Much Ado About Rugby

Bit more of a fun episode today as the lads discuss what they would do if they were to take over a premiership club. With Ed taking over Quins, Macsen with Saracens and Mal with Bath, they chat about who they would sign to improve the squad, which ex player they would make Head Coach / Director of Rugby and which beer they would want sponsoring the club.

Euros been happening so might chat about that soon…

Is Harlequins the best attacking side in the world? I think so. 

We're back with some good old rugby chat as Ed and Mal discuss Quins, who will win the Premiership, and the recently announced Springboks squad for the British and Irish Lions Tour. 

Tune in next week for some highly analytical Football chat as the Euros commences. Are we joking? Who knows.

LIONS! LIONS! LIONS! 🦁  With the British and Irish Lions Squad finally being announced, the lads chat all about who made it, the bolters, and those who may have missed out.  Can’t believe Rozzy didn’t make the squad!! 🤬  Who’s gassed for the Lions Tour?? 🧀

In this episode, the lads make their Lions XV off the back of an eye opening Six Nations. Following the downfall of England, how few of them do they include in the team. Does the Welsh flyer Louis RZ make the team? Will Manu Tuilagi be back in time? How many of the Championship side Saracens are in the XV? All questions answered in this episode!

In this episode, Macsen and Malachi discuss what issues lie within England Rugby at the moment. They go through the XV and give their take on who should keep or lose their place in the side & provide there views into whether Eddie Jones should continue as the England Rugby Coach.

Who is to blame for England's sub-par Six Nations campaign? Is this French side the best in the world? Who is going to make the Lions? 

Watch the full episode as we delve into all the drama of this weekend's Six Nations games.

Overrated or Underrated.

Is Louis Rees-Zammit overrated? Is Owen Farrell underrated? Should James Lowe even be starting for Ireland? Find out the answer to all of these and more in this episode of Overrated or Underrated. 

Be sure to listen to the end of the episode for some intense & wild debate around some of the most interesting rugby dilemmas.

In this episode, Macsen & Malachi chat with Mark from Belfast. They talk through the school & academy system in Ireland, what needs to change about the Top 14 & the happenings of Irish rugby since their historic victory over the All Blacks.   The guys also chat about their Lions 10 & more specifically who will captain the Lions in this Summer's tour.

In this episode, the guys talk through whether Sam Simmonds deserves a place in the England Squad. They each discuss their Lions "Bolter" for the upcoming tour to South Africa & analyse Wales' controversial win vs England in the Six Nations talking in depth about the questionable refereeing performance of France's Pascal Gaüzère.

Taking inspiration from the TV gameshow Pointless, Much Ado About Rugby presents Pointless: Rugby Edition. With the aim of the game to get as LITTLE points as possible by giving the most obscure answer, who will come out on top?

I would like to thank everyone from the r/rugbyunion sub-reddit who participated in the survey to make this possible. The points for each answer is based off of the responses of 100 real people from the r/rugbyunion Reddit page.

If you would like to play this yourself with friends, family, rugby club etc, feel free to click the link below which will take you to a Google Sheet with the questions and the points for each answer: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dz3YAnO416XIYWa0o_KPFqSVvefHL7oEB7I0DD5lRi4/edit?usp=sharing

Will the US become a Rugby power house? Why are USA 7s so good? Do American rugby players even party hard?  

This week, we are joined by Hans from the US who has played at the top level of college rugby to talk about Rugby in the US in the latest episode of Rugby Around The World.

Music: https://www.bensound.com

In this episode, the lads welcome special guest BECK CUTTING, Worcester Warriors Hooker and Former England U20. They discuss Beck's pathway to pro rugby, his experience at the England U20s world cup 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿  and whether Worcester Warriors are on the up! ⏫  

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/much-ado-about-rugby/id1514349135Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2HbWmtSfH0PN3bplWD1BrW?si=mFQX6pC4QbyxXE2_CGM9_wInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/muchadoaboutrugby/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/muchadoaboutrugby/ 

Music: https://www.bensound.com

How fast can you down a pint? 🍺

Shanghai and Hong Kong based rugby player, Tom, claims he is renown for how fast he can neck a nice cold brewski, so we put him to the test in the latest episode of Rugby Around The World 🌏

Tune in for some great touring stories (arrested?) as well as some sweet rugby education around what it's like to play rugby in China and Hong Kong 🚨

We are back with our first episode of 2021, and what a better way than to discuss who are the rugby players and teams to watch out for in 2021. 

