Podcasts about Twickenham

Northampton will face Exeter in the Prem final!Charlie Morgan and Will Kelleher join Alfie Reynolds to look back on the semi-final weekend which produced two excellent matches as Northampton beat rivals Leicester and Exeter produced a comeback to win away against Bath.Despite all their success under Rob Baxter, was this one of Exeter's great days? They became only the 7th team in Prem history to win away from home in a semi-final.Have they played their final already? Or can they produce another remarkable result?Northampton will look to cement themselves as the dominant side in England when they make the trip to Twickenham next weekend. How impressive is it for them to be back in the final again?Plus, could Maro Itoje really miss England's matches this summer?***Allianz Future Fund | Allianz Insurance Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back. This week we have got some fantastic news to share from the local scene. First up, the legendary Tim Staffell, the man who fronted Smile before it evolved into Queen, is heading to the Turks Head in Twickenham with his band this coming Friday, June 19th. It is always a special night when Tim is on the bill, so if you are in West London, that is the place to be. I have also got some news closer to home. My old band, Blues is Truth, has some fresh release news on the horizon. We have been digging back into the archives and the studio lately, so stay tuned for updates on what is coming next from our corner. The music this week is a proper cross section of the greats and the new guard. We are kicking off with BB and the Blues Shacks and a track from my own Blues is Truth before sliding into the beautiful collaboration of Staffell and Stewart. You will also hear the Louisiana soul of Tab Benoit, The Knickerbocker All Stars, and the Papa George Band. Because no show is complete without the icons, we have got The Rolling Stones, Freddie King, and Big Mama Thornton keeping things grounded. We are also featuring the brilliant harmonica work of Paul Lamb and the Kingsnakes, the fire of Coco Montoya, and a classic pairing of Buddy Guy and Junior Wells. The energy keeps rising with Garry Burnside, GA 20, Big Harp George, and Monster Mike Welch. We have also locked in the Walter Trout Band, Paul Garner Band, Shawn Pitman, and Little Mac. Wrapping up this two hour session, you will hear the legendary Taj Mahal, the powerhouse Kyla Brox, the king Muddy Waters, and the master of the slide, Steve Dawson. It is a packed show with a lot of history and plenty of future.

Just five 1st XI games managed to beat the weather on 6 June. One was in Div 7, two in Div 6, one in Div 4 and Twickenham v Stanmore in the Prem. And, Twickenham will be much the happier; by virtue of our old friend Vera Duckworth and her sums, they got home and with that their first ten points of the season. Plus, how bad exactly was that Test Match track and what's it like being an umpire on a rainy day? Spoiler. Not much fun.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 226 of The Adventure Podcast features ex-England Rugby Captain, sailor, rower, and world-record holder, Ollie Phillips. After over a decade of elite sport and multiple Player of the Year awards, an unknown injury suddenly stopped Ollie's career. In this episode, Matt and Ollie cover what it's like to grieve a career and a life you dedicated yourself to, and what happens after. They talk about Ollie's last minute decision to say yes to the Clipper Round the World Race, having never sailed before, a world record expedition to the North Pole, and more recently, a charity row across the Atlantic. Ollie is funny, direct, and genuinely honest. And it turns out the gap between who you were and who you're becoming is where the most interesting stuff happens.For extra insights from the worlds of adventure, exploration and the natural world, you can find The Adventure Podcast+ community on Substack. You can also follow along and join in on Instagram @‌theadventurepodcast.Chapter Breakdown00:00- 06:22: Who Ollie is now and the twelve-year rugby career that started it all.06:22-14:48: Why sports people and soldiers gravitate towards adventure, the ten-out-of-ten feeling that real life rarely matches, and what the corporate world gets wrong.14:48-22:43: Community, shared experience, and why Ollie has never started a story with "this one time, when I was on my own."22:43-33:24: How a spinal injury ended his rugby career in four hours, and why saying yes to a last-minute call from Sir Robin Knox-Johnston changed everything.33:24-39:14: Getting on the Clipper Race with no sailing experience, going from novice to second-in-command in three months, and the useful delusion that rugby might still be waiting at the end.39:14-49:13: PwC, the North Pole, and a fifteen-month legal battle just to play one last game of rugby at Twickenham for closure.49:13-1:00:51: What that final game meant, and the moment outside a basement flat that made Ollie realise he needed to change.1:00:51-1:05:03: Therapy, validation, fatherhood, and why not expecting anything from anyone has made everything better.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-adventure-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last weekend saw the annual Petersfield Football Club's Junior awards. The event recognises the best achievements from the Under 8s to the Under 16s boys and girls teams. Shine Radio is there to listen to player's accounts of their season as well as coach Rob Fleming and chairman Nick Orr. https://www.petersfieldtownfc.co.uk/ And our victorious women's senior side are league title winners again! The Rams are back to back champions leaping 2 divisions in just 2 seasons. Kevin pays a visit to Steep Lawn tennis club's open day armed with a dusted off racquet. We catch up with chairman Andrew Carnegie about the event and Jen Pigden tells us how the teams have fared over the winter and summer leagues. https://clubspark.lta.org.uk/SteepLawnTennisClub . The standard of Petersfield rugby is on an unbelievable upward trajectory right now and a selection of no less than 6 Petersfield players in to the Hampshire side is the perfect indicator. This weekend our super six take on Leicestershire at Twickenham for the Bill Beaumont trophy. https://www.petersfieldrfc.club/ . We also catch up on the latest news from the rugby club with their very ambitious plans heading into their centenary year. In cricket the men's first side have had themselves the perfect start, an impressive 3 wins from 3 but more striking than this headline, is the manner in which they are brushing aside the opposition. https://www.petersfieldcricket.club/ . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before professionalism swept it away, the Divisional Championship packed out Twickenham and launched international careers. Today, we're bringing it back. Armed with current pros, regional pride, and very little agreement on eligibility rules, our panel drafts four teams - North, Midlands, London & South, and the South West - and puts it to you to decide who'd win. Joining the show are World Cup winner and Leicester Tigers legend Ben Kay, and cross-code flying machine Martin "Chariots" Offiah - a man who actually pulled on the London jersey in 1987. Together with Payno and Tins, they argue, haggle, and horse-trade their way through the ultimate fantasy rugby draft. 00:00

Rugby: Wallis se afrigter, Steve Tandy, het ses nuwe spelers ingesluit in sy uitgebreide groep van 48 vir hul komende vier toetse. Hulle is Kane James, Harri Keddie, Ryan Woodman, Ben Warren, Rhys Barratt en Bryn Bradley. Wallis draf die 27ste Junie op Twickenham uit teen die Barbarians. Die groep sal dan verklein word vir Julie se Nasieskampioenskaps-wedstryde teen Fidji, Argentinië en Suid-Afrika. Tandy probeer sy groep se diepte versterk:

