Rugby Union Weekly

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Prem Players Special: Fin Smith, LRZ, JVP & more!

#2 trending · Rugby

We have a bumper pod for you ahead of the new season, as Chris and Ashy chat to some of the biggest stars in the Prem. First up is England fly-half Fin Smith, who tells u

Sep 17
1 h 12 min

Brilliant Boks and Six Nations Stateside?

#27 trending · Rugby

After South Africa crushed the All Blacks to seal a 3-1 victory in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, Ugo, Danny and Chris debate how you beat the Boks, and if anyone can s

Sep 14
54 min

Conor O'Shea: Borthwick's contract, overseas rule & Red Roses

Ugo and Chris sit down with the RFU performance director Conor O’Shea for a wide-ranging conversation about the big issues shaping English rugby. O’Shea reveals they plan

Sep 9
1 h 00 min

Lawes, Morgan & Quirke: The New Signings

The big-name guests keep on coming on the pod as we continue our build-up to the new season. On this episode Chris and Ashy chat to four players who have made big moves o

Sep 7
1 h 10 min

We’re back with Itoje, Russell & Janse van Rensburg!

The pod is back after the summer break and we have three big-name guests to kick off the new season. Chris and Ashy chat to Maro Itoje who reflects on being rested by Eng

Sep 2
1 h 08 min

Have we learnt anything from the Nations Championship?

It’s a full house on the pod this week as Ugo, Danny, Ashy and Chris bring the curtain down on the summer window of the Nation’s Championship. There is plenty of fallout

Jul 20
57 min

Late TMO drama as 13-man England beat Argentina

Sara, Ashy and Matt Dawson bring you reaction to crazy night Santiago del Estero as England hang on to beat Argentina. But should Bautista Delguy's last-minute try have s

Jul 19
29 min

The Nations Pod

Chris, Tom and GRO preview the final round of the Nation’s Championship this summer. Can Sam Prendergast cement his position as Ireland's number one fly-half as Andy Farr

Jul 15
53 min

Nations Championship: Tries and tribulations

Danny, Ashy and Chris look back at round two of the Nation’s Championship with the north and south both on six wins each. Scotland scored four tries and pushed the Boks a

Jul 13
1 h 02 min

Pollock hat-trick helps England end losing run

Ashy and Chris bring you instant reaction from the Hill Dickinson stadium as England thrashed Fiji in Liverpool to end their five-match unbeaten run. But what are the pos

Jul 11
41 min

Slade takes centre stage against Fiji

Ashy and Chris go inside the England camp ahead of the must-win Test against Fiji. After the defeat at Ellis Park, Ashy quizzes skipper Jamie George on the England gamepl

Jul 9
55 min

The Nations Pod: Stick to Egg-Chasing

Fresh from his jaunt following Scotland in the World Cup, Tom joins Gareth and Chris to unpick the big talking points from the weekend and look ahead to the second round

Jul 8
1 h 05 min

Musings from the Nations Championship

What did we learn from the opening weekend of the Nations Championship? Ashy, Ugo and Danny look back on a dramatic first round of fixtures and ahead to what next weekend

Jul 6
1 h 02 min

England blitzed and bossed by the Boks

Chris and Grays are at Ellis Park to react to England’s comprehensive defeat by world champions South Africa. After an early Boks blitz, England fought back to make it cl

Jul 4
40 min

The Nations Championship is here!

Chris and Paul Grayson take you through the opening round of the Nations Championship as the north v south battles begin. Chris heads to Ellis Park and catches up with En

Jul 3
36 min

England team and the best Boks ever?

Chris and Paul Grayson react to the England team to face South Africa. George Furbank gets a first start for nearly two years while Henry Pollock is on the bench. We head

Jul 2
50 min

In Jo’burg with Sir Kev

Chris and Paul Grayson are in Johannesburg ahead of England’s huge Nations Championship opener against South Africa. They are joined by the sport’s newest knight, Sir Kev

Jun 30
39 min

Nations Championship: Good for the game?

