The Offside Line Podcast: The First for Scottish Rugby

Hello Offside-liners, welcome to a special women’s rugby bonus pod ahead of the play-off Grand Final between Stirling County and Watsonians. In this episode, Barney and Burnsy sit down with Eric Jones, until recently the head coach of last year’s champions Corstorphine Cougars to talk about the Arnold Clark Women’s Premiership, the pathway, the Celtic Challenge and Test rugby as well as his own coaching career. We hope you enjoy it. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch with us via our social media channels or you can email us at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners, welcome to this week’s show. Barney and Burnsy get tucked into some delicious humble pie after writing off Glasgow and Edinburgh’s chances in the opening round of the Champions Cup, only for both sides to record famous bonus-point victories. They analyse these two games and dive into the usual examination of domestic rugby. And don’t forget, we have a whole new range of Offside Line merch which you can now purchase from the site, along with a selection of brilliant rugby books – a one-stop-shop for all your Christmas presents. https://www.theoffsideline.com/shop/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners, this week Barney and Burnsy dive into Scotland’s draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, pick over the bones of a disappointing round of URC fixtures, delve into clubland and preview this week’s game – including Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Champions Cup round 1 matches.And don’t forget, we have a whole new range of Offside Line merch which you can now purchase from the site, along with a selection of brilliant rugby books – a one-stop-shop for all your Christmas presents. https://www.theoffsideline.com/shop/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy get together to pick over the bones of the autumn Test series and analyse where Scotland are ahead of the Six Nations. They also dive into domestic rugby and preview this weekend’s coming games.This episode is sponsored by Arnold Clark – we’re sure you’ll have heard of them! A major supporter of Scottish rugby, they’ve got an unbelievable Black Friday deal. They’ve scrummed together thousands of used cars – and you can grab yourself an extra £500 off this Black Friday.Visit your local branch or head straight to www.ArnoldClark.com to get your £500-off voucher.So, what are you waiting for? Don’t get caught offside – kick-start your search for your next car today! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners, this week Barney and Burnsy go down to Breadalbane Finance’s HQ to pick over the bones of the Scotland-Argentina match with Jamie Lindsay and Roddy Grant. The quartet discuss everything from supporting grassroots rugby and rugby charities to moving into Prestonfield for fundraising season, as well as diving into domestic results and analysing this month’s autumn Tests. It’s a bumper episode which we know you’re going to love.Today's podcast is sponsored by Breadalbane Finance – Trusted Commercial Finance Brokers, based in Edinburgh, Working across Scotland – visit What We Do - Breadalbane Finance: Trusted commercial finance broker for more information Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners, welcome to this week’s show. The curse of the All Blacks continues for another year. Barney and Burnsy dive into an analysis of the game, go over domestic fixtures and other autumn Test and preview Scotland versus Argentina this weekend. Enjoy (if you can)! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, things go a little bit off kilter as Barney and Burnsy delve into the Curse of the All Blacks, pick over Scotland’s victory over the USA and dredge up old nightmares of Barney Snr’s Hawick scarf. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney was meant to be having a thoroughly well-deserved day off – but he couldn’t stay off the pod. This week the boys delve into a preview for Scotland-USA, Lee Radford’s teeth, Gemma Fay’s appointment as first Managing Director of Women’s Rugby, Border clubs boycotting the Scottish Cup, a tribute to the late, great Terence Froud, and a round-up of last weekend’s fixtures. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney is joined by Mark Palmer and Craig Watson at Oriam to pick over Gregor Townsend’s squad selections for the 2025 Autumn Tests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners, welcome to this week’s show. Apologies there was no show last week, but Burnsy forgot that he was away on holiday. He and Barney catch up to discuss the resurrection of the Scotland/GB Men’s Sevens squad, cast an eye over the Scotland squad ahead of Gregor Townsend’s announcement on Tuesday, and delve into the latest URC and domestic Premiership action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy eventually get the podcast over the line at the third attempt – and they delve into the latest results in the men and women’s Scottish Premierships, the URC and the Rugby Championship before taking a deep dive into R360 while also scrutinising Gregor Townsend’s new role with Red Bull and the appointment of Lee Radford as Scotland defence coach. It’s all a bit of a shambles – but a fun one! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy get into the Ryder Cup, celebrate Porty’s prop power and dig into the Womens’ Rugby World Cup final, the latest URC action and the Rugby Championship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the boys dive into Barney’s trip to Mull, the new the Scottish Women’s contracts, match cancellations and fixture reviews and previews, plus they sit down with Currie head coach Mark Cairns to discuss his time at the club, how the season is going and the way he and his company Coach Logic are forging new frontiers with AI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello Offside Liners! This week Barney and Burnsy are sitting down with Edinburgh Rugby 2025/26 Captain Magnus Bradbury and Scottish Building Society CEO, Paul Denton to discuss the season ahead as well as Scottish Building Society’s extension as Main Club Partner of Edinburgh Rugby. A huge thank you to Magnus for chatting to us and to Edinburgh Rugby for setting this up. The boys also dig into the Women’s World Cup, club land and some of the controversy surrounding the roll out of the new National Talent Pathway programme.Learn more at: https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/ and https://www.theoffsideline.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to a special bonus pod with David Jordan. Jordan became Glasgow Rugby’s chief executive in 1997 and was therefore right in the eye of the storm during the wild west days of early rugby professionalism. He went on to become the Celtic League’s first tournament director in 2005, running the competition out of his dining room in Bearsden. He has been at the vanguard as the league has morphed into the Pro12, Pro14 and now United Rugby Championship and he has some incredible insights to share on these years. We hope you enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Offside Line, the first for Scottish rugby. Barney and Burnsy are delighted to be joined by Stuart Bathgate to chat about the Women’s World Cup before the boys get into the latest injury news coming out of the Edinburgh and Glasgow camps; they then run an eye over the latest goings on in the men and women’s Premierships and preview this weekend’s games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy head down to Oriam in Edinburgh for a press conference with Alex Williamson and David Nucifora as Scottish Rugby announces new contracts for Gregor Townsend, Franco Smith and five high-performance coaches. The boys are joined by Mark Palmer from the Sunday Times to pick over everything that was discussed. They also reflect on Scotland Women’s victory over Fiji, preview their final pool game with Canada and discuss the latest action in the men and women’s domestic Premierships – plus Barney delves into the Offside Line’s new subscription model. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy are joined by Eve McTiernan, who is part of the Offside Line team working on the ground in Manchester covering the Women’s World Cup, to discuss Scotland’s record-breaking win over Wales. The guys also review the first round of action in the Men’s Prem and Barney heads to Murrayfield to chat to Neil Graham, Gavin Scott, Stuart Edwards and Pat MacArthur about the new schools Open Conference competition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to season two of the Offside Line Pod. Barney and Burnsy are back to preview the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the men and women’s Premierships. They’re joined by Lorna Husband, who is on the ground in Manchester covering the World Cup for TOL. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy raise their bats to the clubhouse as they notch episode 50 of the Offside Line Pod – and they welcome Stuart Bathgate to discuss the Scotland Women’s 2025 World Cup Squad, which was unveiled at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy delve into the Lions’ second Test at the MCG and also chat about Scotland Women’s match against Italy, the heart-warming return of Emma Wassell and Rachel Malcolm’s words of disquiet about the team’s treatment by Scottish Rugby. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week the boys dive into Scotland v Samoa, coaching merry-go-rounds, the Under 20s and they review the Lions vs Australia first Test, the First Nations/Pacifica game and preview the second Test in Melbourne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a (very brief) summer break, Barney and Burnsy saddle up again to review Scotland’s loss to Fiji, Scotland U20’s win over Ireland and preview Scotland v Samoa and the first Test of the British & Irish Lions’ series against Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy sitting down with Corstorphine, Edinburgh and Scotland back-rower Alex Stewart to discuss her meteoric career so far as well as her recent health developments. A huge thank you to Alex for chatting to us and to Caitlin Gould at Scottish Rugby and Emily Harrower at Edinburgh Rugby jersey sponsor Scottish Building Society for setting this up.https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/news-media/scottish-building-society-sponsors-edinburgh-rugby-women-s-team Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now that Scotland’s 2024/25 domestic season is over, Barney and Burnsy team up with their old pals Mark Palmer and Craig Watson to review Edinburgh and Glasgow’s performances and how they are shaping up for next season, delve into R360 once more, preview Scotland’s summer tour and pick their highlights from the year.This episode of The Offside Line Pod is brought to you by Village Health and Wellness Clubs Edinburgh. Get summer ready and enjoy a club stacked with premium kit, a brand new Box N' Burn studio for the ultimate combat style workouts, plus spanking new bikes in the group cycling studio... ready for action!Gym, swim, throw shapes or get your chill on from just £50 per month. Summer's coming! Get ready to dig out those 'short shorts!'More details at www.village-hotels.com/workout-at-village Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Barney and Burnsy talk URC quarter-finals, preview Glasgow’s semi-final visit to Leinster and review Edinburgh’s season. They also dive into the sevens programme and the newly proposed R360 breakaway tournament and what it means for global professional rugby.You can find out more about the My Nam5’s Doddie cycle talked about in the episode here: http://bit.ly/4kIijGIAnd you can buy Burnsy’s new children’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Thieves-blockbuster-middle-grade-adventure/dp/0008667810Or a special signed edition here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/shadow-thieves/peter-burns/9780008785161This episode of The Offside Line Pod is brought to you by Village Health and Wellness Clubs Edinburgh. Get summer ready and enjoy a club stacked with premium kit, a brand new Box N' Burn studio for the ultimate combat style workouts, plus spanking new bikes in the group cycling studio... ready for action!Gym, swim, throw shapes or get your chill on from just £50 per month. Summer's coming! Get ready to dig out those 'short shorts!'More details at https://www.villagegym.co.uk/theoffsideline/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy delve into the Melrose 7s, the general state of worldwide international 7s, the Club World Cup announcement, the European finals double-header and preview this week’s URC quarter-finals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy break down the final round of the United Rugby Championship regular season and look ahead to Glasgow’s home quarter-final against the Stormers and Edinburgh’s trip to the Bulls. Barney also has a little rant about the Scotland Women’s U20 announcement (and AI) which features this article: https://www.theoffsideline.com/louise-dalgliesh-names-scotland-women-u20s-squad-for-six-nations-series/Barney dives into a preview of the Melrose 7s with Malcolm Changleng and our old pod pal Jamie Lindsay from Breadalbane. You can find out more about the Melrose 7s here: https://melrose7s.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fresh from Burnsy attending the Lions squad announcement and speaking to one of the coaches, the boys delve into Andy Farrell’s selection and review the Glasgow and Edinburgh’s contrasting URC performances at the weekend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, Barney and Burnsy look back on an action-packed weekend of action in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup and make their predictions for Andy Farrell’s 2025 Lions squad selection.They also discuss Barney’s new venture, The Inside Edge, which you can sign up to here: https://insideedgecricket.substack.comAnd if you are interested in supporting Graeme Smeaton’s insane-sounding golf challenge to raise money for the My Nam5’s Doddie Foundation, you can find his page here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/graeme-smeaton-2 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy are joined by Duncan Hodge from Accelerate Rugby to reminisce about playing for Edinburgh against Bath in Europe back in 1996 before previewing Edinburgh’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against the same opposition on Saturday. They also review last weekend’s URC results, Scotland Women’s magnificent victory over Ireland and Ayr vs Watsonians in the Arnold Clark Premiership final play-off (while also discussing domestic player pathways).This episode is brought to you in partnership with Accelerate Rugby: High Performance Training. Their mission is to help young athletes take their game to the next level with coaching programs designed for talented 10 to 18 year olds. You can find out more at www.acceleraterugby.