RugbyBits

We welcome Jamie Wall back and talk about the All Blacks and how they have been over the last two games against the Stormers and Sharks plus what we can expect.Kooks and Shaun share a good few laughs with Jamie Wall talking about rugby, the rivalry, where the All Blacks are sitting and how many double brandy and coke's are too many.We look into team selection, talk about the All Black lock stocks and how this set up differs from previous years plus pick a bolter Rennie selection ahead of the opening test.Finally, Jamie expands on why the NZRU selection rulings work, reiterates that the South African are missed in Super Rugby for reason other than pure South African muscle.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Lekker Rugby Pod’s Harry Jones to break down the weekend’s rugby action.

We start with South Africa’s hard fought victory in Buenos Aires again Argentina. We discuss why this was the wake up call the Springboks needed before the All Blacks series, the impressive bench performances from the likes of Zach Porthen and Ben-Jason Dixon and some brilliant games from Santi Carreras and Pablo Matera. We also discuss the possible implications of an injury to Siya Kolisi.

We then look at New Zealand starting the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour off with a win against Stormers. The Stormers impressed with a performance with a lot of heart and the All Blacks will be worried with about the flaws shown with the set piece, their discipline and the aerial game. We discuss Deon Fourie’s call up to the Springbok squad.

Finally we finish with Australia’s victory over Japan and why there are some worries for Les Kiss.

Shaun and Thala preview South Africa's test match against Argentina in Buenos Aries and the start of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with New Zealand facing the Stormers.The Springboks welcome back some superstars in Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha. We discuss why this could be a big game for Canan Moodie and Aphelele Fassi and whether Ben-Jason Dixon is locked into the Boks best 23.The Stormers have selected a strong team to face the All Blacks, with the likes of Evan Roos, Ntutukho Mchunu and Neethling Fouche and some recent Baby Bok graduates in Imad Khan, Yaqeen Ahmed and Wandile Mlaba. They face a largely second string All Blacks team, but with a glut of players that could also play themselves into the Ellis Park test match team. We discuss why the Stormers staying in the game for a half would be a massive achievement.Finally, we look at other news items such as Thomas Ramos leaving Toulouse at the end of next season for Racing, Japan about to host Australia, and we discuss Tomas Albornoz's 4 match ban for his conduct after the Argentina and England game.Shaun and Thala preview South Africa's test match against Argentina in Buenos Aries and the start of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with New Zealand facing the Stormers.The Springboks welcome back some superstars in Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha. We discuss why this could be a big game for Canan Moodie and Aphelele Fassi and whether Ben-Jason Dixon is locked into the Boks best 23.The Stormers have selected a strong team to face the All Blacks, with the likes of Evan Roos, Ntutukho Mchunu and Neethling Fouche and some recent Baby Bok graduates in Imad Khan, Yaqeen Ahmed and Wandile Mlaba. They face a largely second string All Blacks team, but with a glut of players that could also play themselves into the Ellis Park test match team. We discuss why the Stormers staying in the game for a half would be a massive achievement.Finally, we look at other news items such as Thomas Ramos leaving Toulouse at the end of next season for Racing, Japan about to host Australia, and we discuss Tomas Albornoz's 4 match ban for his conduct after the Argentina and England game.

Kooks and Thala break down the All Blacks squad selected for the upcoming Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.

We look at the additions to the Nations Championship squad and we break down the selection questions and battles for Dave Rennie. Will Tupou Va’ai start at 6? Is there a battle between Anton Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane for player 23? And why does New Zealand refuse to select Richie Mo’unga still?

We debate whether this tour might be good for the All Blacks long term; why the first test in Ellis Park; and why Cam Roigard and Malcolm Marx better get ready to play 320 minutes of test rugby.

We also look at which Springboks we expect to play the Argentina test, we welcome Les Kiss into the Wallabies job, we look at the young squad Argentina has picked and we welcome Ma’a Nonu as the Sharks newest signing.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Charlie Morgan to review week 3 of the Nations Championship.

First Shaun and Thala look back on the Springboks' 43-0 victory against Wales. We discuss an impressive debut by Carlu Sadie, the impact of Paul de Villiers and Jaco Williams' combination with Jesse Kriel.

Shaun and Thala then debate what their Springbok 23 would be for Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour - who starts between Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu or Manie Libbok? Would Ethan Hooker start in our team? Would we go 5-3, 6-2 or 7-1? Shaun and I then discuss way too early Rugby World Cup 2027 squad hot takes involving Cobus Wiese and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Charlie Morgan then joins us to discuss the wild Argentina v England game. Charlie discusses what England have learned from this year, the discipline issues that England has as they had 4 yellow cards in this game and the impressive performance of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. We then debate the non-try from Bautista Delguy and how Angus Gardner handled a very contentious game.