Each choosing a player from front row, lock, back row, half back, centre and back three, we come up with our top players to keep an eye on this year.

We are now introducing a season format which will consist of 5 episodes, including exclusive interviews with professional players, exciting conversations with rugby fans from around the world, hilarious rugby game shows & more!

Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss out...

Music: https://www.bensound.com

Merry Christmas! For the final episode of 2020, we are joined by good friend and rugby enthusiast, Simmo, for a Christmas themed episode. 

Taking inspiration from BBC 5 Live show, Fighting Talk, we answer some christmassy rugby questions such as who would steal your Christmas presents, as well as run over our 2020 awards. 

Thank you to everyone who has listened and supported Much Ado About Rugby this year, and we look forward to bringing your more laughs in 2021.

This is a big one... We welcome Joe from Wales to discuss what has happened to Welsh Rugby, from coaches and players to the state of grassroots rugby in Wales. Will Wales be able to regain their dominance in 2021? Tune in to find out...

For the second episode of our series ‘Rugby Around The World’, we chat to movie star Ben Affleck from New Zealand. Born in New Zealand but with a love of Argentina as well, Ben gives a unique (and less biased) perspective of rugby in New Zealand. Which rugby nation should we discuss next?

In this episode, Ed and Mal give a run down of the weekends games, discussing England's dominant form, France's flair allowing them to walk past Italy and how the All Blacks got their revenge on Argentina.

With the start of Much Ado About Rugby’s new series, Rugby Around The World, the lads welcome South African rugby fan Jean to uncover the secrets behind South African rugby. Join us as we get an insight into school boy rugby, why so many South African players move abroad, and whether the Springboks are still the best team in the world.

Stay tuned for more exciting conversations with rugby fans from all over the world in our new series, Rugby Around The World.

With the first round of the Autumn Nations Cup complete, Ed and Mal cover each of the games, determining whether they think each team will Fly or Flop. As well as this, they talk about some of the stand out performers from the weekend and who are the ones to watch. Big shout out to Ireland for a great performance vs Wales!

Six Nations 2020 Highlights.

As the 2020 Six Nations comes to an end, Mal, Macsen and Ed go over the highlights from the weekend’s games. They discuss how Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack are leading France Rugby to new heights, how England Rugby won their third Six Nations in five years, and what is going wrong with Wales Rugby.

In this episode Macsen and Ed interview Author and Journalist Luke Upton. They chat about Luke’s interesting new book “Hard Men of Rugby”, hearing about the great players of the game that Luke was able to talk to whilst writing it. They also review the weekends exciting test matches and the premiership final!

For this special bonus episode, the boys host their second professional rugby player: Ross Chisholm! Ross has been at the heart of the Harlequins team for over a decade and he tells us all about his experiences of playing at the highest level. The conversation covers what it is like playing at Quins, playing with his brother, as well as highlighting key moments throughout his career.

In this episode Macsen, Malachi and Ed review the weekends thrilling fixtures, which included the Challenge and Champions Cup finals along with Bledisloe II. They also open up an interesting debate about whether the international selection players should be based on form or experience.

In this episode, Malachi and Ed traverse multiple topics, including the weekends premiership rugby semi finals, the Bledisloe Cup, rugby eligibility rules and the England squad selection.

In this episode, Malachi, Macsen and Tedday talk through their 'Perfect Rugby Player', going all the way from the feet (for kicking) up to the Head (best rugby brain). The boys select one International Rugby Player for each body type to make their unstoppable player! Would even Rozzy be able to take this guy down?

