The Left Wing

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery is joined by Irish Independent rugby columnist Tony Ward, Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor and Des Berry of The Herald to preview Ireland's upcoming November series.The panel debate the key selections issues facing Joe Schmidt, including whether centre Bundee Aki will make his debut, and look ahead to the challenge posed by South Africa this Saturday.Tony Ward also weighs in on Sean Cronin's surprise omission from the Ireland squad and the lads look discuss Warren Gatland's poor record with Wales against southern hemisphere opposition.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Bristol out-half Ian Madigan.The lads hear what life has been like under Pat Lam in the English championship, and look back at his career with Leinster as well as the crushing 2015 World Cup defeat to Argentina.And as someone directly impacted by the IRFU's stance on players playing abroad, Madigan gives his take on Simon Zebo's recent move and his own international future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined in studio by Connacht flanker Jake Heenan.In a wide-ranging interview, Heenan opens up on his tough teenage years in New Zealand, how Pat Lam convinced him to go to Connacht and the changes out west under new coach Kieran Keane.Luke and Jake, who is now Irish qualified through the residency rule, also have an interesting discussion on the use of project players.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Irish and Sunday Independent columnist Neil Francis to discuss how the Irish provinces fared in the first weekend of Champions Cup action, and look ahead to this weekend's games.Neil isn't overly pleased with Leinster's performance while Luke thinks that the errors made by Leo Cullen's men can be rectified ahead of Glasgow on Saturday.The lads also discuss JJ Hanrahan's role at Munster, the cynicism on show in their draw against Castres, what Ulster need to do to take the next step, and Warren Gatland's response to Sean O'Brien's Lions criticism.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former Ireland and Leinster scrum-half Eoin Reddan to discuss whether the PRO 14 gets the respect it deserves.The league often comes in for criticism, in particular for the amount of games that the frontline Irish internationals are rested for, but Reddan argues that having played in the Premiership, he knows that the PRO 14 is every bit as good.The former number nine thinks that the standard of the competition comes in for unfair criticism and thinks that fans and the media should study the league a little closer rather than just slagging it off.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald preview the Champions Cup with Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor.The lads do a pool-by-pool guide, with all three tipping the Irish provinces to make the quarter-finals.They also make their tournament winner prediction, and Luke gives a surprising answer when asked whether the current Saracens team are better than the Leinster side he played on under Joe Schmidt.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor and Kitman Labs CEO Stephen Smith.Will, Ruaidhri and Luke look ahead to Leinster vs Munster this Saturday and discuss how the provinces are shaping up after five games of the PRO 14 season.The lads then chat to Stephen Smith about the future of technology in sport and how his company work with professional teams from around the world, and across multiple sports, to help them minimise injury risk through the use of innovative software.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery are joined by Munster captain Peter O'Mahony.The back row looks back on his eventful summer with the Lions that saw him captain the side in the first test, before he was dropped from the squad for the remaining two tests with the All Blacks.And with Munster currently looking for a replacement for Rassie Erasmus, O'Mahony talks about the state of his team after a strong start to the season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery are joined in studio by Sunday Independent columnist Paul Kimmage. Kimmage takes Fitzgerald up on a tweet where the former Ireland international referred to the ex-pro cyclist's use of amphetamines, while Fitzgerald was unhappy with Kimmage characterising Dublin pulling down Mayo players late on in the All-Ireland final as 'cheating'.The trio also tackled the topic of pain-killer use in rugby, and whether players are going over the line in the quest to take the field - with Kimmage and Fitzgerald having different views on the matter.Having played for ten years in the professional game, Fitzgerald was also vehement that he had never seen any doping in rugby.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will Slattery talked to Jamie Heaslip and Tony Ward at last week's National Ploughing Championships for a special episode of The Left Wing recorded in front of a live audience.Heaslip admits that he still isn't sure when he might return from a back injury while Ward says Irish fans must be patient as the PRO 14 continues to take shape.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former Ireland and Leinster second row Mike McCarthy.McCarthy discusses how he came to terms with the end of his career after a move to France was scuppered by an injury - something that Fitzgerald can relate to having been forced out of the game at 28.The former lock also looks back on his career, including his memorable time playing under fiery defence coach Shaun Edwards at Wasps.Also, Irish Independent rugby columnist Ruaidhri O'Connor joins the show from South Africa to discuss Leinster's eventful tour to South Africa.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the first ever Left Wing podcast, Luke Fitzgerald and Will Slattery are joined in studio by Ireland international Sean O'Brien.The Tullow Tank gives plenty of insight into the successful Lions tour to New Zealand, including what they got right - and wrong.He also discusses how he bounced back from his recent injury trouble as well as the influence that Michael Cheika and Joe Schmidt have had on his career.Also, Irish Independent rugby correspondent Ruaidhri O'Connor joins the lads to talk about Leinster PRO 14 trip to South Africa, including the visa issues that saw two of their players forced to return home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.