8/9 Rugby

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by The Guardian rugby correspondent and surprise new music reviewer (true!) Rob Kitson for a proper review of the first weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, in which New Zealand held out England 24-22 at Twickenham, and Scotland were too good for Fiji, winning 57-17 at Murrayfield. Attention now turns to the first ‘full’ round o...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on a fantastic opening to the Autumn Nations Series where New Zealand have hung on – just – to beat England 24-22 at Twickenham. Did England err in bringing Marcus Smith off? Did New Zealand get away with a win despite a bit of late confusion...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones switch Games of the Week back into international mode for the start of the November Internationals, where the guys set, manage, and temper expectations for the SANZAAR nations, as they work out best and worst case scenarios for South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina from their Northern or Spring Tours, or Autumn Nations Series, or whatever we’re calling thi...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by legendary New Zealand Sky Sport broadcaster and author Tony Johnson to wrap up a thoroughly enjoyable season of NZ’s National Provincial Championship, including the Final decided in OT on Saturday in Wellington, while also looking back and forward at the start of the All Blacks northern tour in Japan and with four Tests to follow in Europe...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, including the NPC Final in New Zealand, and the first of the November internationals a week early, with the All Blacks having a stopover in Japan. And Harry attempts to bring ABBA into the equation… This wee...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones go it alone on The 8-9 Combo this week, delving into a couple of topics they’ve wanted to cover off in a bit of detail: the introduction of new and not-so-new Law Variations into the Autumn Nations Series this November, and the resulting debate that has dominated rugby for weeks leading in, and the arrival and expected impact of high profile league convert and schoolboy...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, before launching into comprehensive and definitive rulings on the best and worst jerseys running around in the Premiership, the URC, and the Top 14 in season 2024/2025. Head to the 8-9 YouTube channel to see...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones get super technical on The 8-9 Combo this week, getting right into the sweet spot of goal-kicking with South African rugby and American football kicking coach and consultant, Wihan van der Riet, founder and professional coach with his Rocketfoot Academy. A former kicker in the Canadian Football League, Wihan has long been a student of legendary NFL kicker Mike Hollis an...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend. This week’s Games of the Week: • URC: Leinster v Munster at Croke Park • Premiership: Leicester v Northampton at Welford Road • Top 14: Bordeaux v Perpignan in Bordeaux • NPC: Quarter Finals across the weeke...

Brett McKay and Harry Jones welcome to The 8-9 Combo the new holder of the record for the Most Test Caps for Australia, James Slipper, for first-hand insight into the Wallabies rebuild under Joe Schmidt, and how the Wallabies themselves have marked their performances through the July Internationals and The Rugby Championship. And now, all eyes will be on the Wallabies as the head north for the Nov...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another special edition of Games of the Week, with the guys take a look back at The Rugby Championship for 2024 and discuss once and for all what we have learned about the four SANZAAR national teams from this tournament, and what it might mean for the November internationals in the northern hemisphere. This week’s Games of the Week: • URC...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Planet Rugby writer and connoisseur of stadium security dominant tackles, Jared Wright, for a full look back on South Africa’s thumping of Argentina to wrap up The Rugby Championship for 2024, and what has really made this Springbok team so dominant on their way to their first southern hemisphere title since 2019. The guys...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on another weird and curious Bledisloe Cup contest in Wellington, where the All Blacks overcame some first half issues to put the Wallabies away 33-13. After their almost comeback in Sydney, this loss in Wellington will have to be one that the...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the final Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, coming after a weekend where the guys survived each other’s close companies, and have emerged out the other side to explore the final weekend of Test rugby in the southern hemisphere for 2024. Plus, it’s a return to the original Games of the Week format,...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by New Zealand Herald Chief Sportswriter Liam Napier for a trans-Tasman deep-dive into the surprisingly tight first Bledisloe Test of the year in Sydney on the weekend just gone, and what is now likely to eventuate in the return bout in Wellington this weekend coming. Whilst Sydney Bledisloe Tests have often been fairly evenl...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on a surprisingly entertaining and tight contest between Australia and New Zealand in the first Bledisloe Cup Test of the year in Sydney. In a classic game of two halves, the Wallabies should now take a lot of confidence to Wellington next wee...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – where this week Harry and Brett are both preparing to make the trip to Sydney for the first Bledisloe Cup Test between the Wallabies and All Blacks. But in a GotW episode a day earlier than normal, we’re left to but speculate on what sort of teams we migh...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by TVNZ presenter, SENZ Breakfast radio star and still the pod’s favourite home baker Scotty ‘Sumo’ Steveson for a proper in-depth look back at all that ills New Zealand Rugby, Rugby Australia, and the game as it stands in both countries heading into the first Bledisloe Cup match of the year. Coming at a time where Rassie Era...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Radio New Zealand sportswriter, author, and new South African travel ambassador Jamie Wall fresh from his tour with the All Blacks for a complete debrief of his two weeks in the Republic. But where a rugby podcast and YouTube video would typically centre around the on-field action, this time around Jamie’s first ever exper...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it too much thought, with this week's fulltime focus is on South Africa’s 18-12 win over New Zealand with Harry still there in Cape Town, and Argentina’s record 67-27 thumping of Australia in Santa Fe. It’s South Africa’s fourth straight win over the All Blacks for the first time since 1949, while...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – where this week Harry has shifted south to Cape Town for the second leg of the Greatest Rugby Rivalry between the Springboks and All Blacks. An intriguing contest awaits, with both sides making changes that hint to potential tweaks of their approach for t...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by former Argentinean centre turned commentator Marcelo Bosch, to recap the Wallabies late win over Los Pumas in horrible conditions in La Plata, which now sets up an enticing return contest in Santa Fe – in much nicer weather – this weekend coming. The return match represents a real contrast, where the game could be both tig...

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones love The Rugby Championship, and what better way to consume the international game than to launch into the Test Match post-mortem before giving it too much thought. This week's fulltime focus is on South Africa’s last-ditch 31-27 win overNew Zealand with Harry still there at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. And head to the 8-9 Combo YouTube channel for an ex...

Brought to you by Chasing the Sun 2 coming soon to RugbyPass TV – head to rugbypass.tv and sign up for FREE, to watch wherever you are in the rugby world! Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the next Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – where this week Harry is in the carpark of Heathrow Airport in London en route to Johannesburg, to...

Brought to you by Chasing the Sun 2 coming soon to RugbyPass TV – head to rugbypass.tv and sign up for FREE, to watch wherever you are in the rugby world! Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by highly regarded Australian-based rugby writer and author Geoff Parkes, to consider the mouthwatering third round of The Rugby Championship this weekend coming. A belting...