This episode of The UK Flooring Podcast sits down with Murray Biggs, founder of Woven & Woods, for a proper honest chat about retail, showroom design, customer experience, and what it really takes to build a flooring business that stands out.Murray shares how he went from working in carpet retail at 16 to opening his first showroom in Twickenham with borrowed money, limited budget, and a clear idea of what he didn't want to be. No red sale banners. No showroom packed with every stand going. No bland retail experience that looks like everyone else.Instead, Woven & Woods was built around impact, storytelling, and making the customer feel like they are in the right place before anyone has even started selling to them.The conversation gets into the thinking behind showroom layout, why too much choice can become a problem, how data helped Murray decide where to open his second showroom in Richmond, and why customer experience matters more than ever when footfall is harder to come by.It is also a very real conversation about the less glamorous side of growth: cash flow, overheads, staffing, warehousing, business partners, self-doubt, and learning how to back yourself again when business gets difficult.What You'll Learn in This Episode:How Murray started Woven & Woods with £25,000 of seed money and less than £10,000 left to build the first showroomWhy he refused to create a typical flooring shop full of manufacturer stands and sale bannersHow cheap materials, used properly, helped create a high-impact showroom with a clear identityWhy Woven & Woods limits its carpet ranges rather than trying to show everythingThe importance of using data, not just gut feeling, when opening a second showroomHow the river between Twickenham and Richmond affects customer behaviour more than you might expectWhy the first few steps inside a showroom matter, and how customers need space to settle into the environmentHow showroom design can tell a story before the sales conversation even startsWhy a messy showroom is a non-negotiable problem for MurrayHow to make flooring one of the enjoyable parts of a stressful renovation projectWhy customer experience is about much more than being friendlyThe hidden costs of running retail showrooms in London, including rent, rates, warehousing, staff, pensions, and cash flowWhy bigger businesses often come with bigger problemsThe best business advice Murray has read, and why focusing on what you are best at helped the business growThe danger of choosing the wrong business partner, even when the opportunity looks right at the timeHow a difficult year in business led Murray to question his decision-making and join Make or BreakWhy sometimes the thing holding the business back is the person running itMemorable Quote:“I would probably lose interest in the business if the business lost its wow factor to clients.”Speaker Information:Murray Biggs is the founder of Woven & Woods, a flooring and carpet retailer based in South West London, with showrooms in Twickenham and Richmond.Woven & Woods focuses on the mid to high-end residential market, helping customers choose flooring, carpets, wood flooring, and other products for homes and renovation projects. The business is known for its distinctive showroom style, carefully selected product ranges, and customer-first approach.Website: https://www.wovenandwoods.comInstagram: @wovenandwoodshttps://www.instagram.com/wovenandwoods/Facebook: @wovenandwoodshttps://www.facebook.com/wovenandwoods/Where to Find The UK Flooring Podcast:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6zBTR6F44i7E6Tp4k6t8jvApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-uk-flooring-podcast/id1668971415YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheUKFlooringPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Want your views heard on the show? Tap here to send us a message!A bumper edition with full discussion of a record breaking win at Sale, Zoe Harrison ruling Twickenham, Duncan with news from a super slick Ampthill and Jez interviewing the hottest loosehead in Rugby: Rhys Carre.Follow the Fezcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to hear all our latest news first!Click here for subscription links[Disclaimer: The Fezcast is brought to you on behalf of the Saracens Supporters Association and is not an official product of Saracens Ltd]Title Music (from Season 4): "Herald" by This Winter Machine

Warning: This episode contains discussion of disordered eating which some may find distressing. Sara is joined by World Cup winner Katy Daley-McLean and former Scotland fly-half Lisa Martin to talk all things Women's Six Nations. There is still plenty to discuss from the opening weekend after a big omission in the Wales matchday programme and Meg Jones' joining the post-match celebrations with fans at a Twickenham pub. Over 30,000 fans are expected at Murrayfield this weekend, which will be a record for a women's sporting event in Scotland, but how do the SRU capitalise on this moving forward? England and Scotland's injury lists continues to grow and we get our predictions for round two.There is also a powerful interview with Red Roses star Ellie Kildunne who opens up about her struggle with body dysmorphia. If you or anyone you know have been affected by any of the themes raised in this episode, help and support is available at BBC Action Line. URL - https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

Ruby Tui and Shaunagh Brown link up to review the opening round of the Guinness Women's Six Nations, which saw more records broken at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. They chat through England's new look, as well as that last-minute thriller between Scotland and Wales at the Principality Stadium. And... what went down at the biggest after party in town? We can confirm that DJ Ruby was back in business. Plus… Shaunagh catches up with Red Roses lock Lilli Ives Campion from right inside the England camp, and Ruby explains where she disappeared to while live on the BBC…

Neil Treacy is joined on this week's RTÉ Rugby podcast by Bernard Jackman and Johne Holland to discuss another busy week for the Irish provinces. And in part two (59:43), Hannah O'Connor joins Neil to look back at Ireland's W6N opener against England at Twickenham.

Welcome to Friday's Rugby Daily, with Cameron Hill.Coming up today, a final look ahead to Ireland's massive Six Nations opener against England,And all you need to know ahead of the Irish provinces going in European action this weekend.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

England legend Maggie Alphonsi and Grand Slam winner Fiona Hayes join Eoin Sheahan to look ahead to the start of the Six Nations tomorrow, with a record crowd set to play host to Ireland in Twickenham!The Six Nations Show on Off The Ball with Bank Of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

Former Leinster player Hannah O'Connor and OTB's own Susanna Mollen join us on the line to discuss the beginning of the Women's Six Nations this weekend. Ireland's first match will be against England on Saturday at Twickenham, as they look to end their long wait for a win. Hannah and Susanna discuss team news, a heated rivalry between the teams, and much more!Viagra Connect 50mg film-coated tablets. Contains sildenafil. For adult men with erectile dysfunction. Subject to suitability. Maximum dosage one 50mg tablet per day. Always read the label.

