The Offside Line Podcast: The First for Scottish Rugby

<p><br /></p><p>Welcome to the Offside Line Podcast with your hosts Peter Burns and David Barnes.</p><br /><p>In this weekly show we examine all aspects of Scottish rugby, from the grassroots level to the Test arena, and discuss the goings on in the wider global game – helped by a regular panel of special guests and featuring exclusive interviews. </p><br /><p><strong>David Barnes</strong> has worked as a freelance rugby journalist since 2004 covering every level of the game in Scotland for publications including <em>The Herald/Sunday Herald</em>, <em>The Sunday Times</em>, <em>The Telegraph</em>, <em>The Scotsman</em>/<em>Scotland on Sunday/Evening News</em>, <em>The Daily Record</em>, <em>The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday </em>and <em>The Sun. </em>He established the Offside Line in 2016 to provide high-quality, independent and up-to-date coverage of all aspects of Scottish rugby.</p><br /><p>In 2005 he co-authored Jim Renwick’s autobiography, <em>Centre of Excellence</em>, and in 2008 was shortlisted for Rugby Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards for <em>The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby</em>. He is the co-author of the critically acclaimed <em>Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland </em>and <em>Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions</em>.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p><strong>Peter Burns</strong> is a William Hill Sportsbook of the Year shortlisted author and the managing director of Polaris Publishing Ltd. He has written eleven sports books, including <em>Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland,</em> <em>This is Murrayfield: 100 Years of History in 100 Matches</em>, <em>Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions,</em> <em>This is Your Everest: The Lions, the Springboks and the Epic Tour of 1997</em>, <em>When Lions Roared: The Lions, the All Blacks and the Legendary Tour of 1971 </em>and <em>The Men in the Arena: England, Australia and the Battle for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. </em>He is also the author of the forthcoming children's book series, <em>Shadow Thieves</em>.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

The business of rugby: David Jordan and the URC

Hello and welcome to a special bonus pod with David Jordan. Jordan became Glasgow Rugby’s chief executive in 1997 and was therefore right in the eye of the storm during the wild west days of early rugby professionalism. He went on to become the Celtic League’s first tournament director in 2005, running the competition out of his dining room in Bearsden. He has been at the vanguard as the league has morphed into the Pro12, Pro14 and now United Rugby Championship and he has some incredible insights to share on these years. We hope you enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-11
32:31

Downed by Canada, it's time for the Red Roses

Welcome to the Offside Line, the first for Scottish rugby. Barney and Burnsy are delighted to be joined by Stuart Bathgate to chat about the Women’s World Cup before the boys get into the latest injury news coming out of the Edinburgh and Glasgow camps; they then run an eye over the latest goings on in the men and women’s Premierships and preview this weekend’s games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-09
39:17

Gregor and Franco sign on for more . . .

This week Barney and Burnsy head down to Oriam in Edinburgh for a press conference with Alex Williamson and David Nucifora as Scottish Rugby announces new contracts for Gregor Townsend, Franco Smith and five high-performance coaches. The boys are joined by Mark Palmer from the Sunday Times to pick over everything that was discussed. They also reflect on Scotland Women’s victory over Fiji, preview their final pool game with Canada and discuss the latest action in the men and women’s domestic Premierships – plus Barney delves into the Offside Line’s new subscription model. Enjoy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

09-03
44:02

Walloping the Welsh

This week Barney and Burnsy are joined by Eve McTiernan, who is part of the Offside Line team working on the ground in Manchester covering the Women’s World Cup, to discuss Scotland’s record-breaking win over Wales. The guys also review the first round of action in the Men’s Prem and Barney heads to Murrayfield to chat to Neil Graham, Gavin Scott, Stuart Edwards and Pat MacArthur about the new schools Open Conference competition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-25
01:01:30

Season two kicks off!

