Kooks and Thala look back on the World Rugby awards and whip out the score cards for each men’s international Tier 1 side for their year. We start by fanboying over Ellie Kildunne and discussing the controversial selections of Antoine Dupont and Jerome Daret. We then discuss what PSDT’s 2nd Player of the Year means for his legacy. We then try to gr…

Shaun and Thala are joined by rugby journalist and broadcaster (and hot take artist) Caleb Mutombwa to review the weekend’s Autumn Nations Series. We start with the Springboks victory over England by debating who won the kicking game, the Boks taking turns to step Freddie Steward and which Boks players stocks rose and fell after this game. Caleb re…

We are joined by Charlie Morgan as we preview the big England v South Africa test. We look into the coaching merry-go-round with Steve Borthwick's assistants, the defensive set up, what Freddie Steward is picked for and a lot more. Kooks, Thala and Shaun then go through the Springbok squad and pick their pressure points ahead of the big clash…

Kooks and Shaun take a deep dive into the Springboks' win over Scotland, we take a look at each player, decide which 9 we want to start against England and Shaun explains how the Scotland minds stopped them from winning We look at a brilliant All Black win and ask again why Razor failed to use his bench. Have Ireland lost all the players that get t…

Thala, Shaun and Kooks have a look at magnificent Mark and how the All Blacks beat England. We start off with our first phase of which Scotland player you would start for the Springboks and we pay tribute to Joe Marler who retired from test rugby but not before helping give the fans what they really want when watching the Haka. With the Autumn Nati…

Kooks and Thala come again for Part 2 of their Autumn Nations Series preview and they focus more on the players in this round. Kooks and Thala discuss whether Pieter-Steph du Toit has the World Rugby Player of the Year award in the bag, which Springboks and Ireland players could contest and what the size of meltdown would be if Antoine Dupont wins …

Kooks and Thala have a two-part preview for the Autumn Nations Series and ask the burning questions for the upcoming games. We first share memories and discuss why the Autumn Nations Series is the most special part of the international rugby calendar and if rugby played in the southern hemisphere is given that yellow filter like they do for movies …

Kooks and Thala review week 5 of the URC and the Springbok squad for the Autumn Nations Series. Kooks and Thala discuss the return of Damian Willemse in the squad and Ruan Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Jan-Hendrik Wessels staying in the squad. Then we discuss if we might have made a mistake placing Ulster at the bottom of our tiers list last week. We bre…

Kooks and Thala rank the URC into tiers after 4 rounds of the URC. We divide the teams into four different tiers: Championship Contenders, Playoff Locks, Dark Horses and Basement Dwellers. Find out where we rank the South African teams. Why we think it’s the year for the Lions to make some playoff noise, why the Bulls are still championship contend…

Jared and Shaun go over the weekends result that saw the Springboks secure their first 'real' Rugby Championship title since 2009. We discuss the performances from Saturday and look at the Bledisloe Cup plus how the two sides will fare in the future. We take a look at the Springbok midfield and how the future looks…

Kooks and Sharky chat about how upsetting the Springbok loss was. We look into a brilliant Los Pumas performance and where it went wrong for the Springboks. We take a look at the new Springbok match day 23 and have a bit of a wobble at the end leaving Sharky to sign offPor RugbyBits

Thala and Shaun have a look at the Springboks squad that Rassie Erasmus named ahead of the opening Los Pumas test. We look into each position and highlight the inexperience of the pack and Shaun makes a call on how Manie Libbok will be introduced. We look at how Scott Robertson is on a razor's edge with his job and talk loose trio's Bledisloe Cup r…

Kooks and Shaun take a look at the second Springbok win over rivals New Zealand in the Rugby Championship. The Springbok set up a great chance of taking the Rugby Championship title in the 5th round against Argentina away. We look at which players performed on both sides, dive into the absolute disaster of a second test for the Wallabies and look a…

Jamie Wall joins us again as we look ahead to a very important test in Cape Town. Both teams have made changes and Jamie explains why it is hard to get used to an All Blacks side being dictated too. We look at the team, the strange but exciting All Black loose trio and the wings on both sides. We try and understand the thoughts behind the Jordan an…

Thala and Shaun walk through the Springbok test and how well the All Blacks started, we talk about the impact the Bomb Squad made and what the All Blacks need to do to win this type of game. We take a deep dive into all the controversial moments and set the record straight on the Aphelia Fassi yellow card and the Bongi Mbonambi try.…

