Rugby YouTube star Huw Griffin makes a rapid return back to The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast with Brett McKay & Harry Jones, as the fallout from the Champions Cup Final celebrations continue. Zebra-related injuries are not something a team typically plans for, but may feature in reviews of Bordeaux’s European campaign.

From there, the URC moves into knockout mode, with Quarter Finals to be played in Scotland, South Africa, and Ireland this weekend, and with upsets possible in one, maybe two games at a stretch. Super Rugby Pacific and the Premiership line up for their final rounds of the season, and with most games having some degree of bearing on playoff berths.

Plus, it’s the penultimate round of Top 14 in France and MLR in the States, and Grand Final weekend in Japan.

Games of the Week:

United Rugby Championship Quarter Finals:

• Glasgow v Stormers, the Scotstoun

• Bulls v Edinburgh, Loftus Versfeld

• Leinster v Scarlets, Dublin

• Sharks v Munster, Durban

SRP Round 16: ACT Brumbies v Crusaders, Canberra

Top 14 Round 25: Vannes v Pau, Vannes

Japan Rugby League One Grand Final: Toshiba Brave Lupus v Kubota Spears, Tokyo

MLR Round16: Old Glory DC v RFC Los Angeles, Maryland

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #ChampionsCup #SuperRugbyPacific #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MajorLeagueRugby #HuwGriffin #HGRugby

Check out Huw’s YouTube channel, it’s great! https://www.youtube.com/@huwgriffinrugby

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 first silverware of the professional rugby year has been handed out, as Brett McKay and Harry Jones come together for a Champions Cup Final edition of the Weekend Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast, recorded as the Cup was being lifted in Cardiff.

An enviable celebration is underway in the French wine regions, after Bordeaux’s super impressive 28-20 win over Northampton in the Final in Cardiff, a triumph for taking opportunities, game management, and supreme confidence in your methods. UBB were just a bit too clinical for the precocious Saints in the end, and will absolutely be eyeing off the Top 14-Champions Cup double in 2025

Plus: Premiership frontrunners Bath are eyeing off a double as well, after dominating Lyon to take out the Challenge Cup, plus there are cricket scores and sheer bloody-mindedness to overcome in Super Rugby Pacific, it’s semi-final weekend in Japan, and an early Western Conference upset in Major League Rugby.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #ChampionsCupFinal #SuperRugbyPacific #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MLR

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)

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Lee Calvert from the outstanding Blood & Mud rugby podcast joined Brett McKay & Harry Jones on The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast to try and make sense of a Champions Cup Final that not too many saw coming, to contemplate where, if anywhere, Northampton and Bordeaux will find their point of difference, and just where 1980s mega group Duran Duran fits into this complicated picture.

Plus, Lee shares some thoughts on the latest developments in Welsh Rugby, where having maintained four professional sides equally as part of a long-term strategy launched in 2024, the WRU announced an intention to implement a new two-tier funding system amid reports it intends to cut a team from its professional tier, reports which the Union has neither confirmed nor denied. Welsh rugby Hunger Games?

Games of the Week:

Champions Cup Final: Northampton v Bordeaux, Cardiff

SRP Round 15: Queensland Reds v Hurricanes, Brisbane

Japan Rugby League One Semi Finals:

MLR Rd.15: NOLA Gold v Utah Warriors, Salt Lake City

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MajorLeagueRugby #ChampionsCupFinal #Northampton #Bordeaux #LeeCalvert #BloodandMudpodcast

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 pointy end of the rugby seasons are only getting pointier, and finals football is very close as Brett McKay and Harry Jones hand down another Weekend Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

And the Weekend Post-Mortems are going to start hotting up now – Super Rugby Pacific has a new competition leader and maybe a changing of the guard in Auckland, the URC finals are locked in after some final round movement saw some teams win through and others lose out, and Bath have extended their lead in the Premiership even further after a dominant win.

Plus: the semi-finalists have been decided in League One in Japan, there’s still a few rounds of Top 14 left in France, and the conferences are tightening up again in Major League Rugby in the US.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #UnitedRugbyChampionship #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MLR

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)

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Crusaders CEO Colin Mansbridge joins Brett McKay & Harry Jones on The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast for an in-depth chat about what make the Crusaders so great, both as a team and an organisation. And we have to say, the explanation might surprise you!

Fourteen Super Rugby titles in 29 season puts them in pretty rarified air, in terms of professional rugby, and it’s extraordinary to think that Colin is just the third Crusaders CEO in all that time. And he goes into great depth outlining how that success really just comes from alignment across the board, from players and coaches to the front office, from Chair and Board to CEO and then onto Head Coach and Captain. But also, how the history of the place doesn’t just define the Crusaders, it guides them every day.

