Rain and the ref seem to be common excuses going around the South African water coolers this week, but in all honesty the Boks had only themselves to blame for gifting Ardie Savea a victory in his 100th Test. While the Springbok men failed to create history, the women will write a new chapter as they appear in their first ever RWC quarter final against New Zealand this week, lining up a tasty Kiwi doubleheader for Bok fans. Andy is optimistic this week about Rassie's brow-raising, youthful selections for the second Test, while Phil and Ant are more pragmatic. Perhaps even more gruelling than dissecting a Springbok loss is having to say nice things about the Wallabies for the third episode in a row. Yuck.
Music by @monstroid, 80s TV Show.
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Episode 297: Springbok Women Shatter their Ceiling
Aseza Hele, Libbie Janse van Rensburg, Nadine Roos, Nolusindiso Booi... A special generation of Springbok women have made history with a first ever appearance in the RWC knockouts. Ant and Andy revel in the green glow and recount this historic moment. The Springbok men also feature, with a recap of the Wallabies win and a nervous note on the upcoming game-of-the-year against the All Blacks in fortress Eden Park.
Music by @monstroid, 80s TV Show.
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Episode 296: McReight with a Side of Tries
Well, nobody saw that coming. The Springboks spontaneously combusted as the Wallabies ran in wonder try after wonder try at Ellis Park to take a famous victory. But, the pod believes a victory next week is still the most likely outcome as some mitigating factors emerge. Perhaps some hard but necessary lessons learned in this shock defeat?
Music by @monstroid, 80s TV Show.
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Episode 295: Is this the Best Lions Side of all time?
Short answer, no. The consensus is that even Ireland is better than the B&I Lions. The real question is Argentina better than the Lions? They beat them. But England B beat Argentina. So are England B better than the Lions? And are England B better than England A? Is Maro Itoje the problem? If you asked Andre Piardi, he'd probably say "si". But then, after this week's controversy, do we trust anything he says? This week's episode isn't sponsored, but Panados might have helped with the headaches. For Tizzano also. Although he wasn't hit in the head. Or was he? Also, Currie Cup! Go Golden Lions!
Music by @monstroid, 80s TV Show.
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Episode 294: Big Props to Georgia
The Boks have wrapped up their on-field preparations for the Rugby Championship with a testing but worthy win over the physical Georgians. All that remains is to sit back and watch the dull, light beer clashes Down Under while Rassie fine tunes his first choices. On the domestic front, the Currie Cup gets going with some of our u20 World Champions in the mix, and the Imbokodo prep for the Black Ferns.
Music by @monstroid, 80s TV Show.
Elite Rugby Banter - the rugby pod where the commentary is as unpredictable as the bounce of the ball. Join Phil, Ant, and Andrew, three rugby nerds and fantasy draft managers, as they give their biased and unqualified but never dispassionate opinions on all things rugby related.
Andrew:
Rugby claim to fame: length of the field try against Bishops for the u12 C team
Teams supported other than the Springboks: Stormers, Scotland
Favourite rugby moment: every Breyton Paulse flick-flack
Ant:
Rugby claim to fame: Lightest hooker to play senior rugby for UCT
Teams other than the Springboks: Sharks, Giltinis (RIP), Nambia
Favourite rugby moment: any Frans Steyn 50m kick, or Louis Carbonel pointing and laughing at the english before slotting a conversion, or RG fighting the whole Aussie team
Phil:
Rugby claim to fame: Smashed through a whole a Kingswood team to score a magical try (twice)
Teams other than the Lions: Springboks, England, Cheetahs
Favourite rugby moment: Lions comprehensive win over the Sharks in the 2011 Currie Cup final
You can find them on Spotify, iTunes, Soundcloud, and Acast.
South Africa