt Ireland's superb performance and unpack where the All Blacks go from here with Adam contrasting certainty with the Irish starting line up against the question marks against almost every English position. 

Owen and Stephen disagree whether England have made any progress since they "fell off a cliff" earlier in the year.

Also Michael assesses Australia's horror season and why a good performance against England is key before the panel pick their 'God of the week'. 

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Was it a try or not, why didn't England take the points in the second half, what does a win over Australia win mean for Wales, and can Ireland beat the All Blacks?

Alex Lowe welcomes Stuart Barnes, Paul Grayson and Dan Lyle to discuss all this and catch up with England Women's captain Sarah Hunter. 

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Stephen Jones welcomes Owen Slot, Stuart Barnes and Sarah Mockford to pour over the weekends Autumn Internationals.

Including full analysis of South Africa's dreadful decision making, England's hopeless first half, and which side our panel would rather take to the World Cup.

The other internationals are scrutinised before there are suggestions for changes against New Zealand. 

Finally England women's captain Sarah Hunter joins the studio to assess the forthcoming tests which are being hosted around the country. 

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Stephen Jones continues his conversation with former Wales captain and new Times columnist Sam Warburton in part two of this special episode.

Sam candidly reveals his thoughts on the game including, why rugby will never be fully safe, why players should be limited to 25 starts a season and why mentally it's so tough to play all the way into July.  

He also reveals how a Man Utd game helped him deal with social media pressure and why he's now relishing his role as pundit.  

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Stephen Jones sits down with former Wales captain Sam Warburton to discuss his life in rugby and how he’s coping without the routine and structure of the game.

They also cover why England shouldn't panic, the guilt he felt whilst playing and how he rates the major nations ahead of the Autumn Internationals.

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PLUS plaudits for Newcastle and why the All Blacks are "sandbagging".

Owen Slot welcomes Adam Hathaway, Al Dymock of Rugby World and Liam Napier from the New Zealand Herald.

There's a review of the weekends European action, a full analysis of New Zealand from Liam, including the suggestion the All Blacks, are not implementing their full game plan for fear of showing their hand early. 

They also discuss Christian Wade's long odds of learning the "playbook mentality" as he departs for the NFL and there are predictions for England's back row for the internationals ahead.

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