Two Cents gets Distracted - A Rugby Podcast

A weekend of pumpings. Leinster pumped the Bulls in Ireland to claim the URC title. Our friends the Hurricanes looked incredible and gale-forced their way to a totally, utterly, humiliating pumping of the Chiefs in a frankly silly 60–50 loss. And in what is usually a bit of a laugh, the Barbarians taking on South Africa in the Republic looked slightly less like a laugh this time, as the Baa-Baas a...

A weekend of pumpings. Leinster pumped the Bulls in Ireland to claim the URC title. Our friends the Hurricanes looked incredible and gale-forced their way to a totally, utterly, humiliating pumping of the Chiefs in a frankly silly 60–50 loss. And in what is usually a bit of a laugh, the Barbarians taking on South Africa in the Republic looked slightly less like a laugh this time, as the Baa-Baas a...

Two Cents Gets Distracted is back for Super Rugby semifinal weekend — a weekend where we were promised tension, drama, heartbreak, and possibly a couple of classic playoff arm-wrestles. Instead, we got two absolute pumpings. First up, the Crusaders — the playoff specialists, the heartbreak merchants, the team who have ruined so many perfectly good weekends for so many perfectly decent rugby fans —...

.There was also a heap of playoff rugby across the URC and Super Rugby, although if we’re being brutally honest, a lot of the games were a bit one-sided and a touch meh. Plenty of lovely tries, great skills, and individual moments of brilliance, but not a huge amount of jeopardy. The URC probably delivered the better drama. Leinster were ultimately too good for the Stormers, but the Stormers made...

This week’s episode comes with a small technical disclaimer: we absolutely butchered the video file, so due to corrupted footage, this one is mostly audio-only with a few tiny video scraps sprinkled in. Apologies — although, to be fair, we’ve never looked better. But fear not, because the rugby chat survives. After the usual world-class nonsense, we dive into the URC, where the semi-finalists are...

Two Cents Gets Distracted returns for another week of rugby nonsense, overreactions, and the occasional decent point. This week: Leinster do what Leinster do best — rock up with what is basically a full international side (plus newly signed 88-test All Black Rico Ioane) and somehow still get absolutely folded in a big knockout game. Bordeaux go back-to-back in the Champions Cup and, sadly for the...

Audio warning from the lads this week: the first 10 minutes are a bit cooked. We had some mic issues, so poor old Mark is a little quiet while we ramble about books, TV shows, random nonsense and even break into a strange little song at one point. It’s still listenable, but if you’re not interested in hearing two idiots talk absolute rubbish before the rugby starts, you can safely skip ahead witho...

Blockbuster semi-final weekend in the European Rugby Champions Cup , and things got spicy . Leinster Rugby nearly pulled off an all-time choke job but somehow held on in a proper squeaky-bum finish—thanks in no small part to the unlikely Irish saviour Rieko Ioane , who shut the gate on a last-gasp attack that would’ve sent Dublin into meltdown. Over in the other semi, Union Bordeaux Bègles got the...

Super Round heads to the brand-new Te Kaha Stadium in Christchurch… and what a way to christen it. A full weekend of footy, packed stands, cracking atmosphere, and a proper festival feel — the kind of rugby showcase Super Rugby dreams about. The stadium? Unreal. The crowds? Even better. The results? Well… depends which side of the Tasman you’re sitting on. The Kiwi teams absolutely ran the table....

We’re back… and it’s a weird one. After a month off while Tony went and did the whole “get married and eat his bodyweight in Thailand” thing, Two Cents Gets Distracted returns — slightly heavier, slightly rustier, and walking straight into some genuinely grim news. This week, we unpack the potential demise of Moana Pasifika. What does it mean for Pacific rugby — a region that has given the game so...

This week on Two Cents Get Distracted, the biggest story in world rugby… is that Tony’s getting married. That’s right — the pre-wedding special is here, and we spend a fair chunk of time talking about love, life, and how on earth Tony convinced Lydia this was a good idea. Eventually — and we mean eventually — we stumble our way into some rugby after sampling some deeply questionable smoothie beers...

Fresh (barely) off Tony’s stag do on Saturday night, the rugby gods showed absolutely zero mercy… delivering one of the most chaotic, dramatic, and all-time great Six Nations finales we’ve ever witnessed. Running on fumes and questionable life choices, Tony and Mark try to make sense of a weekend that had everything . Wales finally get their moment—after weeks of showing promise without reward, th...

