Craggy Rugby Podcast

A momentous day at the Sportsground on Saturday saw Connacht come out on top against a strong Scarlets side to win 33-20 and move onto eleven points in the standings, it also saw a half time parade for the under 18 boys and girls sides that both won inter-provincial titles this month. On the show host Rob Murphy is joined by Dave Finn, Niall Sheil and Linley Mackenzie to discuss the game, William Davies presents the in match coverage and we hear post game audio from Andy Friend, Jack Carty and Wayne Pivac. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Connacht Scarlets preview is hosted by William Davies this week and he's joined by Linley Mackenzie to look forward to the clash with the Scarlets this Saturday. We hear from Andy Friend and Tiernan O'Halloran ahead of the key PRO14 clash. We also look back at last weekend's women's rugby action where Connacht got a first wind and the Under 18 girls made history by securing the inter-provincial title for the first time. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Friday night in Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh took the spoils with a 17-10 win over Connacht withstanding a late surge from the westerners after dominating the first hour of the contest.Andy Friend's side earned a late bonus point however and will take some positives, we hear from Friend, Paul Boyle and an irate Richard Cockerell in the post game show that is hosted by Rob Murphy and includes the thoughts of William Davies and Linley Mackenzie. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William talks to Andy Friend and Kieran Marmion at the midweek press conference in the lead up to Connacht's first away match of the season.We also hear from Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerhill.William and Alan review last weekends results and go through the upcoming PRO14 fixture list. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht dispatched a lacklustre Zebre at a wet and windy Sportsground to kick start their season with a try bonus win.William Davies and Alan Deegan take you through the match and Linley MacKenzie and Dave Finn analyse a very satisfying win.We hear from Andy Friend and Denis Buckley as well as Zebre coach Michael Bradley with their views on the match.The Connacht Women had a day to forget when Leinster held them scoreless on Sunday and we hear from a very disappointed head coach Ja Naughton. On the flip side the U18s girls superb win over Munster prior to the Women's match has set them up for a championship decider against Leinster next week. Manager Natalie Fox and captain Aoibheann Reilly are in great form for their interviews after the match. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies talked to Connacht's back coach Nigel Carolan and winger Cian Kelleher about getting over the disappointment of the Glasgow loss and the challenge of a high flying Zebre.Alan Deegan joins William and they chat about where Connacht are after week 1, the challenge of Zebre in week 2, we hear from Michael Bradley on what he expects for Zebre, there is a quick chat about the Women's interpro defeat in Cork and the lads are joined by Rob Murphy to chat about why Craggy are looking for financial support via Patreon.com Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On a beautiful sunny day Connacht lost to Glasgow in the Sportsground when the visitors reverted to playing wet weather rugby by sticking the ball up their jumpers to grind out a valuable away win.The Craggy Crew of Rob Murphy, Linley MacKenzie, William Davies, Dave Finn and Alan Deegan take you through the match and analyse what another season starting loss means to Connacht.We hear from a dejected Andy Friend and Kyle Godwin to get the Connacht view point on the defeat. A relieved Dave Rennie gives the Glasgow perspective. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PRO14 preview, Women's Interpro preview, U18s are Interprovincial Club Champions, Mike McCarthy, it's another busy podcast for the Craggy Crew.We hear from Jack Carty and Tom Farrell at the impressive TG4 launch in the Sportsground.William chats to Women's captain Grainne Egan, second row Amelie Roux and backs coach Brian Murphy about the upcoming Interpro series.We hear from the captain of the successful U18s team, Darragh Murray and their coach Colm Tucker after their impressive victory over Ulster to win the Interprovincial U18 Club championship.Alan Deegan interviews the recently retired Mike McCarthy as he embarks on the training regime to get himself fit for his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro to raise money for the IRFU Charitable Trust.And finally William and Alan talk about their hopes for Connacht Rugby this season. