The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast

Brett McKay and Harry Jones jump into another Test Match post-mortem without much thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on Scotland’s gritty 27-13 win over Australia at a chilly Murrayfield in Edinburgh, the wrap up the final full weekend of Northern Spring Autumn Series Tours. In a game that would have been a statement win for either side, it was the Scots who maintained their shape, their discipline, and their excellent defence to see off the Wallabies, and with it, another shot at a historic Grand Slam.   Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Now on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social   Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones You can find Brett and Harry individually on BlueSky, too!   Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm   Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/   Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones lay out the Games of the Week for the final full weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tours, the last chance for the Home Nations to save something from the November Tests, and for the southern hemisphere nations to reinforce their claims of global rugby domination. Can Argentina spring one last upset? Can Ireland make one last statement? How much patience is left in Wales? Will New Zealand appease fans at home with a fourth Spring Tour win? Will Scotland blink first, or Australia? And will the full support of the board continue for Steve Borthwick? This week’s Games of the Week: • France v Argentina in Paris • Wales v South Africa in Cardiff • Italy v New Zealand in Turin • Scotland v Australia in Edinburgh Plus, the Top 14 is back: we like the sound of Toulon v Bayonne on Saturday Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Now on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones You can find Brett and Harry individually on BlueSky, too! Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by incoming New South Wales Waratahs coach Dan McKellar, who has put the disappointment of how his Leicester Tigers gig ended, the strong links to his native Queensland, and his storied history with the ACT Brumbies all behind him to get on with the job of restoring the Waratahs to the force Australian rugby needs them to be. Plus, Brett and Harry also dig into the Wallabies’ super impressive 52-20 thumping of Wales in Cardiff, the first time Australia has won consecutive matches on foreign soil since the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. Next up for the Wallabies are Scotland at Murrayfield, and a contest that has remained tight for the last few years. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Now on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones You can find Brett and Harry individually on BlueSky, too! Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney + Amelia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones jump into another Test Match post-mortem without much thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on France’s patient 30-29 win over New Zealand in Paris, and South Africa’s well-in-hand 29-20 win over England at Twickenham. Two enthralling contests with lead changes and plenty of drama, and from which there was plenty to talk about straight away – and will be more to talk about for the rest of the week, we’re sure. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Now on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/89combo.bsky.social Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones lay out the Games of the Week for the second full weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, where the Home Nations in particular will be seeking responses after all suffering losses of varying degrees of hurt the previous round. Pressure is starting to mount in certain team environments, and another loss will only add to some already uncomfortable narratives. How much patience does Twickenham Man have left? Equally though, the SANZAAR nations in particular will be wanting to continue their run of performances, with all eyes on South Africa to see if they can make themselves proud again after a win, and Australia determine to ensure the Twickenham triumph was not one-night-only. This week’s Games of the Week: • Ireland v Argentina in Dublin • England v South Africa at Twickenham • France v New Zealand in Paris • Wales v Australia in Cardiff Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by The Telegraph’s senior rugby writer Charlie Morgan to look back over the first full weekend of matches of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, with New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Fiji and South Africa all recording wins in a sweep of southern hemisphere dominance. Of course, that means we probably should brace for some kind of reaction, and in the case of Ireland, England, and Scotland, their supporters are already demanding that. But spare a thought for England coach Steve Borthwick, with the RFU already coming out to publicly back their man. And that always ends well… Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney + Amelia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones rip into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on the Wallabies absolutely stunning 42-37 comeback win over England at Twickenham, as well as looking back at New Zealand’s 23-13 win over Ireland in Dublin on Friday night An incredible win from Australia. Is it too big a stretch to call it the single greatest win in rugby history? No, we didn’t think so.. