8/9 Rugby

New Zealand rugby writer and fellow Substacker Jamie Wall joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene this week, with the curiosities of a short round over a long weekend quickly fading with the arrival of some stonking contests this weekend. If Round 8 felt a bit one-sided, Round 9 will be anything but, with at least three games looming as genuine coin-flip contests. Are the Drua still so invincible...

Irish rugby writer and podcaster Caolán Scully joined Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, to dig deep into a big first weekend of Champions Cup knockout stages. The eight Round of 16 games saw some blowouts and high-scoring games as it often does, but throughout the weekend there were some fantastic contests and results that probably don’t do what we saw on the field justice. And importantly, it’s...

The great NZ commentator Tony Johnson joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene this week, for a timely perspective from over the ditch on Super Rugby Pacific and the view on the Australian teams in 2026. With a short round this Easter long weekend – which definitely does feel like a missed opportunity – there’s a couple of really interesting Round 8 games of importance for a few teams and for a fe...

Riaan Louw, friend of the pod and star of the Rugby Update on YouTube is back with Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, because it’s time to get excited about the Champions Cup again. With the Round of 16 this weekend, and the Quarter Finals to follow next weekend, the Champions Cup has finally reached the point where many a rugby pundit and fan believe it should just start. 16 Teams, straight knoc...

Rugby writer, analyst and YouTuber John Ferguson joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene this week, to have a good think about what we’ve seen in Super Rugby Pacific over the first six weeks of the competition. And with a look ahead at what’s coming for a few teams as well. The Hurricanes face all the other current top six teams over the next six week, for example. The Chiefs and Waratahs have ha...

Super Rugby Pacific CEO Jack Mesley joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene, for a look under the hood of the premiere southern hemisphere competition and examine the broader state of the game. What’s made Super Rugby great this season has been the closeness, the unpredictability, the fact that top teams have all lost to teams below then on the table. But there’s always more than can be done, the...

Rugby YouTube star and wonderful content creator Huw Griffin is back with Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, to wrap up what has been universally decreed as the best Six Nations tournament ever. Ultimately, France claimed a successive title by beating England in the final game, but oh the drama to get there! And the subplots from this year’s tournament are endless: England’s worst ever Six Nation...

Ben Smith from The West Australian newspaper joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene, to delve into the Western Force’s start to Super Rugby Pacific and take a look at a tough road ahead. And of course, to cover off on the biggest news in Australian rugby this week, the Force and Rugby Australia signing NRL star Zac Lomax for this year and next, and with immediate effect. The obvious questions ar...

Former co-host Harry Jones re-joins Brett McKay on the new 8/9 Rugby this week, with the rugby world still in shock from events of the penultimate weekend of this year’s Six Nations tournament. Scotland the Brave trounced many a Frenchman at Murrayfield. The rise of Italy spared no Englishman in Rome. Ireland’s resurgence continued in Dublin. And it all sets up the most wonderful of Super Saturday...

Jonathan Drennan from the Sydney Morning Herald joins Brett McKay on the AUS Rugby scene, to celebrate another great round of Super Rugby Pacific for the Australian sides, and ponder how we can possibly keep this run going. The ACT Brumbies are atop the standings with three straight wins, but should be playing in front of much bigger crowds in Canberra. The NSW Waratahs are also unbeaten, but have...

Scottish commentator Jamie Lyall joins Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, as the rugby world readies itself for the penultimate round of this year’s Six Nations tournament. And don’t Scotland have an opportunity this weekend? One win behind France in the standings, they host Les Bleus at Murrayfield on Saturday in a match that has significant implications for both sides and the tournament itself....

TV’s Michael Atkinson, from Stan Sport and the Nine Network joins Brett McKay on our brand new offering, the AUS Rugby scene, for a look back on another round of Super Rugby Pacific dominated by the form of the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies. Somethings are hard to keep a lid on, right? The Brumbies just put 50 on the Crusaders in Christchurch, and the Waratahs won well over Drua despite leaving a...