Welcome to season two of the Offside Line Pod. Barney and Burnsy are back to preview the start of the Women’s Rugby World Cup and the men and women’s Premierships. They’re joined by Lorna Husband, who is on the ground in Manchester covering the World Cup for TOL. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-21
25:44

Episode 50: 2025 World Cup Squad Announced

Barney and Burnsy raise their bats to the clubhouse as they notch episode 50 of the Offside Line Pod – and they welcome Stuart Bathgate to discuss the Scotland Women’s 2025 World Cup Squad, which was unveiled at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

08-08
23:56

Episode 49: The MCG breakdown

Barney and Burnsy delve into the Lions’ second Test at the MCG and also chat about Scotland Women’s match against Italy, the heart-warming return of Emma Wassell and Rachel Malcolm’s words of disquiet about the team’s treatment by Scottish Rugby. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-28
47:45

Episode 48: Melbourne Test week

This week the boys dive into Scotland v Samoa, coaching merry-go-rounds, the Under 20s and they review the Lions vs Australia first Test, the First Nations/Pacifica game and preview the second Test in Melbourne. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-23
01:03:52

Episode 47: Fiji review and a Lions 1st Test preview

After a (very brief) summer break, Barney and Burnsy saddle up again to review Scotland’s loss to Fiji, Scotland U20’s win over Ireland and preview Scotland v Samoa and the first Test of the British & Irish Lions’ series against Australia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

07-15
49:32

Episode 46: A bonus pod with Alex Stewart

This week Barney and Burnsy sitting down with Corstorphine, Edinburgh and Scotland back-rower Alex Stewart to discuss her meteoric career so far as well as her recent health developments. A huge thank you to Alex for chatting to us and to Caitlin Gould at Scottish Rugby and Emily Harrower at Edinburgh Rugby jersey sponsor Scottish Building Society for setting this up.https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/news-media/scottish-building-society-sponsors-edinburgh-rugby-women-s-team Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-30
48:17

Episode 45: Season Review

Now that Scotland’s 2024/25 domestic season is over, Barney and Burnsy team up with their old pals Mark Palmer and Craig Watson to review Edinburgh and Glasgow’s performances and how they are shaping up for next season, delve into R360 once more, preview Scotland’s summer tour and pick their highlights from the year.This episode of The Offside Line Pod is brought to you by Village Health and Wellness Clubs Edinburgh. Get summer ready and enjoy a club stacked with premium kit, a brand new Box N' Burn studio for the ultimate combat style workouts, plus spanking new bikes in the group cycling studio... ready for action!Gym, swim, throw shapes or get your chill on from just £50 per month. Summer's coming! Get ready to dig out those 'short shorts!'More details at www.village-hotels.com/workout-at-village Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-12
01:07:38

Episode 44: R360 – a new dawn for the game?

This week, Barney and Burnsy talk URC quarter-finals, preview Glasgow’s semi-final visit to Leinster and review Edinburgh’s season. They also dive into the sevens programme and the newly proposed R360 breakaway tournament and what it means for global professional rugby.You can find out more about the My Nam5’s Doddie cycle talked about in the episode here: http://bit.ly/4kIijGIAnd you can buy Burnsy’s new children’s book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shadow-Thieves-blockbuster-middle-grade-adventure/dp/0008667810Or a special signed edition here: https://www.waterstones.com/book/shadow-thieves/peter-burns/9780008785161This episode of The Offside Line Pod is brought to you by Village Health and Wellness Clubs Edinburgh. Get summer ready and enjoy a club stacked with premium kit, a brand new Box N' Burn studio for the ultimate combat style workouts, plus spanking new bikes in the group cycling studio... ready for action!Gym, swim, throw shapes or get your chill on from just £50 per month. Summer's coming! Get ready to dig out those 'short shorts!'More details at https://www.villagegym.co.uk/theoffsideline/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

06-03
01:05:51

Episode 43: Rants and reviews

This week Barney and Burnsy delve into the Melrose 7s, the general state of worldwide international 7s, the Club World Cup announcement, the European finals double-header and preview this week’s URC quarter-finals. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-28
50:57

Episode 42: Edinburgh and Glasgow into the URC knock-outs – and a Melrose 7s preview