We welcome Jamie Wall who is in South Africa following the All Blacks on their two test tour. Jamie is and Author and Journalist. He has written four books on the All Blacks including The Hundred Years' War about the Springbok and All Black rivalry. You can order his books here (https://www.jamiewallrugby.com/buy-my-books) We discuss the funny incl…

Kooks, Thala and Shaun give their thoughts on Rassie Erasmus' Springboks squad he named for the opening All Black test in Johannesburg. We go through the surprise calls, who will drop out if Eben Etzebeth is passed fit and take a look at the David Nucifora and Felix Jones news.Por RugbyBits

Kooks, Shaun and Thala break down the Springbok squad selected for the home double against the All Blacks. We discuss whether how match sharp Jaden Hendrikse has looked since coming back to play for the Sharks. We discuss if Steven Kitshoff has to win his place in the 23 back from Gerhard Steenkamp and whether Elrigh Louw has done enough or will Ja…

Shaun and Thala review week 2 of the Rugby Championship. We start with the Springboks’ bonus point victory over Australia. We discuss what we learned and saw from the second stringers, the impressive and error free performance of Aphelele Fassi, the workhorse performance from Ruan Nortje and why Jan-Hendrik Wessels reminds Thala of Pierre Spies. Sh…

Shaun and Thala preview Week 2 of the Rugby Championship by looking forward on Australia hosting South Africa and Argentina looking for their 2nd win in two weeks in New Zealand. We first look at the experience bought in by Joe Schmidt with the selections of Nic White and Marika Koroibete. We discuss how Angus Bell can change fortunes at the scrum …

Thala, Kooks and Shaun go over the Springbok performance in Australia as the South African's equalled a record held since 1993. We look at star performers, unpack how poor the Wallabies are, check if John Kirwan has stopped spinning and gasp at the huge changes made by Rassie. Before we end we look into Cheslin Arendse and have some fun combing pla…

We are joined by Brett and Harry from the 89 Combo as we look ahead to the opening Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Australia. We look at the Springbok match day 23 and where the Wallabies will look to target and counter act the Springbok strength'sPor RugbyBits

Kooks and Thala wade into the Antoine Dupont goat debate dominating social media after France won the gold in the Olympic Sevens. Join us as we try to have a balanced discussion about what do we look for in the GOAT debate, why Dupont stands out, his impact on the Sevens and why both sides of the debate need to calm down. We also warn South African…

Thala, Kooks and Shaun unpack the Springbok squad that was announced earlier this week. We look at surprise inclusions, surprise omissions and each pick the one player we want to see play in one or both of the tests vs the WallabiesPor RugbyBits

Kooks, Shaun and Thala look back on the weekend’s test matches, focusing on South Africa’s victory over Portugal in Bloemfontein. Shaun as the leader of the Ben Jason Dixon fan club raved about his impressive performance as he filled the big boots of his hyphen brother Pieter-Steph du Toit. We talk about other new Boks that possibly played themselv…

Francisco takes us through what to expect from Portugal and explains how this game is on free to air TV in Portugal. The team and fans are looking forward to facing the World Champions. Francisco breaks down the Springbok backs and explains what to expect with Lukhanyo Am and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu…

Kooks, Shaun and Thala review the second weekend of July internationals. We start with the Springboks’ first loss of the season as Ireland level the 2-match series in Durban. Shaun discusses how Ireland took control of the game, Ciaran Frawley’s amazing drop goals and how Ireland seemed to figure out how to attack the Springboks. On the Boks side, …

Kooks and Judge Rugby take a look at the #RSAvIRE squads ahead of their final test.We discuss tactics, the pressure points and who we are most worried about.The Springboks have the upper hand but IrishRugby won't roll overPor RugbyBits

Thala, Kooks and Shaun recap the weekends action as England make the All Blacks sweat, Tom Wright does it all himself and Jesse Kriel beats Ireland with Kolisi and du Toit as wingersPor RugbyBits

Kooks and Thala preview the July test window, focusing especially on the epic clash between South Africa and Ireland. We react to the Springboks selection and what the omission of Evan Roos and the selection of Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden tells us. We discuss what opportunity some Bok rookies like Gerhard Steenkamp and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezu…

Kooks and Thala talk to Irish journalist for the 42 Murray Kinsella to look at the Ireland side touring South Africa for the test series. We discuss what the opponents are in each country and why there is a lot of back and forth on social media between the two sides. We talk about the possibility of Jamie Osborne starting at fullback and what he po…