Riaan Louw joins Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, for a look back on the first three rounds of what has already been an extraordinary Six Nations tournament. Ireland, a team running on old legs and in desperate need of refresh two weeks ago are suddenly giant killers (who might still need a refresh), and England, a team who just two weeks ago were celebrating 12 straight wins, now look like the...

Novelist and weekly author of The Wrap Geoff Parkes joins Brett McKay for a look back at first round of Super Rugby Pacific and all the surprises that came with it, on the latest episode of a brand new offering from 8/9 Rugby: the AUS Rugby scene. And it wasn’t without blemish, with the powers that be declaring on Monday morning a try should not have been awarded that was. In Round 2 this weekend,...

Pat McCarry joins Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, to take a look at the fallout from last weekend’s Six Nations results and another Calcutta Cup victory for Scotland, as well as a sneak peek to what’s coming for Round 3 this weekend. Seemingly, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has sorted his immediate future once again just by beating England. Ireland overcame a dogged and certainly no longer th...

Sean Maloney from Stan Sport joins Brett McKay to finalise preparations for the first round of Super Rugby Pacific which starts this weekend, on the latest episode of a brand new offering from 8/9 Rugby: the AUS Rugby scene. And they have declared that surely 2026 has to be the year an Australian team goes all the way through to the Super Rugby Final! ‘A long time between drinks’ only tells part o...

Huw Griffin joins Brett McKay on 8/9 Rugby this week, for a look back at last weekend’s Six Nations results and to ponder the already shifting narratives for Round 2 this weekend. Already, we has to ask if we’re all maybe underestimating Italy? And how do Scotland have so much ball and not make one line break? France were excellent over a jury’s-very-much-still-out Ireland, and undoubtedly, Englan...

Ben Darwin from Gain Line Analytics joins Brett McKay for a Super Rugby Pacific preview, launching the brand new offering from 8/9 Rugby: the AUS Rugby scene. And with pre-season predictions a mug’s game at the best of time, Ben’s ability to dig into and find meaning in the numbers is a great insight. So with Round 1 just over a week away, it’s interesting to look at the squads in terms of experie...

Charlie Morgan joins Brett McKay to get 8/9 Rugby underway for 2026, and what better way to begin another year of Great Rugby Chats than to preview the upcoming Six Nations championship. And after injuries seem to been the story of the build-up, days out from the first match we start wondering about the rise of England, whether France are still in last year’s holding pattern of FRA, and just what...

Brett McKay outlines the evolution of 8/9 Rugby, and what’s in store for 2026. TLDR: the Great Rugby Chats resume this week! The long list of guests will rotate through the co-host chair every week across two programs: the same 8/9 Rugby you know and love with guests from all around the rugby world, and the brand new AUS Rugby scene, focussing primarily on Australian rugby and Super Rugby Pacific...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones come together for one last time on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast, to wrap up more than 300 episodes as a duo over four wonderful years. From their humbles beginnings on The Roar, Brett and Harry formed the 8/9 Combo and went large, catering for rugby fans all over the rugby world, with great discussion and banter with each other and almost a hundred wonderful guests, slic...

After more than 300 episodes together over four brilliant years, Brett McKay & Harry Jones share some news about The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast. But it might not be the end, and we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions as to what comes next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sean Maloney joins Brett McKay and Harry Jones on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast, fresh from the SVNS World Series circuit rolling from Dubai to Cape Town, and ready to wrap up the rugby year for the SANZAAR nations. There’s the Springboks’ disgusting embarrassment of playing depth riches, there’s the All Blacks’ surprising and maybe infuriating conservatism, there’s the Wallabies sending flowers but...

It’s the final Weekend Post-Mortem for The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast, with Brett McKay and Harry Jones running the rule over South Africa’s big win over Wales in Cardiff to wrap up the Autumn Nations and November Tests. In a game played largely for the Welsh Rugby coffers, the Springboks have inflicted a record loss at home on the Welsh, running in eleven tries in none in a completely dominant win....

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8/9 Combo Rugby Podcast by prolific rugby YouTuber Huw Griffin for a review of the Autumn Nations Series and November Tests, where the guys plot whose October expectations are very different to the end of November feelings. And then there’s the World Rugby Team of the Year announced this week, where after having no huge objections to the XV as selected...