
A rugby podcast from The Irish Times, presented by Nathan Johns with regular panelists John O'Sullivan, Gordon D'Arcy and Gerry Thornley.
Produced in association with Ohk Energy.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
| Publishes | Twice weekly | Episodes | 214 | Founded | 8 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | SportsRugby | |||

Monday saw Leinster announce that Leo Cullen will leave the province once his contract expires at the end of next season.
Gerry Thornley joins Nathan Johns to pick through why he’s going and who could replace Cullen atop the Leinster tree.
Produce... more
Reaction: Leinster outclass the Bulls to win URC crown
Gordon D’Arcy and Nathan Johns pick through Leinster’s URC final victory over the Bulls.
After Champions Cup disappointment in Bilbao, Leo Cullen’s side have ended the year with silverware afte... more
Shorn of multiple players due to injury, Andy Farrell has named his group to tour Australia and New Zealand this summer.
Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join Nathan Johns to pick through who is in and who might consider themselves unlucky.
Plus... more
With confirmation arriving that James Lowe will leave Leinster, in theory ruling him out of Ireland’s World Cup bid next year, Irish Times rugby writer John O’Sullivan joins Nathan Johns to discuss how talks broke down.
Why is Leinster’s record try... more
People also subscribe to these shows.





‘Bar bites’
John O’Sullivan needs to stop using the phrase “if you like” at the end of every sentence inappropriately
Im a Leinster supporter but this podcast is ridiculously Leinster/D4 centric.. like a private school boys club
This is a great rugby pod but could be perfection if you could switch out the gossip-focussed Cummiskey with the far more knowledgable and insightful Liam Toland.
Super podcast!
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Apple Podcasts | #8 | |
Apple Podcasts | #24 | |
Apple Podcasts | #24 | |
Apple Podcasts | #8 | |
Apple Podcasts | #15 | |
Apple Podcasts | #24 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
| Listeners per Episode | |
|---|---|
| Gender Skew | |
| Location | |
| Interests | |
| Professions | |
| Age Range | |
| Household Income | |
| Social Media Reach |
A rugby-focused show from a major Irish publication, anchored by a host and supported by a regular panel of former players and writers. Episodes frequently dissect URC, European competition, and national team implications, with tactical breakdowns, live-match observations, and governance/news items shaping the sport. Notable is the willingness to tackle off-field topics—coaching changes, governance, and referee decisions—alongside in-depth analysis and crowd/venue dynamics. The cast consistently delivers context-rich takes, guest contributions, and data-informed commentary, making it a strong pick for listeners who want both on-pitch insight and broader rugby ecosystem coverage.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for The Counter Ruck. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to The Counter Ruck and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
Rephonic provides a full set of podcast information for three million podcasts, including the number of listeners. View further listenership figures for The Counter Ruck, including podcast download numbers and subscriber numbers, so you can make better decisions about which podcasts to sponsor or be a guest on. You will need to upgrade your account to access this premium data.
Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for The Counter Ruck, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers The Counter Ruck has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with The Counter Ruck:
1. The Left Wing
2. RTÉ Rugby Podcast
3. The 42 Rugby Weekly
4. OTB Rugby
5. Indo Sport
The Counter Ruck launched 8 years ago and published 214 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
Our systems regularly scour the web to find email addresses and social media links for this podcast. We scanned the web and collated all of the contact information that we could find in our podcast database. But in the unlikely event that you can't find what you're looking for, our concierge service lets you request our research team to source better contacts for you.
Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for The Counter Ruck from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of The Counter Ruck. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on The Counter Ruck include:
1. Brett Igoe
2. Owen Doyle
3. Mark Palmer
4. Sam Larner
5. Jack Hanratty
6. Simon Thomas
7. Jimmy Gopperth
8. Daniel Gallan
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.