Rugby Union Weekly BBC Podcasts

Sara Orchard and World Cup winner Kat Merchant are at Twickenham chatting to Megan Jones and Maud Muir ahead of Ireland on Saturday. Megan and Maud talk the Twickenham noise and how the team have been preparing for the loud atmosphere.
Plus Sara has been catching up with Ireland co-captains Edel McMahon and Sam Monaghan and how they think their familiarity with the Red Roses players could work to their advantage.
Kat and Sara also chat the challenge that faces Wales as France travel to the Principality and the grudge match between Italy and Scotland.

We're at full strength on the pod this week with Ugo, Danny, Ashy and Chris all on the sofa to review the Champions Cup quarter-final weekend. We had to start with the thriller in Bordeaux, friend of the pod Marcus Smith drops by to give us - and Danny - the lowdown on that epic win. Is it working having the South African teams in the competition? Do we need a neutral host city for semi-final weekend? We also talk Croke Park, rowing and our favourite Blue hits as Ugo heads to Liverpool for the Blue reunion tour.

Sara is in Edinburgh to bring you reaction to another big win for the Red Roses as they remain on course for another Grand Slam. England ran in eight tries as they thrashed Scotland in front of a record crowd for Scottish women's rugby, despite being reduced to 14 players in the second half. Sara is joined by former Scotland prop Heather Lockhart pitch side to get her thoughts, they also grab a word with England's Jess Breach and Scotland's Fi McIntosh.

Sara Orchard and former Wales captain Philippa Tuttiett head into the England camp ahead of their trip to Scotland in the Women's Six Nations. They hear from the retiring Red Rose Vickii Cornborough after she had twins last year, whilst also speaking with current England lock Abbie Ward about her return to play after the birth of her daughter. Italy and Sale lock Sara Tunesi joins the pod from Parma to talk about her sides hopes of making history ahead of their clash with France. There's also plenty of chat about the possible return of Ireland hooker Cliodhna Moloney and the World Rugby 4.5 size ball trial.

The pod bounces around the world this week, starting in Northampton and ending in Dubai. Chris is joined by Paul Grayson and Alex Mitchell after the Saints beat Munster in a cracker at Franklin’s Gardens, before checking in with Ashy as he hides from the Dubai sun. We run the rule on the Champions Cup weekend and look forward to the quarter-finals. Are Toulouse still the team to beat, or is this Bordeaux’s year? And do any of the three English sides have a realistic chance of winning the whole thing?

Ugo, Ashy and Danny convene to discuss a busy weekend of action in the Premiership. They kick-off with the controversy at Danny’s game that saw Irné Herbst return to the field having only served seven minutes of his sin-bin. Coupled with last week’s TMO blunder, Ashy doesn’t hold back in his criticism of the officials. With Louis Rees-Zammitt picking up a contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, the boys debate how this can positively impact the image of rugby. And with Europe returning this weekend, they run down their pick of the fixtures.