RugbyBits

Kooks takes the helm as we unpack the weekends action. We start off as Kooks tells us about his week in Paris and how the forwards things, we're joined by Thala on his train back home from France via Brussels and Shaun rants about toxic fans. We start off with the incredible game between the Springboks and France and laugh off the notion that France 'weren't ready'. We highlight th...

Shaun and Thala review the first weekend of November test matches, which include a big Springbok win over Japan in Wembley. We rave about the performances of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe. We debate how the Boks replace Ox Nche who is out for the rest of the November tour and how Thomas du Toit could be an important player for the Springboks next clash against Franc...

Kooks and Thala try to divide the 16 URC teams into four tiers to determine who are the contenders from the pretenders. We debate whether the Stormers are championship contenders after their unbeaten start and nilling the Scarlets. Does Johan Ackerman have cause for concern about the Bulls defence? How to even analyze the unpredictable Sharks and how much cause for concern should Lions fans have....

Shaun and Thala chat about the final round of the Rugby Championship, which the Springboks won after their victory over Argentina in Twickenham. We conduct a team by team review by giving each team a rating out of 10, discussing who their MVP and breakthrough players were and what they still have to work on. Listen as we discuss why Jasper Wiese might be the Bok MVP, the impacts made by Ethan Hook...

Shaun and Thala review the weekend's rugby and look forward to the last round of the Rugby Championship. We start by discussing the record-breaking performance of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu against Argentina that earned comparisons to Dan Carter. We discuss how the Springboks have become a more balanced side, the chaotic test in Durban and what to look forward to in the clash in Twickenham this...

Kooks and Thala preview a gigantic weekend of rugby, including the 2025 Rugby World Cup final, Round 5 of the Rugby Championship, Bledisloe Cup and the start of the United Rugby Championship. We start with the World Cup final by discussing the impressive performance by Canada in knocking out the defending champions, New Zealand and England sweating it out against France. We debate whether England...

Shaun and Thala review the weekend’s rugby, which saw South Africa men inflict a record defeat on New Zealand and the South African women be competitive against the world champion Black Ferns in their World Cup quarterfinal. We start in Wellington where the Springboks ran riot in the last 20 minutes to run in 6 tries against the All Blacks. Jasper Wiese impressed in his comeback from suspension an...

Shaun and Thala run through the teams and preview a massive weekend in South African rugby with the Springbok men facing the All Blacks and the Springbok Women facing the Black Ferns in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. We run through the team and discuss the new lock pairing, how to fix the lineout issues, what we excited about and what we are scared about with the new backline, how Damien Willem...

ooks and Thala review Round 2 of the Rugby Championship and the last round of group games from the women's Rugby World Cup. We start in Eden Park where the All Blacks extended the streak after an impressive performance on Ardie Savea's 100th test. Kooks and Thala debate on what is currently ailing the Boks, including lineout and defensive issues, the surprising team picked for the upcoming...

ooks, Shaun and Thala preview the Rugby Championship Round 3 matches, focusing on South Africa attempting to break the Eden Park curse against New Zealand. We have more questions than answers about the Springbok team selected as we debate on why a 5-3 bench was selected, what Willie le Roux brings to the team, how unlucky Jean-Luc du Preez is and whether the Boks will go back to their more traditi...

We discuss the significance of this victory and the road the Springbok women have taken over the last few years, the influence of Swys de Bruin on the team's attack, the Player of the Match performance from Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Nadine Roos' versatile role, the powerful carrying from Aseza Hele and Chumisa Qawe and the leadership of Babalwa Latsha. While the Boks had some issues closi...

Kooks, Shaun and Thala break down Week 2 of the Rugby Championship and the first weekend of the women’s Rugby World Cup. We go long on the Springbok men’s 30-22 victory over Australia, a win that left us with more questions than answers. While Handré Pollard brought his trustworthy kicking and Cheslin Kolbe was excellent in the air - the boys debate what should the team’s approach be going forward...

Kooks and Thala review week 1 of the Rugby Championship where the Wallabies got their first victory in Ellis Park in 62 years and the All Blacks staved off a Puma comeback in Cordoba. We first marvel at the Wallabies comeback from 22-0 down to score 38 unanswered points. We discuss how Joe Schmidt is improving this side, the great performances from Fraser McReight and Max Jorgensen, and how the se...

Kooks, Shaun and Thala look back on the weekend’s rugby, including the British and Irish Lions winning the series against Australia at the MCG. We debate the controversial no-call for the Jac Morgan and Carlo Tizzano incident and the reaction from Australia. We discuss how the Lions came back from 18 points down, the improvements in the Wallabies attack thanks to Rob Valetini and Will Skelton, but...

Shaun and Thala review the weekend's test matches, which include South Africa putting 50 on Georgia and ending their July matches unbeaten. We first start with the British and Irish Lions victory over Australia in the first test. We debate whether the Wallabies were undercooked and what changes they need to make to save the series and rave about the performances of Tom Curry and Finn Russell for t...

Sharky, Kooks and Thala (briefly) with one of the best episodes yet as Kooks firmly moves away from Welsh and Italian hate and dumps his rant squarely on anything related to the Los Pumas. We start the show by looking at the many talking points from the South African win as the Springboks and the load South African Italian cook. We talk about Jasper Wiese, Rassie Erasmus, Canan Moodie and the forw...

Sharky, Kooks and Thala (briefly) with one of the best episodes yet as Kooks firmly moves away from Welsh and Italian hate and dumps his rant squarely on anything related to the Los Pumas. We start the show by looking at the many talking points from the South African win as the Springboks and the load South African Italian cook. We talk about Jasper Wiese, Rassie Erasmus, Canan Moodie and the forw...

Shaun and Thala preview the second weekend of the July test window. We first start with the much-changed Springboks facing Italy. We look back at Willie le Roux's career as he gets his 100th test cap, we discuss which Springboks we looking forward to seeing and how much of a chance does Italy have. We catch up with the British and Irish Lions and the addition of Jamie Osborne into the squad. W...

Shaun and Thala preview the second weekend of the July test window. We first start with the much-changed Springboks facing Italy. We look back at Willie le Roux's career as he gets his 100th test cap, we discuss which Springboks we looking forward to seeing and how much of a chance does Italy have. We catch up with the British and Irish Lions and the addition of Jamie Osborne into the squad. W...

Kooks and Shaun go through the weekends action with a look at what happened to the Bomb Squad, why the Springboks were flat and how much of a concern it is. Kooks wants Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi and Aphelele Fassi back for the second test and Shaun thinks we should go 5/3 on the bench to give more of the backs a chance to get game time. We look at New Zealand and how France out muscled them, w...

Kooks and Shaun go through the weekends action with a look at what happened to the Bomb Squad, why the Springboks were flat and how much of a concern it is. Kooks wants Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi and Aphelele Fassi back for the second test and Shaun thinks we should go 5/3 on the bench to give more of the backs a chance to get game time. We look at New Zealand and how France out muscled them, w...

Shaun, Kooks and Thala preview the weekend’s test rugby, but first discuss the breaking news of Owen Farrell replacing Elliott Daly in the British and Irish Lions team. The boys disagree on whether this is the right call and what Farrell could bring to the Lions squad, whether he plays in the tests and how annoying Farrell and Sexton barking at you would be. We also discuss where the Lions are aft...

Kooks, Shaun and Thala look back through the weekend’s rugby, including South Africa destroying the Barbarians 54-7 in Cape Town. We start with what Rassie and the Springboks learned from their victory over the Barbarians. We revel in the performances of Lood de Jager, Cheslin Kolbe and Vincent Tshituka and Kooks talks about his new favourite player, Josh Jacomb. We then discuss the British and Ir...

Kooks, Shaun and Thala preview the first Springbok match of the year against the Barbarians. We talk about the four debutants and the props getting extra training in Daan Human’s farm. We discuss which players are primed to take their opportunities to step into the first team. We also look at an exciting BaaBaas team, whether Peter O’Mahony and Sam Cane have buried the hatchet and how will the Cap...

Kooks, Shaun and Thala look back on the URC and Premiership finals weekend where Leinster and Bath became league champions. We debate why the Bulls didn’t pitch up at Croke Park, how Leinster outplayed them, Jacques Nienaber’s brilliant defence and why the Clontarf Bulls are our new favourite Bulls story. Kooks then tells us about his trip to London, which included going to Twickenham for the Prem...