This truly is a Great Rugby Chat, we hope you enjoy it and take something out of it.

Games of the Week:

SRP Round 14: Brumbies v Reds, Canberra

URC Round 18: Munster v Benetton, Limerick

Premiership Round 17: Bath v Leicester, the Rec

Top 14 Round 24: La Rochelle v Montpellier, La Rochelle

Japan Rugby League One Qualifying Finals:

MLR Rd.14: Houston SabreCats v Utah Warriors, Houston

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MajorLeagueRugby #Crusaders

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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Harry Jones is out of hospital and triumphantly joins Brett McKay for a welcome return to the Weekend Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

All the Leagues are on their downhill runs to playoffs and have common themes. Teams are well set and standout favourites – hello Leinster, Bath, and the Chiefs; Teams are making a charge – the Bulls, ACT Brumbies, Crusaders, and Leicester, and teams are really picking the worst time for form slumps – Glasgow, the NSW Waratahs, and Gloucester.

Plus: the regular season is done in League One in Japan, there’s still a few rounds of Top 14 left in France, and there’s another new conference leader in Major League Rugby in the States.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #UnitedRugbyChampionship #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MLR

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)

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The Telegraph’s Charlie Morgan joins Brett McKay but not Harry Jones to go through all the ins and outs of the Lions Squad announcement, in this bonus edition of The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

With the British & Irish Lions arriving in Australia in less than two months for their 2025 Tour, the guys ponder the key questions from the announcement event at the O2 in London:

Who were we most surprised to see? Who were we most pleased to see? Who will dominate the headlines and debate (because someone will)? And who was most unlucky?

(Harry, as it turns out, who was still in the process of leaving hospital as we recorded. He’ll be back for the Weekend Post Mortem!)

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #LionsTour

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)

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The Lions Squad Announcements is almost here, the Champions Cup is saved (hoo-RAH!), and rugby YouTube star Huw Griffin joins Brett McKay & Harry Jones on The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast to celebrate the best of British and forget about everything we hated before the semi-final stage.

As all rugby podcasts are at the moment, we’re contractually obliged to mention potential Lions Tour bolters amongst other educated guesswork for the make-up of Andy Farrell’s squad, and we hold up out end of the deal with a bolter from the leftest of left fields. Also, we rejoice in what will be a cracking Champions Cup Final between Northampton and Bordeaux in Cardiff in a few weeks, plus contemplate some tricky runs home in the URC and Super Rugby Pacific.

Games of the Week:

• SRP Round 13: Crusaders v Chiefs, Christchurch

• URC Round 17: Bulls v Cardiff, Pretoria

• Premiership Round 16: Leicester v Sale, Welford Road

• Top 14 Round 23: Toulon v Toulouse, Toulon

• Japan Rugby League One Rd.18: Urayasu D-Rocks v Mitsubishi Dynaboars; the Chichibu, Tokyo

• MLR Rd.13: New England Free Jacks v Chicago Hounds, Quincy MA

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MajorLeagueRugby #HuwGriffin #HGRugby

Check out Huw’s YouTube channel, it’s great! https://www.youtube.com/@huwgriffinrugby

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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A stunned crowd in Dublin and a jubilant one in Bordeaux were the order of the day, as Brett McKay & Harry Jones rip into a Champions Cup Semi-Final edition of the Weekend Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast.

Northampton and Bordeaux will face off in the European Final in Cardiff on May 24, after winning their respective Semi-Finals over Leinster and Toulouse in two brilliant games of knockout rugby. In Super Rugby Pacific, the Hurricanes have shaken up the table after knocking off the Chiefs and the ACT Brumbies humbled arch-rivals, the NSW Waratahs, both of them with dominant second halves.

Plus: the finalists are set in League One in Japan and there’s a new conference leader in Major League Rugby in the States.

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #ChampionsCup #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MLR

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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Brett McKay & Harry Jones tackle a very simple question on The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast this week: which team, out of all the teams in all the professional competitions around the rugby world, is bang on average?

And how do you measure which team is properly average? For one thing, it’s not ‘average’ as is in terrible, it’s literally ‘average’. The very bog standard team in each comp, and then the most bog standard of all of them. It could be for and against, it could be tries scored v tries conceded, it could be jersey design, their home ground, the city, their fans… whatever it takes to define the most average team in pro rugby.

Plus, Rugby Australia has finally announced their Joe Schmidt succession plan for the Wallabies. But can they have their coaching cake with Les Kiss and eat it?

Games of the Week:

Champions Cup semi-finals:

#rugby #rugbypodcast #89Combo #SuperRugbyPacific #URC #Premiership #Top14 #JapanRugbyLeagueOne #MajorLeagueRugby #ChampionsCup #average

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

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices