RugbyBits

Shaun and Thala review a jam packed weekend of rugby, which included the semi finals of the United Rugby Championship.

We start with the Bulls 18-point comeback win over Glasgow in Murrayfield off the back of huge performances from Embrose Papier, Steadman Gans and Cameron Hanekom. We discuss how the Bulls turned it around, whether the Canan Moodie centre experiment is working, and how Glasgow collapsed in another home knockout game.

We then go to the Stormers loss to Leinster in Dublin where the Stormers heroically defenders and made over 200 tackles, but Jamison Gibson-Park broke hearts late. We discuss the controversial cards on Ruan Ackerman and Salman Moerat and the tunnel scuffle between Caelan Doris and Conor Evans.

Then we break down the Springbok squad for the Barbarians and the SA A v Zimbabwe double-header, including the inclusion of a host of under 20 Baby Bok stars.

We discuss why Tony Brown’s appointment to the NZR in 2028 is bad news for the All Blacks.

Then we catch up on all the Prem, Top 14, Super Rugby, Japanese Rugby League One big clashes, the Blitzboks winning the Sevens series, all the coaching news and the strange Ellie Kildunne/Harlequins story.

Shaun and Thala review the United Rugby Championship quarterfinals and other rugby tournaments barrelling towards the business end.

We start with the Stormers victory over Cardiff and are impressed with the performance of the forwards and how impressive Imad Khan played, but we discuss how the Stormers can deal with the injuries to Sacha Feinberg Mngomezulu and Seabelo Senatla. The Bulls also won their home quarterfinal against Munster, also off the back of an impressive scrum and a strong performance from their loose forwards, especially Cameron Hanekom, we also discuss why Munster played quite conservatively in attack.

Glasgow beat Connacht in the match of the weekend and we discuss why the Bulls have a mountain to climb to beat them and the form of the likes of Kyle Steyn, Rory Darge and Stafford McDowall. In Dublin, Leinster thrashed the Lions and we reflect on a largely positive URC for the Lions and how pivotal it is that they keep their best players. We discuss some of the drama with the Leinster coaches, Leo Cullen and Jacques Nienaber, and their comments in the media and whether it may be the end of the road for the whole coaching staff.

Finally we round up other global competitions, including the possibility of Bordeaux being knocked out of the Top 14 playoffs, a showdown between Exeter and Saracens for the final semi final spot, the Japanese Rugbly League One heading to the semi finals and the absolutely confusing Super Rugby playoff structutre.

Shaun and Thala look back on the finals weekend in the EPCR, which saw Bordeaux thrash Leinster in the Champions Cup final.

We rave about Lucu and Jalibert dominating the game and the impacts of Woki and Moefana. We discuss Bordeaux controlling the game with their kicking and defence and why they are already one of the great historical European teams.

We then turn to the Leinster post moterm and why they have lost yet another final, some lackluster performances from key players and debate on how much blame Jacques Nienaber and his defence deserves.

We also do a quick preview of the URC quarterfinals and discuss why the Stormers and Bulls should be wary in their home quarterfinals and heat the Lions can do to upset Leinster. Hear why we think Munster and Connacht might be the teams best placed to steal a quarterfinal away.

We also review Montpellier thrashing Ulster in their Challenge Cup final and Cheslin Kolbe signing with the Stormers for next season.

Kooks and Thala look back on the final round of the URC, with the 8 playoff teams finally confirmed, including 3 South African teams.

We review the Stormers disappointing loss to Cardiff and how the second half of their season faltered. On the other hand, the Bulls look to be peaking at the right time after taking care of Benetton. In spite of the loss to Munster, the Lions finally secure their ticket to the URC playoffs - but this leads to a debate about the rumours that South Africa are looking to step away from the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup. We finally try to look on the bright side as a young Sharks team impress against Zebre.

We look at some other rugby news, including the latest Springbok alignment camp finally including Embrose Papier, the debate about the inclusion of Benhard Janse van Rensburg into the England training squad, why are English teams always conceding a lot of points in the Prem and a quick preview of the Leinster/Bordeaux Champions Cup final.

Kooks and Sharky dive into a review of the weekends Champions and Challenge Cup Semi Finals.

We get underway with the controversies of the UBB v Bath game with Sharky not fully subscribing to all the footage being hidden and asks how a business as big as the EPCR will allow a random TV Director influence their product.

Kooks also weighs in and provides insights from a production point of view and we debate whether the social media fall out between SquidgeRugby and Andy Goode was necessay.

We then take a look as to why UBB were triumphant and it was off the back of some exceptional defence which kept Bath snatching at opportunities all game.

Equally so, Leinster were sublime on defence to get their win over RC Toulon despite nearly losing it and we look at the Challenge Cup games and how Ulster advancing will impact the URC.

With the Dragons' loss, Kooks had to put his Dragons Rugby merch order on hold for another year.

Finally we discuss the Luke Littler and Mo Farah half marathon debate. Who wins...?

Shaun and Thala look back on the weekend’s rugby, as the URC’s Race for 8 heats up.

There are still 11 teams in the race for playoff spots and all 4 South African teams can still qualify. We looked at Week 15’s results and the remaining fixtures for the contenders.