Welcome to Thursday's Rugby Daily, with Cameron Hill.Coming up today, the Ireland team is named for their Women's Six Nations curtain raiser away to England,Gerry Thornley on the steady decline of Munster,and Italy add a bonafide legend to their coaching ticket with 17 months to go before the World Cup.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

Dara Smith-Naughton was in Abbotstown for Ireland's final preparations ahead of the start of the Six Nations this weekend, with a massive opening day against England in Twickenham. He spoke with scrum coach Denis Fogarty, centre Eve Higgins and scrum half Emily Lane.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

A developer involved in one of Kent's biggest housing projects has gone into administration - casting doubt over key infrastructure. Administrators have been appointed just months after the company failed to avoid more than £50 million in agreed contributions. Also in today's podcast, a mum-of-one murdered by her estranged husband had told police just 16 days before she was killed that she feared it was “very likely” he would seriously harm her.  A report has revealed officers deemed Ramona Stoia was only at “medium” risk following his arrest for physical and sexual offences against her. A dreaded contraflow is set to be deployed on the M20 for the Easter holiday travel rush in anticipation of high passenger numbers heading through Kent to Europe. The motorway will be closed tonight so the Operation Brock system can be installed – we've spoken to local roads bosses.  We're being encouraged to count the number of bug splatters on our number plates as part of an annual survey.  It's called Bugs Matter - and you can log the data through an app to help track insect numbers.  And in sport, you can hear from members of the victorious rugby team from Maidstone Grammar School who are heading to meet the town's mayor later. It's after they secured a dramatic 22-21 win at Twickenham to lift the Schools Under-18 Vase. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All Black Ardie Savea appears to have reconciled with New Zealand Rugby after a potential estrangement last year. The Herald reports he came close to international retirement after the defeat to England at Twickenham. Savea was understood to have become disillusioned with the amount of the sport he was playing and time away from home, despite moving from the Hurricanes to Moana Pasifika and opting for a couple of sabbaticals in Japan. Sportstalk host D'Arcy Waldegrave explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Following the vote in the House of Lords to approve the decriminalisation of women who have abortions after the legal limit of 24 weeks, the whole issue of abortion itself has once again become highly contested. In that context, this debate – recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2025 on Saturday 18 October – is very topical.  ORIGINAL FESTIVAL INTRODUCTION Since 2020, the Academy of Ideas has published Letters on Liberty – a radical pamphlet series aimed at reimagining arguments for freedom today and inspiring rowdy, good-natured disagreement. In her Letter – Abortion and the Freedom to Forge Our Own Fate – Ann Furedi, an author and former chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, argues that debates about abortion often focus on when human life begins in the womb. Instead, she argues that it is important to consider a different human life – that of the woman. Furedi argues that the future of a woman's pregnancy should be for her alone to decide, and this decision ought to be regarded as personal and private. There is no clearer illustration of the way choice, agency and responsibility matters than the consequences of a woman's decision about her pregnancy, she says. To prevent someone from exercising their own choice, in a personal and private matter, is to strip them of their dignity and their humanity. Most importantly, she argues, we cannot respect the principles of freedom without acknowledging the freedom of reproductive choice. However, abortion is still regulated by law and legal limits, which can lead to a clash between an individual woman's rights and policy priorities. This was vividly illustrated by the recent backlash after MPs voted to change abortion legislation to stop women in England and Wales being prosecuted for ending their pregnancy after 24 weeks. The landslide vote to decriminalise the procedure – considered the biggest change to abortion laws in England and Wales for nearly 60 years – was met with horror in some quarters and not confined to traditional anti-abortion circles. For example, even some feminists argued foetal viability creates a clash of rights. So, is abortion such a clear cut issue for women's freedom? How does a decision to continue or end a pregnancy relate to a woman's freedom to shape her own life? With abortion regulation in many US states as well as other countries becoming more restrictive, does this reflect public sentiment? If not, how should we make the case for bodily autonomy in the twenty-first century? SPEAKERS Dr Piers Benn philosopher, author and lecturer Ann Furedi author, The Moral Case for Abortion; former chief executive, BPAS Margo Martin PhD student, Aberystwth University Jacob Phillips professor of systematic theology, St Mary's University, Twickenham; author, Obedience is Freedom CHAIR Ella Whelan co-convenor, Battle of Ideas festival; journalist; author, What Women Want

In ep 166 of “How Do You Say That?!” sponsored by britishvoiceover.co.uk, Chloe Gilgallon joins Sam and Mark to talk about how you start a read so that it sounds warm from the get-go? We explore why you're often cast because of your vocal age and ask why, during a first read, you settle into a script, and might want to do the beginning again at the end. We have a discussion about changing styles in your head mid-read, which can be quite subtle, but it makes a huge difference on mic. Our fun facts are about smoothies, The Who and a woodwork project, and the wildcards include an argument in dialogue, a relaxed giraffe, and Miss Marple comes to the rescue!Our VO question this week is all about ADR - what it is and how mastering improvisation is really important!Get involved! Have you got a Wildcard suggestion that we should try or an idea for the show? Send it to us via Mark or Sam's social media or email it directly to podcast@britishvoiceover.co.ukScript 1It feels less like an office space and more like an interrogation room at a police station. The blinds have been pulled down and shut tightly, and I'm offered nothing but water in a paper cup. As I wait, I wonder if they'll offer a phone call.Having never been in this situation before I'm unsure how to behave. I wasn't so much as sent to the headmaster's office at school. My entire life has been kept in order, following each rule carefully, ticking every box and now I'm about to be punished. It suddenly feels unfair, like all the years of good behaviour should count in my favour and I should be let off.Script 2However you choose to feed your baby, you may want to experience skin to skin contact after birth. If you're unable to hold your baby straight after birth and you have a partner, they can have skin to skin contact with your baby until you are ready to take over. We understand that everyone is different, and your midwife will be there to support you in this first hour after birth.Remember, babies need a lot of love and attention as they get used to their new world and it's not possible to spoil them. Your baby has been close to you during your whole pregnancy so being held and comforted will help them feel safe.We'd love your feedback - and if you listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, hit the follow button today!**Listen to all of our podcasts here - you can also watch on YouTube, or say to your smart speaker "Play How Do You Say That?!"About our guest: Chloe Gilgallon is an Actress and Voice Artist originally from Twickenham, now living by the sea in Essex with her American husband and two teenagers. At drama school, she was told she had a voice made for radio, and fell in love with audio drama. In fact, the first audio job she had won Silver Radio Award, Best Drama Special at the New York Festivals! Chloe works across a range of voice acting genres, including videogames such as Battlefield 6, Dragonquest III, Skull 'n Bones and The Settlers; ADR, promos, audiobooks, and explainer videos (often getting booked for subjects around ante and post-natal care, fertility and midwifery!) and she has been the Voice of God for three seasons of the UK version of Wheel of Fortune.Chloe's WebsiteChloe's Facebook page@chloegilgallon on InstagramChloe on YouTube Resources: Click here for the Wildcard Generator and don't forget to think of an action your character can be doing!About your hosts:With over 40 years representing major international clients such as Google, Emirates and HSBC; Mark Ryes has been trusted to be the voice for some of the world's biggest brands. If your business needs a fresh voice to represent you, then make it Mark's British voice. As a voiceover, TV presenter, podcaster or product demonstrator - Mark makes your brand truly sparkle!Mark's demos & contact details: https://linktr.ee/britishvoiceovermarkElegantly British with an intelligent, warm and seductive voice, Samantha Boffin helps creatives and production companies create great audio that really connects with their audience. BBC-trained and with over 20 years of broadcast experience on both sides of the mic, she's created award-winning promos, narration and commercials for companies all around the globe, including the BBC, Sky, Games Workshop, John Lewis, Audible and Penguin Random House.Samantha's demos & contact details: https://linktr.ee/samanthaboffin

