Maul or Nothing

It's a packed out show as Leicester's new signing Ben Volavola joins the boys to talk through the start of the Prem season and Fiji winning the PNC as well as reuniting with Michael Cheika, the ultimate man manager.

The lads break down the shock of the season so far as Argentina stop the Springboks from winning the Rugby Championship with a game to spare and set up an almighty final round clash. Most importantly both teams flew back on a charter flight together..... how on earth was that?

We hear from Max after his first match and first win of the season up at Newcastly. Maxie baby starting in a superpowered front row with Ellis Genge to bring the boys in black to their knees....

Ryan is back on presenting and comms duty and teaming up with friend of the show Simon Zebo as the URC kicks off with some big results all over the place, we also round up the other Prem matches including the tasty clash between Bath and Northampton..... handbags all around.

And as a special little bonus for everyone we catch up with former UFC fighter Stevie "Braveheart" Ray on dodgy UFC dealings, fighting with a tag on and how you lose 13kg's in 3 days..... Enjoy!

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Maul or Nothing is back with a bigger, better and bolder season ahead.

We catch up with the boys to find out how their summer was and particularly Max and Ryan's romantic trip around Scotland to go and play with the Worlds Strongest Men, The Staltman brothers.

Its time to check in on Max's pre season and find out how the new faces are fitting in, while Ryan has some potentially very big news, that might not be big news but could maybe be absolutely huge news while also possibly being no news at all.

The boys look ahead to what promises to be a heck of a year for the show and rugby as a whole with the URC and Prem kicking off while there are tasty autumn internationals to attend, sevens tournaments to party at and the Lions tour on the horizon.

We get the predictions for both the URC and the Premiership while Max and Ryan run the rule over the ins and outs of players in both competitions.

There's a cheeky Rugby Championship round up and the boys both agree South Africa are now Masters of the Universe..... but what about our dear Australia, can they recover in time for the British and Irish contingent heading down under or will the Wallabies be fed to the Lions?

We also get some insight into the Steve Borthwick camp and what happened with Felix Jones.....sort of

We're back and we're so happy you're joining us on another season of Maul or Nothing. Big love as always!

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The boys sit down for an exclusive chat with the leader and captain of the Flying Fijians in Waisea Nayacalevu as well as Northampton’s Prem winning lock forward Temo Mayanavanua

We hear all about the World Cup heartbreak and the genuine belief they were good enough to reach the final. 

We get an unfiltered version of what happened in the England game and their thoughts on how Fiji officiated compared to Tier 1 Nations. Are the most exciting set of players in the world hindered by the respect they show the officials?

We hear from Temo on Northampton’s march to the prem title and how he found France.

In fact both players agree that the baguette might just be the greatest single French invention ever.

Wais and Temo talk through their perfect 7s team and how good Selestino Ravutaumada really is with the Olympic world at this feet. 

And what about Waisea just swapping his contract with Manu Tuilagi?

The boys put the Fijians under the microscope and hear what this new era holds for the Flying Fijians

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We finally have everyone back and ready to dissect a fascinating summer of international rugby. 

The Boks and Irish cancel each other out in an epic double header, but was it a fair result? Was there a block that allowed the last gasp drop goal from Frawley? What about our buddy Malcolm Marx and the dreaded Croc Roll….. and are you only as good as your last game (Max 😂)

And what about England, will they ever get a better chance to beat the All Blacks in their own back yard? They keep getting so close to beating the best teams in the world but coming short. Is Project Borthwick to be commended or scrutinised?

The All Blacks though are up and running in the Razor era, but how does Fiji’s evolution stack up?

And Wales? Poor old Wales… They only waited until the 79th minute of their final match of the summer to pick up their first win of 2024…. But a win is a win (even against a second string Queensland Reds side) 

Most importantly what on earth did Max get up to in Senegal and how come Ryan came back less relaxed following his all inclusive luxury holiday than when he left….

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The MoN boys get the lowdown on everything to do with Fijian rugby from its very own guru Mick Byrne.

We are delighted to sit down with the new Fiji coach as he prepares to take on the mighty All Blacks.

Fresh from helping to grow the Fijian Drua he’s now ready to build on the Fijian World Cup success and take them to the next level.

Mick The Kick has had one of the most varied and impressive careers the only person to coach against himself at international level as head coach of Japan when they took on the All Blacks, the team he was skills coach for at the time as well! 

00:00 Intro

02:50 Coaching Fiji

07:09 The culture in Fiji and Drua

13:50 Keeping talent in Fiji 

19:27 What makes Fijians so good at rugby?

23:09 Micks coaching style

25:29 Drinking Cava

29:04 Who is Mick excited about coaching

32:38 Coaching in Scotland

38:23 Two World Cup wins with the All Blacks

42:43 Michael Leitch and Japan

45:57 Who has Mick learned from the most

50:24 How far can Fiji go?

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Bula Vinaka everyone! We’ve caught up with two rising stars of Fijian rugby as they prepare for their upcoming test against the All Blacks.

We hear all about Peni’s antics when Ryan took him under his wing at Glasgow. The smile, the laugh, the stories…. These Matuwalus really are the most magnetic people in the world of rugby and we love them!

Frank is hot property but wants to see Fijian Drua win Super Rugby before moving on…. Will it happen? Well the boys have utmost confidence in the upwardly mobile position Fiji rugby finds itself in.

So what’s life been like post World Cup and with a new coaching set up?

How healthy is the future of Fijian rugby and what did Peni do when he first saw the drinks available at a local Glasgow pub?