In this episode, Ed, Malachi and Macsen go through the Semi Final Games from both the Champions Cup and the Challenge Cup. They discuss in detail the downfall of Saracens, Bristols triumph and well as their predictions for both finals.

In this episode, Ed, Macsen and Malachi review the weekend’s thrilling Champions Cup quarter final matches, talking through all the big moments and tries from the four games. 

With the absence of Macci, Ed and Mal discuss the results of the weekend, thoroughly expressing their gas for Rozzy (Ruaridh McConnochie) since his fine form for Bath. The lads also go over Ed's prediction he made 8 months ago for an England 6 Nations Squad, and discuss the need for a new rugby video game after feeling the nostalgia of the absolute classic that was Rugby World Cup 2011. 

With the upcoming North vs South game happening in New Zealand, Tedday, Macci and Mal are joined by Welsh joker, Iwan Price-Thomas to discuss what a North vs South game in the Gallagher Premiership could look like and who might star for each side.

With Tedday away on holiday, Macsen and Malachi discuss the conclusion of the Super Rugby Aotearoa and their standout players there, as well as the restart of the Gallagher Premiership, giving a run down and opinions of the various games. Exeter are boring lol.

In this episode, Ed, Macci and Mal are joined by Major (Maiwa) and Gwylim (Gylhelm) for our first ever IRL episode. While briefly covering the recent changes to the 6 Nations, this episode covers a lot of other important topics such as beer, travelling and TikTok.

In this episode, Ed, Mal and Macsen discuss the weekend's Super Rugby action, which Premiership teams are the most dangerous for next season, the differences between Rugby Union and Rugby League and which of the All Black brothers Jordie or Beauden Barrett is the better player. 

After a short break, Cheesoid, Macci and Mal are back at it again with another banging episode of Much Ado About Rugby. In this episode, the lads cover the rugby latest news and a run down of the Super Rugby's latest results before discussing who is going to make the cut for the Lions 2021.

In this episode, Ed, Macci and Mal and joined by a very special guest, Bath and England International, Ruaridh McConnochie. The lads chat with Ruaridh about his school boy rugby days all the way through to his World Cup Experience, his goals for the coming seasons and his Premiership Rugby predictions.  

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After a run down on the Super Rugby Aotearoa Round 2 matches, Tedday, Macci and Mal discuss whether New Zealand rugby is more interesting than English rugby, coming to the conclusion that Saracens are, in fact, the most boring team ever.

With the first game of the Super Rugby Aotearoa marking the return of rugby since the break, Tedday, Macci and Mal give their thoughts and opinions on the two opening games; Highlanders vs Chiefs and Blues vs Hurricanes.

In this episode, Ed and Macsen discuss the details of Saracens Salary cap Scandal and look at how rugby might looks for the North London club next season. The boys also discuss Saracens potential best XV next season as well as who they would like to win the Premiership in Sarries absence. 

In this episode, the lads welcome their first guest, Will (Simmo) Simpson, onto the pod. They shine a light on the innovative new Super Rugby Aotearoa rule changes as well as some big transfer news, before moving on to discuss why England were beaten by a rampaging South African side in the World Cup Final. 

In this episode, Ed, Macsen and Malachi talk about their personal rugby experiences. From club to school teams, the guys cover some of their funniest and most memorable times playing rugby.

Ed, Macsen and Malachi discuss pros and cons of the biggest leagues in Europe before moving on to talk about how the French have become a force to be reckoned with in recent months.

Ed, Macsen and Malachi give a run-down of the latest rugby news. To celebrate the announcement of the upcoming Super Rugby Aotearoa, the gents decide on their Southern Hemisphere XV, explaining the sometimes questionable reasoning behind their choices. 

Ed, Macsen and Malachi discuss Sir Ian McGeechan's list of the top young players in world rugby. The guys also share their opinions on the World Rugby Player of the Year nominations. Disclaimer: Ed doesn't actually think Alun Wyn Jones is a bad player.