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones push Games of the Week deep into the second week of the November Internationals, where they welcome Australian rugby writer for RugbyPass and The Roar, John Ferguson, along for a proper preview look at the biggest Test Matches of the weekend. This week’s Games of the Week: • Ireland v New Zealand in Dublin • England v Australia at Twickenham • Scotland v South Africa at Murrayfield • Top 14 Rd.10: Toulon v Bayonne Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by The Guardian rugby correspondent and surprise new music reviewer (true!) Rob Kitson for a proper review of the first weekend of the Northern Spring Autumn Series Tour, in which New Zealand held out England 24-22 at Twickenham, and Scotland were too good for Fiji, winning 57-17 at Murrayfield. Attention now turns to the first ‘full’ round of the NSAST this weekend coming, with Ireland, Australia, Italy, Argentina, France, Japan, Wales and South Africa all playing their first matches of the northern campaign. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney + Amelia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rugby podcasters Brett McKay and Harry Jones launch into another Test Match post-mortem before giving it any thought at all, with this week's fulltime focus on a fantastic opening to the Autumn Nations Series where New Zealand have hung on – just – to beat England 24-22 at Twickenham. Did England err in bringing Marcus Smith off? Did New Zealand get away with a win despite a bit of late confusion as to who was doing what? And why haven’t we just always been able to hear ref mics inside the stadium? Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones switch Games of the Week back into international mode for the start of the November Internationals, where the guys set, manage, and temper expectations for the SANZAAR nations, as they work out best and worst case scenarios for South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina from their Northern or Spring Tours, or Autumn Nations Series, or whatever we’re calling this next month of Test rugby. This week’s Games of the Week: • England v New Zealand at Twickenham • Munster v All Blacks XV in Limerick • Scotland v Fiji at Murrayfield • Top 14 Rd.9: Bayonne v Toulouse Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones are joined on The 8-9 Combo by legendary New Zealand Sky Sport broadcaster and author Tony Johnson to wrap up a thoroughly enjoyable season of NZ’s National Provincial Championship, including the Final decided in OT on Saturday in Wellington, while also looking back and forward at the start of the All Blacks northern tour in Japan and with four Tests to follow in Europe. Despite missing the chance to call the annual NPC Mascot Race, TJ was on hand to call NZ’s 64-19 win over Japan in Yokohama, preceeding matches against England, Ireland, France, and Italy to come over the month of November. Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney + Amelia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, including the NPC Final in New Zealand, and the first of the November internationals a week early, with the All Blacks having a stopover in Japan. And Harry attempts to bring ABBA into the equation… This week’s Games of the Week: • Japan v New Zealand in Yokohama • URC: Leinster v Lions at the Aviva in Dublin • Premiership: Saracens v Leicester in London • Top 14: the Battle of the Tous - Toulouse v Toulon • NPC: Final – Wellington v Bay of Plenty Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones go it alone on The 8-9 Combo this week, delving into a couple of topics they’ve wanted to cover off in a bit of detail: the introduction of new and not-so-new Law Variations into the Autumn Nations Series this November, and the resulting debate that has dominated rugby for weeks leading in, and the arrival and expected impact of high profile league convert and schoolboy rugby prodigy Joseph Sua’ali’i into Australian Rugby and the Wallabies. This is a really entertaining chat through a couple of interesting topics of the day, and they’re topics that just need to be talked through to the get a better handle on what’s happening, why it’s happening, and whether it will or won’t work. Vive la différence! Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you FOLLOW US on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Voiceovers by Chookman + Sean Maloney + Amelia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brett McKay and Harry Jones return with another edition of Games of the Week, where the guys work through the best games from each of the best competitions around the rugby world this weekend, before launching into comprehensive and definitive rulings on the best and worst jerseys running around in the Premiership, the URC, and the Top 14 in season 2024/2025. Head to the 8-9 YouTube channel to see the jerseys in all the glory and awfulness: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo This week’s Games of the Week: URC: Stormers v Munster in Cape Town Premiership: Bristol v Saracens in Bristol Top 14: La Rochelle v Bordeaux in La Rochelle NPC: Semi Finals Saturday – Bay of Plenty v Canterbury + Wellington v Waikato Social media: #89Combo Twitter: https://twitter.com/89combo YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@8-9Combo Brett: https://twitter.com/BMcSport Harry: https://twitter.com/HaribaldiJones Make sure you SUBSCRIBE on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/1BcKhb24YOtwQhKc0S3sDm Find Brett and Harry’s written work on RugbyPass and The Roar: Brett: https://www.rugbypass.com/plus/contributor/brett-mckay/ Harry: https://www.theroar.com.au/author/haribaldi/ Music from Uppbeat: https://uppbeat.io/track/oakvale-of-albion/extreme Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices