The Boat Race

There are some people to whom there is no bigger event in the sporting calendar than the University Boat Race. It would be a sweeping generalisation to suggest all of those people will be wearing gillet's and yelling received pronunciation support of their particular shade of blue, having started drinking as soon as the riverside pubs opened along the Thames.

It is undoubtedly an event that will always be intrinsically linked to the establishment, to the upper classes and all the trappings that go with it. It also isn't always the greatest spectacle in terms of a sporting event, though some years can take the breath away. But it is also very fun, and it has a very interesting history and some notable participants over the years.

Join us today for stories of Cambridge wearing pink, "Honest" umpires, heroic Dambusters, three boats sinking in the spring of 1912, Dr. House himself, and of swimming protesters facing the swift retribution of the establishment class. For all its arguable faults, we can't say it isn't fun.

Six Nations - England (A Post-Mortem)

We don't usually do retrospectives on the Almanac. The vast majority of sporting engagement in our modern world is built around the sharing of opinion, frustration or adulation of thing's that have just happened, and it's normally not our style. But today, we make an exception as we release our final Six Nations episode, decidedly after the fact, and with its subject this season's championships biggest disappointment - England.

What is wrong with English rugby union currently? Four games ago England were unbeaten for a dozen matches and seemed on top of the world, and then it all came crashing down. But were the signs there before the fall? Did the run flatter to decieve and is the drop less surprising than the run itself? And what is it about the English psyche, and our culture, that stops us embracing the kind of innovation that has made France and Ireland so successful, and has itself been the bedrock of English success in so many sports historically?

From old farts in boardrooms to robotic coaches, uninspiring anthems to deep seated cultural conservatism - and arguably arrogance - about yet another sport we invented that the world simply does better than us. Be warned, here there be ranting.

Six Nations - All-Time XV

In a move not entirely lacking in self indulgence, Jack and Ben discuss, debate and select their all-time Six Nations XV from 26 years of the competition's history.

Tune in to find the answers to the real big questions:

Can two Englishmen bear to leave Martin Johnson on the bench?

Which Jonny starts at fly half?

How can Ben's heart really be telling him to leave Brian O’Driscoll out of the team?

And how many Welshmen can they nearly pick but still end up leaving out?

For all these answers and more join us - and as a bonus debate to finish, we ask who has the best national anthem in the tournament as well (spoiler: it's not England).