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy have an exclusive sit down with Pierre Schoeman to discuss Edinburgh’s recent turnaround in fortunes, his pride in playing for the club and the city and his ambitions with the Lions. They also talk to Emily Harrower from Scottish Building Society about their community give-back programme, analyse Edinburgh and Glasgow’s performances in the URC, Scotland Women’s game against England in the Six Nations, the Scotland U18 teams’ performances, all the action from Silver Saturday at Murrayfield, the Ayr vs Currie Premiership play-off match, speculation around Steve Tandy taking over at Wales and Johnny Sexton’s appointment as an assistant coach with the Lions. For more information on Scottish Building Society’s programmes (including g Tackle Maths), check out their social media channels and the Edinburgh Rugby website:https://edinburghrugby.org/community/take-part-in-tackle-maths/https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/news-media/we-re-helping-school-pupils-across-scotland-tackle-maths Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s episode is recorded live at the Hive Stadium, so please accept out apologies for the background noise. We were covering a brilliant event for Edinburgh and the Scottish Building Society, but you’ll have to wait until next week to hear all those bits and pieces. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this week’s show.This week Barney and Burnsy delve into the horror show that was Glasgow’s Champions Cup quarter-final defeat in Dublin, Edinburgh’s harum-scarum victory over the Bulls in the Challenge Cup, Scotland’s disappointing loss to Italy in the Women’s Six Nations and they preview Silver Saturday and the second Premiership play-off semi-final. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy get the show back on the road after a week’s break (Burnsy is still picking himself off the floor after a vets’ tour to northern Italy) to discuss Glasgow and Edinburgh’s success in thelast-16 of the Champions and Challenge Cups, preview their quarter-final fixtures this weekend. They also dive into the third round of the Women’s Six Nations and discuss the Premiership at length, challenging listeners to come up with a new season structure for domestic Scottish club rugby – please email your thoughts on this to [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy dive into their overall reflections on the men’s Six Nations then buoy themselves with the action from the women’s edition, give their thoughts on Gregor Townsend’s future, discuss all things URC and the Men’s Premiership and look back on 100 years at Murrayfield. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney, Mark Palmer and Craig Watson call in from the pitch at the Stade de France to preview the final game of the 2025 Six Nations. Can Scotland pull off a miracle? And where is the title going? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re delighted to be joined by the great Duncan Hodge, who among many other playing and coaching accolades, won 26 caps at fly-half for Scotland and now runs Accelerate Rugby: High performance training. You can find out more at www.acceleraterugby.comThe boys get stuck into analysing Scotland’s Six Nations victory over Wales – what was good, what was bad and where it all nearly went horribly wrong – and look forward to the final round showdown with France in Paris. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy preview this weekend’s Six Nations matches with a focus on Scotland hosting Wales and review the latest action in the URC and the Men’s Premiership. What do you make of their predictions? Soothsayers or stabbing around wildly in the dark? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy get together to pick over the bones of Scotland's match at Twickenham, chat Wales-Ireland, Italy-France, the Under-20s, the Prem and the URC. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While Burnsy is stuck in Edinburgh, Barney is ensconced at Twickenham with Mark Palmer and Craig Watson and all four come together to preview the 2025 Calcutta Cup and examine the Wales-Ireland and Italy-France matches.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy emerge from their deep funk to dissect the horrors of Scotland’s Six Nations match against Ireland, pick over the bones of the Under 20s result and look ahead to Twickenham. They also analyse Italy’s win against Wales (and the news that Warren Gatland has stepped down as Wales head coach), England’s victory over a calamitous France, the latest round of the Celtic Challenge and the Men’s Premiership and look ahead to this weekend’s fixtures. For full match coverage and analysis, check out www.theoffsideline.