OTB's Dara Smith-Naughton spoke with Ireland head coach Scott Bemand, captain Erin King, & players Eve Higgins, Beibhinn Parsons & Stacey Flood at the Six Nations squad announcement.The team builds towards the opening fixture in Twickenham vs England on the 11th of April.Rugby on Off The Ball, with Bank of Ireland | #neverstopcompeting

Morse code transcription: vvv vvv UK must build own nuclear missiles to end US reliance, says Ed Davey Ekaterina Barrett entered a London shop owners life. Then things took a strange, expensive turn Sculpting jaws, giving scores Inside the world of looksmaxxing We will intervene on energy bills if necessary, says Ed Miliband William shares unseen photo with Princess Diana for Mothers Day Iranian barista in Twickenham praised for being community angel US names six crew killed in refuelling plane crash in Iraq Newspaper headlines Starmer may send drones to the Gulf and Panic hits the pumps Banknotes, beavers and a very British backlash Londons Burning Actor John Alford dies in prison

Host Pádraig Ó Tuama shares “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare, a favorite childhood poem of his, and offers an audio postscript to Season 10 of Poetry Unbound. Later in 2026, he will bring us more Poetry Unbound to look forward to — find out what and when here. In the meantime, you can listen to past episodes of Poetry Unbound or to new episodes of On Being with Krista Tippett, out now.   We invite you to subscribe to Pádraig's weekly Poetry Unbound Substack, read the Poetry Unbound books and his newest work, Kitchen Hymns, or listen to all our Poetry Unbound episodes.   Walter de la Mare was born on April 25, 1873, in London. He is the author of numerous books, including The Veil and Other Poems (Constable & Company, 1921) and The Listeners (Constable & Company, 1912). He died on June 22, 1956, in Twickenham, England. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The lads take a look at where the championship stands after three rounds and ask the big questions. Are France operating on a different level, and how do Scotland stop their transition game at Murrayfield? Is England's discipline and defence about to cost them in Rome, and could Italy finally make history? We get into the numbers around England's 22 efficiency, missed tackles out wide, scrum battles and turnover issues, plus what tactical tweaks could change the picture. And we're joined by Italy fly half Paolo Garbisi. He talks Quesada's influence, the shift in mentality, Italy's dominant scrum, and what they're targeting against England this weekend. And after that huge win at Twickenham, have Ireland flipped the narrative of their tournament and will they back it up against an improving Wales? Sign up to NordVPN by going to nordvpn.com/rugbypod to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 additional months free. It's completely risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope  Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope. https://media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/media.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/content.blubrry.com/amouthfulofair/89_From_An_Essay_on_Man_by_Alexander_Pope.mp3 Poet Alexander Pope Reading and commentary by Mark McGuinness From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!   Podcast Transcript In the early 18th century, Alexander Pope's poetry was known to every cultured person in England. He was a fashionable, successful, wealthy writer and the preeminent poet of his age. He was also a canny businessman who published his translations of Homer via subscription, an early form of crowdfunding, and they sold so well he built himself, an extravagantly large villa in Twickenham – and its famous subterranean grotto still exists today. His political satires were so sharp and topical that he was rumoured to carry a pair of loaded pistols when going for a walk, in case one of his targets took violent exception. Phrases from his poetry are still proverbial: ‘hope springs eternal', ‘Fools rush in where angels fear to tread', ‘a little learning is a dangerous thing', ‘To err is human; to forgive divine', ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', and also the title of the movie, ‘eternal sunshine of the spotless mind'. But these days, Pope has really fallen out of fashion. He's seen as archaic and artificial. In an age when formal poetry is out of fashion, for many people he represents the worst kind of formal poetry: his very regular metre and full rhymes sound clunky to our ears. His rhyming couplets are undoubtedly clever, but that's part of the problem, because these days we associate poetry with emotions and self-expression, so cleverness is seen as a little suspect and somehow inauthentic. And I'll be honest, for a long time, I had that image of Pope. He represented everything the Romantics rebelled against at the end of the 18th century, and as a young poet I was on the side of the Romantics, so I had no interest in Pope. However, a few years ago, I challenged myself to have another look at his work, and what I discovered was a really sharp and thought-provoking and witty and formidably skilful poet, who in certain moods, is an absolute pleasure to read. And he doesn't fit every mood, but then there aren't many poets who do. So turning to today's poem, An Essay on Man is one of Pope's major works, it's about 1,300 lines long. As the title suggests it's a meditation on the nature of what he called mankind, and we call humankind, we have to make allowance for the historic focus on the male as representative of the species. It's also a didactic poem, he's not just reflecting on the subject, he is telling us what we should think about it. Which again, is a deeply unfashionable stance for poets these days, at least when they are on the side of a conservative or establishment position. And he does this in the form of a series of verse epistles, verse letters, which are addressed to Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke. The epistle form also means that the poem addresses the reader in a very direct manner, as you would expect in a letter. His basic stance, which we find in many of his poems, is of a reasonable man writing for a group of like-minded people, trying to establish some sort of common sense, shared ideas and principles, in a world where these need to be debated and defined and defended. This was the world of the coffee house and the salon, where people came together to debate, sometimes in very robust fashion. It came to be known as the Augustan age in English literature, by comparison with the satirical and political poetry of the age of Augustus Caesar. OK looking more closely at the poem itself, the excerpt I just read is from the second Epistle, and one of the first things we notice is what Milton would have called the ‘jingling' rhymes: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic’s pride, It's pretty unmistakeable isn't it? One pair of rhymes after another. And in case you're wondering, yes, these rhyming couplets do go on all the way through the poem, and indeed all the way through most of Pope's work. And not just in Pope: for over a century, from about 1650 to 1780, this was a hugely popular verse form. They are known as heroic couplets because they are associated with epic narrative poems, such as John Dryden's translations of Virgil and Pope's translations of Homer. Each line is in iambic pentameter, the familiar ti TUM ti TUM ti TUm ti TUM ti TUM, with two lines next to each other forming couplets, and the poem proceeding with one couplet after another. The form can be traced back to Chaucer, who used rhyming couplets for many of his narrative poems. But by the time of Dryden and Pope it had evolved into a tighter couplet form, described as closed couplets, meaning that they were typically self contained, with a sentence, or a discrete part of a sentence, beginning and ending inside the couplet. For instance: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. That stands on its own as a single thought, a unit of sense, ending with a full stop. And the