The Counter Ruck

It may be URC semi-final week, but the rugby news cycle has been dominated by events away from Leinster. Connacht have pulled off a big-name managerial signing by securing the services of Stuart Lanc…

Gordon D’Arcy joins Nathan Johns to talk through a dramatic URC quarter-final weekend.

Munster’s shootout defeat to the Sharks in Durban has dominated the headlines, no least for the home side’s atte…

Gerry Thornley joins the latest episode of The Counter Ruck fresh off his trip to Cardiff to watch the Champions Cup final.

He breaks down the future landscape for free-to-air rugby in Ireland, analys…

This weekend was a quiet one for Irish rugby, with no provincial involvement in the Champions Cup final. Still, plenty of intriguing storylines emerged; Noel McNamara’s triumph, Henry Pollock’s retur…

Bordeaux seem to represent a rare enough phenomenon; a domestic rugby team growing in both on-field and commercial success. They are the best attended club in France, to the extent they can boast to …

Nearly a week on from the IRFU’s decision to cut the men’s Sevens programme, Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join Nathan Johns to debate the merits of the decision.

Gordon, as a former Sevens player…

Inevitably, plenty of public commentary in the last few weeks has focused on Leinster’s inability to get over the line in big games. Clearly, they have the talent. Is the problem instead to be found …

This weekend was a crucial round of URC action, with Munster and Ulster squaring off for playoff places, Connacht looking to stay in the hunt and Leinster aiming to wrap up the league’s top seed. Not…

Andy Farrell has picked his long-awaited Lions squad ahead of this summer’s tour to Australia. 15 Irishmen have been named, a record for the touring side, just about pipping the 14 originally named i…

Prior to Saturday, Leinster hadn’t conceded a point in European knockout action this year. No team had run in five tries against them in this competition since 2016. Northampton changed all that, lea…

Just one Irish province is in action this weekend, with Leinster taking on Northampton in the Champions Cup semi-finals.

Joining Gordon D’Arcy and Nathan Johns on today’s episode is a man who played …

For the first time since 2015, all four Irish provinces lost on a single weekend of domestic action. Add this to Ireland women’s defeat to Scotland to wrap up the Six Nations and it was an unusually …

The now infamous 7-1 forward split on the bench hit the headlines once again recently when World Rugby announced they would not be outlawing the practice. The innovation, first used by South Africa a…

The Champions Cup is not the competition it used to be. For all Munster’s recent trips to France provided a feel-good window of sport at its best, plenty of dead rubber ties reminded us that it is di…

On any other day, an Irish provincial coach leaving his job with immediate effect would be front page news. As it happens, on the same day Pete Wilkins announces his departure from Connacht, Leinster…

Watching the Champions Cup rugby action over the weekend, Gordon D’Arcy was taken by young Henry Pollock. The 20-year-old England flanker scored twice for Northampton in their quarter-final win over …

Munster’s reward for their victory in La Rochelle is a Champions Cup quarter-final tie away in Bordeaux. Their former outhalf, Joey Carbery, started for the French side last weekend against Ulster.

T…

The weekend’s rugby action brought a result to remember for Munster in their first competitive outing against La Rochelle, coached by their former outhalf Ronan O’Gara. With wins elsewhere for Leinst…