The Good, The Bad & The Rugby: Australia & New Zealand

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Four tests, four weeks, 49 players — and the All Blacks come home 3-1 down. Kieran Read and Jeremy Paul are back in studio with Andy to work out what actually separated the two sides, and whether the gap is as big as the scoreline says.JP returns from a holiday that involved two kids in hospital, eleven days in Bali and the Jonah Lomu premiere — including the small matter of the try Jonah took off him in the 2000 Bledisloe.

Kieran breaks down the blueprint from test one that the All Blacks couldn't repeat: parity at set piece, holding the line, and taking the pressure without giving away the penalties that let the Springboks kick their way up the park. Eight penalty goals to zero across the series tells its own story.

Then it gets loud. Andy reads out All Blacks assistant coach Neil Barnes' post-match comments on the refereeing, and JP launches into a full-blooded rant about the new brake foot ruling at scrum time — why he thinks it's dangerous, what referees should actually be looking at, and the simple fix nobody in World Rugby has landed on.

Plus: the selection calls that didn't land, Reuben Love and Cam Roigard as the long-term 9-10, whether Ardie Savea is being used properly, Jordie Barrett's claim as the world's best 12, Ethan Blackadder's return, and JP making the case that a Les Kiss Wallabies side beats the Springboks in Perth — and then the All Blacks at Eden Park.

Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week: Eben Etzebeth.Brought to you by Gallagher — your trusted insurance broker, backing the show and backing the game.Shopify:

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Four months in a hospital bed. Four screws in his spine. Eighteen kilos gone. And the first thing the doctors told him was that he might never walk again.

All Blacks and Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams sits down with Andy and Kieran Read for his most open interview yet on the illness that stopped his season dead. Not an injury — an illness. An MRSA superbug that settled in his back and, as he puts it, burned him out from the inside like a tree on fire. He takes us through the night he was rolling around in 10-out-of-10 pain arguing with his wife not to go to hospital, the spinal fusion, coming off morphine, the panic attacks, and where his comeback actually sits right now (no date — but he’s been cleared to run, with day one of pre-season in November).

Then Tamaiti puts his front-row hat back on to break down the Springbok scrum: what makes Ox Nché so hard to hold, why mindset is half the battle, and why he’d meet fire with fire rather than run from it.

Justin Marshall joins live from South Africa after the third Test at Soccer City — a Test he reckons was the real decider. Marshy on where the game slipped away, what Dave Rennie said to him at full-time, and a firm answer to the question everyone’s asking: are the All Blacks in danger of becoming rugby’s version of Bazball? Plus what has to happen in Baltimore.

Brought to you by Gallagher Insurance — your trusted insurance broker, backing the show and backing the game.

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📑CHAPTERS

00:00 — Intro
01:08 — "What actually happened?" — Tamaiti on the injury that wasn't an injury
01:57 — 10 out of 10 pain, and the superbug they couldn't identify
02:49 — Four screws, a fused spine & "a tree burning from the inside"
03:45 — "One of the first things they told me is I might be in a wheelchair"
04:36 — Fading away: 140kg down to 122kg in hospital
05:11 — Morphine, coming off the meds & the panic attacks
07:07 — The road back: no date, just six-week blocks
08:08 — Cleared to run — day one pre-season, November
09:47 — Can it come back?
10:14 — Front-row masterclass: what makes Ox Nché so hard to stop
13:13 — A word from Surfshark
14:58 — How do the All Blacks get parity with that Springbok scrum?
17:23 — Pancaking, hinging & painting good pictures for the ref
19:07 — Where the third Test was lost: turnovers & Ruben Love's yellow
20:32 — Leroy Carter targeted: Kriel and de Allende going at his left shoulder
22:20 — Fearless Player of the Week, brought to you by Gallagher
23:45 — 12-all at half time — then the game slowed right down
25:27 — Giving the Springboks credit: why champions dictate
26:10 — Cutting out the errors that kill momentum
28:27 — Line-out speed & the breakdown: where the game is won or lost
29:06 — Justin Marshall live from South Africa: inside Soccer City
31:28 — Regroup: what the All Blacks do with the series on the line
35:08 — Personnel or game plan? Marshy on what Rennie changes
37:47 — "Are we in danger of being rugby's version of Bazball?"
41:10 — What happens in Baltimore: persevere and believe
43:06 — Outro

