RugbyBits

Thala and Shaun take a brief look at the fourth test and dive into the nuts and bolts from the tour, the Springbok MVP and some questions from the Dirt Trackers. Thala talks in depth about what we need to be doing at Hooker and Shaun yet again highlights the power of our midfield and still can not understand how people feel Kriel is a liability#Springboks #AllBlacks #RGR2026 #SiyaKolisi #JasperWiese #JEsseKriel #DamiandeAllende #SachaFeinbergMngomezulu

Shaun and Thala preview the fourth test of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry in Baltimore. As the Springboks take a 2-1 lead to the US they welcome back Damian Willemse to the team and we see Morne van den Berg get a great opportunity to start this weekend. We discuss how van den Berg can back up his performance last week and whether Ethan Hooker is the first choice left winger. The All Blacks have made a raft of changes, including starting Richie Mo'unga. We discuss how New Zealand may play differently with Mo'unga at 10, how he combines with Cam Roigard and the other changes to the All Blacks team.

Kooks and Thala preview the double header for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at the FNB Stadium in Soweto plus Kolbe at Fullback and Swys out for Bok Women. Kooks and Thala preview the double header for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry at the FNB Stadium in Soweto. After discussing a week of rising tensions between the teams and supporters, we break down the changes made by Dave Rennie in the All Blacks team, what Peter Lakai and Sam Darry will bring, why Codie Taylor was dropped and whether the All Blacks will target Cheslin Kolbe in the air. While Kooks is looking for improvement in the Boks attack, Thala looks forward to a massive ruck battle on Saturday. The Springbok Women play one of their biggest ever home matches against the Black Ferns in the first game of the double header, but Swys de Bruin has left the Springbok Women’s head coach role. We discuss the possible destabilizing factor that might be, but also look forward to how the Boks can repeat the heroics of last year’s World Cup quarterfinal. We also briefly discuss the 2nd test in Australia’s tour of Argentina, the start of the Top 14 season, James Slipper having one more year in him and debate Airlink-gate.

Shaun and Thala review the 2nd test of Rugby's Greaterst Rivalry, as South Africa level the series with New Zealand. We discuss what the Boks improved from the first test, as the Springboks attacked well off Cobus Reinach, Cheslin Kolbe couldn't miss with the boot and Malcolm Marx and Eben Etzebeth were heroic in defence. We look at the threat the All Blacks provided in attack and why Tupou Va'ai may need to move to flank. We discuss all the drama surrounding the game as well, including Rassie Erasmus' very late selection changes, Rassie and Dave Rennie debating the reffing of the scrum and the VERY low Airlink fly over Cape Town Stadium. We also review Australia's victory over Argentina in the first test and look forward to the upcoming Bok Women and Black Ferns test match and the start of the Top 14 season. Finally, the RugbyBits crew finally all had a drink together on Friday, featuring Victor Matfield.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Jamie Wall to preview the 2nd test in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. Jamie takes us through the changes in the test 23, with George Bower starting after surprising everyone in the first test and Simon Parker starting at blindside. We discuss whether the rain will affect the All Blacks game plan, concerns about Deon Fourie on the bench, why the All Blacks expected Handre Pollard and Siya Kolisi to return and what aspects of the All Blacks are starting to feel familiar again.

Shaun and Thala review New Zealand’s victory over South Africa at Ellis Park in the first test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. We first give our flowers to the All Blacks for their ruthlessly efficient attack and resolute defence. We discuss how they dug out of a huge hole in the middle of the game and won the big moments to score 5 tries to win at the end. We also rave on the performances of Jordie Barrett, Tupou Va’ai, Fabian Holland and discuss why Will Jordan’s game was more than just his two tries. We break down what went wrong for South Africa, including Kurt-Lee Arendse’s early injury throwing the Springbok backline into chaos, an erratic performance from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and some questionable substitutions from Rassie Erasmus. While Jasper Wiese and Damian Willemse shone, the backs especially looked out of sync with each other, as many of them had to play out of position for most of the gam. We also debate the 23 selected for the Cape Town test as Rassie makes 7-8 changes, which include a return of Handre Pollard and Ethan Hooker to the starting team and a possible return for Siya Kolisi and whether this fixes the problems from the first test. We finally preview a possibly entertaining All Blacks v Lions game later this week, Australia are about to play Argentina over two tests and the Black Ferns wallop the Wallaroos in the Wallaroos’ 100th test match.

Kooks, Shaun and Thala preview the start of the South Africa and New Zealand test series. Rassie Erasmus starts Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Wilco Louw. Damien de Allende starts in his 100th test and we talk about how under appreciated and unselfish he has been. Thala discusses all the Highveld selections Rassie has made for this year. On the All Blacks side, Dave Rennie welcomes back Ardie Savea, Will Jordan and Cam Roigard to the team, but there is no room for Patrick Tuipulotu. We discuss what is missing in the All Blacks team and how they’re prepared to run the Boks off their feet. We debate Tupou Va’ai’s selection at six and why Luke Jacobsen and Paul de Villiers will be one of the key battles. Finally, Kooks informs us of the possibility of extra time in the final test in Baltimore as we make our predictions for the Ellis Park test.