Italy made history, beating England for the first time ever on their 33rd attempt. Can they rebuild before facing the French next week? We’re not so sure. Meanwhile, Scotland pulled off a massive upset over France, denying the French a Grand Slam and blowing the Six Nations wide open heading into the final weekend. Now the title is still up for grabs, with Ireland and France both in the hunt in wh...

No Six Nations. No international drama. Just pure, unfiltered Super Rugby… and chaos. With Europe taking the week off, all eyes turned south — and unfortunately for us (and especially for Mark), Australia decided to wake up and choose violence. The Blues found yet another soul-crushing way to lose, going down in the 81st minute in overtime. Yes, the 81st. Yes, Mark is still processing. No, he is n...

It was a weekend of our favourite sporting delicacy: beautiful, chaotic upsets and we are absolutely feasting. Ireland didn’t just beat England… they systematically dismantled them, with Jamison Gibson-Park running the show like a man who had the English defence on puppet strings. Every counter looked dangerous, every breakdown felt Irish, and England had absolutely no answers. Down south, the rug...

This week on Two Cents Gets Distracted , Scotland did the most Scottish thing imaginable. Lose to Italy… then immediately turn around and snap England’s 12-game winning streak. Yes, the Scots beat the English. The rugby world rejoiced. Bagpipes were heard from space. We are, frankly, delighted. Meanwhile, Wales have somehow discovered new geological layers of rock bottom. France treated them like...

This week the Six Nations roared and rusted to life. We kick things off with France coming out hotter than a sizzling baguette at Stade de France, leaving Ireland flatter than day-old Guinness. Then, we revel in Italy’s glorious ambush of Scotland,proving once again that it’s tough being Scottish. And, if you thought Wales couldn’t dig deeper, think again: their performance was a full-on Fawlty To...

Fresh off our summer break, this first episode of the year drops us straight back into the deep end as we’re still reeling from the bombshell that Razor has been fired. The coaching carousel is already spinning: is Jamie Joseph next in line? ? Or are we about to be introduced to a whole new cast of weird and wonderful rugby powerbrokers? We also turn our attention north, with the Six Nations kicki...

The rugby world just got flipped upside down in the middle of summer. Scott “Razor” Robertson is out as All Blacks coach after a brutal internal review and reports suggest the players themselves led the charge. From Ardie Savea’s alleged refusal to return under Razor, to questions about leadership, culture, and where New Zealand rugby goes next, Two Cents Gets Distracted drops an out-of-season eme...

It’s the final episode of the year, and you know we’re not signing off without our annual dose of chaos. Welcome to the most prestigious, least credible, and proudly unhinged rugby awards show in existence: The 2CGDS. Tony and Mark return to hand out a fresh selection of awards nobody asked for, celebrate the best and worst moments of the rugby year. But this year’s finale also carries a weight as...

South Africa and Ireland finally squared off in Dublin… and instead of the blockbuster we were promised, we got a full-blown scrum-a-thon of Biblical proportions. The Bok scrum was so dominant it bordered on performance art, Ireland simply ceased to exist in certain dimensions of reality. Add a stack of cards and the whole thing descended into glorious, farcical chaos. (And no, we’re absolutely no...

This week on Two Cents Gets Distracted, the All Blacks served up a bowl of crap to their fans as England handed us a brutal loss, crushing our hopes, rattling the fanbase, and putting Razor and his coaching staff squarely under the blowtorch. And yes, we rant about it. At length. With feeling. Meanwhile, the Boks battled past a fired-up Italian outfit despite copping a red card that may go down as...

This week, the All Blacks (dressed in white) and down to three yellow cards — somehow held off a charging Scotland to keep their undefeated record alive. The Boks ate a full red card and still produced the performance of the weekend, thumping a fired-up France at home. Australia stumbled their way into a famous loss to Italy, and England edged a brilliant-but-gassed Fiji side. We chat all that and...

At Soldier Field, the All Blacks and Ireland combined for what could generously be described as a slow-motion car crash — a stop–start slog dominated by a pedantic referee, an eye-rolling red card, and enough resets to make you question your life choices. It was as attractive as… well, something deeply unattractive. Somehow, the All Blacks eventually clawed their way out of the mud and Ireland’s g...

After a wee hiatus, we're back in time for International Rugby. We look ahead to the Autumn Internationals … or the Spring Internationals … depending on which hemisphere your face is currently in. Massive clashes are brewing, and we’re here to talk an Olympic-sized pile of rugby rubbish. Expect rugby chat, tangents, and at least one moment where we forget what game we were even talking about. Grab...