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 a special Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – where this week Harry enjoys a quality chat with world-renowned SuperSport commentator Matt Pearce on the Wallabies-Springboks Test in Perth this weekend, before Brett and Harry also take a look at ...
Aug 15, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 51
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 South African rugby YouTube sensation Riaan Louw to launch into discussions around the second week of The Rugby Championship, with return legs of the first games to be played in Perth and Auckland. Riaan and the guys contemplate where the Springboks might look for impr...
Aug 12, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 50
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 record 33-7 win over Australia in Brisbane, and Argentina’s fantastic 38-30 win over New Zealand in Wellington. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/...
Aug 10, 2024•33 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the First Rugby Championship edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – and the first round of the other big ticket annual series in Test rugby is here which means it’s an easy pick for GotWs this week, with two cracking contests to kick off the southern hemisphere’s premier tournament on either side of the Tasman Sea. This week, unsurprisingly, they’ve picked: • Australia v South Africa in Brisbane • New Zealand v Argent...
Aug 08, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 48
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Stuff.co.nz Senior Sportswriter, and SMH rugby columnist Paul Cully to dig deep into the narratives and the four squads as selected for The Rugby Championship, and to try and work out where the Wallabies, Springboks, All Blacks, and Los Pumas are placed heading into the first round of the premiere southern hemisphere international rugby tournament. Paul and the guys dig deep into some really interesting narratives surrou...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Australian and World Rugby Television Match Official Brett Cronan, to help peel back the layers on how the TMO works in professional rugby, and thus help us all learn a thing or two about part of the game we experience every week, but perhaps still don’t fully appreciate. In a revealing chat, Brett walks the guys through the ins and outs of the TMO process, the differences between how TMOs operate in Super Rugby Pacific ...
Jul 29, 2024•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with a special edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week – with The Rugby Championship starting very soon, the guys take a look back at the July Internationals and discuss once and for all what we now know about the four TRC sides, and what we should expect when the Southern Hemisphere’s premier Test Match tournament begins on August 10. Oh, and it’s Conference Finals weekend in Major League Rugby: EAST: New England v Chicago i...
Jul 25, 2024•25 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Director and Producer of brilliant Springboks documentary series, Chasing the Sun, Gareth Whittaker, the man behind the twin series which documented the ‘Boks rise in world rugby and culminating in the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup triumphs. In this episode less about rugby and more about the art of storytelling, Gareth runs the guys through just how much footage was shot and not used, how many fully developed stories di...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones love Test Match Rugby, and what better way to consume the international game than to launch into the post-mortem straight after the final siren. This week, the fulltime focus takes in New Zealand’s 47-5 win over Fiji in San Diego, and Australia’s 40-29 win over Georgia in Sydney. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKh...
Jul 20, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 43
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another international edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys are again joined former Ireland hooker turned commentator and pundit Bernard Jackman – direct from Ireland Olympic team duties - for one last look back at lessons learned from the July Internationals, and the importance of the long list of rugby Internationals featuring the so-called Tier 2 nations this weekend. This week’s International Games ...
Jul 18, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones welcome back onto The 8-9 Combo Senior Rugby Writer for The Telegraph, Charlie Morgan to cast an eye back on the second week of July Internationals in the southern hemisphere, and consider the broader implications of this important week where so-called Tier 2 nations are hosted around the rugby world. With all the two-Test series now done all over the southern hemisphere, the microscope turns to lessons learned by England in New Zealand, by New Zealan...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 41
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones love Test Match Rugby, and what better way to consume the international game than to react to it straight after the final siren. This week, the fulltime focus takes in New Zealand’s bruising 24-17 win over England in Auckland, and Australia’s workmanlike 36-28 win over Wales in Melbourne. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com...
Jul 13, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with another international edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the second weekend of July Internationals in the southern hemisphere, including previews of the big ticket series. This week’s International Games of the Week: • New Zealand v England, Auckland • Australia v Wales, Melbourne • South Africa v Ireland, Durban Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https:...
Jul 11, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones welcome back to The 8-9 Combo Welsh rugby writer and top shelf video analyst Sam Larner to run the rule over the first round of July Internationals in the southern hemisphere, and contemplate the lessons learned and the early kneejerk reactions ahead of the Second Tests this weekend coming. Sam and the guys go through the major series now underway in the southern hemisphere – New Zealand-England, Australia-Wales, South Africa-Ireland, and Argentina-Fr...
Jul 08, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with the first International edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the first chocka-block weekend of Test Match Rugby in the southern hemisphere, including previews of the big ticket series openers, and even bigger jersey collars. This week’s International Games of the Week: • New Zealand v England, Dunedin • Australia v Wales, Sydney • South Africa v Ireland, Pretoria • Argentina v France, Mend...
Jul 04, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Rugby Australia Chair Daniel Herbert for an open and frank discussion that outlines the delicate position the game finds itself in Australia – and how really transformative the next decade can be. Herbert outlines what led RA into the position they are now in the process of recovering from, outlining the reset of strategic direction they’re now implementing, which does include the demise of the Melbourne Rebels, options ...
