The Lekker Rugby Pod!

Is the Nations Championship really just “the RGR by another means”?The Springboks scored 66 points against Italy in Turin. The All Blacks beat Scotland 43-21 at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Edinburgh. Harry Jones argues one of those wins told us more than the other. He backs it up with a stat that has only shown up five times in the All Blacks’ last 200 Tests. MW wants to know why that keeps him up at night, and what it means that Tony Brown is heading to New Zealand.In this episode:Why the Nations Championship turns into a points race between the Boks and All BlacksSacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, that 50-22 and his criticsA stymied Bok scrum in Turin, Thomas du Toit’s best position and the Eben Etzebeth factorFrance’s shortage of fly-halves, Jake White’s Fiji and the Ireland rivalryHarry also wishes MW a happy birthday, and they get on to Asterix and Obelix.

Why Salmaan Moerat? Of all the calls in the Springbok team to face Italy, it’s the one everyone is arguing about.Harry Jones runs Rassie Erasmus’s selection through his five Ps framework: pace, power, precision, poise and partnership. Pace and power have never been the question. The real test sits in the last three, where the Boks came unstuck in Perth, and Harry’s election-board breakdown shows where this side leans on proven combinations and where it still has work to do.In this episode:- The five Ps breakdown of the Springbok team to face Italy- Why Moerat got the nod ahead of Franco Mostert and the in-form locks back home- Whether the Bulls’ style is costing their players Bok selection- The case for Jacques Nienaber returning to run the Bok defenceMW and Harry also get into the brakefoot debate at scrum time and what the Nations Championship means for bonus points and points difference.

Was Leinster’s scrum-after-scrum against Munster a rehearsal for the Springboks?Owen Murphy is a South African living in Dublin. He is now Megafoon’s Irish correspondent, accredited by the IRFU and Leinster. He joins MW Welman and Harry Jones straight after his first Leinster v Munster from the Aviva press box. In that match he watched Leinster turn down other options to scrum again and again, and afterwards he put the question to Leo Cullen in his first press conference.Harry brings this season’s URC scrum numbers and remembers the look on Caelan Doris’s face after last year’s Test in Dublin. The three also dig into Ireland’s provincial rivalries, its World Cup nerves, and what the Springboks will need to bring on 21 November.In this episode:- Leinster’s scrum choices against Munster and what they could signal for Ireland- Owen’s first day in the press box and his question to Leo Cullen- How the Leinster-Munster rivalry compares with the old Currie Cup days- The Megafoon Meet and Greet in Dublin on Test day

Would you back this group to win a World Cup?Rassie Erasmus caught us off guard with a midweek Springbok squad announcement, so the Lekker Rugby Pod tore up the schedule. Harry Jones joins MW Welman for a quick-fire reaction to the squad for the November Nations Championship tests. They look at what it reveals about the Springboks’ thinking a year out from the World Cup.Harry works through the unlucky names left at home and the senior players who now have something to prove. He also looks at the young players being thrown into test rugby to accelerate their experience. Then he floats a theory about bonus points, points difference and the All Blacks that could explain why this squad is so loaded with pace and playmakers.In this episode:- Who misses out, and who is on notice- The work-ons for Moerat, Mostert and Fassi- The bolters, and why only test rugby can test them- The engine room question ahead of Ireland and France

How can a win feel worse than a loss?The Bulls watched Ulster claw their way back on a scorching afternoon at Loftus. The Stormers put a big score on the Scarlets and still walked off with more questions than answers. Both results went down as wins on the log, and neither felt like one.MW Welman and Harry Jones look at what those two performances say about the Bulls and Stormers when the opposition stops being mid-table and starts being Leinster, Glasgow or Munster. MW reports from the Loftus press room, where his questions got Johan Ackermann talking more freely than usual. Harry brings the numbers, including strength of schedule and the latest Harry Index.In this episode:- Johan Ackermann opens up at the Loftus press conference- How tough have the Bulls’ and Stormers’ opponents really been?- Turnovers, missed tackles and the case for the Bulls kicking more- The Stormers’ hooker crisis, plus the good, the bad and the ugly for both teamsIs either team ready to go to Dublin and do what Northampton once did?