full rhyme of ‘scan' and ‘man' means the couplet snaps shut at the end – this is the closed couplet effect we associate with heroic couplets. In the next couplet he introduces the idea of man as a creature of ‘middle state': Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: And then another couplet elaborates on the sense of being pulled in different directions: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So the poem proceeds one unit of sense at a time. The couplets are like Lego bricks, and Pope used them to build just about anything he wanted: literary and philosophical discourse here in the Essay on Man and in his Essay on Criticism; mock-heroic social comedy in The Rape of the Lock; actual epic in his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey; and satire in The Dunciad. It's easy to see how this could become monotonous, and in the work of most poets of the time, it did. But Pope's great achievement was to take this established form and perfect it, sticking very strictly to the formal pattern, while varying the syntax, the grammatical patterns, with great subtlety and complexity, to keep the reader on their toes. Let's take another look at the first couplet. Notice the little pause in the middle of the first line, after ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; This divides the line into two parts, conveying the dramatic tension in Pope's argument: he's saying that humans are ambitious for knowledge, they want to ‘scan' God, to examine him, but they should really focus on self-knowledge. This tension between opposites is known as antithesis, it's a rhetorical pattern we looked at back in episode 58 about one of Sir Philip Sidney's sonnets, and it's very common in Pope. And the tension is resolved in the next line, which is all one phrase, with no pause: The proper study of mankind is man. Have another listen to the couplet, to hear how the tension is established and then released: Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. So when all of this comes together, the tension and release, the regular rhythm of the metre and the full rhymes clinching the couplet, it has the effect of making the words sound truer than true. The following couplet picks up on the antithesis, and extends it into paradox: Placed on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and rudely great: An isthmus is a narrow strip of land between two bodies of water, so standing on it, you could easily feel precarious and threatened. ‘Darkly wise' means ‘dimly wise', possessing a little knowledge, but not enough for full understanding. And ‘rudely great' means ‘powerful but coarse and unfinished'. And I think we can recognise what Pope is saying from our own experience – that sense of knowing enough to know how little we really know; of having great potential, but struggling to fulfil it. And isn't it delightful how Pope compresses all those feelings into these neat little paradoxes: ‘darkly wise and rudely great'. In another famous line, he describes true eloquence as ‘What oft was thought but ne'er so well expressed', which is exactly what he achieves here. We can also note that ‘darkly wise' and ‘rudely great' are not only antitheses expressed as paradoxes, they are also an example of another rhetorical pattern: parallelism, where similar structures are repeated with variation. In this case ‘darkly' and ‘rudely' are both adverbs and ‘wise' and ‘great' are both adjectives, so grammatically they are identical, which suggests both similarity and difference in mankind's relationship to knowledge and power. The next couplet uses a more elaborate parallelism: With too much knowledge for the sceptic side, With too much weakness for the stoic's pride, So both lines say ‘With too much something for the something else'. It's hard to miss the pattern, isn't it? And notice how the couplet form is perfect for laying out two ideas that seem to counterbalance each other perfectly. So we're only six lines in and Pope has put his finger on a central conundrum in human existence, and conveyed it with at least three rhetorical patterns nested inside each other – antithesis, paradox and parallelism. Not only that, he's handled the metre and rhyme with great skill, wrapping each thought up in the neat little bow of a rhyming couplet. And if your mind is starting to boggle, welcome to the world of Pope's verse: elegant, authoritative and very, very clever. When we look closely, there's a lot going on inside every single couplet. He's like a watchmaker, working at a tiny scale, making an instrument with great precision and balance, that keeps perfect time, and chimes beautifully. And Pope's contemporaries would have found it easier to follow the sense than we do, because they were used to reading this kind of stuff. But I'm sure the poetry would often have given them pause, even if only for a moment, as they read. And my guess is that they would have enjoyed this slight difficulty, and the pleasure of making out the sense, with the little dopamine hit of understanding. Like unwrapping a sweet before you can pop it in your mouth and taste it. So I hope we're starting to see why Pope is the undisputed master of the heroic couplet. Even T. S. Eliot had to admit defeat, when he wrote a passage in this style for The Waste Land, only for Ezra Pound to point out tactfully that he couldn't compete with Pope, and draw the red pencil through it. But the form is more than simply one couplet after another. When he stacks them together, they create verse paragraphs, longer units of thought, that function very like paragraphs in prose. So having established the idea of man caught between opposing forces, he goes on to elaborate on the theme to dazzling effect: He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest; In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast; In doubt his mind or body to prefer; Born but to die, and reasoning but to err; Alike in ignorance, his reason such, Whether he thinks too little, or too much: The couplets are individually brilliant, and cumulatively overwhelming, both in terms of the mental effort required to tease out their meanings, and the tension between action and inaction, divine and bestial impulses, mind and body, birth and death, reason and error. And I think that's why I find this line so funny: Whether he thinks too little, or too much: It feels like he's throwing his arms up and laughing and admitting that he's overthinking it all. The verse paragraph ends with three more couplets, where he sums up the nature of man: Chaos of thought and passion, all confused; Still by himself abused, or disabused; Created half to rise, and half to fall; Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all; Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Although Pope is describing a ‘chaos of thought', his own thinking is always sharp, however convoluted his argument becomes. So he sticks to the themes of power and knowledge, undercutting man's pretension by saying he is ‘Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all', and ‘Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled'. And he ends this paragraph with another rhetorical device, the tricolon, which uses three parallel elements to build to a conclusion: The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! We're familiar with this pattern in famous quotes from Julius Caesar, ‘I came, I saw, I conquered', the US Declaration of Independence, ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', and Shakespeare: ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen!' Here, Pope uses it with typical precision, since if someone is both the ‘glory… of the world' and it's ‘jest', i.e. the butt of its jokes, then that makes that person a ‘riddle': The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! So this sums up the nature of man, and sets up the jesting irony of the next verse paragraph: Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides, Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides; Instruct the planets in what orbs to run, Correct old time, and regulate the sun; If this were the