The Lekker Rugby Pod!

What does it actually take to move the needle in the greatest rivalry in world rugby?Legendary Kiwi commentator Tony Johnson joins Harry Jones and MW Welman on the Lekker Rugby Pod to break down Test Three of the Greatest Rivalry series, with the Springboks and All Blacks locked at one apiece heading into the decider at FNB Stadium.In this episode:• Tony explains why he believes the needle has swung since the second Test• Dave Rennie's changes for the decider, and what they reveal about his thinking• The players from both sides quietly building their reputations on this tour• Why Tony rates this as one of the greatest rivalries in all of sport, not just rugby

Is the Springbok defence actually cracking late in matches, or are the All Blacks just playing that cleverly?Harry Jones and MW Welman are joined by the technical, patient and uncompromising André Pretorius, the World Cup winning Springbok flyhalf now coaching in Japan, for a complete breakdown of both sides of the ball. They dig into where the Springbok defensive system holds up, where it breaks down, and how patient and clever the All Blacks have been in picking it apart, phase after phase.In this episode:- Why the Springbok defence fades in the closing stages of both Tests- How the All Blacks use an extra set of hands to isolate Jesse Kriel- Why Cam Roigaard is one of the hardest scrumhalves in world rugby to read- What André wants to see change before the series decider

What would it take for the All Blacks to finally become the complete package?Martin Devlin joins MW and Harry from Cape Town, days after South Africa levelled the series in a brutal second test, and just before the decider in Johannesburg. Devlin is honest about where this All Blacks side actually stands, what went wrong in that first half, and what still separates a talented team from a complete one.In this episode:- Devlin's honest breakdown of the Cape Town loss and where the All Blacks got caught cold- Why he believes defending a lead is the mark of a champion team, and what that says about the Boks- The two things Devlin says the All Blacks must marry to become the complete package- What the age and freshness of both squads could mean heading into the World CupThis series has lived up to every bit of its billing, and neither side is done making its case for who's really number one in the world.If you enjoy the show, the best thing you can do is LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the BELL so you never miss an episode.

Did Dave Rennie's press conference lobbying just rewrite how World Rugby referees the scrum?Harry Jones and MW Welman spend this episode inside the scrum, walking through Law 19.10 line by line, explaining what a "brake foot" actually is, and laying out why they think referee Angus Gardner's approach in Test 2 shifted after Rennie went public with his "walk around" theory following the first Test loss. It's a technical, personal and occasionally profane breakdown of the argument now shaping the whole series.They also get into the viral low-flying plane scare over Cape Town, Bill Beaumont's old "shape of the game" comments, and where South Africa's front row dominance is actually coming from.In this episode:• Breaking down Law 19.10 and what a "brake foot" really means• Why MW thinks Test 2's refereeing changed after Rennie's comments• The viral Cape Town plane flyby everyone's talking about• Cobus Reinach's backline comms and the Boks' opening triesOn this episode of The Lekker Rugby Pod, MW Welman and Harry Jones break down the scrum battle defining the Springboks-All Blacks series.If you enjoy the show, the best thing you can do is LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the BELL so you never miss an episode.

What does it take to make Rassie Erasmus call a "very interesting podcaster"? Martin Devlin found out this week in a Johannesburg press conference, and he joins MW and Harry fresh off his first trip to South Africa.Devlin was on the ground for the win at Ellis Park, an address to a packed Inanda Club, and a climb up Table Mountain that has the crew joking he's jinxed the series. He explains why he isn't buying that the All Blacks are safe after one win, breaks down both coaches' selection calls for Cape Town, and revisits the sliding doors moments, a reversed scrum, a yellow card that wasn't, that swung the first Test.In this episode:- Devlin's press conference moment with Rassie Erasmus- Selection changes for both the All Blacks and Springboks in Cape Town- The scrum drama and sliding doors moments that decided the first Test- Devlin's first days in South Africa, from Ellis Park to the Cape safari

