RugbyBits

Shaun and Thala review round 2 of the United Rugby Championship where the South African teams won 2 out of 4 games.

We start with the Sharks beating Leinster through a strong defensive performance, Thomas du Toit putting the screws of Thomas Clarkson and Siphosethu Mnebelele impressing. The Lions maul and scrum secured their victory over Ospreys, with Francke Horn leading the charge and Erich Cronje maintaining his insane form.

In Europe, the Stormers lineout faltered in their loss to Edinburgh, but they are looking forward to a host of Springboks rejoining them. The Bulls lost to Munster with young Charlie O’Shea impressing on debut.

The Springbok Women continued their winning run with a 20-0 victory in Spain.

Finally in other news, we review the crazy last 10 minutes of the Ulster and Glasgow draw, Louis Rees-Zammit trolling Northampton in Bristol’s win over Bath, the Force winning the (fraud) Super Rugby AU, Shaun hating on Paul Costes and Brendan Venter’s new role as a wine consultant for Saracens (maybe he should help with their attack).

Kooks and Thala review a crazy weekend of rugby with great weekends for the Springbok Women and the South African URC teams, but a loss for the Springboks in Perth.

We first look at the Springbok loss an discuss what the Wallabies did so well to get a 42-17 lead, and the craziness of the last 15 minutes with TMO drama and the Boks making a furious comeback. While the likes of Ryan Lonergan and Max Jorgensen shone, there is no reason to panic for Springbok fans as some second string players got valuable experience.

We then review a good weekend for the South African URC teams as they won 4 out of 4. Impressive performances from the likes of Luan Giliomee, Jonathan Roche and Erich Cronje stood out.

Finally another chaotic weekend in the WXV, which saw South Africa make amends for their loss to Wales with a great win against Italy and England winning against New Zealand in the very last minute.

Kooks and Thala preview a busy weekend in the world of rugby, with South Africa facing Australia in Perth, the opening weekend of the URC and the continuation of WXV happening this weekend.

We start with a much-changed Springboks gearing up to face Les Kiss' Wallabies. We discuss why this is a massive game for Johan Grobbelaar in his bid to become the backup Bok hooker and why Franco Mostert needs to remind us all of his place on the lock depth chart. For the Wallabies, we discuss why Joseph Sua'ali'i's move to wing makes sense and what Les Kiss will be looking to get out of this game. Kooks is also not happy about the Springboks being made to play on a Sunday.

Onto the URC and we preview the hopes for the South African URC sides. We discuss the Galactico signings the Stormers have made and why Riley Norton could be a key player for them; for the Lions we discuss if a settled squad with Boan Venter added can repeat the run into the playoffs they had last season; for the Sharks its about getting the rebuild going and seeing how youngsters like Vusi Moyo come through and we debate if the Bulls signings can take them the next step forward and what Curwin Bosch adds as a backup flyhalf.

We wrap up with celebrating Canada for ending the Red Roses' streak, the lessons for the Springbok Women in Wales, a chaotic game between France and Australia and Henry Pollock's contract extension.

Thala and Shaun take a brief look at the fourth test and dive into the nuts and bolts from the tour, the Springbok MVP and some questions from the Dirt Trackers. Thala talks in depth about what we need to be doing at Hooker and Shaun yet again highlights the power of our midfield and still can not understand how people feel Kriel is a liability#Springboks #AllBlacks #RGR2026 #SiyaKolisi #JasperWiese #JEsseKriel #DamiandeAllende #SachaFeinbergMngomezulu

Shaun and Thala preview the fourth test of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry in Baltimore. As the Springboks take a 2-1 lead to the US they welcome back Damian Willemse to the team and we see Morne van den Berg get a great opportunity to start this weekend. We discuss how van den Berg can back up his performance last week and whether Ethan Hooker is the first choice left winger.

The All Blacks have made a raft of changes, including starting Richie Mo'unga. We discuss how New Zealand may play differently with Mo'unga at 10, how he combines with Cam Roigard and the other changes to the All Blacks team.

Kooks and Thala preview the double header for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at the FNB Stadium in Soweto plus Kolbe at Fullback and Swys out for Bok Women.

