TQL Rugby Podcast

This week I was overjoyed to reunite with a legend of Champ rugby and phenomenal fly-half, Bruce Houston!

Bruce’s rugby CV boasts a wide range of experience from club level to international duty as he toured South Africa, Canada and America playing for Zimbabwe. I first spoke to Bruce in 2025 whilst we played with Champ side Cornish Pirates and we really hit it off, Bruce’s enthusiasm and experience makes an interview feel more like a chat and now the Ulsterman returns to The Champ the tournament will be more thrilling then ever!

Honing his...

This week I was delighted to be joined by one of my favourite rugby YouTubers, Riaan Louw! Riaan is a serial Lions & Springbok supporter as well as a fair and fun observer of all teams and games and when it comes to South African rugby there are few people who can match his passion and knowledge. Riaan’s love of the game speaks for itself.

Dedicating six years to creating nearly 200 fun and informative YouTube videos; the Rugby Updates, Riaan is a regular guest over many podcasts and he works hard to share his devotion of rugby to...

With the new URC season starting on Friday next week, I took a moment to look back and reflect on my top five comical/unusual and downright embarrassing moments I’ve had when meeting Leinster players and their family over the years.

Each encounter has been at away games as living in the UK it’s much easier to see them when they come over and as ever the players always make time for us fans, mad ones and all.

Despite being six months out of being 40 so older than all players concerned, a rugby writ...

As Ronan O'Gara decides La Rochelle is home and that's where he's staying I took some time to think about another front runner in the Leinster head coach race, Felipe Contepomi.

The Argentine already has great familiarity with Leinster both on and off the field, between 2003 and 2009 Felipe scored an astonishing 1225 points for Leinster before returning in 2018 to become the back's coach.

During his time as Argentina head coach Felipe can hang his hat on an impressive number of international wins including a series win against Scotland as well as defeating Australia, England, New Zealand...

Today I was delighted to be joined by Guernsey Raider’s dead-eye fly-half Charlie Simmonds!

Charlie’s remarkable story stood out to me as his journey to the number ten shirt was quite different to many other players. Diagnosed with ulcerative colitis whilst at university, Charlie spent years managing the condition before eventually undergoing surgery to have his colon removed.

The operation left him with a stoma bag however it has not diminished his enthusiasm for rugby and with his impressive skillset Charlie helped Gurnsey Raiders this year to retain one of rugby’s oldest ever t...

This morning I was delighted to speak to Senior Sports Reporter for the Irish Examiner, Simon Lewis!

Simon has a decade of experience in the field and as a Munster fan he is delighted to be able to write, report and on occasion follow his beloved team around which increases the joy and satisfaction Simon gets from the game no end.

Simon was kind enough to make time for me on his travels as from his location in La Rochelle he was getting ready for tomorrows pre-season friendly between Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle and his...

Today’s guest on TQL Rugby Podcast is club and country legend of Irish Rugby, Shane Byrne! With 41 international caps to his name, one British I& Irish Lions Tour and a staggering 115 for Leinster and 49 for Saracens, Shane’s record is hard to match and speaks for itself.

In one of the most insightful interviews I’ve been lucky enough to be involved in, Shane dove deep into what training was like when he first laced up his boots to how well drilled and professional the coaching and training is now and that the whole process deserves more r...

In my final video about the summer leg of Nations Championship Series, I break down what has been an exceptionally action-packed tournament that, with thanks to the new format, has revolutionized the Summer and Autumn Internationals!

From edge-of-seat thrillers to one-sided bulldozing performances the first three games for every team had it all. I'll go over the scores, moments that caught my eye, analysis of the six home nations along with where I think they will go from here, what we can expect in the second leg of the competition along with final standings for the summer...

In Round Three of the Nations Championship, Ireland face off against their old nemesis New Zealand at the All Black’s “mecca” Eden Park!

Since 1994 when France shocked the world with a 22 – 8 victory over the All Blacks, in the following 31 years and 52 matches the All Black’s remain undefeated at Kingsland.

It’ll be a return for Ireland who last set foot at Eden Park in 2022 in which they suffered a 41 – 19 loss at the hands of the All Blacks before going on to win their first ever Summer Tour of New Zealand and climbed the World Rugby Ra...