start of the poem, we might be forgiven for taking Pope's words at face value, but in the light of what has gone before, it's pretty clear that ‘wondrous creature' is a mocking criticism. He was writing this in an age where Newtonian physics was in the ascendancy and people were full of enthusiasm about the new discoveries in science and the possibility of understanding and mastering the physical world. And given that we are still living in a so-called age of reason, I think his criticisms of scientific overreach are still relevant, and the joke is still funny, when he talks about instructing the planets in what orbits to follow, correcting time and regulating the sun. As if measuring were full understanding, let alone complete power. But Pope doesn't confine his criticism to scientists. He also has philosophers in his sight: Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere, To the first good, first perfect, and first fair; Or tread the mazy round his followers trod, And quitting sense call imitating God; He clearly doesn't have a lot of time for Plato's first principles. Neither is he impressed by the contemporary vogue for what we would call Orientalism: As Eastern priests in giddy circles run, And turn their heads to imitate the sun. It's possible that he had in mind the whirling dervishes of Persia, or maybe this is just a caricature of his idea of ‘Eastern priests'. So obviously this is a joke that hasn't aged so well. OK he ends this verse paragraph with a final jab, which restates the idea from the opening couplet in bluntly comic fashion: Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! It's hard to imagine a more apt image of intellectual presumption than trying to teach Eternal Wisdom a thing or two, but just in case we miss the point, Pope rams it home with relish: Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! And this is another characteristic aspect of Augustan poetry, particularly the satirical kind, that it can be very crude and direct, with a passage of sophisticated argument followed by a line or two where the mask drops and the insult is laid bare. And no, it's not big or clever, but let's face it, sometimes it can be deeply satisfying. One more little detail, which I can't help wondering about: notice how both of these couplets, conveying the same basic idea in very different tones, both hinge on the word ‘thyself': Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of mankind is man. Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule – Then drop into thyself, and be a fool! So that word ‘thyself' could be used to refer to various individuals, and knowing Pope, I wouldn't be surprised if he intended all of them at once. Firstly, the phrasing sounds proverbial, in which case each couplet is an injunction to mankind at large. Secondly, it could refer to the reader, any reader, of the poem, whether Viscount Bolingbroke, an 18th-century wit, or you and me, reading the poem together on this podcast. It could also refer to the specific targets of Pope's criticism, such as the overreaching scientists or philosophers. I think Pope may also have had in mind a target nearer to home: himself. W. B. Yeats wrote in one of his essays, ‘We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry'. And it's entirely possible that Pope is doing both at once: we've seen the brilliance of his rhetoric, in puncturing the pretensions of his fellow men and women. Yet by making poetry as well as rhetoric, he is arguably arguing with himself as well. It was of course be entirely right and proper and expected for a Christian such as Pope to admonish himself as well as others, for the many and various sins he describes in An Essay on Man. So from a moral viewpoint, I think I'm on pretty safe ground in suggesting that ‘thyself' includes Pope. But I would go further, and say that the idea of a brilliant mind that is not quite brilliant enough to fully understand itself may have been a deeply personal subject for Pope. Because what we have here is an extremely clever warning about taking cleverness to extremes. Maybe the irony was not lost on Pope. As he wrote in another poem, An Essay on Criticism, ‘A little learning is a dangerous thing'. So perhaps as we hear this passage again, and enjoy the sparkling wit and scurrilous attacks on others, we can also detect a note of self-reflection, and self-accusation, that makes it a little more poignant than it first appears. From An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;The proper study of mankind is man.Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,A being darkly wise, and rudely great:With too much knowledge for the sceptic side,With too much weakness for the stoic's pride,He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;In doubt to deem himself a god, or beast;In doubt his mind or body to prefer;Born but to die, and reasoning but to err;Alike in ignorance, his reason such,Whether he thinks too little, or too much:Chaos of thought and passion, all confused;Still by himself abused, or disabused;Created half to rise, and half to fall;Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled:The glory, jest, and riddle of the world! Go, wondrous creature! mount where science guides,Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,Correct old time, and regulate the sun;Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;Or tread the mazy round his followers trod,And quitting sense call imitating God;As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,And turn their heads to imitate the sun.Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule –Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!   Alexander Pope Alexander Pope was an English poet and translator who was born in 1688 and died in 1744. As a Catholic he was barred from university and public office, so he educated himself and forged a brilliant literary career, becoming the leading poet of Augustan England, celebrated for his razor-sharp satire and polished heroic couplets. Early success came with An Essay on Criticism and The Rape of the Lock, followed by monumental translations of Homer that made him financially independent. His later works, including The Dunciad, attacked dullness and corruption. In An Essay on Man, he explored human nature, providence, and moral order with epigrammatic clarity. He lived at Twickenham, where he created a famous garden and grotto.   A Mouthful of Air – the podcast This is a transcript of an episode of A Mouthful of Air – a poetry podcast hosted by Mark McGuinness. New episodes are released every other Tuesday. You can hear every episode of the podcast via Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts or your favourite app. You can have a full transcript of every new episode sent to you via email. The music and soundscapes for the show are created by Javier Weyler. Sound production is by Breaking Waves and visual identity by Irene Hoffman. A Mouthful of Air is produced by The 21st Century Creative, with support from Arts Council England via a National Lottery Project Grant. Listen to the show You can listen and subscribe to A Mouthful of Air on all the main podcast platforms Related Episodes From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Episode 89 From An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope Mark McGuinness reads and discusses an excerpt from Epistle II of An Essay on Man by Alexander Pope.Poet Alexander PopeReading and commentary by Mark McGuinnessFrom An Essay on Man Epistle II By Alexander Pope Know... Occupied by Tim Rich Episode 88 Occupied by Tim Rich  Tim Rich reads ‘Occupied' and discusses the poem with Mark McGuinness.This poem is from: Dark Angels: Three Contemporary PoetsAvailable from: Dark Angels is available from: The publisher: Paekakariki Press Amazon: UK... Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold Episode 87 Dover Beach by Matthew Arnold  Mark McGuinness reads and discusses ‘Dover Beach' by Matthew Arnold.Poet Matthew ArnoldReading and commentary by Mark McGuinnessDover Beach By Matthew Arnold The sea is calm tonight.The tide is full, the moon lies...

