Ulster Rugby Lad Podcast

Join me on the latest episode of The Red Hand as we dissect Ulster Rugby's gut-wrenching loss to the Sharks, unpacking where it went wrong and what it means for the rebuild. I'm joined by Dan, Ian, the insightful Caolan Scully from Munster's Red Army Podcast, and former Ulster and Ireland star Ian Madigan, who brings his razor-sharp perspective. We dive into Richie Murphy's young squad and preview the crucial final games against Munster and Edinburgh—make-or-break moments for Ulster's season. Expect passion, laughs, and a hopeful look at how Ulster can rise again. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your pods!

The Red Hand Pod is back to chat about the loss to Leinster at the weekend and look ahead to the home straight...

The Red Hand pod gang are back and are joined by South African rugby podcaster, Harry Jones, to discuss the win over Stormers and look ahead to the tricky final run-in.

The Red Hand Podcast is back to discuss all things Ulster Rugby including the game at the weekend and where Richie Murphy's men go from here.

Ulster are back and so is the Red Hand Podcast!Ian, Fergus, Dan and I chat about Ulster edging past Scarlets and what comes next for Richie Murphy's men.

To discuss Ulster's hammering of the Chiefs at Fortress Ravenhill I'm joined by Ian, Nathan and Dan.

We do our best to discuss everything apart from rugby but eventually do end up talking about what happened at the weekend. Nathan, Fergus, Dan and I were delighted to be joined by Ian Whitten - European Cup winner and two time premiership winner with Exeter as well as playing for Ulster and Ireland.

On this episode of the Red Hand Podcast I'm joined by former Ireland u-20s, Ulster, Highlanders and Ospreys second row Jack Regan. Jack took the road less travelled - from Leinster to Ulster's academy to New Zealand, Wales and Japan before taking early retirement stemming from health concerns - it's a story worth listening to. Dan and I really enjoyed chatting to Jack and we hope you enjoy listening.

Red Handers, it's good to be back! In this episode I'm joined by a class panel featuring Fergus, Bill, Deric and Nathan. We chat about Ulster's festive period, look ahead to the upcoming games and give a mid-season assessment of where Ulster are at. Enjoy!

Depending on who you ask last weekend was either full positives or the end of the world for Ulster fans. To help you decide how to feel about Ulster at the minute I'm joined by Jack, Ian, Dan and Maz McMillan - Bordeaux fan originally from Ulster - joins us on the pod. Enjoy!

This week's episode is a father and sons special. We try and avoid talking about the game but inevitably end up discussing the clash with Toulouse and where Ulster go from here.

On this episode Nathan, Dan, Fergus and I are joined by rugby expert and all round legend Brett Igoe. We talk about Ulster, Leinster, Ireland and everything else in between. Enjoy!

The Red Hand is back.This week we're joined by rugby expert analyst Jason Lear.Ian makes his glorious return after following an enforced return to podcasting protocol.Nathan explains Leinster will lose this weekend but only because they want to.And a whole lot more... Enjoy!

Ulster and Ireland legend, Chris Henry, and comedian and host of the Cork in the North podcast and Q Radio breakfast show join us on the Red Hand Podcast to discuss all things Ulster Rugby (and some other stuff too!) Enjoy.

In this episode I'm joined by Fergus, Dan and former Ulster player Mark Best as we discuss the win over Ospreys, look ahead to Cardiff and everything Ulster Rugby related in between.

On this week's Red Hand Podcast we discuss the Connacht clash, look forward to getting one over the Ospreys this weekend and chat all things Ulster Rugby. I'm joined by Fergus, Ian, Nathan and Dan. Enjoy.

A tough day at the office against the Bulls at the weekend, but the lads got the all important 'moral victory': a spirited performance from a young and inexperienced side against a team packed with Springboks. Can Richie's men bounce back this weekend against Connacht? The lads discuss this and more on the pod. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkYXptY0fs4

We have a great episode in store for you this week. Legendary European cup and Premiership winning out-half Gareth Steenson joins the panel to talk about what he has been up to recently and gives his take on the Ulster 10 jersey. Always great to listen to Gareth. The lads discuss Ulster's game against the Lions last weekend, look ahead to the clash with the Bulls and go through the Red Hand Mailbox. Enjoy.

