{"podcast":{"title":"The Ruck","slug":"the-ruck-1115414","podcast_index_feed_id":1115414,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/d0e840b0-f5fe-47d3-b781-71019347fb0b","website_url":"https://www.thetimes.co.uk/podcasts/the-ruck","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/61ba0ecc1a8cbe70e43cf148/1767917470701-837c1e75-c823-43db-bad3-e27646e9eeac.jpeg","author":"Reynolds Alfie","episode_count":575,"summary":"The Ruck is the journalists' rugby podcast from The Times & The Sunday Times. Join Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe, Will Kelleher and a selection of guests every week as they provide insight and reports throughout the season, including big-name interviews and forthright analysis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-12T18:20:55.688798+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ruck-1115414"},"episode":{"title":"Are these the most evenly matched Prem semi-finals ever?","slug":"are-these-the-most-evenly-matched-prem-semi-finals-ever","published_at":"2026-06-08T14:39:37+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ruck-1115414/are-these-the-most-evenly-matched-prem-semi-finals-ever","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ruck-1115414","url":"https://shows.acast.com/theruck/episodes/are-these-the-most-evenly-matched-prem-semi-finals-ever","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/acast/s/theruck/e/6a26d429dd95c87263c57b17/media.mp3","summary":"The Prem rugby semi-final line-up is confirmed: Northampton hosts rivals Leicester and Bath play Exeter. Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Charlie Morgan preview the semi-finals and ask is this the hardest season to predict who will make the final? Could an away side get a rare victory? They also discuss the teams near the bottom of the league. Who had the most disappointing campaign? And who has reasons to be optimistic? Plus, Andy Farrell has signed a contract extension to remain Ireland head coach until 2031. How big a blow is that to England and the RFU? And what does it say about the appeal of the England head coach job? *** Allianz Future Fund | Allianz Insurance Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","meta_description":"The Prem rugby semi-final line-up is confirmed: Northampton hosts rivals Leicester and Bath play Exeter. Alfie Reynolds, Alex Lowe and Charlie Morgan prev…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2825,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ruck-1115414/episodes/are-these-the-most-evenly-matched-prem-semi-finals-ever/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ruck-1115414/are-these-the-most-evenly-matched-prem-semi-finals-ever.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}