We welcome Jamie Wall back and talk about the All Blacks and how they have been over the last two games against the Stormers and Sharks plus what we can expect.Kooks and Shaun share a good few laughs with Jamie Wall talking about rugby, the rivalry, where the All Blacks are sitting and how many double brandy and coke's are too many.We look into team selection, talk about the All Black lock stocks and how this set up differs from previous years plus pick a bolter Rennie selection ahead of the opening test.Finally, Jamie expands on why the NZRU selection rulings work, reiterates that the South African are missed in Super Rugby for reason other than pure South African muscle.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Lekker Rugby Pod’s Harry Jones to break down the weekend’s rugby action. We start with South Africa’s hard fought victory in Buenos Aires again Argentina. We discuss why this was the wake up call the Springboks needed before the All Blacks series, the impressive bench performances from the likes of Zach Porthen and Ben-Jason Dixon and some brilliant games from Santi Carreras and Pablo Matera. We also discuss the possible implications of an injury to Siya Kolisi. We then look at New Zealand starting the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour off with a win against Stormers. The Stormers impressed with a performance with a lot of heart and the All Blacks will be worried with about the flaws shown with the set piece, their discipline and the aerial game. We discuss Deon Fourie’s call up to the Springbok squad. Finally we finish with Australia’s victory over Japan and why there are some worries for Les Kiss.

Shaun and Thala preview South Africa's test match against Argentina in Buenos Aries and the start of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with New Zealand facing the Stormers.The Springboks welcome back some superstars in Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha. We discuss why this could be a big game for Canan Moodie and Aphelele Fassi and whether Ben-Jason Dixon is locked into the Boks best 23.The Stormers have selected a strong team to face the All Blacks, with the likes of Evan Roos, Ntutukho Mchunu and Neethling Fouche and some recent Baby Bok graduates in Imad Khan, Yaqeen Ahmed and Wandile Mlaba. They face a largely second string All Blacks team, but with a glut of players that could also play themselves into the Ellis Park test match team. We discuss why the Stormers staying in the game for a half would be a massive achievement.Finally, we look at other news items such as Thomas Ramos leaving Toulouse at the end of next season for Racing, Japan about to host Australia, and we discuss Tomas Albornoz's 4 match ban for his conduct after the Argentina and England game.Shaun and Thala preview South Africa's test match against Argentina in Buenos Aries and the start of Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour with New Zealand facing the Stormers.The Springboks welcome back some superstars in Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha. We discuss why this could be a big game for Canan Moodie and Aphelele Fassi and whether Ben-Jason Dixon is locked into the Boks best 23.The Stormers have selected a strong team to face the All Blacks, with the likes of Evan Roos, Ntutukho Mchunu and Neethling Fouche and some recent Baby Bok graduates in Imad Khan, Yaqeen Ahmed and Wandile Mlaba. They face a largely second string All Blacks team, but with a glut of players that could also play themselves into the Ellis Park test match team. We discuss why the Stormers staying in the game for a half would be a massive achievement.Finally, we look at other news items such as Thomas Ramos leaving Toulouse at the end of next season for Racing, Japan about to host Australia, and we discuss Tomas Albornoz's 4 match ban for his conduct after the Argentina and England game.

Kooks and Thala break down the All Blacks squad selected for the upcoming Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour. We look at the additions to the Nations Championship squad and we break down the selection questions and battles for Dave Rennie. Will Tupou Va’ai start at 6? Is there a battle between Anton Lienert-Brown and Rieko Ioane for player 23? And why does New Zealand refuse to select Richie Mo’unga still? We debate whether this tour might be good for the All Blacks long term; why the first test in Ellis Park; and why Cam Roigard and Malcolm Marx better get ready to play 320 minutes of test rugby. We also look at which Springboks we expect to play the Argentina test, we welcome Les Kiss into the Wallabies job, we look at the young squad Argentina has picked and we welcome Ma’a Nonu as the Sharks newest signing.