We're baaack! Richie Murphy's men pulled off the great escape against Glasgow and now face a tough tour to South Africa. The gang discuss all things Ulster Rugby and listen to the Red Hand's first ever poem - An ode to Marty Moore. Enjoy.

After the successful summer interview series, the gang are back and talking about the season ahead! I'm joined by Nathan, Fergus, Dan and special guest, former Ulster player and European Cup winner, Andy Park. We talk all things Ulster Rugby, pre-season, new signings, overall trajectory and predictions for the 24/25 campaign.

Really enjoyed chatting to Robert, David, Alan and Ian Whitten about their respective rugby careers and their time playing together in the same team for Instonians (which included a Senior Cup win and incredible unbeaten streak).

I am delighted to be joined on this episode by former Ulster and Ireland centre Kevin Maggs. Kevin was known for his hard hitting, physical style in defence and attack, making him a fan favourite for club and country. In this episode, Kevin charts his journey from taking up the game at a relatively late age to going from laying kerbs and playing for his local team on Saturday to playing alongside midfield partner Brian O'Driscoll. Was an absolute pleasure to speak to Kevin and I hope you enjoy listening.

Loved chatting to former Rainey, Ulster, Dragons and Wales hooker, Bradley Roberts, a while back for this episode which is being re-released following the announcement of his recent retirement. His story is like something from a far-fetched Hollywood script. From club rugby, to pro rugby to international rugby in less than a calendar year. Remarkable.

This is the first re-release of some of my favourite episodes. Sean Reidy is a very common answer when you ask Ulster fans for their favourite player of the modern era. Sean typified the 'fight for every inch' mantra. Despite not being born here, Sean always fought for the jersey for Ulster and Ireland and is very fondly remembered in the province. There have definitely been times recently when we've needed players in his mould and hopefully the man himself returns to these shores at some point in the future! Really enjoyed this chat with him.

After all the interviews I've done so far, this is one of my favourite episodes ever. Neil Best is an Ulster legend, fan favourite and one of the most abrasive and physical players who has ever played for the province. He's a big character and I know you'll love listening to our chat.

If, like me, you're still coming to terms with the end of Luke Marshall's playing days with Ulster, then you'll find comfort listening to this episode in which the legendary centre reflects on his time with the province. Luke has been a massive fan favourite over the years for good reason: he has always given his all and, despite injuries getting in the way at times, has had an unbelievable career with Ulster and Ireland. Dan and I really enjoyed chatting to Luke who, as well as being a very talented player, is also one of rugby's good guys. Enjoy listening.

What an honour to be joined by Ulster's most successful coach of the professional era, Harry Williams. Harry is the legendary coach of Ulster's 1999 European Cup winning squad who celebrated their achievement 25 years on this year. Loved speaking to Harry who is a brilliant leader, man manager and inspirational coach who will go down in history as the man who steered Ulster to their greatest day in the province's history.

Former Ulster and Wallabies second row Sam Carter reflects on his career, his time with Ulster and what he's up to now.

Loved chatting to former Ulster and Ireland scrumhalf Kieran Campbell. Few people have made a bigger contribution to Ulster Rugby. Indeed, Kieran brought through quite a few of the current Ulster senior team in his days in charge of the academy. After a spell coaching in England, Kieran is back to NI where he has taken up a new role with Coleraine Grammar School as their head of rugby. Enjoy.

The dust has settled on another season and it's time to look back, hand out the awards and look into the middle-distance to try and work out what lies ahead for Ulster.