This week Barney and Burnsy break down the final round of the United Rugby Championship regular season and look ahead to Glasgow’s home quarter-final against the Stormers and Edinburgh’s trip to the Bulls. Barney also has a little rant about the Scotland Women’s U20 announcement (and AI) which features this article: https://www.theoffsideline.com/louise-dalgliesh-names-scotland-women-u20s-squad-for-six-nations-series/Barney dives into a preview of the Melrose 7s with Malcolm Changleng and our old pod pal Jamie Lindsay from Breadalbane. You can find out more about the Melrose 7s here: https://melrose7s.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-20
52:04

Episode 41: Into the Lions’ Den

Fresh from Burnsy attending the Lions squad announcement and speaking to one of the coaches, the boys delve into Andy Farrell’s selection and review the Glasgow and Edinburgh’s contrasting URC performances at the weekend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-13
54:44

Episode 40: Lions selection: who makes the cut?

This week, Barney and Burnsy look back on an action-packed weekend of action in the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup and make their predictions for Andy Farrell’s 2025 Lions squad selection.They also discuss Barney’s new venture, The Inside Edge, which you can sign up to here: https://insideedgecricket.substack.comAnd if you are interested in supporting Graeme Smeaton’s insane-sounding golf challenge to raise money for the My Nam5’s Doddie Foundation, you can find his page here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/graeme-smeaton-2 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

05-07
01:20:49

Episode 39: Bath time

This week Barney and Burnsy are joined by Duncan Hodge from Accelerate Rugby to reminisce about playing for Edinburgh against Bath in Europe back in 1996 before previewing Edinburgh’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against the same opposition on Saturday. They also review last weekend’s URC results, Scotland Women’s magnificent victory over Ireland and Ayr vs Watsonians in the Arnold Clark Premiership final play-off (while also discussing domestic player pathways).This episode is brought to you in partnership with Accelerate Rugby: High Performance Training. Their mission is to help young athletes take their game to the next level with coaching programs designed for talented 10 to 18 year olds. You can find out more at www.acceleraterugby.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-28
01:00:51

Episode 38: Schoooooooe!

This week Barney and Burnsy have an exclusive sit down with Pierre Schoeman to discuss Edinburgh’s recent turnaround in fortunes, his pride in playing for the club and the city and his ambitions with the Lions. They also talk to Emily Harrower from Scottish Building Society about their community give-back programme, analyse Edinburgh and Glasgow’s performances in the URC, Scotland Women’s game against England in the Six Nations, the Scotland U18 teams’ performances, all the action from Silver Saturday at Murrayfield, the Ayr vs Currie Premiership play-off match, speculation around Steve Tandy taking over at Wales and Johnny Sexton’s appointment as an assistant coach with the Lions. For more information on Scottish Building Society’s programmes (including g Tackle Maths), check out their social media channels and the Edinburgh Rugby website:https://edinburghrugby.org/community/take-part-in-tackle-maths/https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/news-media/we-re-helping-school-pupils-across-scotland-tackle-maths Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-23
57:23

Episode 37: Glasgow suffer Dublin horror show but Edinburgh march on

This week’s episode is recorded live at the Hive Stadium, so please accept out apologies for the background noise. We were covering a brilliant event for Edinburgh and the Scottish Building Society, but you’ll have to wait until next week to hear all those bits and pieces. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this week’s show.This week Barney and Burnsy delve into the horror show that was Glasgow’s Champions Cup quarter-final defeat in Dublin, Edinburgh’s harum-scarum victory over the Bulls in the Challenge Cup, Scotland’s disappointing loss to Italy in the Women’s Six Nations and they preview Silver Saturday and the second Premiership play-off semi-final. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-16
24:15

Episode 36: Sun, fun and knock-out phase runs

Barney and Burnsy get the show back on the road after a week’s break (Burnsy is still picking himself off the floor after a vets’ tour to northern Italy) to discuss Glasgow and Edinburgh’s success in thelast-16 of the Champions and Challenge Cups, preview their quarter-final fixtures this weekend. They also dive into the third round of the Women’s Six Nations and discuss the Premiership at length, challenging listeners to come up with a new season structure for domestic Scottish club rugby – please email your thoughts on this to contact@theoffsideline.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

04-08
52:17

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