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The Offside Line Podcast: The First for Scottish Rugby
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The Offside Line Podcast: The First for Scottish Rugby

Author: David Barnes & Peter Burns

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Welcome to the Offside Line Podcast with your hosts Peter Burns and David Barnes.


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. 


David Barnes has worked as a freelance rugby journalist since 2004 covering every level of the game in Scotland for publications including The Herald/Sunday Herald, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Scotsman/Scotland on Sunday/Evening News, The Daily Record, The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday and The Sun. He established the Offside Line in 2016 to provide high-quality, independent and up-to-date coverage of all aspects of Scottish rugby.


In 2005 he co-authored Jim Renwick’s autobiography, Centre of Excellence, and in 2008 was shortlisted for Rugby Book of the Year at the British Sports Book Awards for The Accies: The Cradle of Scottish Rugby. He is the co-author of the critically acclaimed Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland and Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions.



Peter Burns 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 Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland, This is Murrayfield: 100 Years of History in 100 Matches, Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions, This is Your Everest: The Lions, the Springboks and the Epic Tour of 1997When Lions Roared: The Lions, the All Blacks and the Legendary Tour of 1971 and The Men in the Arena: England, Australia and the Battle for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He is also the author of the forthcoming children's book series, Shadow Thieves.



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62 Episodes
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Barney is joined by Mark Palmer and Craig Watson at Oriam to pick over Gregor Townsend’s squad selections for the 2025 Autumn Tests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hello Offside Liners, welcome to this week’s show. Apologies there was no show last week, but Burnsy forgot that he was away on holiday. He and Barney catch up to discuss the resurrection of the Scotland/GB Men’s Sevens squad, cast an eye over the Scotland squad ahead of Gregor Townsend’s announcement on Tuesday, and delve into the latest URC and domestic Premiership action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week Barney and Burnsy eventually get the podcast over the line at the third attempt – and they delve into the latest results in the men and women’s Scottish Premierships, the URC and the Rugby Championship before taking a deep dive into R360 while also scrutinising Gregor Townsend’s new role with Red Bull and the appointment of Lee Radford as Scotland defence coach. It’s all a bit of a shambles – but a fun one! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé

Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé

2025-09-3027:38

This week Barney and Burnsy get into the Ryder Cup, celebrate Porty’s prop power and dig into the Womens’ Rugby World Cup final, the latest URC action and the Rugby Championship. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week the boys dive into Barney’s trip to Mull, the new the Scottish Women’s contracts, match cancellations and fixture reviews and previews, plus they sit down with Currie head coach Mark Cairns to discuss his time at the club, how the season is going and the way he and his company Coach Logic are forging new frontiers with AI. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Hello Offside Liners! This week Barney and Burnsy are sitting down with Edinburgh Rugby 2025/26 Captain Magnus Bradbury and Scottish Building Society CEO, Paul Denton to discuss the season ahead as well as Scottish Building Society’s extension as Main Club Partner of Edinburgh Rugby. A huge thank you to Magnus for chatting to us and to Edinburgh Rugby for setting this up. The boys also dig into the Women’s World Cup, club land and some of the controversy surrounding the roll out of the new National Talent Pathway programme.Learn more at: https://www.scottishbs.co.uk/ and https://www.theoffsideline.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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.
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.
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.
Walloping the Welsh

Walloping the Welsh

2025-08-2501:01:30

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.
Season two kicks off!

Season two kicks off!

2025-08-2125:44

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Episode 45: Season Review

Episode 45: Season Review

2025-06-1201:07:38

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.
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.
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.
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.
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