Man of the march Sean Jansen made his mark with a stand out performance against Japan along with landing a vital try on his first international cap! In a game I found myself having flashbacks to the 2019 World Cup Pool stages, in which Ireland lost to the host nation, I’ve thrown together my thoughts, analysis and opinions on a cracking game in which Japan showed their impressive talent and Ireland, with nine changes, bedded in the debutants and got the job done!

Feel free to like, share and subscribe and you can listen on Sp...

In this week's video I break down Andy Farrell's Ireland selection, from individual player analysis and opinion to a throwback to when Japan got the better of Ireland during the 2019 World Cup!

Four lucky debutants take to the field for this game: Connacht's Sam Illo, Billy Bohan and Sean Jansen who makes his test start at eight, alongside Ulster's Bryn Ward who will undoubtably make his debut of the bench!

Squad rotation, fly-half debate and predictions covered, as well as a look at the other remaining fixtures in The Nations Championship 👍

Feel free to...

After an thoroughly thrilling and dynamic first round I couldn't wait to do a quick video highting my favourite moments, opinions on teams and results and share my positive experience watching as may of the games as I could! Feel free to like, share and subscribe and listen out for me on Spotify/Amazon and wherever you get your podcasts! Just search for @TheRugbyPaperPodcast & TQL Rugby Podcast 🍀👍

#irfu #rugby #rugbyunion #internationals #ireland #australia #fiji #wales #wru #allblacks #newzealand #france #japan #redroses #italy #springboks #englandrugby #england #southafrica #argentina #pumas #scotland #irishrugby #wallabies #nationscup #nationschampionships #worldcup #podcasting #podcas

With Andy Farrell naming his squad to face the Wallabies at a startling 4:30am UK time I take a quick dive into his selection and an overview of round one of the newly reformatted Nations Championship!

Thoughts, facts, opinions and predictions covered! Hope you all enjoy.

Remember to like, share and subscribe to The Rugby Paper Podcast TQL Rugby Podcast wherever you stream your podcasts!

Overjoyed to have my first Leinster and Ireland superstar on the show, Devin Toner!

Four European Championships, seven Pro 14 titles, three Six nations victories and a Grand Slam the stalwart back row has seen and done it all! From lineout masterclasses to tightly contested scrums Devin's influence has been essential to Leinster and Ireland.

After a remarkable career and amassing an astonishing 70 caps for Ireland and a staggering 280 for Leinster Devin now supports rugby players and fans alike in the world of finance.

Massive thanks to Devin for taking time out of his...

In today's episode of TQL Rugby podcast I was delighted to be joined by Guinness Rugby Club prop and the host of @TheLeinsterListen Mick Linnane!

Mick's podcast is one after my own heart. The Leinster Listen shares the best and positive things about Leinster, Ireland and rugby in general and the man helps shine a light on the reasons we love Leinster and the game overall.

We discuss Leinster, the season, Leo Cullen's departure and potential successors, stand out moments and enjoyed the craic!

You can help support Mick as he creates some "...

This morning I was thrilled to be able to speak to Irish Journalist, Sportswriter & Producer, Author and Playwright; Pat McCarry!

Podcasts, press conferences, post and pre matches as well as writing and directing a rugby stage play, in which he honours the life of Munster legend Anthony Foley, there is nobody more passionate about Irish rugby than Pat McCarry!

Pat has been integral to my rugby writing journey, offering advice, help and information for a number of years now so to be able to get him onto my own Podcast is very special for me! <...

Introducing the very first episode of my brand new TQL Rugby Podcast!

This morning I speak to my editor Ben Jaycock of The Rugby Paper who is instrumental for my rugby writings and we had a good chat and a laugh!

Brilliant stories, excellent experiences and great information about our corner of egg chasing: The Rugby Paper 👍

Follow Ben's Rugby Paper Roundup here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRugbyPaperPodcast

Feel free to like, share and subscribe and see you all on the next one! 🍀 #rugby #sportsjournalism #podcast #irfu #leinster #rugbyunion #championscup #sixnations #therug...