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy get into the nitty gritty of Scotland’s opening win of the Six Nations, discuss Wales-France, Ireland-England and the threats that Ireland are going to bring in round two. They also touch on the Celtic Challenge, the men’s Premiership and the Under-20s Six Nations with an exclusive interview with outside centre Kerr Yule. Finally, Barney dials in with Richie Vernon and Chris Fusaro as they make their way to Stranraer to begin a 700-mile cycle aiding funds for the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. You can find out more (and donate) here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/washed-up-warriors-for-doddie-2025?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaYYaKYuGrgBpqrbFNObJo2iAHccUM9z-9YK13-M9cEdxqrAJnm7MGzxZvw_aem_ljXUeMY0SeB8M7ekl0_iqA Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney and Burnsy get into the nitty gritty ahead of Scotland’s opening round clash of the 2025 Six Nations with Italy at Murrayfield. We also hear from the new CEO of Scottish Rugby, Alex Williamson, and cast an eye over the other fixtures coming our way this weekend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy dive into Saturday’s Premiership matches, the Celtic Challenge and review two rounds of Champions Cup and Challenge Cup action. Barney tells us all about his trip to Rome for the Six Nations launch and then the conversation turns to Scotland’s pre-tournament injury woes, where the Pigeon of Misfortune sh*ts on the squad as Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings and Dylan Richardson are ruled out before a ball has been kicked. Will these injuries (plus others, such as Kyle Steyn’s) derail Scotland’s Six Nations chances? We wait and see . . . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy head down to the Edinburgh HQ at Murrayfield for an exclusive sit down with the club’s managing director Doug Struth. They talk past, present and future in the men and women’s teams and discuss the club’s far-reaching ambitions. A massive thank you to Doug and Stuart Rutherford for this interview.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year one and all! It’s the mega review of 2024 and our preview of 2025. Barney and Burnsy are joined by special guests Mark Palmer from The Times and Sunday Times and Craig Watson, sports photography supremo, to talk through their 2024 highlights and their predictions for 2025. Sit back and enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy dive into an 1872 Cup preview with an exclusive interview with Glasgow’s Stafford McDowall. We also chat to new Glasgow signing Lisa Martin ahead of the women’s Edinburgh-Glasgow derby, which opens the 2024/25 Celtic Challenge campaign.There is also a full run-down on the Youth Cup finals, the Women’s Premiership Grand Final, the latest round of the Men’s Premiership, the two age-grade internationals and review the weekend’s Champions Cup and Challenge Cup action. The Offside Line is brought to you in association with Polaris Publishing Ltd. We’re just over a week out from Christmas and there’s still time to get the perfect present for the Scottish rugby fan in your life. This is Murrayfield is the critically acclaimed history of the old ground, published ahead of its centenary next year, it tells the story in 100 key games. And even though I have to shelve all dignity when saying this: it’s funny, insightful and packed full of glorious recollections from players on both sides of matches features and features some gorgeous photography. Buy it now from www.polarispublishing.comWe are also brought to you by Premier Sports, the official broadcaster of the URC, the Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup and the French Top14. You can subscribe now for £10.99 per month on www.premiersports.com – if you can’t make it along to Hampden on Sunday or to Murrayfield on 28 December, you can catch all the action on Premier Sports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bumper episode, Barney and Burnsy welcome special guest Matt Currie to the pod as he signs a new two-year deal at Edinburgh. They also speak to Heriot’s men’s coach Bob McKillop and we hear from the SRU’s new performance director David Nucifora. There is, of course, the usual run-down on domestic rugby with a look back at the Schools Cup finals day, preview the Youth Cup Finals coming up on Sunday, delve into the action in the Men and Women’s Premierships, and chat Champions Cup and Challenge Cup rugby, the Celtic Challenge and Emerging Scotland.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Barney and Burnsy head to the Clubhouse restaurant in Glasgow for an exclusive sit-down with GHA’s head coach Calum Forrester before swinging over to Scotstoun for a chat with Glasgow and Scotland scrum-half/ wing Jamie Dobie. We discuss all things domestic rugby in the men and women’s Premierships and GHA’s campaign in Division One, review Edinburgh and Glasgow’s matches against Bennetton and the Scarlets, and preview a big weekend of European rugby.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this week’s show, Barney and Burnsy review Scotland’s Autumn Nations Series performances, discuss Scotland A vs Chile and delve in the SRU’s AGM.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.