Two Cents gets Distracted - A Rugby Podcast

Well, well, well. Would you look at that? The All Blacks have gone and absolutely PUMPED the Wallabies. AGAIN.
And my word, that first half was a thing of beauty.
Champagne rugby. Free-flowing attack. Forward dominance. And a Wallabies defence that looked like it had collectively forgotten how tackling works.
The All Blacks piled on 36 points in the first half, and just three minutes into the second, they'd reached 43! Arguably the best rugby we've seen from them under Dave Rennie. It was glorious.
And at the heart of it all? BEAUDEN MOTHERFLIPPIN' BARRETT.
The old boy turned back the clock, bagged himself two tries, silenced the doubters, and reminded everyone of a very important lesson: Form is temporary. Class is permanent. And that man is ALL class.
But then... something happened.
The second half arrived, the champagne went flat, the injury stoppages piled up, the TMO decided to get involved, and the Wallabies finally remembered they were allowed to play rugby too. What had looked like a potential cricket score turned into a slightly frustrating second-half slog.
Still, a 43–21 thumping is a 43–21 thumping. We'll take it!
We dissect the good, the bad, and the slightly baffling from another All Blacks demolition job.
And, at long last, WE'RE TALKING WOMEN'S RUGBY!
Ding dong! The Red Roses' extraordinary 41-match unbeaten run is OVER!
Canada have finally knocked England off their perch with a historic 24–21 victory in Toronto, in front of a record-breaking crowd of 18,621 fans. An incredible performance, a dramatic finish, and exactly the sort of result women's rugby needs. We get stuck into what this means for the women's game.
Plus, the usual collection of tangents, absolute nonsense, and questionable rugby opinions.
Oh, and Mark has discovered the sound effects button on our recording software.
God help us all.
Anyway, grab a beer and enjoy

THE BLEDISLOE IS SAFE, BABY! 🏆🍻
After weeks of doom, gloom, injuries, nervousness and general All Blacks-induced depression, we headed into the fortress that is Eden Park with the Bledisloe Cup on the line and absolutely no idea what to expect.
Well, after a lightning start, a bit of a scare from the Wallabies up front, and some genuinely outstanding rugby, the All Blacks absolutely PUMPED the Aussies. And my God, we actually caught some aerial balls!
That's right. AERIAL BALLS. IN THE AIR. CAUGHT BY ALL BLACKS PLAYERS. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE!
We won the aerial battle, dominated up front, and put together the kind of performance we've been crying out for. For the first time in what feels like an eternity, we're actually happy! And naturally, we've decided to sit down and talk about it.
Which probably means nobody will watch this episode, because apparently you sadistic bastards only tune in when we're miserable. Not that many of you watch us anyway, but still. We appreciate the suffering.
We break down the big win, look ahead to Bledisloe number two, talk our usual mountain of absolute bullshit, and bring back everyone's favourite utterly ridiculous game show: Post-Game Predictions of the URC!
It's a rare episode featuring two relatively happy All Blacks fans. Make the most of it. Who knows how long it'll last?
Grab a beer and enjoy! 🍻

Not a massive week of international rugby… so naturally, we got distracted.
With not too much happening on the Test rugby front, we take a slight detour this week. There’s a bit of chat about the NRL Grand Final, a quick look ahead to the Bledisloe Cup, Ardie Savea signing with the Blues, and the growing excitement around getting back to Eden Park.
But really, this episode belongs to you lot.
We dive into a stack of listener questions covering everything from the very real financial struggles facing New Zealand Rugby, to what our try celebrations would look like if either of us ever managed to score one. Some questions get serious answers. Others… considerably less so.
And before any of that, Tony takes everyone on an unnecessarily long journey through the mystery of a horrific smell that appeared in his car — and the increasingly desperate hunt to find out where the hell it was coming from.
A quick warning: we had a couple of audio gremlins right at the start of this one. Bear with us for the first five minutes or so and everything sorts itself out.
Grab a beer, send in your questions, and enjoy.

Australia did the unthinkable this week and beat South Africa.
Yes, yes, we know — “it was basically a B team.” But it was still the team Rassie put out there to win the game, and they couldn’t get it done. So perhaps that much-vaunted South African depth isn’t quite as deep as advertised.
There were still some seriously good players in that Springbok side, but throwing them all together and expecting instant cohesion proved a little ambitious.
That said… they very nearly bloody won it anyway.
Australia completely imploded late in the game, the communications at Optus Stadium completely shat the bed, Andrea Piardi appeared to spend half the match on the phone, and cards started flying out like it was Christmas. Four cards in a ridiculously short space of time somehow left Australia down to 11 men.
South Africa naturally piled on the pressure, but somehow the Wallabies held on for what has to go down as both a famous win and one of the most farcical, entertaining and downright absurd games of rugby we’ve seen in a while.
Elsewhere, we get into the newly named All Blacks squad. Frizell is back. Barrett is back. Darries — thanks for coming. Ruben Love has unfortunately done himself a mischief and is out, but overall the squad is looking pretty strong.
And Australia suddenly don’t look like the easy beats some people might have expected either. Under Les Kiss, there are signs that something pretty interesting might be building.
We talk about all of it, have a couple of beers, go wildly off topic and talk plenty of bullshit — exactly as you’d expect from Rugby’s Greatest Podcast.
Grab a beer and enjoy.
Two Cents Gets Distracted.

In another deeply upsetting week, the All Blacks blew their chance to square the Greatest Rivalry Series at 2–2 and were instead wholly and completely beaten by the Springboks, who deservedly wrapped things up 3–1.
Much to our disappointment and dismay, the right team won.
Despite what some might call a few 50–50 calls. Were they really 50–50 calls, though? Or is Tony just a bit sour? Who knows, really.
Anyway, we go deep on the final Test, assess where both squads are at, lick our wounds, talk some bullshit, and then finally look beyond the Greatest Rivalry Series at what else is happening in the wonderful world of rugby.
Hopefully, at some point soon, we can stop making thumbnails with sad faces. Getting a bit sick of this.
Grab a beer and enjoy.

Thanks to Severn River Rugby Football Club for the beers.
https://www.severnriverrugby.org/