Kooks and Thala preview the double header for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at the FNB Stadium in Soweto.

After discussing a week of rising tensions between the teams and supporters, we break down the changes made by Dave Rennie in the All Blacks team, what Peter Lakai and Sam Darry will bring, why Codie Taylor was dropped and whether the All Blacks will target Cheslin Kolbe in the air. While Kooks is looking for improvement in the Boks attack, Thala looks forward to a massive ruck battle on Saturday.

The Springbok Women play one of their biggest ever home matches against the Black Ferns in the first game of the double header, but Swys de Bruin has left the Springbok Women’s head coach role. We discuss the possible destabilizing factor that might be, but also look forward to how the Boks can repeat the heroics of last year’s World Cup quarterfinal.

We also briefly discuss the 2nd test in Australia’s tour of Argentina, the start of the Top 14 season, James Slipper having one more year in him and debate Airlink-gate.

Shaun and Thala review the 2nd test of Rugby's Greaterst Rivalry, as South Africa level the series with New Zealand.

We discuss what the Boks improved from the first test, as the Springboks attacked well off Cobus Reinach, Cheslin Kolbe couldn't miss with the boot and Malcolm Marx and Eben Etzebeth were heroic in defence. We look at the threat the All Blacks provided in attack and why Tupou Va'ai may need to move to flank.

We discuss all the drama surrounding the game as well, including Rassie Erasmus' very late selection changes, Rassie and Dave Rennie debating the reffing of the scrum and the VERY low Airlink fly over Cape Town Stadium.

We also review Australia's victory over Argentina in the first test and look forward to the upcoming Bok Women and Black Ferns test match and the start of the Top 14 season. Finally, the RugbyBits crew finally all had a drink together on Friday, featuring Victor Matfield.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Jamie Wall to preview the 2nd test in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

Jamie takes us through the changes in the test 23, with George Bower starting after surprising everyone in the first test and Simon Parker starting at blindside.

We discuss whether the rain will affect the All Blacks game plan, concerns about Deon Fourie on the bench, why the All Blacks expected Handre Pollard and Siya Kolisi to return and what aspects of the All Blacks are starting to feel familiar again.

Shaun and Thala review New Zealand’s victory over South Africa at Ellis Park in the first test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.

We first give our flowers to the All Blacks for their ruthlessly efficient attack and resolute defence. We discuss how they dug out of a huge hole in the middle of the game and won the big moments to score 5 tries to win at the end. We also rave on the performances of Jordie Barrett, Tupou Va’ai, Fabian Holland and discuss why Will Jordan’s game was more than just his two tries.

We break down what went wrong for South Africa, including Kurt-Lee Arendse’s early injury throwing the Springbok backline into chaos, an erratic performance from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and some questionable substitutions from Rassie Erasmus. While Jasper Wiese and Damian Willemse shone, the backs especially looked out of sync with each other, as many of them had to play out of position for most of the gam.

We also debate the 23 selected for the Cape Town test as Rassie makes 7-8 changes, which include a return of Handre Pollard and Ethan Hooker to the starting team and a possible return for Siya Kolisi and whether this fixes the problems from the first test.

We finally preview a possibly entertaining All Blacks v Lions game later this week, Australia are about to play Argentina over two tests and the Black Ferns wallop the Wallaroos in the Wallaroos’ 100th test match.

Kooks, Shaun and Thala preview the start of the South Africa and New Zealand test series.

Rassie Erasmus starts Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Wilco Louw. Damien de Allende starts in his 100th test and we talk about how under appreciated and unselfish he has been. Thala discusses all the Highveld selections Rassie has made for this year.

On the All Blacks side, Dave Rennie welcomes back Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Cam Roigard to the team, but there is no room for Patrick Tuipulotu. We discuss what is missing in the All Blacks team and how they’re prepared to run the Boks off their feet. We debate Tupou Va’ai’s selection at six and why Luke Jacobsen and Paul de Villiers will be one of the key battles.

Finally, Kooks informs us of the possibility of extra time in the final test in Baltimore as we make our predictions for the Ellis Park test.