Why did the Springboks lose to the All Blacks despite spending more time in the red zone?Harry Jones did the homework MW didn't want to do. He rewatched the whole test and logged every single attack set, not entries, not territory, the actual moments where the Boks had clean ball to work with. What he found explains the scoreline better than any possession stat does. In this episode:- Why red zone entries are the wrong number to judge a team's performance by- Every attack set from the test broken down individually, system error or player error- The scrum gamble on the five meter line that could have ended the match either way- What the All Blacks had in the tight moments that the Boks didn'tHarry and MW go through it minute by minute, name the errors, and work out what's actually fixable before the next test.

Mark Morgan from Two Cents Rugby joins Harry Jones and MW Welman for a first test post-mortem that gets uncomfortable fast. The Springboks won the scrum, the possession count and the territory battle, then lost five tries to one. Mark explains what Dave Rennie changed under the radar, and why it caught even the All Blacks supporters off guard.There's plenty to get through: the CPR numbers that halved from the warm-up games, an under-the-weather Ethan de Groot stuck in the front row, and the captaincy question nobody in South Africa wants to ask out loud.In this episode:- The Rennie Effect: how the All Blacks' gameplan shifted between the warm-ups and kickoff- Why the Boks' dominant stats never showed up on the scoreboard- The scrum penalty that swung the momentum, and the case for taking the three- Whether Pieter-Steph du Toit is the right captain with Siya Kolisi unavailable

How do you actually beat a defence built to protect its own weaknesses? André Pretorius joins Harry Jones on the Lekker Rugby Pod to break down exactly what it would take for the All Blacks to crack the Springbok defensive system at Ellis Park, and why he believes anything less than four tries won't be enough.André, a World Cup-winning Springbok fly-half now coaching in Japan, walks through Dave Rennie's tempo experiment, the numbers behind it, and where the real cracks in the Bok box defence might actually be.In this episode:- How the Boks defend the edge - Dave Rennie's carry-pass-ruck numbers and whether that tempo is sustainable- How to hide (and find) a targeted defender like Wilco Louw- Why André thinks the All Blacks need at least four tries to win

How do Springbok fans really feel about the All Blacks?Harry Jones and Riaan Louw sit down for a full accounting of how South Africans actually see the All Blacks: the black jersey, the 2015 All Blacks team many still call the greatest in history, the scrum, the tours, and the fans on both sides. Two mates giving the South African view of their oldest rival, with the confidence of a team that's used to winning.Real respect, real swagger. These are two teams used to winning, and neither one plays like an underdog.In this episode:- The uniform they cannot stop admiring and attacking- Why the 2015 All Blacks changed the way rugby is played- The scrum debate, the red card rules, and whether these tours happen too often- What they think New Zealand actually loves and hates about the SpringboksAll Blacks fans, settle in. You'll enjoy this as much as we did.If you enjoy the show, the best thing you can do is LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and hit the BELL so you never miss an episode.On this episode of The Lekker Rugby Pod, Harry Jones and Riaan Louw work through what they love and hate about the All Blacks.

Martin Devlin says the All Blacks win this series. MW and Harry don't agree. Who's right?Episode 201 is a two-part debate. First, Martin Devlin of DSPN joins Harry and MW to make his full case for why the All Blacks can win this series, the Rennie effect, the return of Rieko Ioane, and why he trusts Ruben Love at Ellis Park. Then MW and Harry take over alone to make the opposite case, working through the numbers that Devlin's optimism has to survive.In this episode:- Martin Devlin explains the Rennie effect and why this All Blacks side finally looks settled- Why Ruben Love and the bench call could decide the first test- Harry breaks down the CPR and contestable-kick numbers behind the Springboks' case- The revenge narrative both sides are chasing after WellingtonOn this episode of The Lekker Rugby Pod, MW Welman and Harry Jones sit down with Martin Devlin ahead of the first test between the Springboks and All Blacks at Ellis Park.