─────────────────────────────

📩 GOT A QUESTION FOR THE LADS?
Email the team at: info@goodbadrugby.com

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The All Blacks lost the second test in Cape Town but were they actually that bad?

Andy Rowe is joined by former All Blacks captain and two-time Rugby World Cup winner Kieran Read to break down a game that turned on two minutes at the start and an aerial battle the All Blacks still can't win.

Read explains the untidy exit that had New Zealand seven points down inside two minutes, why the Springboks changed their defensive picture (14 in the line, nobody hunting the ruck) and what that means for the way the All Blacks attack. Plus the accuracy numbers: South Africa took 4.8 points from every 22 entry, New Zealand just 2.8 from nine.

There's the 2009 parallel (Matfield, box kicks and the series that changed how New Zealand played the game) and why the All Blacks are still catching high balls the old-school way. Pieter-Steph du Toit's 100th test. Then there's Rassie. The suit and tie, the team sheet handed over half an hour before kickoff, the F-bombs in the press conference and the complaint that the All Blacks are planting seeds in the media (from the man who put out an hour-long video on the referees during the Lions series). Read's take: "coaches have been doing this for a long time, but Rassie is the absolute king of it." Plus the scrum row it all came from: "we're not walking around, we're scrumming." And what changes for the third test, including Sam Darry, a six-two bench and where Rieko Ioane fits.

Over the Tasman, the Wallabies win 27-21 in Argentina, Les Kiss loosens the structure, and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii starts on the bench — would you put him on the All Blacks wing to catch our high balls?

This episode is brought to you by Gallagher Insurance, your trusted insurance broker. The Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week goes to Leroy Carter.

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The All Blacks have gone to Ellis Park and won five tries to one and Marshy was standing in the middle of it.

This week Andy is joined by Justin Marshall live from Johannesburg, still dusty, still 30 years on from '96, and Kieran Read in studio after a 3am alarm and a duvet on the couch with his boy. They break down how the All Blacks were under the pump for 40 minutes and still walked off with a scoreline that flattered them, the three unnoticed effort plays that swung the whole test, and why nobody in that squad celebrated like the job was done.

Then Marshy finally does some homework and brings in former Springbok World Cup winning captain John Smit, who watched from the stands next to Francois Louw. He's honest about what he saw, the scrum that should have won it, the unforced errors he hasn't seen from this Springbok side in years, and what Rassie might do in Cape Town. He also explains what this tour has done to South Africa: green shirts every Friday, nothing getting done, and for the first time in the country's broadcasting history, more people watching rugby than football.

Plus: the points-per-22-entry stat the coaches are obsessed with, why Fabian Holland has become crucial, whether George Bower has forced a start, and a proper appreciation for Matt Carley telling the TMO no.

The Fearless Player of the Week is brought to you by Gallagher, your trusted insurance broker — backing the show and backing the game.

Three tests to go. How good.