With the rugby season now over, it's time to pause and reflect on the season just past and look forward to a building project at Ulster Rugby. To help me and Dan do this, we're joined by a former prop who started off his career with Ulster before going on to play for Connacht and premiership teams such as Worcester and Northampton, Conor Carey, and rugby coach, analyst and expert Nathan Moore.

It's a big week for Ulster rugby. After a spirited performance in defeat against Munster at Thomond Park, Ulster now face a formidable task of heading down the road to face a fully-stacked Leinster team in the quarter finals. Can we complete the hat-trick over Leo Cullen's side OR is next week's Red Hand podcast going to be the end of season special? To discuss all things Ulster rugby, I'm joined by Dan and special guests to the pod, rugby commentator Graham Jewhurst and Jonny McCormick better known as Opta Jonny who deals in rugby statistics.

Plenty to chat about as always! Ulster's whipping boys Leinster fall at the final hurdle in the Champions Cup Final once again  - what does this mean for Irish Rugby - does it create room for another province to rise like a phoenix from the flames to take their place? I'm maybe being a bit tongue in cheek about Leinster, but we will be talking about the ways in which the IRFU may seek to change things to level the playing field with the other provinces In other news, Ulster have secured the services of a new 10 - 22 year old Aidan Morgan is the chosen one. He looks impressive in the miserable weather in Wellington, New Zealand, but the question is, can he do it in similarly cold, wet and windy conditions at Ravenhill. Ulster Rugby leadership met with fans this week at Ravenhill where they were grilled by the Jeremy Paxman of the rugby world, Cool FM's Pete Snodden about the state of the club. We'll talk about all of that plus the small matter of the final game of the regular season against our provincial rivals, Munster this Saturday. To discuss all of the above I'm joined by a balanced panel - Nathan and Fergus as well as Munster Rugby fan royalty - writer and host of the Red Army Podcast, Caolan Scully and  podcaster with the Provincial State of Mind Rugby Podcast and creator of Three Red Kings - Tom Savage.

The Red Hand pod panel is joined by an unbelievable panel this week - former Leinster, Connacht, Sales Sharks and Ireland hooker and now one of the top pundits in the country, Bernard Jackman, and former Connacht, Leinster, Zebre and Ulster second-row and pundit Mick Kearney. We discuss all things Ulster Rugby including questions such as: how will the season finish up? What comes next for Richie Murphy's young and streamlined squad? Indeed, what hopes and expectations can we hold for the province over the next number of seasons? Enjoy.

Life's never boring as an Ulster fan. Big news this week as Richie Murphy is now permanently at the wheel after successfully getting his feet under the table during his temporary time in charge. Now, the question is whether he'll be able to turn this ship around in choppy waters. Richie's at the helm but a number of his crew have jumped or been pushed overboard - nine of them in fact. It will certainly lighten the load financially, but  where does that leave the squad? There's also the small matter of the match at the weekend and a massive clash with our provincial rivals coming up on Saturday as we continue the race to secure a play-off place. To discuss all things Ulster Rugby I'm joined by Nathan and Jack.

In this special bonus episode Dan and I are joined by legendary Exeter Chiefs out-half and Ulsterman, Gareth Steenson. Gareth chats about how rejection from Ulster spurred him on to better things. The European Cup winner also discusses why he is coming back to his native Norn Iron. One of rugby's most inspirational and interesting stories. Enjoy.

The gang are joined by top rugby journalist Brendan Fanning as we attempt to tackle some of the big issues facing Ulster Rugby.

The lads chat about the win over Ulster, who might be joining us from our feeder club in Dublin and what we need to do to salvage the season. To help us in our quest to answer all the big Ulster rugby related questions, rugby analyst and expert Jason Lear joins us.