Shaun and Thala are joined by Charlie Morgan to review week 3 of the Nations Championship. First Shaun and Thala look back on the Springboks' 43-0 victory against Wales. We discuss an impressive debut by Carlu Sadie, the impact of Paul de Villiers and Jaco Williams' combination with Jesse Kriel. Shaun and Thala then debate what their Springbok 23 would be for Rugby's Greatest Rivalry tour - who starts between Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu or Manie Libbok? Would Ethan Hooker start in our team? Would we go 5-3, 6-2 or 7-1? Shaun and I then discuss way too early Rugby World Cup 2027 squad hot takes involving Cobus Wiese and Kurt-Lee Arendse. Charlie Morgan then joins us to discuss the wild Argentina v England game. Charlie discusses what England have learned from this year, the discipline issues that England has as they had 4 yellow cards in this game and the impressive performance of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso. We then debate the non-try from Bautista Delguy and how Angus Gardner handled a very contentious game. We then break down the rest of the weekend's games, including the All Blacks looking impressive in beating Ireland, the Baby Boks grinding out a win against France in the Junior World Championship, Fiji putting in a respectable performance against Scotland, Hong Kong China beating Uruguay and we discuss if Les Kiss has been handed an access card by Rugby Australia yet. 00:00:00 Start 00:00:45 Springbok Chat 00:04:38 Vusi Moyo, Ruben van Heerden, Carlu Sadie and Jaco Williams 00:08:10 Herschel Jantjies 00:11:23 Paul de Villiers excellence 00:16:15 Wales and their poor game plan 00:21:29 Our Bok 23 for Greatest Rivalry 00:43:53 Shaun's hot Springbok takes ahead of RWC2027 00:50:50 BabyBoks, Nations Cup and Nations Championship results 00:56:02 Los Pumas v England 01:15:57 All Blacks v Ireland 01:38:52 Les Kiss 01:41:26 Charlie Morgan joins and discusses England and why he is optimistic

Kooks, Shaun and Thala review Week 2 of the Nations Championship, which included the Springboks beating Scotland in a try-fest. We discuss which of the second string Springboks impressed, including Paul de Villiers, Ethan Hooker and Zachary Porthen, why the defensive lapses are worrying but are not all on Ntutukho Mchunu and the ups and downs of the Handré Pollard performance. While Scotland’s attack impressed and Sione Tuipulotu, Scott Cummings and Ben White were fantastic, we discuss why Gregor Townsend yet again failed to use his bench proactively and how Scotland failed to capitalise in yet another big game. We discuss the other Nations Championship games. We wonder where Australia is going as Les Kiss sits in the stand and watches France steamroll Australia in the second half. Shaun discusses why French coaches have chosen to ‘settle down’ with Theo Attissogbe. We debate whether Will Jordan is the best right winger the All Blacks have ever had, why Fiji need to repent for allowing a Henry Pollock hat trick, Eddie Jones’ rant on Japan playing a home game against Ireland in Australia, whether Argentina can build on this win against Wales (spoiler: no), the Springbok Women’s loss to the USA and the epic draw between Uruguay and Romania in the Nations Cup

Shaun and Thala review the weekend of Nations Championship and Nations Cup games which saw a lot of entertaining rugby and tries. We start with the Springboks thrashing England on the back of impressive games from Damien Willemse, Jasper Wiese and Paul de Villiers. The Boks adjusted to the late withdrawals of Kolisi and Etzebeth, but we are left with questions about what Steve Borthwick is doing as England loses their 5th game in a row. We also break down a much changed side for the next game against Scotland. We then review the other Nations Championship games, which include thrilling try fests between New Zealand and France and between Australia and Ireland as the likes of Ardie Savea and Hugo Keenan impress. Japan and Wales get surprise victories against Italy and Fiji respectively. In the Nations Cup we have impressive wins for Georgia, an honorable loss for Zimbabwe against Tonga and a high scoring draw between Canada and Spain. Finally the Springbok Women make a statement as they beat the United States after leading 34-0 as they start their climb up the world rankings.

Kooks and Shaun shake off the FIFA World Cup blues after Bafana Bafana's exit and look ahead to the opening Nations Championship clash against England after Rassie Erasmus names his match day squad early. We unpack the side, look at the strength's and weaknesses and look ahead to the England threats and how they will approach the game. We then take a deep dive into the tournament as a whole and try and predict where the teams will finish on the North and South side plus figure out what the Wallabies and the All Blacks will bring

Shaun and Thala react to the first Springbok teams announced for the year in preparation for the Springboks clash against the Barbarians and the South Africa A curtain raiser against Zimbabwe. The big surprise is Quan Horn starting at flyhalf and we discuss why he was selected there and the opportunity he has to establish himself as a utility player. We see Riley Norton and Vusi Moyo getting opportunities with the Springbok side. We discuss why Carlu Sadie has a big opportunity on Saturday and whether Andre-Hugo Venter or JJ Kotze can take advantage of the lack of depth at hooker. In the South Africa A side, it’s a ton of Baby Boks in the team and we discuss why Zekhethelo Siyaya might be the most impressive, why Hashim Pead or Vincent Tshituka have opportunities to play themselves into the main squad and how much Markus Müller can learn playing next to Lukhanyo Am. Join us as we discuss why Dave Wessels has the toughest job in the world, whether Kevin Foote will be waiting with a bus to take his Baby Boks straight to the airport and a little bit about Gloucester Hartpury being shocked in the PWR semifina

Shaun and Thala unpack the Prem Rugby Semi Final action as Leicester try valiantly to beat a Henry Pollock lead Saints side that mean business. We look at who performed and what more Leicester needed to do. We unpack the Bath loss as Shaun asks the question around why the Bath forward pack off the bench is less impactful than last season, we look at the Santiago Carreras performance and why there is unfair criticism on the Bath pivot. We touch on the Top 14 and Super Rugby knock out games a and make predictions for this weekend

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.