Jul 01, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Australia’s Major League Rugby record points-scorer and Seattle Seawolves flyhalf/fullback Sam Windsor, to get a true insight into the quality gains in MLR since it was founded in 2017, and how life works for a professional rugby player in the United States. The guys also cover off of two fantastic Finals of Super Rugby Pacific and the United Rugby Championship, won well by the Blues and Glasgow respectively, updates to ...
Jun 24, 2024•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with a bumper edition of their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through plenty of important games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world, including the Finals of Super Rugby Pacific and the United Rugby Championship. This week’s Games of the Week: Super Rugby Pacific FINAL Blues (2) v Chiefs (4) in Auckland URC FINAL Bulls (2) v Glasgow Warriors (4) in Pretoria Top 14 – Semi Finals Toulouse (1) v...
Jun 19, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by now-former Melbourne Rebels, and Wallabies fullback Andrew Kellaway in that small post-Super Rugby Pacific window and before things really step up properly through the international season, with the Wales series now less than three weeks away. In this week’s episode, the boys get a great insight into the Rebels ‘mourning period’ as they go their separate ways post-decision, how the Wallabies pre-squad training has been w...
Jun 17, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through all the crucial finals games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend. It’s finals time in plenty of comps, and this week, they’ve picked: Super Rugby Pacific – Semi Finals Blues (2) v Brumbies (3) in Auckland Hurricanes (1) v Chiefs (4) in Wellington URC – Semi Finals Bulls (2) v Leinster (3) in Pretoria Munster (1) v Glasgow Warrior...
Jun 12, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by muckraking New Zealand sportswriter, author, and social media stirrer Jamie Wall, to get into where the four Super Rugby Pacific Quarter Finals were won and lost this weekend just gone. From there, it’s a matter of curious Semi-final scheduling that kind of makes sense (kind of), and a matter of who of the Brumbies and Chiefs can a pull a surprise over the Blues and Hurricanes. Could it be both? Australian rugby fans hop...
Jun 10, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 31
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through plenty of important games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend. It’s finals time in plenty of comps, and this week, they’ve picked: Super Rugby Pacific – Quarter Finals Chiefs (4) v Reds (5) in Hamilton Hurricanes (1) v Rebels (8) in Wellington Blues (2) v Drua (7) in Auckland Brumbies (3) v Highlanders (6) in Canberra Premiership...
Jun 06, 2024•22 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok and Challenge Cup-winning Shark prop, and worldwide cake aficionado Ox Nche for another great rugby chat as we head to the pointy end of competitions around the world. Ox takes the guys on a ride through the Sharks’ Challenge Cup triumph over Gloucester, about how deeply he studies opposition front rows and what sort of scrummaging patterns he studies, through all his favourite moments o...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend. This week, they’ve picked: Super Rugby Pacific – Blues v Chiefs in Auckland URC – Benetton v Edinburgh in Treviso Premiership Semi-finals: Northampton v Saracens in Northampton Bath v Sale in Bath Top 14 – Toulouse v La Rochelle in Toulouse MLR - New England v Dallas in Quincy M...
May 29, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by barnstorming Queensland backrower Harry Wilson, with the Reds confirmed to a 5th place finish in 2024 before this weekend’s final round, and playing the kind of rugby they hope can take them deep into the Super Rugby Pacific finals series. Though he’s racing the clock to return from a broken arm before the end of Super Rugby Pacific - he’s an outside chance of being back should the Reds reach the Final – Harry and the gu...
May 27, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined by renowned Irish pundit and commentator Bernard Jackman for their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, with this week’s focus on London and the Champions Cup Final between Leinster and Toulouse, as well as the Challenge Cup Final between Gloucester and the Sharks. Elsewhere this week, they’ve picked: · Super Rugby Pacific – Chiefs v Hurricanes in Hamilton · Japan League One Final - Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights v Toshiba Brave Lupus i...
May 22, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by Melbourne Rebels head coach Kevin Foote, for an open and honest and at times raw conversation that attempts to explain a team playing good rugby under the clouds of a club in Administration. On a number of topics that haven’t had a lot of attention, Kevin gives a pretty raw account of trying to coach a squad of players that currently do not know their employment status beyond the end of June, the frustrations and the str...
May 20, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 25
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend. This week, they’ve picked: · Super Rugby Pacific – Fijian Drua v Queensland Reds in Suva · URC: Connacht v Stormers in Galway · Premiership: Harlequins v Bristol in London · Top 14: Montpellier v Toulouse in Montpellier Plus, it’s finals time in Japan, and a peak at Major League...
May 16, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by legendary New Zealand broadcaster and author Tony Johnson, fresh from calling one of the games of Super Rugby Pacific this season so far, the Blues v Hurricanes blockbuster at Eden Park on Saturday. With the top eight taking shape and only three rounds of the season remaining, the guys and Tony take a closer look at the state of play among the Kiwi teams, how the demise of the Crusaders is being received (gleefully, most...
May 13, 2024•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones are back with their end-of-week offering, Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world each weekend. This week, they’ve picked: · Super Rugby Pacific – Blues v Hurricanes in Auckland · URC - Bulls v Glasgow in Pretoria · Premiership - Bristol v Saracens in Bristol · Top 14 - Toulouse v Stade Francais in Toulouse Hopefully the AI Overlords approve. The Rugby Championship Under-2...
May 09, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 22