The inaugural Nation's Championship is here, but are fans actually excited about it? Do they even understand the format? Chris, Danny and Ashy dig into the new competitio

Jun 29
1 h 02 min

Final Thoughts and the England Squad

Did the new Prem champions, Northampton, make a mistake by letting George Furbank leave? And has Steve Borthwick got the balance right in his Nations Championship squad?

Jun 22
1 h 04 min

Saints beat Exeter to the Prem title

Chris Jones is joined by Matt Dawson and Chris Ashton as Northampton Saints beat Exeter Chiefs at Twickenham to claim their second Prem title in three years. They break d

Jun 20
51 min

Chart trend

Position in the Rugby chart (US), last 90 days.

#1#20#39JunJulAugSep

all-time peak

508

days in the top 3 since Jan 2025

Chart positions

Where Rugby Union Weekly ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 19, 2026).

#1 — Rugby US

What listeners say

A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.

Big fan of the pod for many years, but the episode this week was hard work to listen to. Please edit out the tedious repetition of the same old positions around red card laws, and minimize the endless speculation about player and team awards. Good to hear a pov but we don’t need to hear it three times by each person. Aside from that, keep up the good work!

redheadCA · Nov 2025

Wonderful breakdown of all things English and European rugby. As someone who continuously searches for good rugby content in the USA, this one is the most informative. Worth a listen each week no question. Chris Jones is the go to for English rugby info and if you have the opportunity to listen to him, you take it!

USARugbyFan · Aug 2020

I am a Brit living in the US and this podcast keeps me in touch with rugby which is what I miss the most loving out here . Love the banter and rugby discussion. You guys should get a leave pass and get out to the US for a live pod . Vegas thoughts?

Raddish82 · Mar 2020

Let me say I’m a fan of the show and of the presenters. As we know there are a few other rugby pods knocking about which i think have highlighted some of the weaknesses of this format. It may well be that those are deliberate differences versus weaknesses but I’ll offer the POV as encouraged nonetheless. This pod isn’t ‘balanced’ in the sense that Ugo is a dominant voice despite it not being an interview format. Chris doesn’t act as a stage hand like Alex Payne or Andy Rowe - Chris participates more as a commentator except he’s not on equal footing and therefore insufficient as a foil to Ugo. The addition of Danny has definitely helped but like Chris, he is subject to bit-part contributions or cut-off early. If you were to see any validity in the above then the task is made harder by the absence of comedy which provides easy entertainment value but of course not everyone’s a comedian. For me that means you need to have more debate and contrasting viewpoints which aren’t really present here for the reasons above. Ugos perspective is very dominant within this format (not others like BT Sport) but it’s delivery is often labored and there’s a lack of nuance to the points or conclusions. There are a lot of people who disagree with things Ugo would say are self-evident facts or absolutely necessary (rule changes, referee decisions etc.)That would be interesting to hear but there’s a lack of real debate in the current format. Perhaps worse it’s also difficult to hear other people’s opinions aired in full - removing any chance of a debate actually ensuing. I think there’s an opportunity to make a few tweaks that could have a big impact on listenership overall. Appreciate the work

paulbkelly · Apr 2019

I’ll declare that as a Welshman this review will be seen by many as an easy maybe unjust criticism but the podcast is too England centric. Clearly leaning on location and Ugo’s relationships (West London and Quins) but all non Aviva or English topics seem to be box ticks rather than journalism for all. I for one do not care about being inside the England camp or want to listen to Danny Care become a host because he is mates with Ugo. Either become an England only podcast (that’s ok) or represent the country better. As an addition, now we have Chris Ashton on there. Jobs for the boys. Ashton proves that his rugby knowledge outside of it being his job, is subjective to the point of not informative. His defence of the Saracens “cheating” on this pod shows this in abundance.

WelshinAmerica · Feb 2020

We strive to present a balanced view by showing a diverse range of reviews from Apple Podcasts.