There's a clear winner when it comes to rugby podcasts on Spotify

New Spotify data briefly made public over the weekend has revealed which rugby union podcasts are drawing the biggest audiences on the platform, before episode-specific download figures were swiftly removed.

According to the now-unavailable numbers, The Rugby Pod – hosted by Andy Goode and Jim Hamilton – leads the way, with recent episodes attracting between 60,000 and 70,000 downloads apiece. A recent post-Lions announcement episode featuring Fin Smith logged over 61,000 plays, while another covering Saints’ victory over Leinster in the Champions Cup garnered just under 70,000.

In second place was The Good, The Bad & The Rugby, featuring former England internationals Mike Tindall, James Haskell, and broadcaster Alex Payne. A recent episode with Tommy Freeman pulled in around 30,000 plays, while another Lions-focused edition topped 43,000.

The BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly, hosted by Ugo Monye and Chris Jones, appears to sit in the mid-range of the field, at least on Spotify. Its latest two episodes gathered between 17,000 and 23,000 plays, according to the platform, although it’s worth pointing out that BBC Sounds likely accounts for a significant portion of their audience.

Another new entrant, For The Love Of Rugby, fronted by Dan Cole and Ben Youngs and featuring appearances from Squidge Rugby and others, appears to have made a solid start. Its latest episode drew 10,000 plays, while an earlier Lions-themed episode registered around 25,000.

Fellow new entrants Stick to Rugby – which features Lawrence Dallaglio, Katy Daley-McLean, Tom Shanklin and Scott Quinnell – have also made a decent start, with between 12,000 and 15,000 downloads for their latest two episodes.

The brief publication of episode-specific statistics provides a rare glimpse into the reach and audience engagement across leading rugby podcasts.

While Spotify does not represent the full picture – other platforms such as Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and native or independent sites carry a significant share – it remains a useful metric for gauging popularity.

Spotify has since removed the per-episode play counts from public view.