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

The Bledisloe Cup heads to Eden Park, and the Wallabies arrive fresh off a big win over the Springboks. Kieran Read and Justin Marshall are joined by Jeremy Paul to preview the clash. JP thinks the Wallabies have their best shot at Eden Park in years.

The episode opens with a tribute to former Wallaby hooker Nathan Charles following his MND diagnosis. The panel talks about his remarkable story, the rugby community rallying behind him, and the search for a cure.

They also cover:

Hunter Paisami's suspension and what it means for the Wallabies midfield.
Ryan Lonergan's kicking game and why he's this week's Harvey Norman Effortless Moment.
The battle of the loose forwards and the All Blacks' lack of turnover ball.
Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell returning.
Richie Mo'unga at 10 with Ruben Love out.
A 6–2 bench split and the case for Caleb Tangitau
Score predictions.

Brought to you by Harvey Norman. Lawns mown, pool cleaned, windows sparkling, and you didn't lift a finger. Check out the robotics range in store or online.

SUPPORT MND RESEARCH AND CARE

My Name'5 Doddie Foundation: https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk
4ED (Ed Slater's campaign): https://justgiving.com/campaign/4ed
FightMND (Australia): https://www.fightmnd.org.au
MND Australia: https://donate.mndaustralia.org.au
MND Australia, state associations: https://www.mndaustralia.org.au/mnd-connect/find-services/state-mnd-associations
MND NSW: https://mndnsw.asn.au/donate.html
MND New Zealand: https://mnd.org.nz/donate

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro
00:45 Nathan Charles and the fight against MND
07:03 Wallabies preparation and Eden Park
08:19 Ikitau injury and the Paisami suspension
12:24 Harvey Norman Effortless Moment: Ryan Lonergan
15:08 Donaldson at 10 and the Wallabies loose forwards
18:22 Wallabies game plan
22:13 JP's prediction
22:55 All Blacks loose forward debate
24:56 The turnover problem
34:38 Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell return
39:13 Mo'unga in for Love
43:52 Back three and the aerial battle
49:30 Bench balance: 5–3 or 6–2?
54:46 Score predictions and outro

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Email the team at: info@goodbadrugby.com

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The Wallabies beat the Springboks 42-38 in Perth, and they finished the game with only 11 men on the field. Andy is joined by Wallaby Jeremy Paul and former All Black Justin Marshall for a quick reaction to one of the strangest Test matches ever played.

JP is thrilled and a bit shaken. Marshy calls Andy out for jumping on the bandwagon. The boys look at Len Ikitau's world-class return at 13, the TMO comms failure that had the referee taking calls on a mobile phone, and four Wallabies in the bin at once. They also cover Rassie's call to bring on eight replacements together, Harry Wilson's captaincy and choice to take the points, and why the Boks couldn't use a four-man advantage to win it.

Marshy gives his common-sense fix for refereeing without a TMO. Plus Fraser McReight's big game, and a look ahead to the Bledisloe Cup opener at Eden Park.

Chapters

00:00 – Intro: the Wallabies' famous 11-man win

00:38 – Marshy calls out Andy's bandwagoning

01:28 – Suaalii on the wing and Len Ikitau's class at 13

03:26 – The elephant in the room: TMO failure and "phone-gate"

04:39 – Four in the bin: were the yellow cards fair?

06:51 – Sympathy for referee Andrea Piardi

09:11 – Free-to-air exposure and a huge sporting weekend

11:04 – Why not just use the touch judges?

12:43 – Perth as the 2027 World Cup opener and Rassie's eight-man bench change

13:40 – Marshy's fix: refereeing without a TMO

15:19 – How the delays affected the game

17:07 – "Were you cooked?" JP on 42-17 becoming 42-38

17:30 – Set piece, the red zone and Harry Wilson taking the points

19:38 – Beating the blitz, and where the Boks went wrong with a four-man advantage

22:14 – Fraser McReight: "a player and a half"

23:19 – Next up: Bledisloe Cup at Eden Park

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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.

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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

─────────────────────────────

📲 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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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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