Wrong Side of the Ruck
Wrong Side of the Ruck is a rugby podcast made by a pair of friends who love the game and love arguing about it even more. Coming at rugby from the American fan and player point of view, we break down club and international matches the way they’re actually talked about—after training, at the bar, or in a group chat. We cover leagues from around the world with context, history, tactics, and strong opinions, focusing on why matches matter, not just who won. Smart rugby talk, honest disagreements, no studio polish. We don't claim to be right, we just refuse to be silent.
Episodes
Pull up a bit of the couch: it’s Champions Cup round one at Loftus, we can’t find Stade’s American prop Jack Iscaro, and Tocco thinks we’re broadcasting from Peoria, Illinois.
Jonesy comes in hot when a pencil-thin scrum half starts telling grown front rowers how to hold their body weight and goes on a rant 20 years of playing in the making, a hooker bleeds from his ear for most of the match, and Marco van St...
The couch lands in Eden Park this week as we polish the Bledisloe Cup up and Jones sits on the edge of his seat in hope. Right out of the gate Tocco looks to go in dry and get this thing fired up.
We debate Mackenzie at 10, get a good yell in at the Ref's for that BS call and watch try after try roll in on both sides. We get lost a bit takling small hookers and nails in the coffin but steer the couch back around to talk the AB's ski...
We take the couch out of the southern hemisphere this week to get back to the UK and the URC where it's a Welsh derby. Scarlets vs. Dragons. Jones takes a Dragons try very personally, Tocco gets told to fuck off twice inside a minute and both are earned.
We've got Q-Tip blonde hair on an islander, a linout that fails to succeed and a maul so dirty it should have to register on a list somewhere. Manzano comes within a bootlace of glo...
Its time for more Saffa's as the couch makes a hard right from the Premiership game we had planned to take a look at what everyone's been talking about. The Wallabies are taking on the Springboks; Rassie made 13 changes and a new captain, Tocco came ready to fight the TMO and Jones can't stop giggling about the ref being that bad AND being Italian.
We've got bare ass tries, a Bigfoot that you'd swear was Randy Quaid, panty-less frie...
Houston, we have a problem. The Couch made its way over to Japan for the 3rd place final of the Pacific Nations series this year where the US takes on Canada. And fumbles hard.
There's a lot happening here and we didn't think to edit much. We talk scrums, Lot Lizards, dodgy mullets and beautiful Europeans. We get an update to the opening of the Top14, Premiership and URC tables, a primer on "As the Dragon Turns" and too little talk...
The road to Baltimore was so long that some of us fell asleep on the couch. The Finale between the All Blacks and South Africa nearly broke Craig and had Tocco all over the place.
Somewhere in the Chaos we talk Benjamin Button scrum halves, Jones waxes poetically about the Killdozer and we get stuck in on scrums again. Codie Taylor needed a band-aid, we've got dag jokes and somewhere through it all we actually fit in a conversation...
The plan was simple: pull up a bit of the old couch, crack a few beers and watch the Saffa's take on the Blackness. That didn't even last through the first fifteen minutes as we get derailed finding ourselves in Groundhogs Day.
We explore the dodgy mullet club and see if we have a new entry, Tacolini makes a cameo, we chat about Clippy and there's a penalty for running too hard that ends with an argument. Savea does Savea things and...
Pull up a bit of the couch as Tocco claims he's coming in hot and Jonesey is wound tight the whole episode; which Tocco loves. We're sitting down for Round Two of the Greatest Rivalry as the Springboks and All Blacks square off in Cape Town, stop 2 on our Road to Baltimore.
Somewhere in all the shenanigans we fall down a scrum rabbit hole and can't stop chatting about the angles, the prop infighting, and the dark arts. What's not to...
The couch is ready this week as the Greatest Rivalry is finally here; the All Blacks and South Africa kickoff in Johannesburg. Come grab a seat as Rugby's Greatest Rivalry finally gets the point of view it needs. The Wrong Side.
Things start off strong with Tocco bringing Tacolini to the party, Jones is on it again with the TMO and the South African scrum gets so sexually dominant we can't stop drooling over the front row. There are...
The couch is looking a little worse for wear this week; it's the road to Baltimore week 3 and we're stepping into the shark Tank that is Durban to see what Nonu can do against his old teammates.
Tocco's trashy Europeaness gets the moment it deserves, Jones has to eat his words about just how young Reuben Love is and should he even be at 10, the TMO gets a stern talking to and a 44 year old man shows up for a Haka that'll put a tear ...
Welcome back to the Road to Baltimore here on Wrong Side of the Ruck where the couch is nestled somewhere in South Africa and the boys are taking a look at the provincial rugby from Currie Cup. I don't know about you, but nothing screams Saffa rugby more than a bakers dozen of cards.
The Bulls hosted their first home game against the Pumas and we actually talked rugby this time. We swear. There was a Purple Cobra, deep chat about th...
Pull up a cozy bit of the couch because it's Stag Day in Invercargill, and the boys are gearing up for the road to Baltimore and South Africa vs. New Zealand. We've got a few beers in hand and are watching NPC rugby's oldest grudge match: Otago vs. Southland.
