The Nations Pod
Rugby Union Weekly
BBC
4.6 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Are France really clear favourites? And how real is Ireland’s decline? Chris, Gareth and Tom are back as this year’s Six Nations gets underway on Thursday. Tom argues this is a huge opportunity for Scotland and asks why they shouldn’t aspire to be outstanding. Gareth is less optimistic about Wales, though he believes they still have a couple of genuine match-winners. The guys run the rule over all six sides and ask what success looks like for each. And Chris has been left a little frustrated folowing the release of the World Cup schedule this week.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:06.4 | Five Lives, Rugby Union Weekly. |
| 0:10.4 | Okay, Rugby Union Weekly, another day, another daily pod, the Six Nations, edging closer. |
| 0:17.3 | Coaches Special Monday, England Camp, special Tuesday. |
| 0:20.7 | The captain's episode coming on Thursday. |
| 0:22.8 | We're in the Stads of France after that. |
| 0:25.0 | Today it's the return of the nation's pod. |
| 0:27.8 | And this, you will not be surprised to hear, is take two, because Tom's microphone, of course, wasn't working. |
| 0:34.7 | What is what is wrong with these microphones, Tom? |
| 0:36.6 | Well, hang on. |
| 0:37.3 | I mean, your computer's not working. Why is it always me? My computer is... To quote Mario Bellatelli. I do think you are quite similar to Ballotelli. I think if I was to compare to Kindred Spirit, it'd be English and Ballotelli. And you're in the wars as well. You're in the wars. I am in the wars. Scotland have had a pretty |
| 0:57.5 | clean bill of health coming into the Six Nations, but they've lost their first, they've had |
| 1:01.8 | their first casualty today. I thought you could say they've lost their first choice journalist. |
| 1:05.7 | Yeah. First casualty is me, so I am not going to roam. |
| 1:11.9 | I've got a chest infection, poor me, which involves an awful lot of coughing, |
| 1:16.4 | which meant that I have pulled a muscle in my ribs because of all the coughing I've been doing. |
| 1:24.6 | And I now have a cough-induced musculoskeletal strain. |
| 1:29.8 | Self-diagnosed. |
| 1:31.2 | Self-diagnosed. |
| 1:32.5 | Well, the doctor said to me, you're not going to Rome. |
| 1:37.1 | So it's quite sore, actually. |
| 1:40.8 | So come on, a bit of sympathy for me here. |
... |
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