The Bulls took care of business in Wales against the Dragons with a bonus point win and have fixtures against 3 of the bottom 4 sides remaining putting them in a great position for earning a home knockout game, but will be sweating over the fitness of Canan Moodie this week.

The Stormers shock loss to Connacht comes in a week after the passing away of longtime Stormers manager Chippie Solomon and some interesting quotes in the media by John Dobson. We try look at what is wrong and what can be fixed urgently as they go into a top of the table clash against Glasgow this weekend and have a tough run in.

Speaking of Glasgow, they were spanked by the marauding Lions at Ellis Park who blitzed them in attack and on defence. This places the Lions at 4th and on path to earn their first URC playoff berth, but they have probably the toughest fixtures remaining and will need to get maximum points against Connacht this weekend.

Finally the Sharks loss against Ospreys means their playoff hopes are still hanging by a thread. We discuss the injury Ethan Hooker suffered after scoring and at least they’re doing better this weekend than the Sale Sharks!

Stuck around as we also discuss the Top 14 games that featured on ESPN Africa this weekend, Saracens destroying Sale Sharks, the Black Ferns getting revenge on Canada in the PAC4, the Chiefs beating the Hurricanes with a golden point in Super Rugby Pacific and the Blitzboks winning their first Hong Kong Sevens.

Shaun and Thala look back on the weekend's rugby, including the quarterfinals of the Champions Cup.

We start with Bath's comeback win over Northampton which saw Bath come back from 21 points down after fantastic games from Finn Russell and Alfie Barberry. We also debate the pivotal penalty and yellow card to Henry Pollock.

In Glasgow, Toulon outlast Glasgow, who will be kicking themselves for missing out on making a Champions Cup run. Toulon were spearheaded by Nacho Brex and Charles Ollivon, and we are impressed by young Georgian Mikheil Shioshvili.

Leinster ease past Sale and we discuss the loosehead prop injury crisis at Leinster and we are SHOCKED that Rieko Ioane plays well on the wing (sarcasm).

Finally, the big match of the weekend was Bordeaux v Toulouse and we debate if Bordeaux finally have Toulouse's number, rave about the impact of Ben Tameifuna and Maxine Lucu leading the defence. We debate whether any of the remaining teams can stop Bordeaux.

We also look at the Challenge Cup quarterfinals, which saw a thriller won by Kooks' Dragons over Zebre and Exeter beating Benetton in a try fest. We also look at the international womens rugby that started this weekend with the Women's Six Nations and the Pac4 Championship.

#Leinster #RiekoIoane #BathRugby #FinnRussell

Kooks, Shaun (and Top 14 SuperSub Thala, Ben Tameifuna, Msutu) chat about the dire weekend as all the South African sides made an exit from Europe.We unpack the way forward for the Bulls, Sharks, Stormers and Lions if they are to make a stand in the competitions moving forward. We take a brief look at the next few rounds of the URC and how each side will approach it along with why we think the Lions have a chance to beat Glasgow Warriors next week.Our main focus is the weekends Champions Cup Quarter Finals and we look at the blockbuster games that bookend the tournament with Bath v Northampton on Friday and UBB v Toulouse on Sunday. We pick our winners and how things will play out.We pick our Challenge Cup winners (it is Ulster) and Kooks and Shaun make a bet on the Dragons.We touch on Super Rugby, the fantastic SA School Rugby results from the lats few weeks as well as what is coming up this weekend.#ChampionsCup #FinnRussell #LouisBielleBiarrey #UBB #Toulouse #AntoineDupont #StuartMcCloskey #ChallengeCup #BathRugby #Ulster #Leinster #HenryPollock

Thala is joined by YouTube rugby content creator Riaan Louw to break down a dramatic Six Nations Super Saturday and to look forward to the final third of the URC league season.

After discussing Ireland keeping Scotland at arm's length, Wales finally winning their first Six Nations game in 3 years and Thomas Ramos winning the Six Nations at the death against England, we discuss who the winners and losers of this year's Six Nations were.

There is a lot of love for Stu McCloskey (and Ulster) and Andy Farrell, we discuss the impact of Joe Heyes and Kyle Steyn, we debate if Mathieu Jalibert has made the 10 jersey his own, but we raise some eyebrows on what England's tactical plan is, whether each coach has done enough to keep their jobs and is rugby and its tactics all looking very cookie cutter and samey right now.

We get the Lions' biggest fan to discuss whether his team can finally break into the top 8 and discuss their tough run in. We look back at the Bulls faltering in the second half against the Stormers and what each South African side needs to do to qualify for the playoffs.

Shaun and Thala preview the final weekend of the Six Nations with France, Scotland and Ireland gunning for the championship.

We preview each match and ask if Scotland can finally end their drought to Ireland and who will get the upper hand in the ruck battle.

The Wales v Italy has a lot more significance, with Italy chasing their best Six Nations performance and Wales building their confidence from two previous games.

Finally we discuss if the pressure will get to France and if there’s any way for England to give a good account for themselves.

We finally preview the catch up of URC games this weekend, including a massive Bulls/Stormers clash with big implications for the winners.