The Second Captains Podcast

The Ireland women's hockey team can't stop creating history - from a World Cup final, to record crowds, to The Olympics. We talk to Nicci Daly, one of the stars of a team that keep getting it done in tight games and on big occasions.South Africa were far from perfect and won the Rugby World Cup with a game-plan that lacked ambition and scope, but had the best basics - scrum, lineout, maul, defence - of any team that's ever played the game. Were England and NZ too idealistic? Are defence coaches the most important men in the game? And we ask Eoin Reddan and Shane Horgan if Ireland were right to be conservative after all, and what the next step should be in the giant fix that's required.Plus there's Katie's emotional night, styles make fights, Ken's tribute to Gay Byrne, and Ireland's peno shootout DNA. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saturday saw probably the most heartbreaking come-from-behind win of Pep Guardiola's career, as City returned to their dressing room only to hear that Liverpool had scored a late winner of their own - but were the City manager's supposed comments about Mané's diving misreported? Mané didn't really dive, of course, as VAR should have decided - and no, we can't avoid talking about VAR forever - it's clear now almost everyone has now turned against it, we discuss what's going wrong and why.We also talk a little bit about Richard Keogh and Harry Arter.Then we welcome David Sneyd to studio to talk about Shamrock Rovers' win in the FAI Cup final, his interview with Jack Byrne and the season that was in the League of Ireland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From F2 freestylers, to Xhaka haters, to free love, to Irishmen loving England - its been another big week on the Second Captains World Service, and as its the start of the month, its the perfect time to secondcaptains.com/join Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Arsenal v Crystal Palace didn't look a likely game of the weekend beforehand, but at the bloodthirsty cauldron the Emirates has become, anyone can end up being fed to the lions.We also discuss Liverpool's victory over Spurs and what the future might hold for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Harry Kane.Then we're joined in studio by the F2 Freestylers, Jez Lynch and Billy Wingrove, who talk to us about how young players learn skills these days, and how the culture of football is changing - almost too fast to keep up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why always us? It’s been another horrendous Rugby World Cup campaign for Ireland, and we are left with the same old questions.Eoin Reddan and Shane Horgan are both on the show today to try and make sense of our 46-14 mauling at the hands of New Zealand on Saturday.There’s a fair bit of blame to go around, and we apportion it as judiciously as possible.Eoin tries to rank and rate our World Cup humiliations (where does 2019 come in?), there’s tenured rugby players, and Eddie Jones’ finishers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've been trying not to talk about VAR too much but the Premier League isn't making it easy. With video referees apparently reluctant to intervene, is it time for the referees to be forced to take the opportunity to overrule themselves? We also discuss a new study that suggests that while football may be a game you play with your brain, it appears not to be very good for your brain. John Brewin and Mark Critchley join us to analyse yesterday's draw at Old Trafford. Was this a turning point for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer? Has Ed Woodward's propaganda blitz over the last week reassured United fans? Did Liverpool show their true colours? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Its been another wet n wild week on the good ship Second Captains. But amidst all the on- and off-field drama of our national teams competing on two fronts, one constant remains. When we send Ken Early out on assignment, something daft **will** happen. And so it was this week that he walked at a brisk speed into a plate-glass door in a McDonalds in Geneva, and this incident makes up but a fraction of this week's preview of current attractions on the Second Captains World Service. There's also Eoin Reddan and Shane Horgan expertly breaking down Ireland's chances against New Zealand on Saturday morning, and Joe Canning gives us a pretty bleak look into the controversy currently enveloping Galway hurling, as they lurch into winter still without a senior hurling manager, as the county board fights off criticism from its main sponsor, concerned fans and auditors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland beat Samoa on Saturday morning, but that never looked likely to be enough to get us top spot in the pool, and so it's New Zealand in a World Cup quarter-final next Saturday morning. Are there ANY grounds for optimism? Eoin outlines a few, and Gerry Thornley feels there's still enough quality in this Irish team to pull off a major surprise. New Zealand television superstar and friend of the show Scotty Stevenson gives us his impressions of an extraordinary night in Yokohama last night. We also talk to David Epstein, author of "The Sports Gene", about Eliud Kipchoge's sub-2 hour marathon in Vienna on Sunday morning, and Brigid Kosgei smashing the women's world marathon a couple of hours later. Plus there's Stuart Barnes and why the rugby world wants us to lose, sneakers, and a grandchildren to tell time moment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ireland and Georgia played out the dullest of 0-0 draws on Saturday, but we must ask an unpalatable question - was it any worse than any of our other performances this year, with the only difference being this time we didn't score? Any lingering concerns that Aaron Connolly might be 'over-awed' by international football lasted about 2 minutes, as he created more in 12 minutes than his 10 team-mates could muster up in the preceding 78. Former Irish international Damien Delaney is genuinely excited by him, but can't help wondering why we keep giving man of the match awards to centre-halves. Connolly's electrifying performance might have even been a little embarrassing for Mick McCarthy - does he now start him, or would that be bowing down to his critics, the vast majority of whom of course have never played professional football? Plus there's Daniel James' extraordinary acting prowess, England's anchor Declan Rice, and the Schmeichels père et fils. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Light Zephyr Of Second Captains World Service by Second Captains Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.