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📑CHAPTERS

00:00 Welcome — Marshy in Joburg, Reado in studio
00:58 "The most amazing feeling" — Marshy at Ellis Park
02:48 3am alarm, duvet on the couch, watching with the boy
04:11 Why this tour has brought back the old-school tours
06:07 The 1996 generation gap (and the frosted tips)
07:50 Why the All Blacks didn't celebrate
08:39 Under the pump — how were we only one point down?
10:10 The points the Springboks left out there
12:33 The three effort plays that swung the test
13:08 Jordie Barrett's hand of God
14:57 Altitude, fatigue and a spongy Ellis Park
16:20 Fearless Player of the Week, brought to you by Gallagher
18:12 The 22-entry stat the coaches are obsessed with
21:21 Why the Bok ball carriers are so hard to stop
23:40 GUEST: Springbok World Cup winning captain John Smit
25:47 Smit on the first half: "the scoreboard didn't reflect it"
28:05 What can Rassie actually change for Cape Town?
29:52 Do the Boks go back to the old formula?
32:44 "It's psychotic" — what this series is doing to South Africa
37:10 Respect for the haka: the quietest Ellis Park's ever been
38:58 Smit's message to the Boks: "we haven't become a bad team in one day"
40:56 Reacting to Smit — a nation in mourning
41:20 "We've stuck our foot all the way in their house"
42:47 Why Andy still isn't confident
44:18 Fabian Holland's engine and Tupou Vaa'i at lock
45:51 The front row — does Bower start in Cape Town?
48:42 The Lions game and managing bodies through the tour
49:41 Matt Carley, the TMO, and letting the game flow
53:49 Wrap
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Email the team at: info@goodbadrugby.com

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Justin Marshall joins us live from Pretoria, three tour games deep, one week out from Ellis Park and the mood in South Africa is exactly as cocky as you'd fear. Andy, Kieran Read and Marshy get into the arrogance ("if the All Blacks draw the series, that's a result for THEM"), why South African rugby is booming from schoolboy level up, and the recruitment problem that's got them worried about 13-year-olds on retainers.

Then the serious business: how the All Blacks are actually tracking after three from three, the injury watch on Will Jordan, Cam Roigard and Damian McKenzie, the loose forward puzzle, whether lineout height should be driving selection, why Argentina handed us the blueprint for beating the Boks and why a Springbok side that's short of minutes might be more vulnerable at altitude than anyone's saying.

Plus the Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week

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📑CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro — Marshall live from Pretoria
01:28 "Can the All Blacks beat the Springboks?" — the arrogance question
03:09 Cape Town to the Highveld: what the crowds are like
03:45 The Crusader who reckoned altitude was no problem
04:59 Why South African rugby is absolutely fizzing
06:58 What NZ can learn — NPC crowds and grassroots passion
08:41 The lost art of the tour
09:22 Is South Africa now ahead of us on depth?
11:33 13-year-olds on retainers: South Africa's recruitment worry
13:11 Three from three — how are the All Blacks tracking?
13:26 Injury watch: Will Jordan, Cam Roigard, Damian McKenzie
14:40 Managing a 44-man squad, and Rennie's "not satisfied" message
16:56 Finding the width: the attacking blueprint
18:24 Beating the blitz — why unpredictability is everything
20:35 The loose forward puzzle: Segner, Lakai, Tupou Vaa'i at 6
22:06 6-2 bench, and three wingers for two spots
24:13 Should lineout height decide selection?
25:52 Gallagher Fearless Player of the Week: Ruben Love
29:58 Kolisi out — who jackals for the Boks now?
30:40 Segner's answer to the Kirifi debate
33:01 Are the Springboks undercooked?
35:25 The prep gap — and why Read isn't buying it
36:25 Argentina handed us the blueprint
37:48 Altitude, fatigue and the hurt locker
40:28 The mental side of altitude: "your body says you can't go on"
42:39 Slowing the game down, and what a captain can do about it
44:17 Final word: "This All Blacks team can beat the world champions"
46:17 Outro

─────────────────────────────

📩 GOT A QUESTION FOR THE LADS?
Email the team at: info@goodbadrugby.com

─────────────────────────────

📲 FOLLOW THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE RUGBY AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
YouTube: ⁨@GoodBadRugby⁩ANZ
IG: https://www.instagram.com/goodbadrugbyanz
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@goodbadrugby
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goodbadrugbyanz
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/goodbadrugbyanz

─────────────────────────────
#GBR #TheGoodTheBad&TheRugbyANZ #RugbyUnion
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