#39 URC Race to 8, Doping Scandals & Rugby Reset Rumours

#39 URC Race to 8, Doping Scandals & Rugby Reset Rumours

From The Rugby Pod by The Ringer

May 19, 2026 · 1h 26m

About this episode

The episode discusses the URC quarter-finals, doping issues in rugby, and various rumors surrounding the sport's future.

It’s a massive week as the lads react to the URC quarter-finals being locked in, Glasgow’s statement win in Belfast, Cardiff’s huge result over the Stormers and Connacht emerging as dark horses. We look ahead to the Champions Cup final in Bilbao and whether Leinster can topple Bordeaux. We also ask whether rugby has a growing drug problem after major bans in Georgia and South Africa. We dive into South Africa’s club rugby future with rumours they may be dropping out of Champions Cup, the potential URC-Prem merger, Eddie Jones’ suspension, England’s new-look training squad and the Premiership chaos after Saints put 94 points on Bristol. Sign up to NordVPN by going to https://nordvpn.com/rugbypod to get a Huge Discount off your NordVPN Plan + 4 additional months free. It’s completely risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Topics covered

  • URC quarter-finals
  • rugby doping scandals
  • Champions Cup final
  • South Africa club rugby
  • Eddie Jones suspension
  • Premiership chaos

Keywords

  • URC
  • rugby
  • doping
  • Champions Cup
  • Eddie Jones
  • Premiership
  • Connacht
  • Glasgow
  • Cardiff
  • South Africa

Sponsors

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Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: URC, Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff, Stormers, Connacht, Champions Cup, Leinster, Bordeaux, Georgia

Products: NordVPN

Places: Bilbao

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