Welcome to the Red Hand Podcast It's been another tough week to be an Ulster fan as our Challenge Cup hopes were crushed by Clermont. Richie Murphy's men were demolished in the second half after a pretty decent first half showing leaving fans and players feeling a bit shell shocked. Richie's still at the wheel though and he needs time. He's been parachuted in to a difficult situation and our new head coach and his squad need the backing of supporters. Depending on who you listen to in the Ulster camp we were either wrong to have such high expectations of the lads or we're actually not to far away from clicking and we just need to fix a few things. Maybe we should just enjoy the last few games without hope or expectation and see how we get on? I've maybe lost all ambition for this season, but I am genuinely optimistic about the changes Ulster have made. Here to wrestle with some of the big Ulster rugby questions I'm joined by usual panelists Ian, Nathan and special guest this week is Cardiff fan and podcaster with the Wrap Podcast and Cardiff Central Podcast Harley Worthy.

A different and somewhat special episode this week as we zoom out and consider the bigger picture at Ulster Rugby. Don't worry, we will discuss the weekend's action as well of course! Ulster secured a 40-17 point win over Montpellier to book their place in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup in a game that perfectly demonstrated the old adage ‘it's a game of two halves'. More on that in a second. The usual panel have been given a break this week in line with rugby podcasters rest protocol.  So, I've drafted in a couple of special guests to help give us an outside perspective on some big questions. One of the underlying complaints from fans in recent years has been Ulster Rugby's loss of identity. There is a sense in the past number of seasons that the club has drifted away from the culture and the values that made many of us fans in the first place.  It can be hard to articulate what defines us as a province but I think attempting a definition is a useful exercise as it can help determine our direction of travel as a club. To help wrestle with the big questions I'm incredibly honoured to be joined this week by Leinster Schools head coach and rugby analyst Brett Igoe and fellow podcaster with the mMunster based fan podcast Red Army Pod and rugby writer, Caolan Scully.

Have Ulster successfully weathered the storm? Everything seems better and brighter around Ulster Rugby at the minute. The coaching team look happier, fans are more positive, the team are battling for 80 minutes. I'm keen not to get carried away and talk of a transformation is certainly premature, but I think anyone who has been paying attention to ulster has noticed green shoots of progress in the most recent performances. It's difficult to explain but even though we lost, everyone – myself included – was pretty happy with it. We'll dig into why with Fergus, Ian and Dan. We'll dig into why

The lads bid farewell to Jonny Petrie and consider what's next for Ulster Rugby...

I'm joined this week by a very special guest and a name that will be familiar to all Ulster Rugby fans. A combative and abrasive second-row who played 34 times for the Wallabies, Justin's connection to Ulster came when he joined the province in 2005 and captained the side to the Celtic league - their last piece of silverware. Justin was a key player for Australia for several seasons, famously playing in memorable fixtures such as the third Lions test in 2001 and the Rugby World Cup final in 2003. I loved chatting to the legend that is Justin Harrison. Hope you enjoy listening.

The Ulster Rugby Soap opera continues. As we all know, following a recent plot-twist, one of the main characters was written out and the show has been revamped. New characters include understudy Dan Soper moving into the role of interim head coach and SPOILER ALERT he's about to be reduced to a background character when Richie Murphy takes over the reins in the coming weeks. In Ulster, the script never seems to allow for a straightforward narrative, preferring to shake things up every few seasons and ‘refresh' the ensemble cast to keep things interesting for fans. The start of the new series got off to an interesting start with the CEO's address to LITERALLY dozens of fans failing to provide sufficient reassurance that there really is ‘nothing to see here' with regard to rumours of a precarious financial situation and talk of an end of season exodus. A win at the weekend was a welcome interlude to the ongoing drama but fans are still left wondering what is going on.  Anyway, in an effort to find out what is actually going on I am joined by the usual panel of Nathan, Ian, Fergus and Daniel and a special guest this week: Jonny Drennan - Sportswriter at the Sydney morning herald and Huge Ulster fan.

Slow news day for Ulster Rugby... After the most dramatic 24 hours this season for fans of Ulster which saw head coach Dan depart the province, ending his tenure as the longest serving Ulster coach of the professional era, the panel have plenty to talk about. Where do we go from here? Who's next? Was there a game at the weekend? Sit back, enjoy the chat and don't forget to like and subscribe!

