Kooks, Shaun and Thala record their last pod of 2023, mainly looking back at the second weekend of Champions and Challenge Cup and wrapping up a massive year for rugby.

We start with the Stormers smash and grab win over the champs La Rochelle. Kooks talks about almost taking a photo with Jonathan Danty. Shaun has questions about the balance of the loose trio. Thala talks about the experience of watching Levani Botia and Will Skelton live.

We then look at the narrow Bulls loss at Lyon and how well they’re set up to make a run at both the URC and the Champions Cup. We rave about Sergeal Petersen and Devon Williams and start to preview the big upcoming derby between the Stormers and Bulls.

We run through the other Champions Cup results. We worry about Toulon and Munster’s narrowing chances of qualifying for the knockouts. We rave about the form Bordeaux is showing and we sense an opportunity for the rest of the competition to capitalize on La Rochelle, Leinster and Toulouse not yet hitting top form.

We then shift focus to the Challenge Cup and Kooks and Shaun lament yet another bad Sharks loss, this time to the Cheetahs. We rave about the great job being done in Bloemfontein, while trying to diagnose why the Sharks look so pitiful. We also look at the Lions big win over Newcastle and shout out Georgia’s Black Lion for their first Challenge Cup win ever.

We finish by looking back at 2023 and some of the big storylines - the Springboks finding a way, the disaster of the Eddie Jones era in Australia, the success of the Tier 2 nations.

We will be back for the 3rd round of the Champions Cup!