Payno, Hask, and Tins dissect England's bruising Twickenham defeat to Ireland. While fans and press go into meltdown, the boys urge calm, separating emotional fallout from professional reality. Plus, the OG trio unpack the thrilling Wales versus Scotland clash and France's continued dominance. 00:00

On Monday's Rugby Daily, David Wilson has brings you all the day's biggest rugby news.Ireland regroup in Dublin ahead of their Round 4 clash with Wales national rugby union team, as preparations ramp up for a Friday-night showdown at Aviva Stadium.Squad fitness update: James Lowe faces monitoring over a groin issue, while Jack Conan returns to training after illness ruled him out of the historic win over England national rugby union team.Provincial reshuffle sees several Ireland players released back to their URC sides, with both senior and U-20 squads set for an open training session in Dublin.Reaction from Twickenham as Alan Quinlan and Matt Williams dissect Ireland's record victory over England on Off The Ball Breakfast.Williams questions England's selection calls and mentality, while also raising concerns about Ireland's squad age profile and long-term pathways.Full analysis available now across the OTB Rugby Podcast feed, plus details on how fans can access exclusive Six Nations coverage via the GoLoud app.France power past Italy in Lille to stay on course for a Grand Slam, with standout performances from Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos under France national rugby union team boss Fabien Galthié.Italy show flashes of promise, including a try from Ange Capuozzo, but fall short as Italy national rugby union team struggle to contain Les Bleus.Injury concern for Capuozzo after a shoulder knock in Lille, with head coach Gonzalo Quesada admitting the Toulouse star could miss the remainder of the championship.Title permutations explained: France eye silverware in Edinburgh, while Italy turn their focus to a crucial clash with England as the Six Nations drama continues.Become a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

We're three weeks into the Six Nations and England's hopes of winning the tournament are up in flames after they were hammered by Ireland at Twickenham.Alan and Charles are joined in studio by the Telegraph's Dan Schofield to unpack the defeat and look at how England can salvage what is left of their Six Nations campaign.It was a bittersweet afternoon for England captain Maro Itoje. He won his 100th cap for his country but was withdrawn early once again and Dan thinks it's time he was given a six-month sabbatical from the game to ensure he is at his best for the World Cup next year.We also ask what has happened to the England lineout, and why is their defence so easy to penetrate?As for Ireland, that performance instantly changes the narrative around Andy Farrell's side. There's high praise for Stuart McCloskey too who has been their standout player of the tournament so far.Elsewhere we ask if Wales fans will be happy despite defeat to Scotland in Cardiff, can anyone stop France winning a Grand Slam and we tackle your questions as usual. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ger Gilroy, Dara Smith-Naughton, and Paddy Andrews bring you a roundup of the weekend's headlines as Ireland enjoy a fantastic weekend in Twickenham.

Over 150,000 Irish-born people live in London, and another 1 million have some sort of Irish heritage. Many young Irish are flocking to London, including Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. Henry McKean met people connected to the London Irish Centre and met the young and old Irish outside Twickenham at the 6 Nations rugby match, and sent us this report.

Adrian Barry is joined by Orla McElroy, Sports Editor with the Irish Daily Mail, and Brendan Hackett, sports psychologist and Head of Coach and Player Development with the GAA in this week's edition of the Sunday Paper ReviewThe Sunday Paper Review on Off The Ball in partnership with Centra, make sure your fridge is match ready, to KICK OFF WITH A COLD ONE. Over 18's only. Drink responsibly. Get the facts. Visit drink aware.ie.

Adrian Barry is joined by Orla McElroy, Sports Editor with the Irish Daily Mail, and Brendan Hackett, sports psychologist and Head of Coach and Player Development with the GAA in this week's edition of the Sunday Paper ReviewThe Sunday Paper Review on Off The Ball in partnership with Centra, make sure your fridge is match ready, to KICK OFF WITH A COLD ONE. Over 18's only. Drink responsibly. Get the facts. Visit drink aware.ie.

John Duggan, Adrian Barry and Shane Hannon are in studio to bring you all the news from the sporting world on a weekend where Ireland beat England in a statement win at Twickenham, Manchester City closed in on Arsenal with a win over Newcastle and the close of the Winter Olympics. Arsenal will look to bounce back from the late draw with Wolves last week with a win over North London rivals Tottenham.The Sunday Newsround on Off The Ball

Chris is alongside Matt Dawson, Paul Grayson and Donncha O'Callaghan to reflect on Ireland smashing England 21-42 in a record-breaking win at Twickenham. Ireland keep their claim for the Six Nations title alive, whilst England's hopes turn to dust. How did Ireland cut through England, and what confidence will they take from this record win at Twickenham? Plus, the guys discuss England's reluctance to adapt from their set gameplan.Then, Sara Orchard is alongside Philippa Tuttiett and Andy Nicol at the Principality as Scotland come back to deny Wales a first Six Nations victory since 2023. Having led by 15, there are plenty of positives for Wales to take, but their search for a Six Nations win continues. Scotland build on the back of their Calcutta Cup win to take temporary top-spot. TIMECODES: 0'37 - Match reflections on an Irish result for the ages, & a "toothless" England 6'36 - Farrell & Ireland playing strong "heads-up" rugby 13'28 - An England blip, or long-term cause for concern? Can they evolve past their gameplan? 29'08  - Looking past the fallow week for both Ireland & England 33'33 - Scotland come back to beat Wales in Cardiff! 40'48 - Russell's brilliance & his catalyst of a try 43'40 - At what point did Wales lose it? 51'00 - Final thoughts from Andy & Philippa

Welcome to Saturday's Rugby Daily, with Dara Smith-Naughton, LIVE from London!In tonight's pod, all the Irish reaction from Twickenham.Andy Farrell & Caelan Doris sum up a historic day for Irish rugby in London.Match heroes Stuart McCloskey & Tommy O'Brien give their immediate post-match thoughts.And England head coach, Steve Borthwick, faces the heat post-match.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

John Duggan is joined in studio by Will Connors and Brendan Fanning for this week's Saturday Panel, while Andy Dunne dials in from Twickenham, as Ireland's Six Nations clash with England draws to a close.The Saturday Panel on Off The Ball in partnership with Centra, make sure your fridge is match ready, to KICK OFF WITH A COLD ONE. Over 18's only. Drink responsibly. Get the facts. Visit drink aware.ie.

Maro Itoje is set to become England's latest centurion when he captains the team against Ireland this Saturday at Twickenham. Chris and Ashy sit down with Itoje and reflect on a remarkable 10-year stint with England that has seen him win a Grand Slam, Six Nations titles and reach a World Cup final. Was he always destined to reach this milestone? He picks out his most memorable moments over the past decade and tells us about the coaches that have helped him get to this point. How does he stay motivated? What does he still want to achieve in an England shirt? And if he had to pick his favourite second row partner, who would it be?

Welcome to Friday's Rugby Daily, with Cameron Hill.Coming up today, all you need to know ahead of Ireland's trip to Twickenham tomorrow,Fiona Hayes explains the physics behind Air Tadhg against the Italian scrum last weekend,And Munster win the race to sign a highly sought-after Springboks ahead of next season.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

In this episode of 'Back Seat Pundits' former Connacht and Ireland fullback, Gavin Duffy, joined Susanna Mollen as they travelled to the new Dexcom Stadium!On their way, they discuss Ireland's game against Italy, the online discourse around the outhalf position, and look forward to England in Twickenham. All with thanks to Renault Ireland | #RethinkRenault

It's a pod mash-up on this latest episode of Rugby Union Weekly as Sara is joined by former Ireland and Lions scrum half Conor Murray – who stars in one of our sister podcasts, The Ireland Rugby Social. Conor's co-presenter BBC Northern Ireland's rugby expert, Gavin Andrews also comes along for the ride as they take a trip down memory lane – reflecting on past victories… and the losses too against England at the Allianz (or Twickenham as it was known in Conor's time!) They chat the selection issues that Andy Farrell might have ahead of the team being announced, as well as debating that 10 position in the Ireland squad – and the pressure it puts on the players. And Conor lets us in on what really happened in Las Vegas with Alex Mitchell – and the guys give their predictions with both giving very different answers…

Welcome to Tuesday's Rugby Daily, I'm Cameron Hill. Coming up today, we'll hear from the Ireland camp over in England ahead of this weekend's huge test at Twickenham. Andy Dunne on the technical areas where Sam Prendergast can improve, and why radio silence would be hugely detrimental to his confidence. And the England team is out - while a big young prospect handed a first start. Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland | #NeverStopCompeting

Ugo, Ashy and a very happy John Barclay review round two of the Six Nations after Scotland regained the Calcutta Cup. Is a first triple crown since 2010 now on the cards? Did Scotland's gameplan expose England's weaknesses? Should it have been Marcus Smith on the bench at Murrayfield? And is his namesake Fin getting enough Test minutes? France flex their muscles in Cardiff as they put 50 on Wales, can anyone stop the defending champions from winning another title? But why are Wales still struggling defensively under Steve Tandy? Ireland's fly-half debate rumbles on, will it be Sam Prendergast or Jack Crowley lining up at Twickenham? And what is the biggest obstacle preventing Italy from being in the title hunt one day?

On Monday's Rugby Daily with David Wilson, Ireland number 10 fallout, racist Edogbo abuse and more Welsh misery.The Ireland out-half debate intensifies ahead of the Six Nations clash with England national rugby union team at Twickenham, as Andy Farrell defends Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley from online criticism.Reaction to Ireland's mixed start to the Championship, including defeat to France and an unconvincing win over ItalyFormer Ireland international Alan Quinlan and ex-Scotland national rugby union team head coach Matt Williams weigh in on who should wear the number 10 jersey.The Irish Rugby Football Union launches an investigation into racist abuse directed at Munster lock Edwin Edogbo following his debut.Support pours in for Edogbo after his first cap at the Aviva Stadium, with his club Cobh Pirates RFC telling his journey from Cork to the international stage.Analysis of Craig Casey's controversial sin-bin as Ireland edged past Italy in Dublin.All the latest on Ireland's Six Nations campaign and what's at stake in round three.France keep their Grand Slam hopes alive with an eight-try demolition of Wales national rugby union team at the Principality Stadium.Pressure mounts on Welsh head coach Steve Tandy as Wales' losing streak deepens despite signs of improvement.Rugby on Off The Ball with Bank of Ireland #NeverStopCompetingBecome a member and sign up at offtheball.com/join

We're two weeks into the Six Nations and only France remain on track for a Grand Slam after a thrilling win for Scotland over England at Murrayfield!Alan, Gavin and Charles unpack Saturday's clash in Edinburgh which saw England's 12-match winning streak halted.There's criticism for Henry Arundell who was given a red card for two yellow card incidents - will we see him again? Could Borthwick have used his bench better? And Charles defends George Ford for his failed drop-goal attempt which saw Scotland go up the other end and score.As for Gregor Townsend, how much does that win ease the pressure on him, and is it vital he backs it up with another big win this tournament?Plus we discuss a nervy win for Ireland ahead of their trip to Twickenham, and whether anyone can realistically stop France who blew Wales away. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris has made it to Edinburgh to find Tom English and Andy Burke to analyse the Scotland team for the Calcutta Cup. There is no Edinburgh player in the starting XV since 1998! So, it means there is no place for Duhan van der Merwe again. Is it a gamble to leave out the record try scorer in the Calcutta Cup in the Six Nations era? Can Gregor Townsend survive another defeat, or would it be the final straw for the Scottish rugby public? We also pick through some bold selection calls from Ireland boss Andy Farrell as they welcome Italy to the Aviva on Saturday. Chris heads to the England team hotel to catch up with captain Maro Itoje as he prepares to win his 99th cap after a tough few weeks on a personal level. He shares how his faith has helped him deal with the loss of his mother. He speaks candidly about the huge influence she had on all aspects of his life and how much the reaction of the Twickenham crowd meant to him after coming off the bench last week.

The Nations Pod is back after a tricky opening round for three of the four home nations. Tom laments Scotland and Ireland's starts - but will Gregor Townsend's side again pull something out of the bag for the Calcutta Cup? Gro describes the apathy around Wales after a deflating game in Twickenham, although there is one silver lining. And there is the annual rant about Six Nations bonus points.

Gareth Rhys Owen is joined by former Wales internationals Richie Rees and Scott Williams to react to Wales' 48-7 defeat to England at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham.

Lauren Salter, James Hook and Jonathan Davies visit the Wales training base to speak to prop Archie Griffin before the opening Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.

Ashy and Chris are in the player's gym at Twickenham to dissect England's Six Nations squad and chat to head coach Steve Borthwick. He talks through his picks at tighthead and calling up Exeter number eight Greg Fisilau. We ask how close Northampton's George Hendy was to making the cut and how many of those named on the rehab list will play in the early part of the tournament. Borthwick also speaks about their opener against Wales and being quizzed about selection by fans in the street. Away from the Six Nations, there is also some big news from Saracens to discuss as Mark McCall announces he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.