Glasgow win the URC, Edwill shines at Twickenham and make Bok squad debates toxic again Kooks, Shaun and Thala look back on a weekend of rugby which included Glasgow’s epic URC final victory in Pretoria over the Bulls. Shaun and Kooks share what happened in their weekend together watching the final at Loftus (which left Shaun worse for wear). We th…

Kooks, Shaun and Thala preview the United Rugby Championship Final between Bulls and Glasgow. The lads look at what to expect from the two teams, Thala breaks down his theory about what Franco Smith is cooking, we react to the return of Kurt-Lee Arendse and discuss our most important head to head match ups. Then we turn our attention to the Springb…

Kooks, Shaun and Thala break down an exciting weekend of club knockout rugby, focusing on the Bulls beating Leinster at Loftus in the URC semifinal. Kooks shares what the atmosphere at Loftus was like at the game and how it was similar to the big knockout Super Rugby games of the past. We rave about Cam Hanekom's superb performance against an all i…

Kooks and Shaun try and filter through the huge amounts of brother's that have played test rugby and try and fit them into a test XVPor RugbyBits

Jared and Kooks share their thoughts on the rugby this past week. Shaun tries to steer the ship as the team navigate through the URC and Premiership. We review the weekends action with a look at the URC Semi Final's. What happened to the Stormers and how many of the Leinster players will be getting their very first Republic of South Africa stamp in…

Kooks and Thala are joined by Stormers prop Neethling Fouche as the Stormers prepare for their quarterfinal clash against the Glasgow Warriors. Neethling reflects on the last few seasons for the Stormers and how they turned things around in 2021 to win it all. He also talks about dealing with heightened expectations after winning the URC in 2021, t…

Jared and Thala round up the URC regular season and look forward to the upcoming quarterfinals. We preview the Bulls hosting Benetton and the Stormers traveling to Glasgow. We discuss what can the Bulls do about the 20 minute periods where they fall away and how the Stormers can overturn their away record. Jared calls Ospreys the Castres of the URC…

Thala is back as all but one of the team look back at the brilliant Sharks win and how Toulouse put Leinster down in their third straight loss. We dive into the Sharks journey and are surprised about the strays they caught celebrating. The Champions Cup and Challenge Cup is over for this season, time to focus on the domestic competitions with the U…

Kooks and Shaun welcome Stephan Lewies to the show as he chats about living the dream of becoming a Springbok, winning the Currie Cup and beating the Crusaders. He chats about the incredible leadership of Joe Marler, raucous parties after Springbok wins and winning the Premiership title in a year that had everything…

Kooks and Shaun take control of the pod this week discussing how close things were in the Champions Cup Semi Final's as well as the Sharks amazing comeback in the Challenge Cup.Por RugbyBits

Kooks and Shaun review the fifth and final episode of Chasing the Sun 2, it gets going with the shocking claims by Tom Curry towards Bongi Mbonambi after what he thought was a racial slur. We carry on with the thoughts around the 7/1 split and go through the #RWC2023 FinalPor RugbyBits

Kooks and Thala come together to do a quick podcast reviewing the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup quarterfinals and look forward to round 14 of the URC. We discuss Leinster’s great week in exorcising the La Rochelle ghost, signing Jordie Barrett and their social media entering their villain era. We discuss the issues with the South African teams in…

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Kooks and Sharks are at it again as they focus on the South African sides in the Champions and Challenge Cup. They look at sides which simply can not lose, Sharky makes a bold prediction and Kooks' hot take will make the South African's happy. #ChampioncCup #ChallengeCup #RugbyUnion #Stormers #Bulls #Sharks #Cheetahs #Lions #Springboks #JasperWiese…

Kooks and Shaun go through the Chasing the Sun 2 episode rollercoaster as the Springboks prepare for and play Ireland in #RWC2023Por RugbyBits

Kooks and Shaun talk about the opening episode of Chasing The Sun 2 as all South Africans relive the amazing RWC2023 win with incredible insights from the Springbok campPor RugbyBits

Shaun and Thala review round 12 of the URC which saw all 4 South African teams win their matches. We first look at the Stormers victory over Edinburgh and Shaun (who watched live) raved about how good Damian Willemse looks live and the encouraging signs from Wandi Simelane’s performance. For the Sharks game, Thala discusses whether the Sharks have …

Thala and Kooks look back at the 6 Nations, the winners and losers from the tournamentPor RugbyBits