Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France
29 - 10
FT

The Rugby Pod - Irish Takeover

Goodey dials in from the all you can eat buffet in Dubai to call for the head of George Ford, while Irishman Brendan Macken stands in for him in the studio to discuss the men in green’s title triumph and the prospects of making it the best St Patrick’s Day ever by sealing a Grand Slam at Twickenham on Saturday. Oh…and there a couple of ‘special guest appearances’ ? in the studio!

ADVERTISEMENT

All that plus a few whispers in The Rumour Mill and the week in rugby rounded up in The Goode, The Bad & The Ugly.

Enjoy and you can listen to all previous episodes here

ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video

South Africa vs Black Ferns XV | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

England vs Spain | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | Second Match | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Ireland vs Scotland | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Should the Lions’ last-minute try have stood? | Whistle Watch

Play Video

Lions Share | Episode 6

Play Video

KOKO Show | July 29th | George Gregan Stops by to lift spirits after the MCG Madness

Play Video

Historic Lions Series win at the MCG | Ep 7: The Ultimate Test

Trending on RugbyPass

1

'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

14
2

The growing exodus of Australasia’s biggest rugby athletes must stop

6
3

Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

18
4

Fourteen of the very best Top 14 U22 talents to follow in 2025/26

5

Ireland fall to Canada in final warm-up game before Women’s Rugby World Cup

4
6

Fissler Confidential: Feyi-Waboso latest target of rebel comp

20
7

The 12 least-used British & Irish Lions of the 2025 tour to Australia

2
8

Matt Williams hits back in X feud with Rassie Erasmus

46

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

LONG READ

How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

With three strong fly-half contenders, the Springboks' unpredictability makes life harder for their Rugby Championship opponents.

13
LONG READ

Tour fortunes of English Lions blur selection picture for Borthwick

England supplied 10 Test Lions but strong displays by other players in Argentina gave Steve Borthwick food for thought.

22
LONG READ

Andy Farrell left with tough Ireland decisions to make after mixed Lions Tour

The Ireland head coach has played a smart hand in Australia but there are question marks over the longevity of some of his trusted lieutenants

12

Comments on RugbyPass

O
Over the sideline 10 minutes ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

That’s incorrect tho. Hansen had BB at 10 and Dmac at 15 and was winning at 85%. Dmacs grand mother died when he was in Arg so he left the squad and went home so Hansen was FORCED to select Mounga. Dmac then got injured in SR in 19 and was out of the WC. Moungas win % according to the stats on starting at 10 v our top 6 opponents show he is behind the other 2 by quite a bit.

5 years of playing test rugby and he loses 2/3rds of the time v France and England just simply isn’t good enough. He does not lead the win stats over any country. Both BB and Dmac have superior stays. Not even close at times.



...

16 Go to comments
A
Ardy 15 minutes ago
'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

Not convinced OTS. I notice teams that go well are dominant in a couple of stats, breakdown, both attacking, defending and turnovers. The other stat I look at is the D, also a predictor of wins. There are many teams beaten in field position and early success but a good D breaks the opp down in the end.

There was an old adage when I played in NZ - Win the Breakdown, win the game.



...

14 Go to comments
S
SO 18 minutes ago
'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

NZ’s worst years in pro rugmy coincided with Foster no further discussion needed!

14 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 41 minutes ago
'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

So WIN stats arnt a true indicator? It’s not even close in some stats… 33% v England? 33% v France? Horrible stats no matter which way you look at it. Wins tells me the team is working or not working and the 10 is the most crucial to that.

Dmac and Mounga probably beat BB for goal kicking % but BB has been exceptional this year and last year at kicking goals. You certainly couldn’t claim any superiority based on this and last years kicking.



...

14 Go to comments
B
Bruiser 45 minutes ago
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

Libbocks goal kicking shortcomings! Springbok supporters expect 100% from their kicker so lets see if they risk his frailty there…unlikely in biggest test match of the year. And FM has come off an average season. Only party second guessing here is RE. The ABs will be concentrating on themselves, not Rassies selection dilemma, and it is clearly a dilemma.

11 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 49 minutes ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

Because you are wrong. You are not seeing reality. BB is the most successful of the 3 followed closely by Dmac and a long way back is RM.

The stats don’t lie.



...

