Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join host Nathan Johns to recap the weekend’s action: South Africa’s hijinks, Ireland’s century and the Lions’ final warm-up game are all up for discussion. What, if anything, did we learn about an Irish side which scored 100+ points against a poor Portuguese side? Is this Lions side genuinely world class, or are they just playing against bad opposition? Will this slow build-up be worth it once the Test series gets underway? Fancy joining us for our live show? H...
Jul 15, 2025•38 min
The rugby action continues to come thick and fast. John O’Sullivan is in Portugal to preview Ireland’s clash in Lisbon, and he joins host Nathan Johns for today’s episode. We chat Ireland’s selection of fast wings, Jamie Osborne’s Lions call-up, Andy Farrell’s selection conundrums and take a deep dive into the disappointing U20s campaign at the World Championships. Like what you hear? Join Nathan, John, Gordon D’Arcy and Seán O’Brien in the Harcourt Bar on July 16th for a Lions preview live show...
Jul 11, 2025•29 min
The rugby action continues at full steam ahead. The Lions struggled against the Waratahs in Sydney while Ireland’s second string impressed in Tbilisi. Meanwhile the U20s continued their struggles against Italy. All this before you mention Wales losing to Japan, France’s B team putting it up to the All Blacks and Fiji giving Australia a bit of a bloody nose. What to make of it all? John O’Sullivan is on his travels following Ireland as he dials in alongside Gordon D’Arcy and Nathan Johns. The upc...
Jul 08, 2025•26 min
While the Lions tour continues on its merry way, Ireland are back in action for the first time since the Six Nations. John O’Sullivan is in Tbilisi for their game against Georgia and he joins Nathan Johns for a detailed breakdown of the tour opener. It’s pelting it down in the days leading up to kick off. Good look facing a Georgian pack in the rain. Which players are we expecting big things from as plenty look to impress with the frontliners away in Australia? In what positions do Ireland need ...
Jul 04, 2025•36 min
A busy weekend of rugby action saw plenty of Irish involvement in the Lions win over the Western Force, a Top14 final for the ages in France, Peter O’Mahony and Cian Healy bow out with the Barbarians, while the Ireland U20s finally returned to winning ways in their World Cup opener. Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join host Nathan Johns to chat through all the action while also looking forward to Wednesday’s Lions clash with Queensland, where a familiar face in Les Kiss will be coaching the Re...
Jul 01, 2025•44 min
Lions tours are full of stories of players being called up last minute, dashing across the world to get an opportunity to pull on the red jersey. Former Ireland prop Tom Court has as good a story as anyone, tucking into a takeaway in his native Queensland before being summoned to Melbourne as the 2013 Lions faced a mini-propping crisis. Given it’s 12 years on from that tour, this is as good an opportunity as any to hear from Court. As much as this is a Lions chat, though, it turns into a fascina...
Jun 26, 2025•41 min
Imagine Irish rugby had to compete with a professional GAA and a thriving League of Ireland for talent. Would the country still be so successful? That is the picture facing Australia at the moment and then some, given the popularity of Rugby League, AFL, cricket, soccer, basketball and countless other codes down under. Yet just over 20 years ago, Australian rugby defied this sporting competition to produce a side good enough to win the 1999 World Cup, beat the Lions in 2001 and narrowly miss out...
Jun 24, 2025•49 min
After a lengthy build-up, the Lions tour is finally upon us. Andy Farrell and co come to Dublin on Friday night to take on Argentina before travelling down under. The last time the Lions faced Los Pumas, our own Gordon D’Arcy started at 12 back in 2005. He joins Nathan Johns and John O’Sullivan to reminisce on his own Lions experiences, look ahead to Friday and analyse the place of the Lions in the public psyche. Is it an event which captures the everyday fan’s imagination or simply a corporate ...
Jun 19, 2025•33 min
After weeks of criticism, Leinster have answered their Champions Cup disappointment in the best way possible. A first trophy since 2021 was secured by beating the Bulls on Saturday, Leinster climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand in Croke Park to lift a first URC title since the South African sides joined. What does this mean for the province going forward? Have they cured their mental problems in big games? How will they replace the influence of Jordie Barrett? Is this a side ready to win Europe...
Jun 17, 2025•39 min
Leinster have played the Bulls twice in knockouts since 2022. Both times, they lost. The South African game plan has been clear: beat them up front. But are Leinster better equipped this time? Gordon D’Arcy, John O’Sullivan and Nathan Johns discuss. Plus, how will Sam Prendergast shape up in his first final? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 12, 2025•32 min
After weeks of consistent (yet fair) criticism, Leinster turned in a performance to silence the critics. At least for now, their ultimate test for this season still to come. A convincing win against Glasgow showed a side touching top form again while offering a window into their unusual ‘us against the world’ mentality. What to make of it all? Gordon D’Arcy and Nathan Johns discuss. Will Leinster disappoint in another final? What does D’Arcy think are the mental improvements for a side with all ...
Jun 10, 2025•34 min
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 Lancaster, while Paul O’Connell has named his Ireland squad for the summer tour of Georgia and Portugal. With the Lions contingent away in Australia, this tour will be vital for plugging the gaps and filling areas of weakness as we start to inch towards another World Cup. Gerry Thornley joins Nathan John...
Jun 05, 2025•28 min
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 attempts to throw Munster’s kickers off their game. This inevitably opened up a wider chat on kick tricks and the dark arts in rugby more generally. Plus, do Leinster look like a side on the cusp of a title after their unconvincing Scarlets win? What do we need to see from them over the next fortnight to...