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andy Friend, Jarrad Butler, Joe Schmidt, this podcast has them all and more. William and Alan covered both the preseason friendly against Wasps in Athlone and the PRO14 season launch in Glasgow this week. We also hear Craggy Crew regulars Linley MacKenzie and Rob Murphy give their thoughts on the upcoming season. New signing Kyle Godwin spoke to us after the Wasps game and we have audio from Connacht's first two opponents in the upcoming PRO14 campaign, Dave Rennie of Glasgow and Michael Bradley of Zebre. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fan favourite Jarrad Butler is the new Connacht captain.William Davies was on hand at the announcement to interview the new captain as well as getting the views of Connacht backs coach Nigel Carolan.Craggy Crew regulars Dave Finn and Niall Sheil cogitate about the new captain, the new signings and the tough start to the season and we hear from Shane Mulryan from the Official Connacht Supporters Club who are one of the new sponsors of the podcast. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The PRO14 fixtures for the 2018/19 season have been announced and William Davies and Alan Deegan mull over what looks like a very tough set of fixtures for Connacht in September.We also hear from Tiernan O'Halloran and journalist Murray Kinsella who chatted to William at the recent open day in Ballina. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies and Alan Deegan ventured up to Ballina to meet new Connacht coach Andy Friend, new signing Robin Copeland and local Ballina hero Dave Heffernan.Connacht used their down day from pre-season training to go out and me a bunch of very enthusiastic kids in Connacht's club of the year to help spread the rugby gospel. We also hear from former Connacht president Gerry O'Donnell, known locally as "god". Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht have been drawn in Pool 3 of the Challenge Cup for the 2018/19 season along side Sale Sharks, Bordeaux-Begles and Perpignan.William Davies and Alan Deegan discuss the draw and how Connacht might do in the competition next season.They also mull over the Ireland v Australia series that comes to a climax on Saturday, the Ireland U20s poor RWC performance and the new TV deals for next season.There is also a tribute to a great Connacht fan and gentleman Leighton Turner who passed away last week. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht Rugby have announced that the new head coach for next season in Andy Friend. William Davies and Alan Deegan discuss the signing of the Australian coach who has coached the Brumbies and Harlequins in an interesting career which has taken him to Japan and the Australian 7s team of late.They also have a quick chat about the upcoming PRO14 final, the Connacht players in the Barbarians squad, the lack of players on the Ireland U20s squad and the 3 Connacht players that made the cut for the trip to Australia. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Craggy Crew, sans Rob and Packie, mull over a disappointing season. We await the confirmation of the Kieran Keane dismissal and discuss what went wrong for him in the Western Province. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Murphy and William Davies joined the Galway Bay FM Sports show live to discuss the reported news that Kieran Keane has been let go. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Muldoon got the perfect ending to his astonishing career with a record win over Leinster in the Sportsground.Rob Murphy, William Davies and Alan Deegan take you through the match and they are joined by Linley MacKenzie and Dave Finn to pay tribute to the great man as well as analysing the match.We hear from Kieran Keane and Jack Carty in the post match interviews and we hear from Leo Cullen both before and after the match. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's John Muldoon's final match for Connacht, so Rob Murphy and Linley MacKenzie join Alan Deegan to preview the match.There is a long interview with Muldoon and we here from Kieran Keane about the challenge of trying to give Mul the best send off possible.The injury update is in there too and we hear an expletive from Linley as she tells an anecdote about Mul. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Connacht continue to crumble in the face of strong opposition as Glasgow eased to a bonus point win.William Davies and Rob Murphy take you through the game and cogitate on what has and is going wrong.We hear from Finlay Bealham and Kieran Keane post match and there is also an interesting interview with ex-Scotland full back Chris Patterson. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William Davies spoke to forwards coach Jimmy Duffy and backrower Eoin McKeon at this weeks press conference in the Sportsground, where they both had interesting thoughts on the disappointing performance against the Ospreys.William is joined by Alan Deegan to review the Ospreys match, give an update on the latest injury list and talk about the huge challenge posed by Glasgow this Friday night in Scotstoun. Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.