And what about respect among the Fijian community…. We hear how Peni deals with playing against someone from the same area in Fiji as him (Virimi Vakatawa…) and we’re not sure his coaches will be happy 😂

Ryan and Marc head out to the Lensbury Resort while Max is out doing Max things in Senegal 🇸🇳! 

MoN team up with the Absolute Rugby Gang (10% discount code here: https://absoluterugby.co.uk/discount/MON10) for a Flying Fijian Special!

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We’re delighted to be joined this week by the Wallabies and Exeter and Barbarians Star Scott Sio.

He takes the boys through a fun filled time with the Baba’s, how he’s played against Sam Whitelock his whole life and in a funny twist of fate lines up alongside him for Sam’s final match. 

We go through his Wallabies career and aspirations (Joe Schmidt give him a bell!!!) and that he’d love to put on the Aussie jersey once more. He also walks us through what’s been happening to rugby union in Australia and how to bring back some of its shine.

The Eddie Jones project is also put under the microscope and how different life has been after a decade at the brumbies to switching locations to Devon.

Speaking of the brumbies, remember when they beat the Lions in 2013…. Scott does! And he tells us all about that wonderful day

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It’s actually happened…. Can you believe it… Glasgow Warriors are URC champions. They beat the Bulls and the altitude to give Scottish rugby one of its most crowning moments.

OBVIOUSLY Ryan was there as a one man hype machine, he’s in the stand with Steve Kitshoff, he’s among the fans, he’s in the winning dressing room, he’s on their bus and he’s absolutely broken on his way home. (You’ll never guess the British and Irish Lions star to his left on his flight home)

We are blessed to have a very dusty Huw Jones, wearing his champions cap, take us through all the emotions of the match. The feeling going into it, how they reacted to going 13-0 down in an arena full to the brim with Bulls fans. He then takes us through the celebrations and how Klingon Wilson went full kit on them.

There’s also a rather sobering flight home, before they’re back on it and the party goes again.

The Maul or Nothing team take you into the heart of an enthralling final and celebrations to match. Enjoy!

0:00 - Ryan's ultimate weekend of punditry & Celebrations!

9:49 - Ryan's perfect punditry predictions

12:50 - Max has been to a Work Colleague's wedding!

15:18 - Japan vs England

20:27 - South Africa vs Wales - the Baba's curtain-raiser

23:00 - Does all of South Africa have gout?

25:10 - Baba's vs Fiji

30:20 - Sam Whitelock tribute

34:00 - Where's the easiest place to hide on a rugby field?

36:17 - URC CHAMPION Huw 'Shuggy' Jones joins us!

43:55 - Playing at altitude

51:40 - Jake White's ref comments

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We are really going up in the world…. It’s a very special episode of Maul or Nothing as we head to our favourite luxury hotel, the Mandarin Oriental, to welcome Baba’s boys Jonathan Joseph and Zach Mercer to our suite to sip the finest champagne in the world in the shape of Pol Roger. It was the tipple of Sir Winston Churchill don’t you know…. so we enjoy some lovely drops of that while discussing all things code.

How has the France experience gone at Biarritz for JJ and how does it compare to Zach’s stunning time at Montpellier?

What are Zach’s England aspirations as he continues to put in world class performances?

How big has the Barbarians party actually been?

Perhaps most importantly…. As friends and former teammates. .. How much can they take the piss out of Max Lahiff in an hour???

All questions answered….

It’s a cracker!

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We’re delighted to be joined by arguably one of the most destructive, powerful and consistent centres (nailed on 🦁 for 🇦🇺 in our humble biased opinion) in world rugby in the shape of Sione Tuipulotu. He takes us into the heart of the battle of Thomond Park, the feeling he had about what was going to happen and why the boys didn’t actually really celebrate an epic victory over the defending champions, Munster.

Sione also corroborates a lot of Ryan’s stories around getting in hot water with Munster fans (we love our Irish viewers, so please don’t listen to Ryan, he’s a weirdo with an Irish chip on his shoulder) 

Apparently there was a lot of chat flying around on and off the pitch which Nonz prefers! Reminds him of his under 15 days! 

In other news Sione’s brother, Mosese, is moving to Scotland and in his words “Scar” is coming for him 😂 as he’s joining the dark side (Edinburgh….) 

Max meanwhile is back from Ed Holmes’s stag do in Marbella where they collided with Gareth Anscombe, Ellis Jenkins and more of the Welsh boys who were also on a stag. Ryan survived Munster and is happy to talk about the Bulldozing Bulls beating a stacked Leinster side. 

Are they the unluckiest team on earth or is there more to it?

Max and Ryan take us through that absolute powerhouse of a Bulls pack and just how dangerous they’ll be at home to Glasgow.

We look ahead to the summer tests and some spectacularly tasty ties to tuck into…. Springboks vs Ireland anyone?!? 

Oh and most importantly we finally get round to answering some of your questions! Keep them coming in!

0:00 - Intro - Ryan's meeting his fans in Ireland

07:27 - Max in Marbella - 'When Stags collide'!

09:52 - Sione Tuipulotu joins us from the airport

33:52 - A (genuine!) tribute to our Simon Zebo

35:41 - Bulls v Leinster - are Leinster the unluckiest team in rugby?

46:37 - Looking ahead to the final and predictions

50:29 - Fan Questions...finally answered

01:02:48 - Looking ahead to the Summer Internationals

01:07:07 - South Africa vs Ireland - the one that means the most!

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