The Telegraph Rugby Podcast

Round five of the Six Nations is in the books and it will go down as one of the great weekends in the tournament's history!

Alan and Charles are joined in studio by the Telegraph's Chief Sports Writer, Oliver Brown, to unpack England's defeat to Italy and their third of this year's championship.

Gavin Mairs checks in from the England camp in Verona to discuss the RFU's stance on under-fire coach Steve Borthwick who looks set to stay until at least the summer, despite the wretched campaign so far.

Next up for England is a trip to Paris to take on a French side who are no longer chasing a Grand Slam. That's because they were soundly beaten by a brilliant Scotland on Saturday, so we ask just how much credit Gregor Townsend is due for turning around his side's fortunes.

Scotland could go top of the standings if they beat their bogey side Ireland on the final weekend. It's a similar situation for Andy Farrell's men who got past Wales on Friday night in Dublin.

Plus we tackle all your questions as well!
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We're three weeks into the Six Nations and England's hopes of winning the tournament are up in flames after they were hammered by Ireland at Twickenham.

Alan and Charles are joined in studio by the Telegraph's Dan Schofield to unpack the defeat and look at how England can salvage what is left of their Six Nations campaign.

It was a bittersweet afternoon for England captain Maro Itoje. He won his 100th cap for his country but was withdrawn early once again and Dan thinks it's time he was given a six-month sabbatical from the game to ensure he is at his best for the World Cup next year.

We also ask what has happened to the England lineout, and why is their defence so easy to penetrate?

As for Ireland, that performance instantly changes the narrative around Andy Farrell's side. There's high praise for Stuart McCloskey too who has been their standout player of the tournament so far.

Elsewhere we ask if Wales fans will be happy despite defeat to Scotland in Cardiff, can anyone stop France winning a Grand Slam and we tackle your questions as usual.
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We're two weeks into the Six Nations and only France remain on track for a Grand Slam after a thrilling win for Scotland over England at Murrayfield!

Alan, Gavin and Charles unpack Saturday's clash in Edinburgh which saw England's 12-match winning streak halted.

There's criticism for Henry Arundell who was given a red card for two yellow card incidents - will we see him again? Could Borthwick have used his bench better? And Charles defends George Ford for his failed drop-goal attempt which saw Scotland go up the other end and score.

As for Gregor Townsend, how much does that win ease the pressure on him, and is it vital he backs it up with another big win this tournament?

Plus we discuss a nervy win for Ireland ahead of their trip to Twickenham, and whether anyone can realistically stop France who blew Wales away.

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Alan, Gav and Charles unpack the opening weekend of Six Nations action!

England and France laid down their intentions to win a Grand Slam with comfortable victories over Wales and Ireland

Meanwhile it was a nightmare start for Gregor Townsend and Scotland who were shocked away in Italy. The Scotland coach now faces serious questions over his future following the defeat, and we ask if a win in the Calcutta Cup this weekend would do anything to change the public perception around him.

A lot of questions surrounding Ireland too, the 2024 winners were comfortably beaten in Paris on the opening night, and to make matters worse their 'A" side suffered an even bigger defeat to England the following night to leave Andy Farrell short on options, next up for them is a confident Italy side in Dublin.

And we tackle all of your questions as usual too!

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The Six Nations is back! And so is the Telegraph Rugby podcast.

Join Alan, Charles and Gav for a comprehensive look ahead to the opening round of games this weekend and to the tournament as a whole.

We check in with the Telegraph's Dan Schofield out in Girona for the England training camp, with Tommy Freeman moving to outside centre and Henry Arundell an exciting blur on the wing. He tells us why Steve Borthwick is opting for pace over power ahead of the tournament.

Gav tells us how an injury hit Ireland are shaping up ahead of the tournament's curtain raiser against France on Thursday.

And Alan has a bone to pick with Gavin after he refused to pick any Scotland players in his top 30 Six Nations players of all time!

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