Where to begin? The Red Hand is back to discuss Ulster crashing out of the Champions Cup and where we go from here. Consider it group therapy for Ulster fans. We will always back the players on the pitch but is it time for some new ideas to inspire this talented squad to fulfil their full potential?

Everything was in place for a famous home win… A packed Ravenhill on its 100 year anniversary, the 99 squad were watching on 25 years on from their famous European Cup win and momentum from a couple of big wins… In the end, we got absolutely minced by a team who looked to be on another level. Du Pont magic together with the quality of the players around him overwhelmed Ulster who were second best in every area of the game. On a more positive note, we finally got to see some fabulous attacking, running rugby on the plastic pitch… just unfortunate that it wasn't from Ulster. The result has divided opinion: should we simply stand back and applaud a team who are much better than us or should be desperately searching for answers considering the manner of the defeat? To help us answer these questions I'm joined by Ian, Nathan, Daniel, Fergus and Jack.

This episode is from a while back - before Humphs was appointed head honcho of Irish Rugby. Where to even start with David Humphreys? Childhood hero, Ulster legend and one of the most significant figures in the history of Ulster Rugby. This one is from the archive and I thought I would put it out there given the fact we are 25 years on from when Humphs helped Ulster get crowned Kings of Europe in '99. What a legend. Enjoy.

It's good to be back after a short Christmas break - hope you had a good one! Ulster have enjoyed an unbeaten run so far in 2024 and in the process of beating our provincial rivals, Ulster are now the number one province in Ireland. What a difference a few weeks makes. Ulster fans - is there anything better than beating Leinster at their place? The win was far from perfect but we still got the result. It was a heroic effort from the lads and it begs the question: what has galvanised the team of late? Are Dan's men performing because of him or in spite of him? What Ulster players have played their way into Ireland reckoning? What's next for Ulster? Is talk of the spirit of '99 premature? To discuss all of this and more I'm joined by a class panel: Nathan, Daniel, Ian, Jack and Fergus.

"Never in doubt" Those were the words I was repeating after Ulster's inevitable demolition of Racing at Fortress Kingspan. Christmas has come early. Ulster are class again. Having been luke-warm to tepid so far this season, have Ulster been bubbling away beneath the surface? Are they now ready to boil over following their best performance in over a year? If you missed his post match interview, Dan said that he and some senior members of the squad had been spending time conducting experiments - mostly what 'quick-tap' moves work the best. The results were released against the French side to devastating effect. Next up are poor Connacht (off the back of four straight defeats) are the next guests at the Kingspan and then it's down the road to face Leinster on new year's day. So much to talk about, so much excitement, so much uncertainty. To discuss it all I'm joined by an incredible and incredibly large panel. Nathan, Jack, Ian, Fergus, Daniel and Harry Jones. Harry Jones has his own podcast and you can find him on social media @haribaldijones.

Life as an Ulster fan is anything but boring and, as usual, there's plenty to discuss on the podcast this week. Let's start with the positives: Ulster Rugby have an incredibly large and loyal fanbase, a fancy new stadium and pitch and a talented squad with a number of really good prospects coming through. So, this begs the question why Dan McFarland's men are struggling on the pitch and why Ulster are in such a precarious position as an organisation. There's a saying that a fish rots from the head down.  Something to think about.... However, there's also a saying 'SUFTUM til I die'. Real fans support players on the pitch. Indeed, no proper fan could complain about their team when the players are giving 100%. That includes whether they win, lose or draw. There is no doubt about the effort of the current crop of players - they are a passionate and committed bunch. So, What's holding them back from achieving their potential as a squad? Is the issue that needs to be fixed with the Ulster Rugby management and head-coach or is it just a matter of time before everything starts to click on the pitch and everything is rosy once again? To discuss all this and talk about the games themselves I'm joined by Ian, Jack, Fergus and delighted to be joined by a name that will be familiar to Ulster fans: Humphreys... Daniel Humphreys.