With the rugby world taking a little break in the international calendar, Brett & Harry have taken this little window to revisit some of their favourite episodes from The Rugby Championship.

This week, a look back at our TRC Post-Mortem following the Wallabies famous – infamous, for some – victory over the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg, snapping a streak that went back more than 60 years, and which has so far proved to be a high point for Australia in 2025.

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The Rugby Championship has been run and won for 2025, but the real question would seem to be has it been run and won forever? Rugby writer and author Geoff Parkes joined Brett McKay and Harry Jones on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast to ponder that very question.

And as a way to wrap up The Rugby Championship properly for 2025 (but maybe forever), Harry sat a couple of homework tasks before this week’s chat, namely:

1. Was that the last ever TRC?

2. If this was the last TRC, how will the TRC be recalled?

3. Who from each of the 4 teams whose TRC performance exceeded your expectations? And..

4. When did each team look their best, and why they all had at least one shitty game.

It all makes for a substantive, meaty, profound way to the conclude the TRC. Maybe forever.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #internationalrugby #Wallabies #TheRugbyChampionship, #Springboks, #AllBlacks, #LosPumas

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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The All Blacks have swept the Bledisloe Cup series, and Brett McKay and Harry Jones pull it all apart in another TRC Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

A relatively even first half contest looked more comfortable than perhaps it was, courtesy of two late tries, before the Wallabies cruelled their own second half with silly mistakes, skill errors, and poor decision-making, leaving them and Australian fans to contemplate the what-ifs for yet another year.

And because the WiFi gods worked against us, and we recorded several hour after both games, there’s a good wrap-up of what turned out to be a surprisingly close match between Los Pumas and the Springboks at Twickenham.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #WeekendPostMortem #InternationalRugby #TheRugbyChampionship #Wallabies #AllBlacks #Springboks #LosPumas

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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It’s the final round of The 2025 Rugby Championship this weekend, with a couple of key southern hemisphere matches to be played in Perth and, er… London?

Brett & Harry ask the key questions for TRC Rd.6. Can the Wallabies square the Bledisloe Cup series in Western Australia, and can Los Pumas possible bounce back against the Springboks at Twickenham?

This week's key questions:

Q1. Despite the Horror of Ellis Park, is this South Africa's Rugby Championship to lose? (reckon this is the headline)

Q2. Where is Argentina's best chance of an upset?

Q3. Who has fared better from Bledisloe injury toll? And is this Tane Edmed's opportunity to nail down no.10 for November?

What do you think? We'd love to hear from you!

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With the Bledisloe Cup decided for another year, but the return Test and The Rugby Championship still very much up in the air, Kiwi rugby journalist Jamie Wall joined Brett McKay and Harry Jones on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast to dive deep into the fallout.

While the result at Eden Park wasn’t so surprising last weekend, the way the All Blacks closed the game out, and the way the Wallabies simultaneously killed off their best Bledisloe chance in many a year went against recent form lines and expectations. While Australian fans are still raging about refereeing decision, New Zealanders are just happy they didn’t lose two games on the trot. The contrasts make for yet another Great Rugby Chat™.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #internationalrugby #Wallabies #TheRugbyChampionship, #Springboks, #AllBlacks, #LosPumas, #BledisloeCup

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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The All Blacks have retained the Bledisloe Cup for another year, and Brett McKay and Harry Jones feel like the nine-point margin was about right on another TRC Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

New Zealand started sharply and looked ominous early on, before Australia swing momentum and reduced the halftime margin to just three points. After the break and in the end, it will be another case of Wallabies errors and missed opportunities to rue, with crucial mistakes killing off any chances of yet another famous comeback win.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #WeekendPostMortem #InternationalRugby #TheRugbyChampionship #Wallabies #AllBlacks #Springboks #LosPumas

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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Global CEO of Rhino Rugby equipment Reg Clark joined Brett McKay and Harry Jones on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast to get into the weeds about a rarely-thought, but crucial part of the modern game: the humble tackle bag.

Rhino Rugby are perhaps the dominant player in the technical training equipment game, supplying so many national unions and the British & Irish Lions with crash pads, training aids, and scrum machines. In 2025, they’re also supplying South African rugby with their match balls, which are currently making their debut in The Rugby Championship. It’s a fascinating chat, you’ll discover something you didn’t know, we’re quite sure.

Plus, Brett and Harry run the rule over Round 5 of the tightest TRC ever, which this weekend includes maybe the most highly anticipated Bledisloe Cup opener in years.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #internationalrugby #Wallabies #TheRugbyChampionship, #Springboks, #AllBlacks, #LosPumas, #RhinoRugby, #rugbytraining, #rugbyballs

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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We keep saying The 2025 Rugby Championship is the tightest one yet, and so it remains after four rounds. Everyone has two wins and two losses. Everyone has won and lost at home, everyone has won and lost away.

Brett & Harry ask the key questions in this TRC week off before we resume for Round 5 next weekend. But how will Australia and New Zealand bounce back after stinging losses? And how confident are Argentina and South Africa right now?

This week's key questions:

Q1. How deep is the Wallabies fallout from the Argentina loss in Sydney?

Q2. Is it nearly as deep as the All Blacks fallout from the Boks loss in Wellington?

Q3. Everyone has two wins + two losses. Who wins the TRC from here?

What do you think? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

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The Rugby Championship is officially nuts. After four rounds, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, amd Argentina all have four wins. Brett McKay and Harry Jones try to make sense of it all on another TRC Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

In Sydney, Los Pumas scored the two point-win they perhaps should have claimed a week ago, though Australia now lead the tournament courtesy of double bonus points in a loss and the worst forward pass miss in a long time. In Wellington, the Springboks handed the All Blacks a thumping that didn’t just eclipse their worst loss on home soil, they more than doubled it.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #WeekendPostMortem #InternationalRugby #TheRugbyChampionship #Wallabies #AllBlacks #Springboks #LosPumas

Find us:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo?sub_confirmation=1

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-8-9-combo-rugby-podcast/id1729575866

Social media: #89Combo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social

Find Brett and Harry on both Twitter and on BlueSky: @BMcSport + @HaribaldiJones

Music: "Stalling" by Topher Mohr & Alex Elena (via YouTube Creator Studio)

Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney

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If the 2025 Rugby Championship is the tightest one yet, Round 4 this weekend looms as the hardest to pick yet. Australia and Argentina have both rung the changes to their teams, forced and not, New Zealand appear to have beefed up their pack but snuck a debutant on the wing, and South Africa have named such a young side that Rassie may well be now operating two RWCs ahead.

Brett & Harry ask the key questions ahead of this weekend’s 4th Round of TRC matches in Sydney and Wellington. Can Argentina bounce back from the heartbreak of Townsville? How much do South Africa have left to find a win in NZ? And could we finish the weekend with everyone on two wins?

This week's key questions:

Q1. If NZ were to be beaten, why would it happen?

Q2. If OZ were upset, what’s likely reason?

Q3. Of those two upsets, which likeliest in your opinion?

What do you think? We'd love to hear from you!

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