As always, we talk about mostly anything but the match. There's Lee the Stripper, Honry the French Man, and way too much time spent on Saranac and the Hyena Toddlers. Just befo...
Jones ditches the couch this week to actually play, leaving Tocco alone behind the mic of a potato for a solo call of the Can-Am Rugby Premier Finals between White Plains and your Eastside Hyenas.
As Tocco weaves commentary through the lens of a handful of van beers Dribbles nearly throws hands, a squad of 17 year olds humiliate grown men, Negronis finally get the personality arc they deserve and we learn about Tocco's allergies to...
The couch saw a lot of action this week as the Lot Lizards wouldn't leave Jones alone as we sat down to watch the Italians take on Australia in Perth for round three of the Nations Championships.
Somewhere between teh dark arts and Magnum Itai Perth handed us scrum debates, hat tricks and Jones ranting about languages he can't speak. Tocco went full Italian in the sheeds and we find ourselves in the Circle of Honestly.
Grab yourself...
We released the Taco, formally, somewhere between Jones' internet going out for the fourth time and a Trojan sponsorship request that got weirdly specific. Meanwhile, Wales and Argentina went at it down in San Juan and Wales didn't completely disappoint Jones. We talked scrums, ketamine, hair plugs from Turkey and way too many Hooker things to count here.
Come peek behind the Aluminum Curtain and grab a bit of the couch while we get...
The couch pulled double duty tonight as we speed out from Denver and head down to Christchurch for the kickoff of the Nations Championship. New Zealand vs. France. It may have been our second recording that night but we're still not sure what the hell we're doing here. But there was rugby. We saw a new Tater enter the chat, Tocco is thinking about making stomping great again and Jalibert takes a dive that we cannot forgive.
Bad mul...
We've shipped the couch back to Cape Canaveral so we can keep an eye on the US Space program while it enters phase two; Project Hail Fucking Mary. Eagles vs. Portugal in the inaugural Nations Cup. Os Lobos came to play, the US came to actually do something for once and it all comes down to a single kick in the end. We tried to stay calm, but really did you expect us to?
Welcome to the B-Side. Expect even less accurate analysis, more...
Look. We had a plan. The couch was in Twichekham, which Jones declared was Welsh adjacent, and we were going to watch George North's last match and Faf do faF things. The plan was good. The match not so much. So by halftime we push that bitch right across the channel and abandon Cardiff for Paris where Tolouse are destroying everything in their path. There are cartoon supervillains, hookers not scoring tries, Tocco delivering hot t...
It's finals weekend and the couch is fit to burst. We sat down to watch all three championships in one sitting, and somewhere around the negroni and a half things got weird. Leinster ran roughshod over the Bulls, the Hurricanes put up record-breaking numbers against the Chiefs, and Northampton claimed the Premiership title, and somehow we still found time to debate Prendergast's relation to Tong Po, the return of Mad Sweeney, and t...
Tocco drives the couch up the M1 this week and bitches about the gearbox being on the wrong side the entire way. Northampton hosted Leicster in one hell of a Premiership Semifinal that had us so locked in this almost became a B-Side.
There were chip kicks. There was chasing. There were too many fucking TMO called back tries. Craigory watched from the corner again. Tocco goes full Manson as we talk about what it takes to be a Hyena ...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.
DISGRACELAND is an award-winning music and true crime podcast about musicians getting away with murder and behaving very badly. Jerry Lee Lewis's 5th wife? Dead. Sid and Nancy? Both dead. Why? Because musicians are insane, and insane things happen to them. Why did we lose Amy Winehouse at 27? Was Debbie Harry really abducted by Ted Bundy as she claims? Is Patti Smith not just the "Godmother of Punk", but also the "Original True Crime Girl"? What really happened the night of the Jay Z nightclub stabbing? What do the Diddy indictments truly reveal? All these stories and more, on artists from every genre and their true crimes, in our massive 260-plus story archive. The Dead, the Stones, Johnny, Willie, Frank, Kurt, Courtney, Gaga, Lana, Taylor, and too many to name. DISGRACELAND is music history come to life through audio storytelling as you've never heard it before, with revealing facts: yes, assassins are the real reason the Beatles quit touring—reclaimed myths: no, Mama Cass didn't die from choking on a ham sandwich––and constant reckoning between art and artist––all told through the lens of true crime. This is the podcast for the self-proclaimed "Disgos", the musically obsessed and the true crime heads; the outsiders, the independent thinkers who know that the best history is the history that gets buried. DISGRACELAND is where host Jake Brennan tells the stories they didn't want told. The kind you'll end up telling someone else. Get ready to uncover hidden truths and buckle up for truly edge-of-your-seat storytelling. New, fully scripted, sound-designed episodes are released every Tuesday. Bonus chat-style episodes where Jake responds to voicemails, texts, and emails from Disgos hit on Thursdays, and "Rewind" episodes from our archive drop on Sundays. DISGRACELAND is not a journalistic podcast. It's an entertainment podcast inspired by true events. Certain dialogue and scenes are dramatized, as is common in scripted entertainment based on real stories. Sources and credits for each episode are available at www.disgracelandpod.com. To unlock ad-free listening, exclusive content, and connect with your fellow Disgos, go to www.disgracelandpod.com to become an All Access member. Rocka Rolla.