Jun 03, 2025•28 min
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, analyses France’s domination of the Champions Cup, looks at the chances of Noel McNamara returning home and more. Alongside host Nathan Johns, talk also turns to injuries ahead of the provincial run in the URC knockouts, and the importance of Leinster lifting the domestic trophy at the end of the campaign...
May 29, 2025•30 min
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 return back to Earth plus the curious level of antipathy towards this game in Ireland. Gordon D’Arcy joins Nathan Johns to discuss rugby’s place in the sporting calendar, how important it is that Leinster win the URC this year, the mentality of winning and losing as well as the newly announced Club World ...
May 27, 2025•30 min
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 be more popular than the local football team. We all know of their on-field talent, the likes of Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Damian Penaud and Mathieu Jalibert playing a brand of rugby which is easy on the eye. Of course, with Joey Carbery and Noel McNamara involved, there is Irish interest in the French s...
May 22, 2025•20 min
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, is well placed to offer insight on the merits of Sevens for players moving into 15s. John has covered the Sevens team as extensively as anyone in recent years and he offers his experience as he dwells on the decision. Do rugby’s financials leave the IRFU with any other choice? Is Sevens simply a l...
May 20, 2025•38 min
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 in the top two inches? Enda McNulty, a former All-Ireland winner with Armagh, worked with both Leinster and Ireland as a sports psychologist. He joins Gordon D’Arcy - with whom he worked during his playing days - to look at the importance of sports psychology in winning environments. Does sport psych...
May 15, 2025•45 min
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 to mention the occasion it was for the likes of Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray playing their final game in Limerick. Yet the crowds were on the low side, despite what was on the line. Does the public simply have a case of rugby fatigue? Perhaps the season stretches on too long, with emotional energ...
May 13, 2025•45 min
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 in 2009. A man who was belatedly called up to that squad 16 years ago, Gordon D’Arcy, casts his eye alongside the latest crop. Alongside John O’Sullivan and Nathan Johns, who attended the launch bash in London, this episode delves into the runners and riders, along with those who may have been unfortu...
May 09, 2025•22 min
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, leaving Leinster’s latest European escapade in tatters, scoring 37 points on route to a thrilling victory at the Aviva Stadium. How did they do what no other team has done since 2016, let alone this year? Is Leinster’s galactico bubble burst? Why did they not start Jordie Barrett? If Leinster aren’t goi...
May 06, 2025•41 min
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 both sides in his career, James Downey. A centre back in his day, Downey lined up directly opposite D’Arcy in the infamous comeback final in 2011, Leinster overturning a 22-6 half-time deficit to win their second Heineken Cup. The story of Leinster’s turnaround has been well told at this stage, b...
May 01, 2025•35 min
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 glum 48 hours for rugby in this country. Panic stations or just a blip? The playoff picture currently being painted leaves just one province, Leinster, playing knockout rugby in the coming weeks. There are also Champions Cup permutations. As it stands, Munster, Connacht and Ulster won’t be playing to...
Apr 29, 2025•47 min
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 and made more prominent by France in the recent Six Nations, is controversial in some quarters . While not quite at culture war levels, the use of extra forwards has prompted a strong rebuke, as either dangerous, against the spirit of the game, or both, from plenty of those involved in the game. One o...
Apr 24, 2025•18 min
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 difficult to get the best of the best facing off in truly competitive ties. That the pool stages have featured too many hammerings on the scoreboard to be a proper competition has been true for some time. That such drubbings continue until the quarter-final stage is worrying. Plenty of column inches an...
Apr 22, 2025•24 min
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 revealed their next big name signing. Out goes Jordie Barrett this summer, in comes Rieko Ioane, his All Blacks centre partner. Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join Nathan Johns to pick through the move. Does it make sense, both from a positional and character sense, given Ioane’s role as a pantom...
Apr 17, 2025•28 min
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 Castres, a result which tees up a last four trip to Dublin to take on Leinster. But which familiar face closer to home does Pollock remind D’Arcy of? Is the comparison a foreshadower of things to come? Alongside the Northampton game, Gordon joins John O’Sullivan and Nathan Johns to discuss the weeken...
Apr 15, 2025•45 min
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. The coach leading their famed attack, is another man with Munster roots, the Co Clare native Noel McNamara. Irish Times rugby writer John O’Sullivan joins Nathan Johns to explore the Irish links to the French club. Was moving to Bordeaux the right move for Carbery? Where would he sit in the Irish outh...
Apr 10, 2025•27 min
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 Leinster and Connacht, plus a valiant defeat for Ulster, John O’Sullivan and Gordon D’Arcy join Nathan Johns to pick through the weekend’s action. How did Munster pull off the upset in France? Is this another peak for the province to be followed by a trough, or can they back it up against Bordeaux? Is Lein...
Apr 08, 2025•36 min
Irish players prepare for another European weekend of action, with Leinster taking on Harlequins, Munster playing La Rochelle in the Ronan O’Gara derby, Ulster away to Bordeaux and Connacht lining out against Cardiff. The past few weeks of URC action, while throwing up plenty of intriguing storylines, has been a reminder of how much interest in the national game drives the sport here. Rugby is at somewhat of a crossroads, financially speaking. Simon Keogh, the CEO of Rugby Players Ireland, repre...
Apr 03, 2025•34 min