We then break down the rest of the weekend's games, including the All Blacks looking impressive in beating Ireland, the Baby Boks grinding out a win against France in the Junior World Championship, Fiji putting in a respectable performance against Scotland, Hong Kong China beating Uruguay and we discuss if Les Kiss has been handed an access card by Rugby Australia yet.

00:00:00 Start

00:00:45 Springbok Chat

00:04:38 Vusi Moyo, Ruben van Heerden, Carlu Sadie and Jaco Williams

00:08:10 Herschel Jantjies

00:11:23 Paul de Villiers excellence

00:16:15 Wales and their poor game plan

00:21:29 Our Bok 23 for Greatest Rivalry

00:43:53 Shaun's hot Springbok takes ahead of RWC2027

00:50:50 BabyBoks, Nations Cup and Nations Championship results

00:56:02 Los Pumas v England

01:15:57 All Blacks v Ireland

01:38:52 Les Kiss

01:41:26 Charlie Morgan joins and discusses England and why he is optimistic

Kooks, Shaun and Thala review Week 2 of the Nations Championship, which included the Springboks beating Scotland in a try-fest.

We discuss which of the second string Springboks impressed, including Paul de Villiers, Ethan Hooker and Zachary Porthen, why the defensive lapses are worrying but are not all on Ntutukho Mchunu and the ups and downs of the Handré Pollard performance. While Scotland’s attack impressed and Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings and Ben White were fantastic, we discuss why Gregor Townsend yet again failed to use his bench proactively and how Scotland failed to capitalise in yet another big game.

We discuss the other Nations Championship games. We wonder where Australia is going as Les Kiss sits in the stand and watches France steamroll Australia in the second half. Shaun discusses why French coaches have chosen to ‘settle down’ with Theo Attissogbe.

We debate whether Will Jordan is the best right winger the All Blacks have ever had, why Fiji need to repent for allowing a Henry Pollock hat trick, Eddie Jones’ rant on Japan playing a home game against Ireland in Australia, whether Argentina can build on this win against Wales (spoiler: no), the Springbok Women’s loss to the USA and the epic draw between Uruguay and Romania in the Nations Cup

Shaun and Thala review the weekend of Nations Championship and Nations Cup games which saw a lot of entertaining rugby and tries.

We start with the Springboks thrashing England on the back of impressive games from Damien Willemse, Jasper Wiese and Paul de Villiers. The Boks adjusted to the late withdrawals of Kolisi and Etzebeth, but we are left with questions about what Steve Borthwick is doing as England loses their 5th game in a row. We also break down a much changed side for the next game against Scotland.

We then review the other Nations Championship games, which include thrilling try fests between New Zealand and France and between Australia and Ireland as the likes of Ardie Savea and Hugo Keenan impress. Japan and Wales get surprise victories against Italy and Fiji respectively. In the Nations Cup we have impressive wins for Georgia, an honorable loss for Zimbabwe against Tonga and a high scoring draw between Canada and Spain.

Finally the Springbok Women make a statement as they beat the United States after leading 34-0 as they start their climb up the world rankings.

Kooks and Shaun shake off the FIFA World Cup blues after Bafana Bafana's exit and look ahead to the opening Nations Championship clash against England after Rassie Erasmus names his match day squad early.

We unpack the side, look at the strength's and weaknesses and look ahead to the England threats and how they will approach the game. We then take a deep dive into the tournament as a whole and try and predict where the teams will finish on the North and South side plus figure out what the Wallabies and the All Blacks will bring

Shaun and Thala react to the first Springbok teams announced for the year in preparation for the Springboks clash against the Barbarians and the South Africa A curtain raiser against Zimbabwe.

The big surprise is Quan Horn starting at flyhalf and we discuss why he was selected there and the opportunity he has to establish himself as a utility player. We see Riley Norton and Vusi Moyo getting opportunities with the Springbok side. We discuss why Carlu Sadie has a big opportunity on Saturday and whether Andre-Hugo Venter or JJ Kotze can take advantage of the lack of depth at hooker.

In the South Africa A side, it’s a ton of Baby Boks in the team and we discuss why Zekhethelo Siyaya might be the most impressive, why Hashim Pead or Vincent Tshituka have opportunities to play themselves into the main squad and how much Markus Müller can learn playing next to Lukhanyo Am.

Join us as we discuss why Dave Wessels has the toughest job in the world, whether Kevin Foote will be waiting with a bus to take his Baby Boks straight to the airport and a little bit about Gloucester Hartpury being shocked in the PWR semifina

Shaun and Thala unpack the Prem Rugby Semi Final action as Leicester try valiantly to beat a Henry Pollock lead Saints side that mean business. We look at who performed and what more Leicester needed to do.

We unpack the Bath loss as Shaun asks the question around why the Bath forward pack off the bench is less impactful than last season, we look at the Santiago Carreras performance and why there is unfair criticism on the Bath pivot.

We touch on the Top 14 and Super Rugby knock out games a and make predictions for this weekend