16 Go to comments
B
Bruiser 51 minutes ago
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

All this BOK talk of 4 players in every position and squads of 108 players is all unproven. No-one is proven at test level till they play biggest test matches.

11 Go to comments
B
Bruiser 53 minutes ago
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

Known Bok plan for last 100 years is to bash you up front and have a 10 who kicks goals. Lot of talk about being tricky with their 10, but lets see where the DNA falls when they have a chance for history at EP

11 Go to comments
A
Ardy 1 hour ago
'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

The rule of rugby is that forwards win matches and the backs decide the score.

I think you could compare kicking stats and passing stats but win/loss has little to do with a 10, unless he’s crap and NZ haven’t had one of them in my memory.



...

14 Go to comments
B
BleedRed&Black 1 hour ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

What's not so great is that Robertson has gone down the same path of indulging Barrett and McKenzie at the expense of new talent. Love needs to start playing 10 now for the AB's, and needs to get the job for the Hurricanes as well. Both Robertson needs to back a player who clearly has the confidence, the skill, the goal kicking and the physicality to play 10 at the top of the international game. Robertson does not need to treat Love like Hansen treated Mo'unga, a player he reluctantly included, mistreated, then dumped in the deep end when his preferred options failed.

16 Go to comments
E
Easy_Duzz-it 1 hour ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

There’s 2 problems the All Blacks have . The first is the ability to build pressure the second is holding composure in tight games . You can’t teach this , this comes from big game experience .

BB and Dmac have big game experience but they are losers . Any they’ve lost so many times in big games that they don’t know how to win . Mounga on the other hand is a winner .



...

16 Go to comments
A
Ardy 1 hour ago
The growing exodus of Australasia’s biggest rugby athletes must stop

The biggest problem (as highlighted) is not just the big guys, though that is a crime against union. It is ID’ing, and keeping talent that can step up. Mostly we just ooh and ahh about young kids carving them up in the backs at school. There is little knowledge about what to keep and what to let go.

I think we are too influenced by league, we seem to only enjoy forwards who can run.



...

6 Go to comments
E
Easy_Duzz-it 1 hour ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

Prime BB first loss to Ireland , prime BB couldn’t kick 1 of 3 conversions against the lions in front of the post . BB had a front row that was good enough and still collected Ls . Dmac couldn’t even crack the starting 15 when mounga was available . How many times has mounga schooled BB and Dmac ?? Isn’t it 5 years in a row 🤣🤣🤣 … if BB and dmac are so much better then mounga , then why has razor been calling for mounga to be in the team since he became coach … here’s the joke of the day though . Imagine getting schooled by a bot 🤣🤣🤣

16 Go to comments
C
CO 1 hour ago
The growing exodus of Australasia’s biggest rugby athletes must stop

The Allblacks have made an art form of picking batches of small guys that on the surface look better as they're generally less clunky and more complete from a younger age.

The problem is their peaks are lower, often a lot lower. The other problem is they get smoked by the big tier one forward packs of South Africa, France, etc.



...

6 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 2 hours ago
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

Yep it’s like SA are the only team.

11 Go to comments
J
JB 2 hours ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

Hansen loved him a bit of BB. Even when it was obvious he wasn’t the best in either the 10 or 15 position. He could no longer ignore RM so he switched Smith back to the wing and told BB to run the game from 15. That’s why we struggled. Foster continued this.

16 Go to comments
J
JB 2 hours ago
Ex-All Black coach Steve Hansen's verdict on Richie Mo'unga's new deal

I couldn’t agree more and have been saying this for years. Foster continued the act with the need to play BB, his favourite player. Razor will not make this mistake.

16 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 2 hours ago
'Won't be a problem': Former teammate weighs in on Mo’unga return

Have you seen how bad Mounga compares to the other two when they start at 10

On an NZ rugby show they showed the win % when all 3 10s started AT 10.



...

14 Go to comments
B
Bruiser 2 hours ago
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing

Or starters miss vital kicks and SA chasing the game are under pressure

11 Go to comments
O
Over the sideline 2 hours ago
NZR condition delays Richie Mo’unga’s All Blacks eligibility

Agree with your first sentence but definately not the last one. One win v SA and NZ rugby will be no 1 yet again. Our pack is looking like they are developing so many options.

113 Go to comments
LONG READ
LONG READ
How the Springboks’ No 10 options will keep the All Blacks guessing